Patricia Dennis
USITT Secretary &
John S. Uthoff
Immediate Past President

USITT is currently in the process of reviewing and moving forward with a new procedure for seeking nominations. This discussion first began with the Nominations committee members in 2005 in Toronto. There was a consensus that the process may have appeared to the membership to be secretive, with little or no knowledge of the individuals serving on the committee.

Past practice and the By-Laws restricted the selection of half of the Nominations Committee until the meetings scheduled at the Annual Conference. This restricted the selection of potential candidates for the slate to a four-day period. By Board action the current By-laws on nominations (Article V, Section 1) have been suspended, allowing for a new process to be implemented. It should be noted that although the By-laws are suspended, the committee plans to maintain the integrity of the representative groups on the committee.

This new process will begin earlier, allowing more time for contemplation, discussion, and solicitation of nominees for these critical positions within the Institute. The revised process calls for members of the nominations committee to serve for two years, so their names can be made public and members of the Institute can contact them and discuss the process. The Nominations Committee is made up of representatives from the following groups: Directors at Large, Section Officers, Conference Committee, and Commissioners.

The work of the committee will begin this Fall, using the following timeline:

October - January

• seek nominations from their constituency groups
• contact nominee/s for willingness to have name placed in nomination
• provide pertinent information regarding nominees history with USITT

February

• committee provides list to Secretary who will check for nominees eligibility in accordance with USITT By-laws
• Secretary forwards to committee

March (Annual Conference and Stage Expo)

• committee will meet to discuss and vote on the slate of candidates to be placed on the ballot.

The following individuals represent the Nominations Committee responsible for initiating this discussion. They have agreed to continue their service through the 2007 election. In addition, many thanks to Bruce Brockman, Past President and Chair of the 2006 Nominations Committee, and our late colleague Cindy Poulson who also participated in these discussions.

USITT members should feel free to suggest candidates for Institute office to anyone on the committee or submit a nomination using the nominations form available here and on the USITT web site.

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