Nominations and Elections Handbook

Nominations and Elections Committee

Approved April 15, 2015

Introduction

The NAI National Nominations and Elections Committee prepared this handbook to delineate standards for holding elections at all levels within NAI, describe proper procedures, and provide forms for use in conducting elections and reporting results.

Elections are one of the ways that NAI members respond to and influence our organization. The procedures outlined hereensure that NAI elections are fair and impartial, and areheld in a consistent manner.

This handbook reflects updated association bylaws enacted in October 2013. However, it is an organic document, as the committee cannot envision every potential scenario in the nominations and elections process. Members, operating in good faith, will need to make decisions based on operational needs as they occur.

National Nominations and Elections Committee

Alan Leftridge, Chair

Sara Lustbader

Jeremiah Hyslop

Dominic Cardea

Nancy Stimson, Advisory Council Elections Coordinator

Board motion was passed to make this a regular member of NEC

Table of Contents

Introduction 2

Table of Contents 3

Definitions4

Membership-Elected Governance Personnel 4

Board-Nominated Governance Personnel4

Terms of Office 5

Prerequisites for all Nominees/Candidates 5

The Nominations/Candidacy Process 5

Nominee Vetting6

Conflict of Interest and Non-involvement6

Member-Nominated Election Cycle and Timeline7

Board-Nominated, Board of Directors Selection Process, Cycle and Timeline9

Appendices

Appendix AAddresses and Contact Information11

Appendix BCode of Ethics for Elected Officers of NAI12

Appendix CNAI Job Descriptions for Board of Directors13

Appendix DOrganizational Unit Officers18

Appendix EMember-Nominated Board of Directors Nominee Form19

Appendix FMember-Nominated Board of Directors Vetting Form20

Appendix GNational Executive Committee Nomination Form21

Appendix HNational Executive Committee Vetting Form22

Appendix IBoard-Nominated Board of Directors Nominee Form23

Appendix JBoard-Nominated Board of Directors Vetting Form24

Appendix KAdvisory Council Representative Nominations Form25

Appendix LAdvisory Council Representative Vetting Form26

Appendix MElection Results Report Form27

Definitions

National Executive Committee

The Committee is composed of the President, Vice-President for Administration, Vice-President for Programs, Treasurer, and Secretary. (See Appendix C for job descriptions.)

Organizational Units

An Organizational Unit (OU) of the National Association for Interpretation is any group of NAI members with a common purpose, recognized by the Board of Directors as providing member services and membership networking opportunities. Organizational Units include, but are not limited to, Regions, Sections, Chapters, and Branches.

National Board of Directors

The Board consists of 15 members: 5 Executive Committee members, 2 Advisory Council members, 3 member-nominated members, and 5 Board-nominated members.(See Appendix C for job descriptions.)

Advisory Council

The NAI Advisory Council is an administrative organization for the NAI Organizational Units and the NAI Board of Directors. It supports the dual role providing training, mentorship, and flexibility for Organizational Units and providing a structure for supporting the NAI Board of Directors.

Member-Elected Governance Personnel

All NAI Board members and Organization Unit officers are elected by the organization’s membership.

National Executive Committee: Membership-Nominated, Membership-Elected National Officers

  • President
  • Vice-President for Administration
  • Vice-President for Programs
  • Treasurer
  • Secretary

Membership-Nominated, Membership-Elected Board of Directors

  • Three At-Large Positions

Board-Nominated, Membership-Elected Officers

  • Five At-Large Positions

Advisory Council – Nominated Governance Personnel

  • Advisory Council-Nominated, Advisory Council-Elected Board Representatives
  • Two positions

Organizational Units’ Officers

  • Directors – each Organizational Unit will have a director who will serve as that unit’s representative on the Advisory Council.
  • Other Organizational Unit Officers will be determined by the Organizational Unit, at the time of their recognition by the Board of Directors.
  • All Organizational Unit and Advisory Council Elections will be conducted through the national office and follow the guidelines laid out in this document.

Terms of Office

Board of Directors members are elected to three-year terms and may serve no more than two (2) consecutive terms in any unique position. Each of the Executive Committee member positions shall be considered a unique position, and Board member rolesother than those on the Executive Committee shall be considered the same position. Partial terms of office of 12 months or longer shall be considered a complete term.

Advisory Council Board representatives are elected to three-year terms, and may serve as a representative of the Advisory Council on the Board after their term as director of an Organizational Unit is complete. However, Advisory Council representatives to the Board of Directors must be serving as a director of an Organizational Unit at the time of their election. These positions are nominated and elected by the membership of the Advisory Council, as overseen by the National Elections Committee.

Organizational Unit officers are elected to three-year terms, and may serve no more than two (2) consecutive terms. Organizational Unit Elections and Nominations personnel set their own election schedules.

Prerequisites for All Nominees/Candidates

All nominees and subsequent candidates must comply with the following criteria:

  1. Candidates may be any NAI member in good standing at the time of nomination.
  2. Candidates must maintain an active individual membership throughout the election process and their term of office, if elected.
  3. Candidates must state a willingness to sign the NAI Code of Ethics for Elected Officers

(See Appendix B).

The Nominations/Candidacy Process

For all Member-Nominated Positions

Candidates are nominated by members, then vetted and advanced to candidacy by the Elections Committee. Any member can nominate another, who must agree to the nomination. Any member can nominate himself/herself. In either case, a nomination form is requested from the Elections Committee.

Requirements and Qualifications for National Executive Committee Nominees

To be nominated and elected to the Executive Committee the nominee must have served a minimum of one (1) year as a member of the Board of Directors. Before being considered for candidacy, those interested in election to the Executive Committee must provide the National Nominations and Elections Committee with the Executive Committee Nomination Form (See Appendix G).

Requirements and Qualifications for Member-Nominated Board of Directors Nominees

Before being considered for candidacy, those interested in election to theBoard of Directors must provide the National Nominations and Elections Committee with the Member-Nominated Board of Directors Nominee Form (See Appendix E).

Board-Nominated, Member-Elected Candidates

Five members of the 15 Board of Directors are nominated and vetted by the national Board of Directors alone. These candidates are placed on the ballot and voted on to be elected by the membership at large.

Advisory Council Representatives

The Advisory Council will elect two of its members to serve three-year terms on the Board of Directors. Nominations will be held within one month of the NAI general election results being finalized, with the final election completed by the end of the calendar year in which the general elections occurred.

Nominee Vetting

Nominees’ applications are examined to assure that they are current members in good standing and that they can perform the basic requirements of the position for which they are applying.

The Vetting Process

  • Vetting takes place in June.
  • The National Nominations and Elections Committee vets all National Executive Committee nominees. (See Appendix H).
  • The Organizational Units’ Nominations and Elections Committee vets all Organizational Unit nominees, as consistent with the Organizational Unit criteria. (The Advisory Council Elections Coordinator willmaintain specific guidelines on file from each Organizational Unit.)
  • The National Nominations and Elections Committee vets all member-nominated Board of Directors nominees. (See Appendix F).
  • The National Board of Directors vets Board-nominated Board of Directors nominees. (See Appendix J).

Conflict of Interest and Non-involvement

To avoid all appearance of bias or a conflict of interest, and in order to conduct business in a free and independent atmosphere, members of the National Nominations and Elections Committee shall not:

  • Seek nomination for any National Executive Committee office. National Nominations and Elections Committee members seeking National Executive Committee office must formally resign from the National Nominations and Elections Committee prior to the beginning of the nomination process for that given election cycle.
  • Campaign for or publicly endorse any individual candidate while serving on the National Nominations and Elections Committee.

Member-Nominated Election Cycle and Timeline

The following schedule is a guideline to use in order to complete elections in a timely manner with a goal of announcing final results in advance of the NAI National Workshop in November.

February

The National Board of Directors will appoint a National Nominations and ElectionsCommittee Chair by February 1. The other members of the committee shall include a past national President, the Advisory Council Elections Coordinator, a representative from the Organizational Units,and others to be appointed by the Chair with the approval of theBoard of Directors. .

March

NAI membership will be notified of which nationaland Organizational Unit offices require election this year. Organizational Units should form a Nominations and Elections Committee in March of those years when elections are to be held. These may be a single chair or a multiple-member committee. They should be appointed by March 31.

Requirements for nominations, job descriptions, nomination deadlines, and election dates will be posted online.

Organizational Unit Nominations and Elections Committees should inform the National Nominations/Elections Committee of whether they will conduct elections electronically or by mail.(Can be changed up to July 1).

Elections committees will recruit candidates with a goal of having at least two candidates for each office, and no more than three. If Organizational Units end up with more nominees than ballot slots, election committees should use the same criteria as the National Nominations and ElectionsCommittee uses to select candidates for the ballot: potential to perform the duties of the elected position based on his or her resumé, experience in interpretation, and activity in NAI. The National Nominations and Elections Chair will work with NAI staff to insure that positions up for consideration in the upcoming election are listed on the NAI website, and advertised through newsletters and online.

June

The slate of candidatesneed tobe ready by early June, with required pre-requisites for all potential candidates checked. National Executive Committee Nomination forms should be completed.

For National Executive Committee positions, all listed character references should be contacted to verify endorsements. Candidates’ applications, statements, and résumés should be checked.

For Organizational Unit offices, candidates should provide statements explaining their desire to serve and their goals if elected, plus a brief biographical statement to be used in ballots. The nomination form is not required.

July

For USPS (mail) elections, ballots should be prepared. (See sample ballot, Appendix L.)

August

The National Executive Committee positions will contact nominees with results of nomination process by August 15before announcing the ballot to the membership. The Nominations/Elections Committee will use the following criteria to select candidates from the pool of nominees: potential to performthe duties of the elected position based on their resumé, experience in interpretation, and activity in NAI.

For electronic (email) ballots, candidate statements and brief bios should be sent to the National Nominations and ElectionsCommittee Chair by August 15.

The National Nominations and ElectionsCommitteeChair will finalize slates from all Organizational Units’Nominations and Elections Committees for the electronic ballot and send these to the national Secretary by August 15.

Once the national Secretary has received the final slates from the National Nominations and Elections Committee Chair, NAI staff will post all candidates’ statements online and inform the membership that candidates statements are posted.

The entire cost of any elections is borne by the National Association unless an organization unit operates outside the normal ballot timeframe

August-September

For electronic elections, allow at least a two-week period for viewing candidate statements. Electronic ballots should be emailed by September 1.

Voting period should end by the third week in September.

For electronic ballots for Organizational Units, the National Nominations/Elections Committee will notify the appropriate election chairs of the results.

After candidates are notified of results, National Nominations and ElectionsCommittee Chair will post results of elections on NAI’s website and inform membership of results.

National Nominations and Elections Committee Chair will send an elections report to the NAI Secretary for certification. Additional copies will go to the Executive Director, VPA,and a copy will be retained by the National Nominations and Elections Committee Chair. A copy of the Organizational Unit’s election results will also be sent to the Advisory Council Elections Coordinator.

Electronic election data file should be securely maintained by the NAI National Office for 30 days after theconclusion of the national election or the NAI National Workshop, whichever occurs last, and a copy of the data set summary retained by the National Nominations and Elections Committee Chair.

Board-Nominated, Board of Directors Selection Process, Cycle and Timeline

The nominations process should begin with the Vice-President for Administration placing on the agenda of the annual spring Board meeting a discussion of NAI’sknowledge, skills, and experiences(KSEs) needs.The President will appoint a Board-Nominated Director Selection Task Force at or soon afterthe spring Board meeting.

Twoweeks before the spring Board meeting, a matrix similar to the following will be distributed to all members of the Board. Their responses are emailed to the secretary oneweek before the meeting for tabulation. The top five items would serve as a springboard for discussion at the meeting.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experiences

Rank order your top three candidate attributes.

_____ Accounting/Auditing

_____ Advocacy

_____ Communications

_____ Fundraising

_____ Community Relations

_____ Diversity Expertise

_____ Public Sector Relations

_____ Performance Management

_____ Regulatory Mandates

_____ Marketing

_____ Meeting Planning

_____ Social Media

_____ Retail

_____ Member Relations

_____ Risk Management

_____ Organizational Management

_____ Special Events Management

_____ Non-Profit Board Expertise

_____ Strategic Planning

_____ Partnerships

_____ Other

April

Board members shall contact potential nominees to ask if they are interested in being nominated. If the wish to be nominated, each person will be asked to complete a matrix of knowledge, skills and experience (KSEs), based upon the matrix used by the board before the spring meeting, raking their experience in each category.

May

Each Board member puts forward names of those they wish to nominate. The names and results of the matrix are sent to all Board members by the Board Nominations Task Force Chair. Each name listed shall include a brief statement of the candidate’s background.

June

Board Nominations Task Force Chairtabulates the results from the Board and nominees matrixes to see whose attributes match the five top items. These individualsmay be selected by the Task Force. However the selection process needs to be flexible for the Board members to have the option to advocate nominees outside of the matrix. Once selected by the Task Force, the individuals will be contacted by the Vice-President for Administration and invited to be nominated. Those who accept the invitation shall be sent the nomination form (See Appendix

July

The nominee forms and vetting forms are forwarded by the Board Nominations Task Force to all members of the Board of Directors for completion. (See Appendix J for the Board-Nominated Board of Directors Vetting Form.) The vetting forms are returned to the Board Nominations Task Force for tabulation. The candidates are selected, minimum of two per open position. The Vice-President forAdministration shall contact all nominees with the status of their nominations.

August

The Vice-President for Administration sends the names of the candidates to the Chair of the Nominations and Elections Committee for inclusion on the ballot. All nominees of the Board Nominated category will appear on the ballot together with the top vote recipients being selected to serve on the Board of Directors.

Appendix A

Applicable Contacts

National Nominations and ElectionsCommittee Chair

interpnet.com

Board of DirectorsSecretary

interpnet.com

NAI Executive Director

230 Cherry Street,

Fort Collins, Colorado 80521

Phone: 970-484-8283, 888-900-8283

interpnet.com

NAI Office

230 Cherry Street,

Fort Collins, Colorado 80521

Phone: 970-484-8283, 888-900-8283

Appendix B

Code of Ethics for Elected Officers of NAI

As an elected officer of the National Association for Interpretation (NAI) I will:

Represent the affairs of all NAI members without prejudice or favor of special interests within or outside the Association.

Always keep confidential items and information confidential.

Never use my leadership position in NAI for personal gain or for the advantage of other individuals within or outside NAI.

Exercise my authority in a leadership role only when acting in official board meetings and/or as I am directed by the NAI Board of Directors.

Consider all issues presented for my review with an open mind to base my decisions on what is best for NAI and to never violate the trust of the membership of NAI.

Avoid any conflicts of interest between my position with NAI and my professional or personal life, and to remove myself from any discussion and voting on matters in which I have conflict.