Patricia Dennis
USITT Secretary

Changes to the USITT nominations process have now been implemented, and members are urged to participate in the upcoming cycle of proposing candidates for USITT's executive offices and board of directors. A form is now available online here for members.

Two Past Presidents, Bruce Brockman and John Uthoff, along with Secretary Patricia Dennis have been working for the past several years on the nominations process and committee selection in an effort to provide a more transparent procedure.

During the process, Article V -- Nominations and Election Procedures, and Section 1. Nominations, of the By-Laws had been suspended to allow the committee, via discussion and approval of the Board of Directors, an opportunity to implement a new process (October 2006 Sightlines article).

After testing a new process during the 2007 slate development, a motion was presented at the fall Board of Directors meetings and unanimously passed changing the By-Laws to reflect this new process as follows:

ARTICLE V - NOMINATIONS AND ELECTION PROCEDURES

Section 1. NOMINATIONS. Nominations for all nationally elected officers of the Corporation shall be prepared by a Committee on Nominations.

• The Committee on Nominations shall consist of the following persons:
• President
• Immediate Past President
• President-Elect (alternate years when office is filled)
• Six (6) Regional Section officers from five (5) different Sections
• Three (3) Directors at Large
• Three (3) Commissioners
• Two (2) Representatives from the Conference Committee
• Secretary (nonvoting)
• Vice-President for Members, Sections & Chapters (non-voting)

The members chosen from the Regional Section officers, the Directors at Large, and the Commissioners, and the Conference Committee, shall be elected by the appropriate group from its membership. These members shall serve three-year terms, with one-third elected every year.

The Immediate Past President of USITT shall serve as Chair of the Nominating Committee. In the event the Immediate Past President cannot serve, the Board shall select another Past President to fill the post.

Past practice and the By-Laws restricted the selection of half of the Nominations Committee until the meetings scheduled at the Annual Conference were held. This limited the selection of potential candidates for the slate to a four-day period.

This new process begins 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 three years, so their names can be made public and members of the Institute can contact them and discuss the process.

A list of Nominations Committee members may be found here.

To Top