The ADEA House of Delegates is the Association's legislative (policymaking) body. It convenes twice at each ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition. The House of Delegates consists of the Board of Directors and all or some members of the Association’s seven councils.

The Board of Directors is ADEA’s administrative body and is responsible for running the Association’s affairs between ADEA Annual Sessions. The Board of Directors can establish interim Association policies that are consistent with existing policies if it apprises the House of its actions at the next ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition.

View a list of past Chairs of the ADEA Board of Directors.

Six of the Association’s seven Councils represent different constituencies at Member Institutions. The seventh consists of the councilor and chair of each ADEA section (see below). Councils identify, initiate and oversee projects and reports of value to their members and other Association members. Councils may also participate in the Association’s policymaking process. When requested, they identify and recommend potential consultants to the Board of Directors and other groups. All councils meet at the ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition and some hold additional meetings between Annual Sessions.

Council Administrative Boards: Each council, except the Corporate Council, has a five-member administrative board comprised of a Vice President (an Association officer who serves on the ADEA Board of Directors), a Chair, a Chair-elect, a Secretary and a Member-at-Large. Each administrative board meets at least once between Annual Sessions and is responsible for planning its council’s ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition program and for managing the council’s affairs. Administrative boards relate to their councils much as the Board of Directors relates to the House of Delegates.

Each ADEA Individual, Student, Honorary or Retired Member may join any of the Association’s Sections. Each section is concerned with a particular academic or administrative area. Individual members may attend the meetings of any sections but can participate in the business affairs of only those to which they belong. Each section has a councilor, chair, chair-elect and secretary. The section officers function much as the council administrative boards do, in that they plan their sections’ ADEA Annual Session & Exhibition programming and manage their sections’ affairs between Annual Sessions.

The Board of Directors or House of Delegates may designate and appoint one or more committees and their members. Committees that include non-directors and non-delegates are considered Advisory Committees.

Current ADEA Advisory Committees are: 

• Legislative Advisory Committee
• Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee
• Policy and Research Advisory Committee
• Student Financial Aid Advisory Committee
• ADEA Annual Session Program Committee