ACADEMIC STAFF ASSEMBLY
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
2004-05 Annual Report
Structure
The Nominating Committee (NC) met once monthly throughout the academic year. At these meetings, the NC members (1) updated each other on projects completed during the previous month, (2) reviewed candidate's information and made selections, (3) determined any recruitment, communication, or other actions needed, and (4) allocated tasks to be complete in the upcoming month. Committee membership included Simon Anderson, Jackie Hank, Beth Holden, Abigail Loomis, Roger Maclean, Mara McDonald, Tim O'Connor, Jeffrey Petersen, and Mary Barnard Ray, Chair.
Accomplishments
1. Increased Representation on Committees
This year the NC provided candidates for the Assembly's standing committees
and for joint governance committees from a wider range of districts. The
54 candidates we provided came from 39 districts. This range of districts
represents a broader academic staff involvement than in past years, although
we hope to broaden the involvement further in 2005-06.
2. Increased Communication about the Nomination Process
The NC increased communication to Academic Staff about committee openings
in two ways. First, the NC reported to the Assembly more often about where
we were in the nominating process, to help Assembly representatives know
when to encourage volunteers. Second, the NC sent emails to the Assembly
list serve announcing specific openings for which we were recruiting candidates.
The list serve in particular proved effective. Often the NC had a substantial
list of interested people within 40 hours of sending out the announcement.
3. Increased Transparency about the Nomination Process
By establishing standard questions for all nominees and a standard process
for recruiting and then selecting candidates, the NC was able to ensure
that candidates were measured by equivalent standards and could be evaluated
fairly even when no one on the NC personally knew the candidate. This
leveled the playing field and should in the long run encourage more people
to apply for committee work.
4. Improved Access to Information about Committees
One ongoing project, which the NC hopes to continue developing next year,
is an NC web page with accessible information about all the committee
opportunities. This web page will include a table that briefly describes
all the committees that include academic staff members, providing information
that corresponds to frequently asked questions by current candidates.