Berkeley Division

Policy and Procedures Manual

Nominating and Elections Committee

Sept. 4, 1998

Introduction:

The Nominating and Elections Committee has two primary duties during the year. In the spring, it begins work on identifying candidates and organizing the June elections for vacancies on the LAUC-B Executive Board.

In July, the committee nominates librarians for vacancies on the various LAUC-B committees and as campus representatives on the statewide committees. This calendar should be used in conjunction with the general LAUC-B calendar.

Note: Deliberations of the Nominating and Elections Committee are kept in strictest confidence.

CALENDAR

September:

New committee members receive letters from the LAUC-B Chair confirming their appointment and terms.

October:

The outgoing [Nominating and Elections Committee] chair organizes a turnover meeting of the outgoing chair and the new membership. The outgoing chair gives the new chair the committee three-ring binder. The binder should be kept well-organized and current with documentation from the previous year. The committee floppy disk should also accompany the binder.

The outgoing chair gives an overview to the new committee of their major responsibilities, referring them to the section on the Nominating and Elections Committee in the LAUC-B Bylaws. New members should be encouraged to read about the LAUC-B Executive Board officers.

The calendars for LAUC-B and the Nominating and Elections Committee should be reviewed.

The new [Nominating and Elections Committee] chair is responsible for updating the committee's email reflector(necomm@library) by sending to the Help Desk a list of the email addresses for all of the new committee members.

The LAUC-B Secretary maintains the current membership roster.

The Nominating Committee maintains the "History of LAUC-B Committee Service."

Ask the Secretary for the latest roster, if it is not already on the LAUC-B Web site, as well as the current rosters for the statewide committees.

November-February:

No activity unless a vacancy occurs.

March:

The committee meets in early March to review the LAUC-B Bylaws and Executive Board roster to determine which offices will become vacant in the new year. Because of changes to the Bylaws that may affect the number or type of appointment, the committee should review the Bylaws annually and use the Bylaws as the final determinant for identifying upcoming vacancies, and not the term ending dates noted on the Executive Board roster. Librarians serving on any LAUC-B committees must be members of LAUC-B: confirm someone's LAUC-B membership by checking to see if the name appears on the official roster. Consult the "History of LAUC-B Committee Service" as another resource for nominees.

The Nominating and Elections Committee sends out a call for volunteers and nominations for offices.

It is advisable for the committee to develop a list of as many as six to eight ranked potential nominees for each office vacancy. Although the Bylaws allow a nominee to run unopposed for Executive Board office, committee members should do their best to find at least two nominees for each office.

Consult with the LAUC-B Vice-Chair/Chair Elect about potential candidates. The Chair-Elect might also have some additional recommendations for nominees.

Responsibility for calling nominees to invite them to run for office is divided among the committee members. Allow a weekend or two working days for people to call back with their decision, if they are unable to give one right away. If there are people who are on calling lists for more than one office, the committee members will need to coordinate their phoning to avoid confusion and any potential embarassment. Email is the most efficient way to coordinate committee calling. As in all committee communications over email, refer to people only by their initials for the purposes of confidentiality. It is important to talk with the candidates in person.

Once a slate has been finalized, inform the LAUC-B Chair.

April:

The committee chair announces the slate of candidates at the LAUC-B Spring Assembly, which is held in April/May. He/she calls for any additional nominations from the floor. Nominees from the floor must have given their consent to be nominated in advance. If there are no nominations from the floor, the slate remains as stands. If there are nominations from the floor, those names are added to the ballot.

May:

The calendar for the LAUC statewide and divisional (campus) elections, and the nominees and biographical statements for the statewide candidates are sent out by the President of LAUC to the Divisional Secretaries. The LAUC-B Secretary will forward this documentation to the chair of the LAUC-B Nominating and Elections Committee.

The committee chair is responsible for producing the Library and Affiliated Library ballots, biographical statements, and ballot instructions. Use the template files on the committee disk to produce the ballots and ballot instructions. The only difference between the Library ballots and the Affiliated Library ballots is in the choices for a Library Representative Alternate and an Affiliated Library Representative Alternate, respectively. In both cases, the Alternates become the Representatives in his or her second year of office.

As much in advance as possible before the mailing, order the stationery from the Library Storehouse, charging the expense against the LAUC-B account. Find out the total LAUC-B membership from the Secretary.

You will need

ST1680 Interoffice envelopes, 4 1/8 x 9 1/2

ST1510 Manila envelopes 6 1/2 x 9 1/2

ST1560 Manila envelopes 9 x 12

Photocopy the ballots, biographical statements, and election instructions in the Library Copy Service using the LAUC-B auditron. Contact the Copy Service in advance to make sure they have enough colored paper stock: one color for the Library ballots and one for the Affiliated Library ballots. If clerical help is required, consult the LAUC-B Chair.

Request mailing address labels for LAUC-B, and an equal number of ballot returns mailing address labels from the Secretary. Completed ballots are usually sent to the Chair of the Nominating and Elections Committee.

Schedule the Nominating and Elections Committee stuffing party. The committee will send out the packets in individually addressed 9 x 12 envelopes. Members fold and insert their completed ballots into the interoffice envelopes, which they may seal or tuck. They put the closed envelope into the 6 1/2 x 9 1/2, sign across the flap, and send it back to the Nominating and Elections Committee chair in the 6 1/2 x 9 1/2 envelope. The chair's name and address should be affixed to the return envelope.

Ballots are mailed out on or around June 1, allowing about two weeks for the membership to complete and return their ballots to the Nominating and Elections Committee chair.

It is in May that the LAUC-B Treasurer will ask committee chairs to submit their budget requests for the next year. The Nominating and Elections Committee's funding needs do not change much. The chair can simply request support to cover the cost of supplies, photocopying, and clerical labor as indicated above.

June:

The ballots are counted by the committee as soon as possible following the LAUC election day. Results are tallied, and reported to the LAUC-B Secretary and LAUC-B Chair immediately. The Statewide results should be reported to the LAUC (Statewide) Nominating Committee Chair, the LAUC-B Chair should be copied on this message.

After notifying the LAUC-B officers, the Nominating and Elections Committee are responsible for notifying the LAUC-B candidates of the local election results. The LAUC-B Chair announces the news to the membership when all the candidates have been contacted.

July:

In early July, the Nominating and Elections Committee meets to review the upcoming vacancies on the various LAUC-B committees and for statewide UC Berkeley representatives. Note: finding non-librarian representatives is the responsibility of the Staff Development Committee.

The [Nominating and Elections Committee] chair sends an email message to the LAUC-B membership inviting volunteers. A copy of that email is on the committee disk.

After the deadline for volunteers has passed, the committee meets again to review the names of those who have volunteered and to brainstorm for any additional names. It is helpful to consult with the individual committee chairs for potential names for all committees. This step is essential in the process of selecting candidates to serve on CAPA. Vacancies on CAPA need to be filled carefully, in order to ensure the balance of representation between General Library and Affiliated Libraries, and public and technical services.

Divide the phoning duties among the committee members. (It is unnecessary to share the names in advance with the LAUC-B Chair.) Send the list of new committee members names (except names which have volunteered for CAPA) to the LAUC-B Chair.

The current CAPA Chair will consult with the Chair of the Nominating and Elections Committee, and together they will select names and make contact. As with the other committees, when candidates have agreed to serve, the slate is finalized and forwarded to the Executive Committee for final approval (LAUC-B Bylaws, article IV).

The LAUC-B Chair is responsible for sending letters of appointment to the new members, for announcing the new committee rosters to the LAUC-B membership, and for thanking and acknowledging those who volunteered but were not placed on a committee.

Continuing Nominating and Elections Committee members should choose a new chair. The name of the new chair should be forwarded to the LAUC-B Chair.

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