American Educational Research Association

“Aera has six member categories: regular, affiliate, international affiliate, graduate student, student affiliate, and emeritus.”

“The governing body is elected through a general election process voted on by the voting members of the association.”

“The organization does not have a committee with authority to act on behalf of the governing body.”

“The form 990 was prepared by the outside accountants. The association provided the form 990 to members of the council prior to its submission to the internal revenue service.”

“Aera's conflict of interest policy is distributed to all officers and directors of the association each year. These officers are briefed on the policy by the executive director and president and are required to sign a form acknowledging receipt and understanding of the policy and agreement to comply with the policy. Employees of aera sign a conflict of interest attestation statement upon hire. All deliberative bodies are reminded of the conflict of interest policy. Those with conflicts or the appearance of conflicts recuse themselves from deliberations and decision making. In areas of uncertainty, the executive director provides advice and counsel.”

“The executive director of aera is directly accountable to the association's governing body. Performance reviews for this individual are performed by a review committee comprised of the past president, the president and the president-elect, with the past president serving as chair. Salary surveys from the geographical location and other contemporaneous information are provided to the executive board (eb) for their review. The eb determines the executive director's merit increases and salary levels based on the information available and recommendations from the review commitiee. The review and decision of the eb is documented in a communication provided to the executive director with a statement regarding any merit increase. In years where there is a merit increase, this statement is forwarded to the director of finance and administration. The most recent salary review for the executive director took place in july 2016.”

“The organization's governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available to the public upon request.”

“In 2015, aera had business transactions with an entity that meets the irs definition of an interested person (substantial contributor) as specified in the instructions for schedule l, part iv of form 990. Question 28 does not provide for transactions involving interested persons as defined in schedule l. Although question 28 does not account for "interested persons" as defined in schedule l, aera has answered "yes" to question 28c to note the filing of schedule l. In accordance with the irs instructions for schedule l part iv, aera is reporting a business transaction with an interested party. This transaction is a required disclosure on schedule l, part iv and, as such, question 28c of part iv of the 990 has been marked as "yes." however, aera did not have a business transaction in 2015 with any entity of which a current or former officer, director, trustee, or key employee (or a family member thereof) was an officer, director, trustee, or direct or indirect owner.”