[Air-L] A Modest Proposal: Annual Elections for AoIR Internet Cat Macot

Wed Apr 24 17:16:35 PDT 2013

I will be putting forward a statement for Roscoe, the patron saint of awesomeness, in the following weeks.

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 24, 2013, at 7:20 PM, "Terri Senft" <tsenft at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Madame Incoming and Esteemed:
> 
> In addition to our other important positions, I would like to propose AoIR
> hold elections for Internet Cat Mascot. In accordance with our by-laws,
> this would be an annual position, and the cats would answer the questions
> below like anyone else would.
> 
> Naturally, since cats cannot yet write, their statements would be drafted
> by those nominating. Whether or not anyone okays this, I will write a
> statement for Maru. Andrew Herman does not yet know it, but he will
> represent Lil Bub.
> 
> Friends in the gallery: Can we agree that this is a moment long overdue in
> the history of an organization that does NOTHING but STUDY THE INTERNET?
> 
> Please, let's get some Internet cats up on this ballot.
> 
> Respectfully,
> Terri
> 
> P.S. Anticipating questions about dogs: No.
> 
> 
> Dr. Theresa M. Senft
> Global Liberal Studies Program
> School of Arts & Sciences
> New York University
> 726 Broadway  NY NY 10003
> 
> home: *www.terrisenft.net <http://goog_689013053/>** *
> facebook: www.facebook.com/theresa.senft
> twitter: @terrisenft
> 
> On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 5:35 PM, Kendall, Lori <loriken at illinois.edu> wrote:
> 
>> Dear all,
>> 
>> I am pleased to announce that AoIR has now commenced the process of
>> electing a new Executive Committee to take office in October of this year
>> and serve until October 2015. We are seeking nominations for the new
>> executive. I also note that voting for your executive committee is one of
>> the privileges of membership in AoIR. This is one of the ways you can shape
>> the organization. So if you have let your membership lapse or have not yet
>> signed up, now would be a great time to join AoIR!
>> 
>> Here is an overview of the election timeline, procedures and positions for
>> nomination, as determined by the Association's by-laws. This year we will
>> be handling voting through an election management site, and voting
>> instructions will be provided later.
>> 
>> Below in this email, you will find: A. Time frame of the election. B.
>> Description of the AoIR governance system and of the elected positions. C.
>> Nominations and Elections Processes. And D. Questions for Candidates.
>> 
>> A. Time Frame of the Election:
>> 
>> 1. Call for Nominations: opens April 25, 2013.
>> 
>> 2. Nominations close for all positions (4 officer positions and 3 open
>> seats) May 8, 2013.
>> 
>> 3. Candidate information will be made available to AoIR members on
>> aoir.org and will be sent to air-l.
>> 
>> 4. Voting begins May 22, 2013 at the balloting site. (Details for
>> accessing this site will be sent in a later email.)
>> 
>> 5. Voting ends May 31, 2013.
>> 
>> The new committee is formally announced and assumes its duties at the end
>> of the Annual General Meeting during the AoIR conference, 23-26 October
>> 2013.
>> 
>> B. AoIR Governance and Description of Elected Positions:
>> 
>> The organizational structure of AoIR is simple. There are 5 officers
>> (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Graduate Student
>> representative). The 9-member Executive Committee consists of these
>> officers, plus the Past President and 3 open seat representatives. Elected
>> officials hold their positions for two years. After two years, the Vice
>> President becomes President. In this election, nominations are invited for
>> Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Graduate Student representative, and
>> 3 open seats. You may nominate yourself or someone else you think would do
>> a good job. Details on the nomination procedure follow below.
>> 
>> Here are brief descriptions of positions:
>> 
>> President: Acts as "CEO" and supervises the organization. The President’s
>> duties include serving as part of the Conference Committee. This position
>> is not directly elected, as the Vice President becomes President after two
>> years.
>> 
>> Vice President: "Back up" for President, performing various duties as they
>> arise; becomes President after 2 years. The Vice President also serves on
>> the Conference Committee.
>> 
>> Secretary: Handles records and membership matters.
>> 
>> Treasurer: Liaises with Secretary to maintain membership records; takes
>> care of financial and related administrative duties (e.g., annual report to
>> membership and U.S. tax authorities), including close attention to the
>> annual Internet Research (IR) conference budget. The Treasurer serves on
>> the Conference Committee.
>> 
>> Graduate Student Representative: Responsible for running graduate student
>> activities. The Graduate Student Representative must be actively enrolled
>> in a degree program at the time of nomination and election. All members can
>> vote for the grad student representative.
>> 
>> Open Committee Seats: Three open Seats on the Executive Committee
>> represent membership of AoIR, and contribute to decision-making.
>> 
>> Immediate Past President: Serves on the Executive Committee.
>> 
>> More information can be found in the AoIR Bylaws:
>> 
>> http://aoir.org/about/bylaws-statements-and-policies/bylaws/
>> 
>> Candidates should familiarize themselves with the duties laid out in the
>> Bylaws. I also encourage persons interested in running for a specific
>> position to contact the current office-holder(s) with any specific
>> questions, etc.
>> 
>> 
>> C. Nominations and Elections Processes.
>> 
>> Only a 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 AoIR Secretary Catherine Middleton
>> <catherine.middleton at ryerson.ca> and indicate the position for which
>> you are nominating yourself. Please provide, in your nomination email a
>> short candidate statement addressing the questions below.
>> 
>> Nominating Others: Email AoIR Secretary Catherine Middleton
>> <catherine.middleton at ryerson.ca> 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, have the answers posted to the
>> AoIR election forum website, and participate in an online candidate forum.
>> 
>> In addition the Graduate Student candidates must confirm in their response
>> that they comply with the by-laws: 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 member for each of the
>> eight positions for election listed above. Votes will be tallied using a
>> balloting software site. In the case of the four directly elected 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 counters, 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 1 person independent of 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.
>> 
>> D. Questions for Candidates:
>> 
>> 1. What are your qualifications for this position (including prior
>> experience and participation in AoIR)?
>> 
>> 2. Please describe two or three short-term goals you would like to achieve
>> through membership on the executive (including a rationale for each and how
>> you would contribute to their achievement).
>> 
>> 3. What is your long-term vision for AoIR?
>> 
>> 4. 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.
>> 
>> 
>> In closing - please consider contributing your time and energy to making
>> AoIR even better in the upcoming years! Many thanks in advance to all who
>> will consider running and serving AoIR in this way.
>> 
>> 
>> Lori Kendall
>> Vice President, AoIR
>> ______________________
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
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>> 
>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
>> http://www.aoir.org/
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> <http://goog_689013053>
> 
> <http://goog_689013053>
> 
> Dr. Theresa M. Senft
> Global Liberal Studies Program
> School of Arts & Sciences
> New York University
> 726 Broadway  NY NY 10003
> 
> home: *www.terrisenft.net <http://goog_689013053>**
> *(needs a serious updating)
> facebook: www.facebook.com/theresa.senft
> twitter: @terrisenft
> _______________________________________________
> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> 
> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> http://www.aoir.org/