Nominating Committee Guidelines

In the August 2005 and the May 2006 issues of the ATLA Newsletter, the Nominating Committee described the guidelines for the Committee’s activities and the process of developing a slate of candidates for election to the ATLA Board of Directors. In this article we wish to re-cap for you that process and alert you to the information you will be receiving in the next few months.

During the conference in June, the Nominating Committee contacted several individuals about their interest in being a candidate for the Board. By October 1 of this year, Marti Alt, as Nominating Committee chair, will present to the ATLA Secretary, Roberta Schaafsma, the names of those who have consented to have their names included on the slate for the Board. By mid-October the ATLA membership will receive a letter from Roberta letting them know the names on the slate of candidates as well as a description of the process of making petition nominations to the Secretary. By February 15, more detailed information about the candidates will be sent to the membership along with the ballots.

Only those who are individual members of ATLA are eligible for nomination. In all cases, nominees must expressly consent in order to become candidates. Except for the Board’s standing committees, no ATLA Committee or Interest Group chairperson may simultaneously be a Board member (though they need not step down unless elected, nor until the time of the annual Conference). The same holds true for all members of Advisory Committees to the Board (Index, Preservation, Technology, and Membership). Board members may serve two consecutive three-year terms. Unless they decline, those completing one term normally are nominated for re-election.

The Bylaws specify a procedure for additional nominations that anyone may use. A petition signed by at least ten individual members may be submitted to the ATLA Secretary. This procedure has been used in the past, and in at least one relatively recent case, the nominee was elected. The Director of Member Services both deals with any later (petition) nominees and requests from all candidates both biographical information and candidacy statements related to ATLA and its mission, needs or the like.

So how does the composition of the Board turn out the way it does? What factors weigh in?

Regarding the Board aggregately, the Nominating Committee must seek representation of libraries whose collections, staffs, and budgets differ in size. Both library directors and those in technical services, reference, and so on should be represented on the Board. More subtle is the ratio of college or university-aligned divinity schools to self-standing seminaries, or the presence of members who are not at specifically theological libraries. Geographic (including Canadian), ethnic, racial, gender and denominational balances also demand serious consideration.

Regarding individual nominees, these are some factors: 1) demonstrated commitment to the Association, especially when combined with experience that can contribute to one’s potential to be an ATLA officer; 2) appropriate continuity of experience on the Board, as well as enlistment of those who have not served before but seek leadership opportunities; 3) Committee and Interest Group participation; 4) propensity to think in terms of Association mission, context, systems, and harmonious advancement; 5) ability to deal with values, vision, and the long term; 6) ability and willingness to participate assertively in deliberations; and 7) willingness to delegate and share decision-making authority with others.

Reprinted from the ATLA Newsletter, May 2007

In the August 2006 ATLA Newsletter (pages 7-8), the Nominating Committee, which is a Standing Committee of the Board, provided a robust explanation of the nominating process and how various members of the Association become members of the Board. That explanation is essential background to what we say here by way of invitation.

Besides the ten-signature petition whereby members may nominate someone to be added to the slate of candidates announced in the fall, ATLA members also have the opportunity to suggest names to the Nominating Committee in the spring, prior to the Thursday of the Conference. The procedure for doing so is to review the criteria and other information we presented in the August Newsletter, and to suggest the person or persons you have in mind to one or more members of the Nominating Committee. Self-nominations are welcome. The Committee may or may not follow up, depending on the number of names under consideration, the various criteria for Board membership, the considerations regarding diverse kinds of balance on the Board, and so forth.

Everyone should understand that a follow-up by the Committee is only a possibility, and initially involves exploration of the further possibility of nomination. But, the more names the better, for that allows us to find candidates who, in the aggregate and along with current Board members, tend to meet the diverse criteria as well as afford broader representation of the total Association.

Although each of us Committee members is keenly interested in ATLA, none of us "campaigned" to serve in this manner. We do take our service very seriously, and we seek to identify potential candidates as best we can, trying to keep foremost in mind the long-range good of the Association. This has become increasingly challenging as ATLA has developed into a multi-million-dollar organization with a headquarters and impressive staff. Indeed, we ask for your moral support and your prayers as we attempt to discharge our responsibilities in a prudent and rigorous manner.

E-mail is the preferred means of contacting us. We may phone you thereafter or speak with you at the Conference or later in the summer, if necessary.

James C. Pakala (05-07) Chair
Susan Ebertz (06-08)
M. Patrick Graham (07-09)