Committee Job Descriptions 

This page provides an overview of all PALA committee role descriptions.

Click on each title to expand and see the full job description, responsibilities, and contact information.

Pala Chair

The PALA Chair  is responsible for:

1. providing executive leadership for the Association including, but not limited to:

-overseeing the work of Committee members;
-responding to comments and complaints from members;
-advising on initiatives proposed by members;
-soliciting applications for annual conferences;

1. chairing the yearly Annual General Meeting at the PALA conference and presenting a Chair's report;
2. chairing Committee meetings and taking part in the email discussions the Committee engages in throughout the year;
3. working with the Treasurer to approve applications for PALA sponsorship and funding;
4. judging the Palgrave Prize with at least one other member of the Committee;
5. representing PALA in meetings of the Linguistics Council.

Get in touch with the PALA Chair if you are thinking of organising a PALA annual conference, if you wish to put your name up for election as a PALA Committee member during election procedures, and if you have any concerns or suggestions you would like the Chair to share with the Committee. 

Editor, Language and Literature

The Editor of Language and Literature   is responsible for:

1. supervising the editorial work of the journal Language and Literature: International Journal of Stylistics and coordinating the work of the Assistant Editors and Reviews Editor;
2. liaising between the journal publisher and the PALA Committee;
3. taking part in Committee meetings and in the email discussions the Committee engages in throughout the year;
4. producing minutes at each PALA AGM and Committee meetings.

Visit the Language and Literature page on this website or on the Sage website for information such as aims and scope, impact factor, or submission guidelines. 

Secretary

The PALA Secretary  is responsible for:

1. liaising with the Chair with regard to the organisation of the Committee’s work (e.g. drafting the agenda for Committee meetings and AGM, emailing Committee members about dates and times of the meetings);
2. keeping a record of Committee members’ elections and working with the Chair and the Membership Secretary to organise and supervise the election process (i.e. emailing the membership about elections, vote counting, keeping track of deadlines), based on the Constitution and the decisions made by the membership during the annual AGMs;
3. taking part in Committee meetings and in the email discussions the Committee engages in throughout the year;
4. producing minutes at each PALA AGM and Committee meetings.

 
Get in touch with the PALA Secretary if you have any queries about elections, if you have any item(s) that you would like to add to the AGM Agenda under AoB, or if you have any suggestions or concerns you would like for the PALA Secretary to share with the Committee. 

Treasurer

The PALA Treasurer is responsible for:

1. taking part in Committee meetings and in the email discussions the Committee engages in throughout the year;
2. producing reports for each PALA Annual General Meeting and Committee meetings;
3. managing and monitoring the PALA bank account;
4. managing the PALA PayPal account;
5. working with the Membership Secretary in case of membership refunds;
6. accepting and approving (with the Chair) applications for sponsorship funding;
7. distributing funds for bursaries and PALA sponsorship
8. arranging any other payments as required by the Committee

Get in touch with the PALA Treasurer if you are a student PALA member and would like to apply for a Student bursary, if you are a non-student member and would like to apply for the PALA Legacy Fund, or if you would like to apply for sponsorship for a stylistics-related event or activity.

Membership Secretary

The PALA Membership Secretary  is responsible for managing the Association's membership. This includes:

1. keeping a record of existing and new members;
2. advising members on their renewal status and answering any membership questions that arise during the year;
3. liaising with Sage to ensure members paying for Language and Literature receive their journals each year;
4. liaising with the Student Representative regarding student membership;
5. supporting the PALA secretary during elections;
6. taking part in Committee meetings;
7. producing a report for members at each PALA AGM and for Committee meetings. 

Get in touch with the PALA Membership Secretary if you have any questions about how to join PALA, if you need a Certificate of your status as a PALA member, if you have issues with your copies of Language and Literature, or if you have any doubts about your active status as a PALA member. 

Student Representative

The PALA Student Representative represents all student members in the PALA Committee. The Student Representative is a PALA student member. Duties include, but are not limited to:

• maintaining the list of student members by:
  1. downloading the newly signed-up student members from the form on PALA’s website (Weebly) and subscribing them to the PALA newsletter;
  2. maintaining the record of PALA student numbers; 
  3. periodically emailing PALA student members to check if they are still students and unsubscribing them when the four-period of their student membership ends; 
• overseeing the PALA Student Representative email and responding to queries; 
• keeping the PALA Student Members social media up-to-date (Facebook and Instagram, potentially) by sharing posts from the main PALA page, accepting new members, moderating comments when needed;
• regularly interacting with student members to identify needs and interests and encourage involvement;
• liaising with Conference Organisers and organising, when appropriate, a student social event; 
• organising a series of posts on PALA social media to promote PGR/ ECR research presented at the upcoming PALA conference; 
• potentially organising a PGR/ECR event around stylistics research;

• taking part in Committee Meetings to represent student interests and concerns; 
• producing a report for members at each PALA AGM and for Committee Meetings.   

Get in touch with the PALA Student Representative if you are a student and wish to join PALA, if you have any doubts about your active status as a PALA member, if you have any questions about student bursaries and other forms of financial support PALA offers students, or if you have any concerns or suggestions you would like for the PALAStudent Representative to share with the rest of the Committee. 

NEWSLETTER EDITOR

​The PALA Newsletter Editor is responsible for:

1. Liaising with members of the PALA community and committee to gather information/items for inclusion in the biannual PALA Newsletter, Parlance;
2. Producing the Newsletter, circulating it via PALA Announce, publishing it on the Website;
3. taking part in Committee meetings and in the email discussions the Committee engages in throughout the year;
4. producing reports for each PALA AGM and Committee meetings.

Get in touch with the PALA Newsletter Editor if you have a stylistics-related publicationthat you would like to be included in the Newsletter, if you have hosted a stylistics-related event that you wish to showcase, if you need to write a report for Parlance following the sponsorship of an event, if you are a PALA Ambassador and would like to share your experience on Parlance, if you would like to write a piece sharing your experience at the annual Conference, or if you have any ideas or suggestions for new content to be included in Parlance.

Publicity officer

The PALA Publicity Officer is responsible for:

1. coordinating and recruiting the PALA ambassadors;
2. distributing digital publicity materials upon request (e.g. logo for PALA-sponsored events); 
3. emailing the membership when a PALA member asks the Publicity Officer to circulate information on relevant conferences / jobs / PhDs / CFPs; conferences also get promoted on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Blue Sky);
4. taking part in Committee meetings and in the email discussions the Committee engages in throughout the year;
5. producing reports for each PALA AGM and Committee meetings.

Get in touch with the PALA Publicity Officer if you would like information about stylistics-related conferences / jobs / PhDs to be publicised through the PALA mailing list and/or social media, if you are interested in becoming a PALA Ambassador for your region, or if you need publicity materials (e.g. the PALA logo) for a PALA-sponsored event you are organising. 

Webster

The role of the PALA Webster entails: 

• To maintain and update the pala.ac.uk website.
• To liaise with the PALA Committee on the various aspects of the website.
• To collect papers for and publish online the PALA Conference proceedings.
• To help monitor the PALA email address.
• To help maintain PALA-related webpages (e.g. PALA’s Wikipedia page)
• To take part in Committee Meetings
• To produce a report for members at each PALA AGM and for Committee Meetings 

Get in touch with the PALA Webster if you have any queries or suggestions about the PALA website, if you need information on how to publish in the PALA Conference proceedings, of if are a student member of PALA and need information about the Palgrave Prize.