Published 30 June 2022

AGU announces proposed slate for the 2022 Board and Council Elections

Eligible Voters

Voting is a right of AGU membership. To be eligible to vote in the 2022 election, you must be a member in good standing, which requires joining AGU or renewing your membership by 5 August 2022. 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 vote for the College of Fellows vice chair.

AGU Bylaws

Voting opens in early September and will elect leaders to serve in 2023–2024. 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 29 July. Each nominee must be an AGU member and provide a letter with the petition agreeing to serve if elected. Please send petitions to Robin Bell, Past President, AGU, 2000 Florida Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20009, USA, or send them by email to [email protected].

Timeline for Election

The polls will open in early September and stay open for 30 days. The Leadership Development/Governance Committee plans to announce the final ballot on the AGU website in early August. Election results will be announced in October, and newly elected members of the Board and Council will serve 2 years, from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024.

Emails with election information will go out to all eligible voters beginning in September. 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 previous AGU election, 2 years ago, over 3,412 evaluations were received from voters and reviewed, with 90% of commenters indicating that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the process.

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 important to AGU’s mission, and its workload has increased significantly. Working with the committee chair, AGU past president Robin Bell, and vice chair, Eileen Hofmann, are members Regupathi Angappan, Aisling Dolan, Luis Gonzalez, Peter Griffith, Betty Johnson, Michael Manga, Wendy Watson-Wright, and Meng Zhou. They did an outstanding job and deserve our gratitude.

Process

For the upcoming election, the committee followed this process:

• Nomination: AGU leaders (current and past Board and Council members, current committee and task force members, editors in chief, and staff) were asked to identify potential Board and student and early-career Council candidates. This year, open positions were posted in AGU Volunteer Central and members were encouraged to self-nominate. Those who met the leadership criteria were invited to apply.
• Application: This step of the process required interested candidates to read AGU’s new 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 Board positions.
• Selection: Committee members conducted 1-hour virtual interviews with more candidates than needed for the ballot. Interviews covered clarification of answers already provided by the potential candidate, three new questions, and the opportunity for the interviewee to ask questions. 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 not on the ballot will be asked to consider serving in other leadership positions.