Nominating Committee Operating Procedures

Nominating Committee

The nominating committee is chaired by the Vice-Chair. The APS Chief Executive Officer appoints one member. The Vice-Chair should solicit them for their appointee after the Jan. 15th meeting. To do that, APS says: “we need you to provide your unit's 2024 Nominating Committee membership roster, as well as a short-list of members (3-4 individuals) who could serve to broaden the committee's reach and whose sphere of influence might help to identify potential leaders to stand for unit election.”

Committee Work:

Important Dates:

Jan 15 -- Vice-Chair needs to solicit APS Chief Executive Officer for appointee to Nominating Committee and give them 3-4 names for appointee. 

April 15 -- Secretary/Treasurer emails each committee with the following information:

Committee members

Committee charge

Important dates

August 1 -- solicit nominations from the membership by email or newsletter or both by this date!

October 15 -- email slate of candidates to Secretary/Treasurer and also to apsunits@aps.org. The slate of candidates includes the name of the candidate, their picture, their biographical information, and their candidate statement. Then, an APS employee will help upload the information to the online election portal. It usually takes 2 weeks to get the election materials up on the site.

November 15 - December 15 -- APS Fed Election 

December 15 – Secretary/Treasurer will communicate results of the election to the APS and membership

Members:

FEd Exec Committee decided on 2024/02/21 that committee would in practice be the following people:

Chair of Committee -Vice-Chair FEd

Vice Chair of Committee - Past Chair FEd

1 person appointed by APS Chief Executive Officer.

General and APS/AAPT member at large in 1st or 2nd year

Info from Bylaws: 

The Nominating Committee shall consist of the ViceChair, and at least two members appointed by the Forum Chair, in consultation with the Vice-Chair, no later than August 1 of each year. All appointed members must be members of the Forum. The APS Chief Executive Officer shall be invited to appoint one member to the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee shall prepare a slate of candidates for election to the Executive Committee in accord with Article VII of these Bylaws. The term of office for members of the Nominating Committee shall be one year.

1.

  1. Nomination Procedure: The Nominating Committee is responsible for preparing a slate of candidates for each year’s election. No later than August 1 of each year, the Vice-Chair shall invite, via email or the Forum newsletter, all Forum members to suggest candidates for all positions that will be elected that year. If as many as twenty-five members of the Forum, or 1% of the membership, whichever is larger, suggest the same person for the same office by October 1, that person shall be deemed nominated. The Nominating Committee, taking into account suggestions received from members, shall nominate at least two candidates for each open position. The Nominating Committee shall consult with the Chair before submitting the nomination of any candidate for a consecutive term. The Nominating Committee shall submit the slate of candidates to the Secretary-Treasurer not later than October 15 of each year.

  2. Balloting Procedure: The Secretary-Treasurer shall distribute election ballots to all Members, electronically and/or by mail, not later than November 15 of each year, setting a closing date four weeks after balloting has commenced. Ballots shall be returned to and counted by the Secretary-Treasurer or his or her designee. The election shall be decided by a plurality of those voting. If there is a tie, the Executive Committee shall decide the election, with the Chair voting only in the case of a tie among the other Executive Committee members. The Secretary-Treasurer shall communicate the results of the election to the Executive Committee and to the Society Corporate Secretary before January 1.

  3. Procedures For Members-At-Large: The six General and APS/AAPT Members-At-Large shall be elected by the membership for three-year staggered terms in two equal categories, General Member-At-Large and APS/AAPT Member-At-Large, of three members each. The Graduate Student Member-at-Large shall be elected for a two-year term.

  1. Terms of Office of the Executive Committee: The tenure of the members of the Executive Committee shall begin at the beginning of the calendar year following their election.

    1. Vice-Chair: The Vice-Chair shall be elected by the membership for a one year term and shall successively become Chair-Elect, Chair, and Past Chair in the following years. The Chair shall not be eligible for the Vice-Chair office for four years after service as Past Chair.

    2. Secretary-Treasurer: The Secretary-Treasurer shall be elected by the membership for a term of three years and may not serve more than two consecutive terms.

    3. Forum Councilor: The term of office of a Forum Councilor shall begin at the beginning of the calendar year following his or her election. The Forum Councilor shall serve for a term of four years and may not serve more than two consecutive terms.

    4. Members-At-Large: Each General and APS/AAPT Member-At-Large shall be elected by the membership for a term of three years and may not serve more than two consecutive terms. The tenure of a Member-At-Large of the Executive Committee shall terminate in the event of his/her assumption of a post as an Officer of the Forum, either through election or appointment, and the unexpired portion of his or her term shall be filled as hereinafter provided for a vacancy. The Graduate Student Member-at-Large shall be elected by the membership for a term of two years and may not serve a second term.

Info from APS Honors Task Force 2022 

  • Nominations must undergo review by a minimum of three reviewers, and nominations cannot be deferred.

  • If a selection committee cannot reach a unanimous decision on addressing a conflict of interest, the conflicted member(s) must be recused from scoring and discussing the related nomination(s).

  • Units lacking a chair and vice chair continuity process for their Honors selection committees should establish a procedure ensuring information continuity. If you would like support from APS staff, please reach out to us at honors@aps.org.

  • Selection Committee members must not actively seek or promote specific nominations for the honors they will evaluate.

  • The selection committee chair's default role is that of convener. Your unit’s bylaws may specify the committee chair's role.

We would also like to highlight that the new and improved Selection Committee Guidelines and Resourcesmanual includes checklists for both the Executive and Selection Committees.

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