AGU Elections FAQs
Eligible Voters
Voting is a right of AGU membership. To be eligible to vote in the 2026 election, you must be a member in good standing, which requires joining AGU or renewing your membership by the end of August 2026. In addition to paying your dues, please go online and ensure that your section affiliations are up to date. AGU allows members to belong to as many sections as desired to encourage interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. Each member will have the opportunity to vote for AGU Board members, student and early career positions on the Council, and leaders of all sections with which they are affiliated. You must be an AGU Fellow to participate in the College of Fellows election.
Timeline for Election
The polls will open in early October and stay open for 30 days. The Leadership Development/Governance Committee plans to announce the final ballot on the AGU website in early September. Election results will be announced in November, and newly elected members of the Board and Council will serve 2 years, from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2028.
Emails with election information will go out to all eligible voters in late September/early October. It is important for members to vote and provide feedback on the voting process so that Leadership Development/Governance Committee members and staff can continue to improve the voting experience for our members. In the 2024 AGU election, 2,128 evaluations were received from voters and reviewed, with 88% of commenters indicating that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the process.
Experiments
During every election, members are encouraged to provide feedback on how AGU can improve future elections. Members have consistently asked for ranked choice voting as an alternative to AGU’s usual paired slate elections; that was implemented in 2024 and will be used as appropriate. The experiments identified for the 2026 election are single candidate elections. As explained in the From the Prow post, section leaders had the opportunity to appoint their secretary this year, and nine sections opted for that option. In addition, all four students on the Council ballot will be elected to ensure we have students on the Council since all five continuing members are early career scientists. The AGU Board approved presenting a single AGU President-Elect candidate for election this year in response to the external environment, trends within the association community, and declining voter participation in AGU elections.
AGU Bylaws
The polls will be open most of October. Voters will elect leaders to serve in 2027-2028. AGU Bylaws require that the proposed slates be announced to the membership 30 days before the ballot is finalized. The bylaws also allow for additional nominations from the general membership by petition, provided that each petition is signed by at least 1% of the full voting members of the Union, section, or College of Fellows, as appropriate. This year, petitions must be received no later than 8 September. Each nominee must be an AGU member and provide a letter with the petition agreeing to serve if elected. Additional nominations will handled by the committee in the same manner as other nominations made earlier in the process. Please send petitions to Lisa Graumlich, Chair of the Leadership Development/Governance Committee, AGU, 2000 Florida Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20009, USA, or send them by email to [email protected].
Committee Members and Charge
The AGU Leadership Development/Governance Committee is charged with identifying and developing leadership within AGU to advance the strategic plan and strengthen the governance model. The work of this committee is critical to AGU’s mission, and its workload has increased significantly. Working with the Committee Chair and Past President Lisa Graumlich, are members Regupathi Angappan, Robin Bell, Brooke Felts, Qiang Fu, Helen Glaves, Peter Griffith, Denise Hills, Betty Johnson, Laura Lyon, Jenny Riker, and Wonsuh Song. Staff partners include Janice Lachance, CEO, and Cheryl Enderlein, VP, Leadership and Governance. They did an outstanding job and deserve our gratitude.
Process
For the upcoming election, the committee followed this process for open Board positions and student / early career Council positions:
- Nomination: The Leadership Development/Governance Committee worked to increase inclusivity. The call for nominations was advertised through a variety of channels, including at AGU25 and official AGU social media. Members were encouraged to self-nominate and/or nominate others. The committee also invited current AGU leaders and staff to identify potential Board and student and early-career Council candidates. Those who met the leadership criteria were invited to apply.
- Application: This step of the process required interested candidates to read AGU’s strategic plan, Conflict of Interest Policy, and Scientific Integrity and Professional Ethics Policy. Applicants also had to answer some questions set by the committee and sign conflict of interest and ethics disclosure forms if selected for the ballot. The committee reviewed all applications for Board positions and determined whom to invite for an interview. AGU is in the enviable position of having many more qualified candidates than it has open positions.
- Selection: Committee members conducted 1-hour virtual interviews with more candidates than needed for the ballot. All interviews followed the same format. The final selections and pairings were made based on the criteria set at the beginning of the process to support the strategic plan and bring diversity to the continuing members of the Board. Candidates who are not on the ballot will be considered for other leadership positions.
- New steps added to AGU President-Elect process this year: Significant steps were added to the president-elect process to ensure due diligence in executing this decision. These included a feedback session, strengths assessment, conversation with AGU’s leadership coach, and a second interview.
- Processes for the AGU President-Elect, Board Director, and student/early career Council positions are outlined on the election website.