A member comment period is now open for two minor amendments to the American Geophysical Union (AGU) bylaws. The changes relate to section and focus group voting and development board leadership. The comment period will end on 6 September 2015.
Voting Restriction Lifted
AGU determined that members should be allowed to vote for officers in any or all sections and focus groups to which they belong.
AGU encourages members to join as many sections and focus groups as desired. The first amendment removes the voting restriction for members belonging to more than three sections and focus groups.
Almost 25% of AGU members belong to four or more sections and focus groups, and this restriction was creating confusion during elections. It also seemed inconsistent with AGU’s strategic plan and growing commitment to interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary science.
In December 2013, the Council determined that members should be allowed to vote for officers in any or all sections and focus groups to which they belong. It voted to remove the voting restriction, and the change was implemented in the 2014 AGU election. This is a cleanup of the bylaw’s language to make it consistent with the already implemented voting change.
New Role for AGU Past Past President
The second amendment would change which AGU president serves as vice chair of the Development Board. The bylaws specify that AGU’s president-elect will serve in this position; the amendment recommends that the AGU past past president serve as vice chair instead.
AGU’s president-elect already has significant responsibilities and time commitments serving as the Council chair, Council Leadership Team chair, Board vice chair, and an Executive Committee member. The past past president is well positioned to provide leadership to the Development Board, having just rotated off the AGU Board.
AGU members are asked to review the amendments on the AGU Bylaws web page and to respond in one of these three ways listed on the Member Comment Period web page:
- No Comment: The proposed changes look OK to me.
- Abstain from commenting.
- Submit comments.
If you have any questions, please contact Cheryl Enderlein.
—Cheryl Enderlein, Assistant Director of Leadership, AGU; email: cenderlein@agu.org
Citation: Enderlein, C. (2015) Member comment period for AGU bylaws amendments now open, Eos, 96, doi:10.1029/2015EO032707. Published on 13 July 2015.
Text © 2015. The authors. CC BY-NC 3.0
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