The Nominations Committee shall consist of three elected members of the general membership. The functions of this Committee shall be to aid in the search for candidates for Offices and Committees, Stewards and YUSA representatives on various bodies. The Committee shall oversee procedures for YUSA’s Annual General Elections and shall conduct any necessary by-elections as outlined in Article XI -Elections.

Role & Responsibilities

According to Article V, Section 1(g) of the Constitution, the Nominations Committee shall aid in the search for candidates for Offices and Committees, Stewards and YUSA representatives on various bodies. The Committee shall also oversee procedures for YUSA’s Biennial  General Elections and shall conduct any necessary by-elections (see Article V, section 1 and Article XI, section 3). This includes: initiating a review of the Elections Policy and related procedures, setting up an Elections Committee; ensuring that the Elections Committee receives the up to date policy and procedures, ensuring that the Elections Committee understands their role in conducting the elections, working with the YUSA office staff to circulate the Call for Nominations to all members in good standing; overseeing the nominations portion of the AGM, including closing the nominations, verifying the list of eligible voters (together with the Membership Officer and YUSA office staff) and making the voting list available to the Election Committee; answering questions that may arise from the Elections Committee up to the end of the AGM, after which questions would go to the Executive Board.

Goals

The goal of the Nominations Committee is to ensure that all elections and voting follows the five principles of Impartiality/Independence, Transparency, Integrity, Competence and Fairness.

Members & Composition

As per Article V, Section 1 (g) the Committee is made up of 3 members. The Full-Time Officers are ex-officio, non-voting members of the Committee (see Constitution IV, Section 2).

Formation Details

Membership on the Committee is determined by the Biennial General Elections.

Term

The term will be two years, beginning on January 1 of the first year, until December 31 of the following year.

A Committee member who does not uphold their responsibilities or misses a significant number of meetings without a reasonable explanation may be asked by the Executive Board to resign from the Committee. If the member refuses to resign, recall action may be taken to remove the member from the Committee (see Article VI, Sections 3 and 4). With respect to the appointed Elections Committee, a Committee member who does not uphold their responsibilities without a reasonable explanation may be asked by the Executive Board to resign from the Committee. If the member refuses to resign, deappointment action may be taken to remove the member from the Committee (see Article VI, Sections 3 and 4).

Chair

The Chair of the Committee, and Vice-Chair, will be a member of the Executive Board, elected biennially (every two years) by the Committee (see Constitution Article V, Section 2 a). The Vice-Chair will act as Chair in the absence of the Chair.

The Chair will:

• coordinate meetings of the Committee;
• prepare agendas and Chair meetings of the Committee;
• draft communications on behalf of the Committee related to the Committee’s work;
• report to the Executive Board on the work of the Committee;
• act as a liaison between the Committee and the Executive Board; and
• represent the Committee as a voting member on the Executive Board.

Communication & Meetings

Due to the nature of this Committee, members communicate frequently with one another by phone and email when preparing for an Evote (i.e., Biennial General Election or by-elections). Meetings may also be held throughout the year if policies need to be reviewed or updated, to set up an Elections Committee and to train/update the Elections Committee on policies and procedures. Committee members are expected to notify the Chair if they require a leave of absence or cannot attend meetings. A meeting of the Committee will be held towards the end of the year to determine a Chair and a Vice-Chair for the next term, who shall represent the Committee as a voting member on the Executive board.

According to the Constitution (Article XVI, Section 2) all meetings shall be governed by the Constitution. In cases where this is inadequate, Bourinot’s Rules of Order shall govern.

Confidentiality

All Committee members must sign a Confidentiality Agreement as they might be privy to confidential information and discussions.

Minutes

Minutes should be taken at all meetings and submitted to the YUSA office within a month of the meeting. Documents prepared by the Committee will be documented and archived by the YUSA.

Quorum

Attendance by fifty percent of the Committee members, or their predesignated alternates, shall constitute a quorum. Any vacant position shall not be counted for quorum (see Article X, Section 4).

Decision-Making

Wherever possible, decision-making by consensus is preferred. If consensus cannot be achieved, the Committee members must agree on how to deal with the outstanding issue (i.e., vote; continue the discussion; table the issue for another meeting; take the issue to the Executive Board) with all final decisions about Committee business being approved by the Executive Board. There shall be no proxy voting or email voting unless explicitly determined by the Committee in advance of the vote.

Accountability & Governance

According to the Constitution (Article V, Section 1) this Committee is responsible to the Executive Board, and according to Section 2 of the same Article, this Committee is required at minimum, to prepare and present semi-annual reports, during the months of May and October, to the Executive Board. The reports will be made available to the membership after having been presented at the Executive Board. Normally the reports will be drafted by the Committee Chair and agreed upon by the Committee members prior to being presented at the Executive Board. The Committee cannot commit the use of YUSA financial or human resources without prior approval from the Executive Board.