[Air-l] AoIR Executive Elections

[Matthew Allen]

AOIR EXECUTIVE ELECTIONS 
The current executive committee of the Association of Internet Researchers
(AoIR) was elected two years ago. We are now beginning the process of
electing a new executive committee. All dues-paying  members are eligible to
run and any dues-paying member of AoIR is  invited to run or to nominate
someone to run. You are all urged to  participate to your fullest by raising
the issues of importance to you  and by voting. If you are not a dues-paying
member of AoIR, becoming  one now (or renewing) enables you to participate
in this process (and  provides other benefits). In particular, if you are
attending the conference, membership will provide a substantial registration
fee discount.  See http://www.aoir.org for more  information. 

If you have opinions about what you would like AoIR to become or the kinds
of things you think it should be  doing, then you should put those opinions
into action. If  you have talents or experience that you think AoIR could
use, and  you'd like to put them to use for AoIR, you should run. Just about
all  of AoIR's business is conducted online, apart from 
meetings at the  annual conference. 

Here is an overview of the election timeline, procedures and positions for
nomination, as determined by the Association's by-laws. Voting instructions
will be provided later and separately. 

TIME FRAME OF THE ELECTION: 
1. Call for Nominations: May 2, 2005 
  
2. Nominations close:  May 31, 2005 

3. Discussion period begins: June 1, 2005 
  
4. Discussion period ends: June 30, 2005 
  
5. Voting begins: July 1, 2005 
  
6. Voting ends: July 30, 2005 

The new committee assumes its duties at the end of  the General Meeting at
the AoIR conference, October 2005. 
  
A QUICK ORGANIZATIONAL PRIMER: 
The organizational structure of AoIR is simple. There are 5 officers,  3
open seat representatives, and 2 appointed positions who together with the
Immediate Past President  make up the 11-member executive committee that
runs the show. Elected officials hold their positions for two years. In this
election, you are invited to nominate 
yourself or anyone else who you  think would do a good job, for any position
other than the President - the current Vice President assumes the
Presidency. We will be saying more about the 2 appointed positions later in
the month. 

Here are brief  descriptions of each position: 
  
The five officers of the association: 
1. President: the "CEO", supervises the organization, performs certain
legally required duties. 
2. Vice President: "back up" for President, various duties as they arise;
becomes President after 2 years. 
3. Secretary: Handles records and organizational matters. 
4. Treasurer: Handles the money and membership. 
5. Graduate Student Representative: responsible for running graduate student
acitivities. 
  
Open Committee Seats: 
6 - 8. Three open Seats on the Executive Committee Represent membership of
AoIR, contribute to decision making. Take responsibility for specific
projects or activities to promote the association within their term. 

Candidates should also familiarise themselves with the formal statement of
duties and responsibilities in the Association's by-laws
http://www.aoir.org/?q=node/113 <http://www.aoir.org/?q=node/113>  .


NOMINATIONS AND ELECTION PROCESSES 
Only a dues-paying  member of AoIR can run for a position, nominated by
anyone. If nominated for more than one  position a nominee must choose to
run for one (and only one) position  in this election. You may nominate
yourself or another person (or people). 
  
Self Nominations: Email nominate at aoir.org and indicate the position for
which you are nominating and you will be added to the  list of nominees and
given instructions as to  how to submit your information for voters to
consider. 

Nominating Others: Email nominate at aoir.org with the name of the person you
want to nominate, the position for which you are nominating this person,
contact information for that person, and an indication of whether you know
if this person would accept this nomination (if you don't know, we'll
contact them and ask). 

All candidates for election will be required to provide answers to the
questions listed at the end of this email via the AoIR election forum
website, and participate in an online candidate discussion forum In addition
the Graduate Student candidates must confirm in their response that they
comply with section 10 of the by-laws, namely "The Graduate Student
Representative must be actively enrolled in a degree program at the time of
nomination and election." 

The voting system used by AoIR is one vote per dues-paying member for each
of the seven positions for election listed above. Votes are counted by a
ballot counter who is a member of the Association but not a member of the
executive. In the case of the four officers, the candidate with the highest
number of votes shall be declared the winner; in the 
case of the open seats, the three candidates with the highest,
second-highest and third highest votes shall be declared the winners of the
open seats. 

In the case of tied results for the officer positions, the winner shall be
determined by the ballot counter, by drawing of lots, using a method that
ensures each of the tying candidates has an equal chance of success and
witnessed by at least 2 people independent to the association. In the case
of tied results for the open seat positions, the drawing of lots shall be
used only when there are more tied candidates than seats available. 

QUESTIONS FOR CANDIDATES 

1) What is your interest in this position? 
2) What are your qualifications for this position (including prior
experience and participation in AoIR)? 
3) What are two or three short-term goals you would like to achieve through
membership of the executive (include a rationale for each goal and how you
would contribute to their achievement)? 
4) What is your long-term vision for AoIR? 
5) What else should voters consider when deciding whether or not to  vote
for you? 

In answering the questions, please be concise and give information specific
to the position for which you are nominating and which will permit voters to
assess your case for election to that position. 

On Behalf of the AoIR executive 


Dr Matthew Allen
Associate Professor Internet Studies
Associate Dean Teaching and Learning, Humanities
Curtin University of Technology, CRICOS 00301J Australia
m.allen at curtin.edu.au
http://smi.curtin.edu.au/netstudies/allen.htm
+61 8 92663511 (v) +61 8 9266 3166 (f)
Vice-President, Association of Internet Researchers http://www.aoir.org