AOIR EXECUTIVE ELECTIONS The current executive committee of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) was elected two years ago. We are now beginning the process of electing a new executive committee. All dues-paying members are eligible to run and any dues-paying member of AoIR is invited to run or to nominate someone to run. You are all urged to participate to your fullest by raising the issues of importance to you and by voting. If you are not a dues-paying member of AoIR, becoming one now (or renewing) enables you to participate in this process (and provides other benefits). In particular, if you are attending the conference, membership will provide a substantial registration fee discount. See http://www.aoir.org for more information. If you have opinions about what you would like AoIR to become or the kinds of things you think it should be doing, then you should put those opinions into action. If you have talents or experience that you think AoIR could use, and you'd like to put them to use for AoIR, you should run. Just about all of AoIR's business is conducted online, apart from meetings at the annual conference. Here is an overview of the election timeline, procedures and positions for nomination, as determined by the Association's by-laws. Voting instructions will be provided later and separately. TIME FRAME OF THE ELECTION: 1. Call for Nominations: May 2, 2005 2. Nominations close: May 31, 2005 3. Discussion period begins: June 1, 2005 4. Discussion period ends: June 30, 2005 5. Voting begins: July 1, 2005 6. Voting ends: July 30, 2005 The new committee assumes its duties at the end of the General Meeting at the AoIR conference, October 2005. A QUICK ORGANIZATIONAL PRIMER: The organizational structure of AoIR is simple. There are 5 officers, 3 open seat representatives, and 2 appointed positions who together with the Immediate Past President make up the 11-member executive committee that runs the show. Elected officials hold their positions for two years. In this election, you are invited to nominate yourself or anyone else who you think would do a good job, for any position other than the President - the current Vice President assumes the Presidency. We will be saying more about the 2 appointed positions later in the month. Here are brief descriptions of each position: The five officers of the association: 1. President: the "CEO", supervises the organization, performs certain legally required duties. 2. Vice President: "back up" for President, various duties as they arise; becomes President after 2 years. 3. Secretary: Handles records and organizational matters. 4. Treasurer: Handles the money and membership. 5. Graduate Student Representative: responsible for running graduate student acitivities. Open Committee Seats: 6 - 8. Three open Seats on the Executive Committee Represent membership of AoIR, contribute to decision making. Take responsibility for specific projects or activities to promote the association within their term. Candidates should also familiarise themselves with the formal statement of duties and responsibilities in the Association's by-laws http://www.aoir.org/?q=node/113 <http://www.aoir.org/?q=node/113> . NOMINATIONS AND ELECTION PROCESSES Only a dues-paying member of AoIR can run for a position, nominated by anyone. If nominated for more than one position a nominee must choose to run for one (and only one) position in this election. You may nominate yourself or another person (or people). Self Nominations: Email nominate@aoir.org and indicate the position for which you are nominating and you will be added to the list of nominees and given instructions as to how to submit your information for voters to consider. Nominating Others: Email nominate@aoir.org with the name of the person you want to nominate, the position for which you are nominating this person, contact information for that person, and an indication of whether you know if this person would accept this nomination (if you don't know, we'll contact them and ask). All candidates for election will be required to provide answers to the questions listed at the end of this email via the AoIR election forum website, and participate in an online candidate discussion forum In addition the Graduate Student candidates must confirm in their response that they comply with section 10 of the by-laws, namely "The Graduate Student Representative must be actively enrolled in a degree program at the time of nomination and election." The voting system used by AoIR is one vote per dues-paying member for each of the seven positions for election listed above. Votes are counted by a ballot counter who is a member of the Association but not a member of the executive. In the case of the four officers, the candidate with the highest number of votes shall be declared the winner; in the case of the open seats, the three candidates with the highest, second-highest and third highest votes shall be declared the winners of the open seats. In the case of tied results for the officer positions, the winner shall be determined by the ballot counter, by drawing of lots, using a method that ensures each of the tying candidates has an equal chance of success and witnessed by at least 2 people independent to the association. In the case of tied results for the open seat positions, the drawing of lots shall be used only when there are more tied candidates than seats available. QUESTIONS FOR CANDIDATES 1) What is your interest in this position? 2) What are your qualifications for this position (including prior experience and participation in AoIR)? 3) What are two or three short-term goals you would like to achieve through membership of the executive (include a rationale for each goal and how you would contribute to their achievement)? 4) What is your long-term vision for AoIR? 5) What else should voters consider when deciding whether or not to vote for you? In answering the questions, please be concise and give information specific to the position for which you are nominating and which will permit voters to assess your case for election to that position. On Behalf of the AoIR executive Dr Matthew Allen Associate Professor Internet Studies Associate Dean Teaching and Learning, Humanities Curtin University of Technology, CRICOS 00301J Australia m.allen@curtin.edu.au http://smi.curtin.edu.au/netstudies/allen.htm +61 8 92663511 (v) +61 8 9266 3166 (f) Vice-President, Association of Internet Researchers http://www.aoir.org