PROPOSED REVISION
Article IX, Section 9. Officers
C. Terms.
1. The chair-elect chair will be elected for a one-year term and assumes his or her duties
at the close of the annual conference following their election. at the start of the calendar
year and serves until the end of the calendar year (January-December). Incoming and
outgoing Executive Board members chairs will meet together immediately after the close
of the annual membership meeting; The span of time following the annual membership
meeting until the start of the term should act as an orientation period for incoming chairs.
The chair-elect succeeds the Chair upon the expiration of the Chair’s term.
2. The terms for other Section officers are outlined in the NDLA Policy Manual.

Impact:
Changes the terms of section and roundtable positions to follow the calendar year, instead of
the conference year; also eliminates the chair-elect position for sections and roundtables.

Rationale:
Changing the current start term (conference to conference) to a term that begins and ends with
the calendar year would allow more time for incoming Board members to learn the policies and
procedures of their respective positions. The expectation is that the three months following the
election would be used for onboarding, thereby making a smoother transition.
The above three-month onboarding period should serve as an orientation period, thereby
reducing the necessity of a yearlong chair-elect position to learn the roles and responsibilities of
the chair position. The requirement that individuals commit a year in advance to serving on the
Executive Board has caused some disruptions when individuals who previously committed to
serve are unable by the time their term as Chair starts. In these cases, new elections need to
take place, causing extra work on the part of the Nominations, Elections, and Voting Committee.
The chair-elect position has also caused confusion because, unlike all other Executive Board
positions, chair-elects do not immediately join the Executive Board following an election.
Similar to the officer positions, the orientation period should begin at the close of the annual
membership meeting. While attendance at the post-conference Executive Board meeting is
encouraged, orientation can also take place via email or videoconferencing.