In the period December 2013-January 2014, proposed bylaws were circulated for comment to the community (the bylaws can be found here: http://www.globaloutlookdh.org/proposed-bylaws/). These bylaws had been approved by the ad hoc executive we established a year ago to oversee the first year of the organisation.
The bylaws establish the procedure by which GO::DH shall be governed in the future. They call for the election of an 8 member executive, from which a chair shall be chosen. The executive will also be responsible for appointing all officers. Normally, the executive will be elected to staggered two year terms, with half the executive up for election each year. For the first year, all positions on the executive are open: half the vacancies will be for a one year (renewable) term, the other half for a two year (renewable) term. Normally, the nominations and elections will occur in January. For a variety of reasons, not least of which was the need to circulate the bylaws for comment, we are one month late this year.
I have recently been given funding to hire an administrative assistant, Mia Angelica Alcantara-Santiago, who has agreed to serve as returning officer and chair of the nominations committee for this first election (in future years, these positions will be held by a member of the executive who is not up for reelection). We would like, therefore, to open nominations for candidates for the executive of GO::DH.
Any member of our mailing list may stand for election and self-nominations are very welcome. If you would like to nominate somebody for election (including yourself), please email Mia Angelica at caedmon@uleth.ca. She will need the name and email address of the nominee. Please ensure that your nominee is willing to stand for election. Please also ask the nominee if they would prefer to stand for a one or a two year term (both terms are renewable; in the future, all terms will be two years). In keeping with the goals and mandate of GO::DH, we strongly encourage diversity in our nominees: there are no linguistic, geographic, or other requirements for office and we encourage nominees from all countries and speakers of all languages to apply.
Nominations will close February 15. A ballot will then be prepared with the candidates names and members of the mailing list will be asked to select up to eight names for election. The ballot will close, one week after it opens and the first elected GO::DH executive will be announced.
In addition to candidates for election, we are also looking for a few people to assist in the nominations process. Members of the nomination committee will be expected to help ensure we have as diverse a pool of candidates as possible by encouraging people from under-represented groups to put their names forward. Members of the nomination committee should not stand for election themselves. If you are willing to serve on the nominations committee, please contact Mia Angelica at caedmon@uleth.ca
Thanks in advance to all nominees and members of the nomination committee!
-dan