ACR Announces Candidates in 2005 Board Election

ACR’s Campaigning and Electioneering Guidelines: http://www.acrnet.org/membership/news/081204.htm

July 5, 2005

Dear ACR Member,

Several positions on the ACR Board of Directors will become open in October for the 2005–2006 Board, and this year’s nominees are listed below. Pursuant to the procedures established in ACR’s Bylaws, some positions are elected and some are appointed by the Board.  All appointed and elected Board Directors will take office at the conclusion of the ACR Annual Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota (September 28–October 1, 2005).  The open positions are:

¨   President-Elect: the Bylaws* require that this be a contested election. The individual receiving the most votes will become President-Elect, while the runner-up will become Vice-President. President-Elect is a three-year term (one year as President-Elect; one year as President; one year as Past President).  Vice-President is a one-year term.

¨   Five Directors: three elected by the membership, including a Chapters Director, a Sections Director and an “at-large” Director. In addition, this year the Board will appoint two “at-large” Directors. Directors serve three-year terms.

The following ACR Directors’ terms will end in October 2005:  Nicholas Dewar, Stephen Erickson, Diane Kenty, Jennifer Lynch, Peter Maida, Rosemary Romero and Leah Wing.

2005–2006 ACR Board Composition

President: Terrence T. Wheeler

President-Elect: to be elected by the membership

Immediate Past President: Larry Sun Fong

Vice-President: to be elected by the membership

Treasurer: to be selected by the Board from among the 2005–2006 Directors

Secretary: to be selected by the Board from among the 2005–2006 Directors

Sections Director: to be elected by the membership

Chapters Director: to be elected by the membership

At-Large Directors:        John Conbere (term ends 2006)

Richard Fincher (term ends 2006)

Marvin E. Johnson (term ends 2006)

Anne B. Thomas (term ends 2006)

                                    Paula J. Trout (term ends 2006)

Bill Drake (term ends 2007)

H. Ray Lanier (term ends 2007)

                                    1 Director to be elected by membership (term ends 2008)

                                    2 Directors to be appointed by the Board (term ends 2008)

Nominees

After an exhaustive process of review of many qualified individuals, the Governance Committee has selected the following nominees for open elected positions:

President-Elect / Vice President:  Richard D. Fincher and Horatio A. (Ray) Lanier

Chapters Director: Tara E. Fishler and James A. Rosenstein

Sections Director: Rita A. Callahan and Clarence Cramer

At Large Director: (one elected position): Angelia J. Tolbert and Leah Wing

Write-in Nominations

ACR members who would like to nominate a member for one of the open Board positions may do so by collecting 100 member signatures in support of their desired candidate.  Nominees must meet the qualifications set forth in Sections 8.2 and 17.3 of the Bylaws.* The signatures must be collected in the next 30 days (by August 4, 2005), and submitted to the Governance Committee via fax to 202-464-9720. Please note: In order for a write-in candidate’s name to appear on the ballot, the nomination, including supporting signatures, must be received by ACR no later than August 4, 2005.

Voting Procedure

All voting will be conducted online and must conclude by September 12, 2005. 

Information about how to access the ballot online will be sent to ACR’s voting members by August 12, 2005. In order to help members make their decision, all candidates will be asked to complete a questionnaire, which will be included with the ballot.

Please note that Associates, Youth members and Organizational Affiliates are not eligible to vote in the Board of Directors election and will not receive ballot announcements. If you would like to check your membership category or change to a voting category (e.g., Member, Practitioner/Educator/Researcher, Advanced Practitioner, Student or Retiree), you may do so by logging in to ACR’s Online Member Center at www.ACRnet.org or by contacting the Membership Department at 202-464-9700 ext. 245 or membership@ACRnet.org before ballot information is sent to voting members on August 12, 2005.

Respectfully Submitted,

Rosemary Romero

Chair, ACR Governance Committee

Immediate Past President, ACR

*Bylaws

Section 8.2 Member-Elected Officers. Pursuant to the election procedures in Article 17 of these Bylaws, the ACR members shall elect from among qualified ACR members in good-standing the following officers: President-Elect and Vice-President. The President-Elect must have served previously on the Board of either ACR, the Academy of Family Mediators (“AFM”), the Conflict Resolution Education Network (“CREnet”), or the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution (“SPIDR”), within the five (5) years immediately preceding his/her nomination as President-Elect.

Section 17.3 Qualifications for Directors and President-Elect.

(a) Only Members of ACR in good standing, who are at least eighteen (18) years of age, may be nominated for the Board of Directors. In addition, candidates for President-Elect shall meet the qualifications set forth in Section 8.2 of these Bylaws.

(b) The Governance Committee and Members by petition as provided in Section 17.2 shall nominate candidates who possess the skills, expertise, resources, and wisdom most needed by the Board of Directors at any particular time to execute its duties of overseeing the implementation of the Mission and guiding the policies of ACR.

(c) The Governance Committee shall seek to nominate candidates who reflect and bring balance to the full range of practice methodology, process skills and approaches, professional interests, and geographic distribution within ACR’s membership, as well as ACR’s commitment to diversity and equity.