Proposed amendment to Bylaws

Proposed amendment to Sections V.B.1 and 2 of the Bylaws “Board of Directors- Term and Term Limits” 

This proposal amends the term and term limit of the at-large members.

Justifications

• ARNOVA membership is growing; our members are active and engaged. A two 3-year terms for at-large members might have been important when the organization was smaller and not too many people are ready to serve.
• Shorter terms create more turnover which could bring more diversity to the board.
• Giving the opportunity for more people to serve creates a more robust pipeline to Officer positions.
• Running against an incumbent has an inherent disadvantage.
• A full two terms could be daunting on the individual.
• Potentially such a change may reinstate a balance in the number of vacant seats/year (currently we have only one vacancy to fill every third year compared to 5 or more in the other two years).
• A 4-year term is optimal: one year to learn; 2 years to do the work; and 1 year to hand the baton. A 4-year term also puts all board members at equal footing (President, Treasurer and Secretary each serve for a total of 4 years). Many associations (APSA, ASA, SPSA, and AOM) have a 3-year one term limit; ASPA and Urban Affairs allow a second term. PMRA and ISTR have a 4-year term. A one term of 5 years is not very far off from two terms of 6 years.

CURRENT language 

1. Except in the case of elections by the Board of Directors to fill vacancies for unexpired terms, each At-Large Director shall be elected for a term of three years, with the terms staggered so that the terms of roughly one-third of the At-Large Directors will expire at the close of each Annual Membership Meeting. Newly elected At-Large Directors take office at the conclusion of the first Annual Membership Meeting subsequent to their election.
2. With the exception of the President-Elect, no person may serve more than two consecutive full terms on the Board. Any person, regardless of previous Board service, may be elected as President-Elect; however, the current President and Immediate Past President may not run for President-Elect until at least one Annual Membership Meeting has been held following completion of the previous term in either office.

PROPOSED Amendment (changes highlighted in yellow) 

1. Except in the case of elections by the Board of Directors to fill vacancies for unexpired terms, each At-Large Director shall be elected for one term of four years, with the terms staggered so that the terms of roughly one-third of the At-Large Directors will expire at the close of each Annual Membership Meeting. Newly elected At-Large Directors take office at the conclusion of the first Annual Membership Meeting subsequent to their election.
2. With the exception of the President-Elect, only the Treasurer and Secretary may serve for two consecutive full terms on the Board. Any ARNOVA member may be elected as President-Elect, although previous Board service is preferred; however, the current President and Immediate Past President may not run for President-Elect until at least one Annual Membership Meeting has been held following completion of the previous term in either office.