2017 Advisory Board Elections

In 2017, NASPA will hold an election for three members of its Advisory Board (AB).

The AB acts as a liaison between the membership and the Executive Committee (EC), helps the EC decide matters of policy, and adjudicates appeals on decisions made by other committees.

AB members should possess:

• Good communication skills
• The ability to work well in a group situation
• A willingness to make tough decisions on sensitive or controversial issues

AB members serve a 2-year term. The upcoming term runs from the 2017 North American SCRABBLE Championship (NASC) to the 2019 NASC.

Most AB business is conducted during monthly conference calls and over email which AB members are expected to participate in. Also, many AB members take on additional projects.

Electoral Districts

This year’s election will elect members in:

• US South: AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV
• US West: AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY
• At Large: Any region

Nominations

Electoral candidates must meet all of the following criteria:

• They must be a NASPA member in good standing.
• They must accept the nomination during the nomination period of May 4–31, 2017.
• They must be at least 21 years of age.
• They must be prepared to comply with the obligations of NASPA committee members.
• They must submit a platform statement.

They do not need to be a certified director, have a high tournament rating or serve on another committee, but neither do these qualifications exclude them. Incumbent members may stand for reelection.

Nomination Process

Nominations will take place from May 4–31 inclusive, Eastern Time.

To nominate yourself, send your name and platform statement to naspa-advisoryboard@yahoogroups.com.

To nominate someone else, send the candidate's name to naspa-advisoryboard@yahoogroups.com. Nominated candidates will be contacted by the AB and asked if they agree to run. If so, they will be asked to send their platform statements.

Platform Statement

A platform statement is a brief statement that describes a candidate's qualifications, background, platform, and any other information that might be of use to voters, for posting to this webpage.

You can view the platform statements of previous candidates here.

“Good Standing”

For the purposes of this election, a NASPA member is considered to be in good standing if:

• Their membership has been valid since the beginning of the 2015 North American SCRABBLE Championship - August 1, 2015
• Their membership will be valid at least through the end of the 2017 North American SCRABBLE Championship - July 26, 2017
• They have not been under suspension at any time since the beginning of the 2015 National SCRABBLE Championship - August 1, 2015

Nominees

Nominees will be listed once a nomination is complete. Platform statements will be published for all nominees at the conclusion of the nomination period.

US South

• Mike Willis

US West

• none at present

At Large

• Paul Avrin

Voting

Voting will take place from June 3–30 inclusive, Eastern Time. Votes will be accepted by paper or electronically. Any current NASPA member can vote for (at most) one candidate for each of the three contested seats, regardless of the region of residency.

Paper votes may be sent to NASPA by postal mail, and must arrive during the voting period to be accepted. Paper votes are not anonymous and must identify the voter and their vote.

Electronic votes should be made through the Member Services link at the NASPA website. Electronic votes will be anonymous, except inasmuch as a skilled person with access to the NASPA server could eventually reconstruct voting information.

The winner of each election will be determined by plurality. If an election ends in a tie, a lottery or coin toss will be used to break the tie.

Winners will be announced at the beginning of July, as soon as the votes are tabulated.

Any disputes about the elections process will be decided by the AB, excluding those members running for reelection.