Elections

o   Article VII (“Elections”) of ASECS’s constitution stipulates that the Executive Board appoint a Nominating Committee as part of our annual elections. The committee’s job is to ensure that the election slate follows our society’s rules for open Board vacancies, with attention to the criteria for representation as outlined in our Constitution, accounting for a range of disciplinary fields, ranks, and institutions.

o   The Board has instructed the Nominating Committee to seek diversity, gender balance, and representation of constituencies that are currently underrepresented both within and outside ASECS.

o   We are an interdisciplinary society, and our Constitution thus stipulates that our Board reflect multiple disciplines. Sometimes exceptions must be made to these stipulations, of course, and disciplines are not always clear cut, but in general:

• Article VII, Section 2, states that there cannot be more than 3 elected officers (i.e. excluding the Executive Director and the Treasurer) from the same discipline. Since there will be 3 Board Members from Languages and Literatures other than English (Category B) for the 2025-2026 Board Year, Board Members must come from the other categories.
• Further, according to Section 5, the 2^nd Vice President and 1^st Vice President should not come from the same discipline. Since our current 2^nd Vice President is in Languages and Literatures other than English (Category B), nominees for the 2^nd Vice President must come from other disciplines. (You can read more about disciplinary definitions in the Bylaws portion of the document linked above.)

 o   If the current 2^nd Vice President is willing to advance to the 1^st Vice President position, and if the current 1^st Vice President is willing to advance to the President position, the Nominating Committee does not propose other candidates.

o   It’s really easy! Just submit a name of a member and a link to their website (or you can include their c.v.) via the form at the top of this page, and a short note about why you think they would be a good candidate to serve on the Executive Board.

o   Yes! It’s helpful if you include a brief statement about why you would like to serve on the Executive Board, and feel free to include a c.v. or a link to your website, just like you would if you were nominating someone else.

o   The Nominating Committee selects two candidates each for 2^nd Vice President and members at large vacancies according to the criteria above and makes sure they have agreed to run. The Committee forwards its report to the Executive Director, who then sets up the ballot. As per the Constitution, Article VII, Section 5, instructions for additional candidates will be sent out to members. (You can read more about specific deadlines in the Bylaws section of the document linked above.)

o Then we vote! (Only members in good standing are eligible to vote.)

o  Yes – in order to appear on the ballot, candidates must be members in good standing. It’s easy to join or renew. Just go to this page: ASECS membership

o   You can find a summary of Board member rules and responsibilities for the current Board year here:

o  For further information, you can contact Yann Robert, chair of the Nominating Committee (yrobert@uic.edu) or Benita Blessing, Executive Director (director@asecs.org).

o   Yes! ASECS has ongoing opportunities throughout the year for service. You can find more information on the Committees page.