Major Changes in Alumnae Association Election Procedures (2009)
Voting for officers of the historic MUW alumnae/alumni association will reach a new level of inclusiveness beginning this year with the implementation of new election procedures which do not require attendance at Homecoming in order to cast ballots.
By Jimmie Meese Moomaw
The drawback to holding the election of association officers during the annual business meeting has been that voting was a privilege available only to those alumnae who were able to be physically present on campus for Homecoming. In an effort to make our association genuinely inclusive and to provide for the greatest level of participation possible in the election of our leaders, our new By-laws, passed last April, provide for significant changes in our election process.
To achieve that goal, alums may now vote by mail or email. The new voting procedure involves several distinct phases: an open period for member input in the form of suggestions to the nominating committee; a period for the nominating committee to review and consider all suggestions and prepare an official slate of officers; approval of the official slate by the Board of Directors; another period for input from the membership at large to make additional nominations (the equivalent of nominations from the floor); the posting of the ballot, including both the names on the Nominating Committees slate and the names of anyone nominated from the floor; an open period for voting, and finally the tallying of the ballots.
To assure fairness and protect the integrity of the election process, all ballots will be tallied by an independent auditor. The results will be announced, not at Homecoming as has been done in the past, but prior to Homecoming.
Alumni who want to become voting members must activate their MUWAeA memberships and pay association dues before February 1, 2009 to be eligible to vote in the election of 2009 Officers and Board members. General members of the Association may activate their membership online by clicking here.
All general members were eligible to submit suggestions for officers and board of director positions to the Nominating Committee beginning in November. Suggestions were collected for one month and then reviewed by the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee is scheduled to present their slate to the Association Board at the Winter Board Meeting on January 31.
Each alumnus selected for the slate must be an active member of the Alumnae Association, must agree to accept the nomination and must provide the committee with a brief bio and digital photo for the Association website.
The Board will release the recommend slate for review by the membership on February 1, 2009. “Floor” nominations will then be accepted during a two week period after release of the slate. An electronic and printable form will be posted on the Association website for those who wish to nominate someone.
Each nomination form will require the name and contact information for the person nominated. The Nominating Committee will contact each person nominated from the floor to obtain the nominee’s agreement to serve, verification of Activated Membership, a completed Bio and a digital photo. Any general member nominated from the floor will have until February 12 to pay dues and become an active member and eligible to accept the nomination.
Ballots will be sent by email or postal mail (according to preference selected) to activated members only. The ballots will also include any Board recommended amendment to the By-laws.
The following are the dates in the new election process:
November 17 December 20: Nominating Committee Accepts Suggestions for Board and Officers.
January 30-31: Nominating Committee presents slate to Board for approval.
February 1: Deadline to Activate Membership and be able to vote in 2009 election.
February 2: 2010 Membership Drive begins.
February 1 12: Floor nominations accepted; deadline to activate membership for floor nominees.
February 15 March 15: Open Voting period; mail-in ballots postmarked by March 15.
April 17 19: Homecoming; Spring Board and General Membership Business Meeting.
If you have questions or need additional information about the new election process, please visit our website at www.msfirstalumnae.com.com, send an email to getconnected@muwalumnae.com or call Mississippi's First Alumnae Association Vice President Lillian Wade at 662-328-8012.