Executive Member Selection Protocol
Executive Member Selection Protocol
The National Board of Directors has approved the following protocols for the selection of Executive Members. Some of the materials below have been reproduced from the Bylaws or the Standard Regional Policies & Protocols for convenience.
Timing; Nomination Committee
It is critically important that an Executive Member be elected or re-elected no less than 45 days (and preferably 60 or more days) before his or her term expires so there is adequate time to have the nominee approved by the Area Director and Section Director, as applicable, and presented to the National Board of Directors (NBOD) for final approval.
A Nomination Committee should be appointed at least three months, and preferably six months, before the expiration of the Executive Member’s term. The Nomination Committee must have at least two members and may not include any person standing for election or who is related to any person standing for election.
At the Region level, the Nomination Committee should be comprised of a reasonable number of both Regional Board Members and Regional Participating Members who are not players or Members of the Regional Board.
The Nomination Committee should publicize via both email and websites that nominations are open for at least 30 days prior to the date of the selection meeting. At the Region level, notice of the opening of nominations for Regional Commissioner should be sent to all members of the Region. At the Area level, notice of the opening of nominations for should be sent to each Regional Commissioner with a request that the notice be provided to all members of the Regional Board. At the Section level, notice of the opening of nominations for should be sent to each Area Director with a request that the notice be provided to all members of the Area Board. Notice of the opening of nominations should also be posted on the landing page of the website for the Region, Area, or Section whose Executive Member nominations are opening. The Nomination Committee may directly solicit candidates that they believe are qualified to fill the Executive Member position. Nominations should close seven to ten days prior to the date of the selection meeting to provide adequate time to complete the vetting of the candidates.
Each person expressing interest in becoming a candidate for an Executive Member position must be referred to the job description for that Executive Member position. Job descriptions are available in Section 15 of the AYSO Reference Book or at Executive Member Appointment Forms. Each candidate should submit his or her qualifications in writing to the Nomination Committee.
Vetting Process
The Nomination Committee should vet each candidate as he or she enters the nomination process, including at a minimum:
· Confirmation that the candidate is currently registered as a volunteer with AYSO.
· Confirmation that the candidate has passed the AYSO screening and background check.
· Confirmation, to the extent reasonably possible, that the information provided regarding his or her training and experience with AYSO is accurate.
· The name and statement of qualifications of each candidate must be provided to the current Executive Member holding that position and the Executive Member at the next level up (i.e. Area Director for Regional Commissioner candidates, Section Director for Area Director candidates, and National Board of Director Liaison for Section Director candidates) in order to confirm the candidate is in good standing with AYSO. If the election is for Regional Commissioner, the Area Director shall also forward the name and statement of qualifications of the candidate to the applicable Section Director.
· If a prospective candidate for Regional Commissioner is deemed by the Nominating Commission to be unqualified to run for the position, a representative of the Nominating Committee must discuss the issue with the Region’s Area Director prior to declaring the individual as unqualified so that the Area Director may provide guidance and support as appropriate.
The applicable Area Director and the Section Director each have the right to approve or disapprove the nomination of a candidate as Regional Commissioner. National Bylaws Article 7.03. The applicable Section Director has the right to approve or disapprove the nomination of a candidate as Area Director. National Bylaws Article 7.02. Early notification of potential candidates to the Area Director and Section Director allows those Executive Directors sufficient time to vet the candidate and determine whether or not they will approve the candidate before the names of the candidates are announced. If there is any doubt, the Area Director or Section Director, as applicable, can have private communications to the affected candidate in order to avoid potential embarrassment.
Who May Participate in the Selection of an Executive Member
Section Director: The Section Director nominee shall be selected by a majority vote of the Area Directors and the incumbent Section Director. National Bylaws Article 7.01.
Area Director: The Area Director nominee shall be selected by a majority vote of the Area’s Regional Commissioners and the incumbent Area Director. If any Region does not have an appointed Regional Commissioner, that Region will not be represented at the vote for Area Director. National Bylaws Article 7.02.
Regional Commissioner: The Regional Commissioner nominee shall be selected by a majority vote of the incumbent Regional Commissioner and the other members of the Regional Board entitled to vote. National Bylaws Article 7.03. Each board position is entitled to vote for Regional Commissioner unless the position is designated as non-voting in Addendum A to the Region’s Standard Regional Policies & Protocols. Persons designated as holding “staff” positions rather than “board members” shall not be entitled to vote. A person holding multiple board positions entitled to vote shall have only one vote (unless holding a written proxy for another person who holds a board position entitled to vote).
Qualified Voters: All persons described above must be properly registered with AYSO as a volunteer for the current Membership Year and “in term” at the time of the selection.
Confirmation by Nomination Committee: At least one week prior to the selection meeting date, the Nomination Committee should obtain from the existing Executive Member a list of the current Board Positions, the name of each person holding those positions and identification of any vacancies, and (for Regional Commissioner elections) a copy of the most current Standard Regional Policies & Protocols for the Region. The Nomination Committee should confirm:
· For Regional elections, which Regional Board Members hold voting or non-voting positions (if any), per the Standard Regional Policies & Protocols.
· For Regional elections, that the Board Member is listed as holding the applicable Board position in the Region Information File.
· Whether each of the Board Members is currently registered as a volunteer with AYSO[ET2] and [KD(3] has passed the AYSO screening and background check.
· That the Board Member is not currently suspended from his or her role as Board Member.
If any of the requirements above is not satisfied, that person is not entitled to vote.
The Nomination Committee should also confirm:
· Whether each of the Board Members is intending to attend the selection meeting, will vote by email, or requires a proxy form
· The number of Board Members required for a quorum and whether that number is likely to be achieved (either in person, by email vote, or by proxy)
Proxies
If a qualified voter will not be able to attend the meeting where the selection process will occur, either in person or by electronic means, that person may provide a written proxy designating another qualified voter to vote for them to the Chair of the Nomination Committee. A form of proxy may be found at https://www.aysovolunteers.org/sd-ad-rc-appointment-forms/ under the Volunteer Positions, Compliance & Assessment tab[ET4] . The proxy must be received by the Chair of the Nomination Committee no earlier than five days and no later than 9:00 pm on the day before the selection meeting by the board member seeking to appoint a proxy that specifically lists the name of the designated proxy holder and authorizes the proxy holder to do one of the following: (i) vote for a specific candidate, (ii) exercise discretion to vote on a candidate, or (iii) to withhold the vote and not select any of the candidates. Proxies must be printed out prior to the selection meeting.
Voting by Email
Voting for a candidate by email is acceptable but voting by proxy is preferred. Emails must be sent to the Chair of the Nomination Committee and all committee members no earlier than five days and no later than 9:00 pm on the day before the selection meeting. Emails must be printed out prior to the selection meeting, the email address and name of the qualified Board Member must be clearly shown and authenticated as being an email address used by the sender, and the name of the candidate selected must be clearly stated.
Preparation for Selection Meeting
In advance of the selection meeting, the Nomination Committee should:
· Prepare a written ballot that lists the name of each of the candidates standing for election. The ballots should all be the same size and same color.
· Make a copy of each candidate’s statement of qualifications for each Board Member for distribution at the selection meeting. These should also be distributed to Board Members in advance of the meeting by email or other means, if possible.
Conduct of the Selection Process
Recommended Oversight
· Area Directors should attend the meeting in which a Regional Commissioner from that Area will be selected.
· Section Directors should attend the meeting in which an Area Director from that Section will be selected.
· The applicable NBOD Liaison should attend the meeting in which a Section Director will be selected.
In-Person Selection
· A majority of the board members then in office and qualified to vote shall constitute a quorum. Valid proxies and votes by email timely received and meeting the requirements stated above count for the purpose of determining a quorum.
· Selection process and voting will be conducted by the Chair of the Nomination Committee, or a neutral disinterested party appointed by the Chair of the Nomination Committee (the Chair).
· Nominations from the floor may not be accepted.
· Unless changed by the Chair, each candidate for the open position will be permitted to make an opening statement of no more than two (2) minutes, the order of which will be randomly selected. The statements will be timed. A question-and-answer period will follow, not to exceed one hour. A timekeeper will be identified by the Chair.
· Anyone present may ask a question.
· Questions may be posed to a single candidate, multiple candidates, and/or all the candidates. The Chair may use the National Annual Meeting protocols in conducting the questioning period.
· Unless changed by the Chair, each candidate will have one (1) minute to respond to any question posed to them.
· Candidates may not answer a question not specifically posed to them.
· Votes will be anonymously cast on identical ballots and deposited into a ballot receptacle, with oversight by the Chair or Nomination Committee conducting the election.
· Votes will be counted including proxy and email votes by the Nomination Committee or two or more neutral disinterested parties designated by that Committee.
· All votes shall be cast contemporaneously; there shall be no piecemeal voting in which one or more persons is permitted to cast a vote after the other votes are cast.
· The candidate selected by a majority of the votes cast will be the nominee for the Executive Member position in question. A majority vote is defined as fifty (50) percent, plus one, of the votes from qualified voters.
· If no candidate receives a majority vote after the first ballot is counted, then the two (2) candidates with the highest number of votes shall proceed to a runoff vote. If there is more than one candidate with the second highest number of votes, then all candidates with the second highest number of votes will participate in a runoff with the candidate with the highest number of votes. No additional questions of candidates will be permitted before the runoff vote.
· If a voting deadlock occurs and cannot be resolved for the Regional Commissioner, the Area Director and Section Director will recommend a nominee from among the deadlocked candidates to the National Board of Directors for the Executive Member position in question. For deadlocks in Area Director Elections, the recommendation shall come from the Section Director. For deadlocks in Section Director Elections, the recommendation shall come from the National Board of Directors.
Electronic Selection
· If geographically distant situations or other conditions render in-person elections problematic, an electronic meeting and selection process may be conducted by the Nominating Committee (video conference, teleconference, web interface, for example).
· An electronic selection process should follow the protocol for in-person selections as much as is reasonably possible.
Appointment Application
At the selection meeting, or a soon as possible thereafter, the Appointment Request form should be completed. The form can be found at Executive Member Appointment Forms
Announcement
The name of the nominee may be announced to the voting Board Members after the votes have been counted and confirmed. The name of the nominee may be publicly announced once the Area Director and Section Director (as applicable) have approved the candidate as the nominee to go before the National Board of Directors for final approval.
After the announcement of the selected candidate has been made, vote count totals may be made available upon request. The individual votes are to remain confidential.
Approval
Nominees for Regional Commissioner must be approved by the Area Director and Section Director. Nominees for Area Director must be approved by the Section Director. Nominees shall not become Executive Members until appointed by vote of the National Board of Directors. National Bylaws Article 7.
