The PAS Board of Directors is recommending an alteration to the PAS by-laws that may be adopted by a majority vote at the annual meeting. As per Article VII of the by-laws, we are providing notice in writing of this proposed change no less than 30 days in advance of the vote at the annual Business Meeting.  At the 2018 Business Meeting, the membership suggested that PAS consider direct election as an alternative method of selecting the PAS president.  As a result, the Board has drafted the following proposed change.

Currently, the president is annually elected by and from the Board of Directors to serve for one year of a three-year Board term, generally following a one-year term as Vice President.  In recent years, however, the Board has experienced occasional difficulties finding a Director willing and able to take on the presidency.  For that reason, we propose direct election of the president to a three-year term, separate from election of the nine Directors. Presidential candidates would run specifically for that office, cognizant of their commitment from the outset.

Similar to the Board of Directors election in which two candidates are annually fielded for each of three open positions, two presidential candidates would be sought every other year. The first year served during the three-year term would be as President-Elect, an ex officio Board position, with the following two years of the term served as President, a Board position. If two presidential candidates cannot be found in a presidential election year, then the method of selecting a president will revert to the current practice of election from and by the Board. In all cases, a vice president will still be annually elected from the Board.

Please review these proposed changes prior to the Business Meeting in preparation for a discussion and a vote. Thanks for your attention to these changes, and we look forward to seeing you in Oklahoma in a month!

Kelly J. Pool, President, and the Board of Directors

 

 

Proposed changes to two Articles are in red:

Article 4

Section 2. Number, Tenure, and Qualifications. The number of Directors shall be nine and shall be classified with respect to the time for which they shall severally hold office by dividing them into three classes, each class consisting of three Directors. The class of Directors which shall be the successors to the class of Directors whose terms shall expire that year shall be elected by members of the corporation by mail or electronic media ballot prior to each annual meeting, to serve for three years, and until their successors are elected.  In addition to the three classes of Directors, the Board will also include a directly elected President. The Board of Directors shall conduct and manage the affairs of the corporation, but the Directors shall elect, from among the membership of the corporation, the Editor of PLAINS ANTHROPOLOGIST and a Treasurer for the corporation. The Editor and Treasurer shall be ex-officio members of the Board of Directors and shall each be elected for a term of three years. The Editor and Treasurer shall carry out the policies of the Board of Directors.    

Article 5

Section 2. Election and Term of Office. With the exception of the President, the officers of the corporation shall be elected by the Board of Directors at the regular annual meeting of the Board of Directors. The President, Vice-President, and Secretary shall be elected annually from the membership of the Board of Directors. The Editor and Treasurer shall each be elected for a term of three years. New offices may be created and filled, according to the provisions of this article, at any meeting of the Board of Directors. Each officer shall hold office until a successor shall have been duly elected and shall have qualified.     

The President shall be elected by members of the corporation for a term of three years. The term shall consist of one year as President-Elect and two years as President.   The President-Elect will serve as an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors.  The directly elected President shall be a member of the Board of Directors, bringing the number of Board members to 10 including nine Directors and the President.  In the event that at least two nominees for President cannot be listed on the ballot, the next President shall be elected by and from the Board of Directors at the regular annual meeting of the Board of Directors and the Board shall then consist of nine Directors, one of whom is the President, until the next directly elected president takes office.   

The President shall appoint a Nominating Committee of three members, one of whom, and no more than one, shall be a member of the Board of Directors. The Nominating Committee shall make nominations for the Board of Directors and the President which shall be announced in the notice of the annual meeting of the membership. To be nominated, a member must have given prior consent, in writing, to the nomination and must agree to attend the annual meetings held during their terms of office. Annually the committee shall distribute a call for nominations to the Board of Directors from the general membership by email and on the Plains Anthropological Society website.  Every other year, the committee shall distribute a call for nominations for President from the general membership by email and on the Plains Anthropological Society website.  When possible, a call for nominations will also be published in the Plains Anthropologist. At least two members in good standing must endorse each general membership nominee. In addition, the committee shall nominate six candidates to run for election to the Board of Directors. A single ballot listing the names of the six candidates from the committee and any additional candidates nominated by members at large shall be delivered by mail or electronic media to each member. Every other year, the committee shall also nominate two candidates to run for election as President. A single ballot listing the names of the six Director and two President candidates from the committee and any additional candidates nominated by members at large shall be delivered by mail or electronic media to each member. A single medium shall be employed for each vote. A short biographical sketch of each nominee shall be included with the ballot. Ballots must be returned by a specified date. Joint members may photocopy the ballot and submit both copies of the ballot together in the return envelope, or vote separately by electronic media.     

Return postage shall be paid by the member. Each member in good standing in the corporation shall be entitled to vote for the specified number of candidates to the Board of Directors and for President. The President, or the President’s designee, and a committee of two to four members shall verify and count the ballots. The three candidates for the Board of Directors and the one candidate for President receiving the largest number of votes in the returned ballots shall be elected. Tie votes shall be decided by a majority vote of the members attending the annual meeting following the mail vote. The results of the election shall be announced at the annual meeting of members and all candidates shall be sent written notice of the outcome. Newly elected members to of the Board of Directors and the President-Elect will assume their duties at the Board of Directors meeting immediately following the annual business meeting.