American Educational Research Association

“Aera has four member categories: regular, affiliate, graduate student, and retired.”

“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.”

“Upon receiving the draft form 990 from its outside accountants, the association reviews the return and any questions that arise during the review process are directed back to the accounting firm for confirmation or further resolution. Upon satisfaction regarding the completeness and accuracy of the return, the executive director then provides it to the members of the executive board prior to its submission to the internal revenue service.”

“Aera's conflict of interest policy is distributed to key employees and directors of the association each year. These officers are briefed on the policy by the executive director and are required to sign a form acknowledging receipt and understanding of the policy and agreement to comply with the policy. Employees of aera are also subject to this policy as outlined in aera's staff handbook, and they sign an employee acknowledgement form acknowledging receipt and understanding of these policies upon hire. All deliberative bodies are reminded of the conflict of interest policy and 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 also serves as aera's ethics officer.”

“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 members of 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 committee. 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 most recent salary review for the director of finance and all other employees took place in november 2019.”

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

“In 2020, aera had business transactions with an entity that meets the irs definition of an interested person (substantial contributor) as specified in the form 990, schedule l, part iv instructions. Accordingly, in accordance with the irs instructions, aera is filing a schedule l to report a business transaction with an interested party. Part iv, question 28 does not include transactions involving interested persons as defined in schedule l. Although question 28 does not include "interested persons", aera has answered "yes" to question 28c to note the filing of schedule l. Aera did not have a 2020 business transaction 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.”

“On april 17, 2020, aera received loan proceeds in the amount of $413,585 under the paycheck protection program. The promissory note called for monthly principal and interest payments amortized over the term of the promissory note with a deferral of payments for the first six months. Under the coronavirus aid, relief, and economic security act (cares act), the promissory note could be forgiven by the small business administration in whole or in part. Aera has used the proceeds for purposes consistent with the paycheck protection program and subsequent to yearend applied for and received full forgiveness of the loan. Accordingly, aera will record revenue from debt extinguishment in 2021.”