In 2015 HathiTrust will hold its first regular election for its Board of Governors since the original at-large members were elected to staggered terms in 2012.
HathiTrust's Board of Governors has ultimate responsibility for HathiTrust's activities, functions, finances, and operations. It includes six at-large members elected by the membership and six members appointed by the founding institutions. Elected members serve three year terms. Information about the Board of Governors, its membership, and its responsibilities may be found at https://www.hathitrust.org/board_of_governors.
Timeline
- Nominations will be accepted beginning August 3 and no later than August 24.
- Nominees must submit all required information by August 31.
- The nominees will be reviewed and the ballot finalized between September 1 and September 25.
- Elections will open on September 28 and conclude on October 19.
Open Seats
Three seats will be filled in the 2015 election:
- Two seats with terms running from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2018. These seats are currently held by Sarah Michalak, University of North Carolina-Chapel HIll and Carol Mandel, New York University.
- One seat with a term running from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016. This election is necessary because of Patricia Steele’s retirement from the University of Maryland. Anne Kenny, Cornell University was appointed by the Board to fill this seat for the remainder of 2015.
Nominating Committee
The Nominating Committee solicits and reviews nominations from the membership and presents these to the Board of Governors, which finalizes the ballot. The Nominating Committee will receive nominations from the membership from August 3 to August 24, 2015.
The members of the 2015 Nominating Committee are:
- Sarah Michalak, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (Chair)
- Alberta Comer, University of Utah
- Robert Gerrity, University of Queensland
- Lorraine Haricomb, University of Texas, Austin
- Karen Williams, University of Arizona
Qualifications
To be selected to be part of the final ballot, nominees should have a record of significant administrative responsibility, have demonstrated leadership within the community, and currently serve as the official member representative of a HathiTrust member institution.
Representatives of founding members (the University of California, the University of Michigan, Indiana University, and the members of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation) are not eligible for election because these schools appoint members to the Board.
Submitting a Nomination
Nominations may be made by any individual affiliated with a HathiTrust member institution. Self-nominations are permitted.
If you are nominating someone other than yourself, please confirm that they will agree to run if they are selected for the final ballot. Nominations should be sent to Melissa Stewart at mmstewa@hathitrust.org no later than August 24, 2015.
Nominations must include:
- Name, Library, Title, Phone, and E-mail of nominee
- Name, Library, Title, Phone, and E-mail of nominator
- A brief statement describing the nominee's qualifications
Individuals who nominate themselves are asked to submit the additional information described below.
Directions for Nominees
As nominations are submitted, the Nominating Committee will request the following additional information from nominees.
- CV of nominee
- Photo of nominee
- A narrative statement describing:
- Qualifications of nominee
- Experience in any or all of the following areas: fiduciary and management roles, strategic planning, vision-building, decision-making, conflict resolution, communication
- Interest in serving on the board
- One or two future issues that the Board should address & how the nominee would approach these issues
- The nominee’s perception of the Board of Governor’s role in leading and guiding the HathiTrust general body
Nominees should submit the above to Melissa Stewart mmstewa@hathitrust.org by August 31, 2015.
Voting
The 2015 Board of Governors election will run from September 28 through October 19, 2015. An electronic ballot will be sent to official member representatives for their vote. The candidates with the two highest weighted vote totals will be appointed to three-year terms. The candidate with the third highest weighted vote total will be appointed to a one-year term and will be eligible to stand for election again in 2016.
Votes will be calculated following the weighted voting model in use since the 2011 Constitutional Convention:
- Votes are weighted by calculating the square root of the volumes contributed and dollars spent.
- Minimum vote weights will be rounded up to a value of one (1) so that no institution has a vote with a weight of less than one.*
Voting weights for the 2015 election will be calculated using data current as of August 31, 2015.
Questions
Questions about the process or qualifications may be directed to Melissa Stewart at mmstewa@hathitrust.org.
* More information about the selection of the voting model and accompanying tables can be found online. Weighted Voting Models: http://www.hathitrust.org/documents/VotingModels.pdf; Voting Models Table: http://www.hathitrust.org/documents/voting_table.xls.