The Nominations Committee met in Denver, Colorado January 26-28, 2001 to develop the slate of officers and to discuss other issues to present to the board. They include a request to delay a January Update (a new development this year) we request it be delayed until after the committee meets in January so information can be passed to the membership.

The Committee recommended that a Leadership Forum be held at the BPD conference in Denver to focus on the ways that members can contribute to the organization and to teach members about the various committees and board positions. This has been scheduled for the October conference.

The committee requested that name tags for the BPD Annual Meeting include ribbons for the Nominations Committee members so that BPD members can recognize them and contact them about nominations and willingness to run for office.

The Committee is concerned that as the organization becomes larger, there is an election process that is clear and effective. One suggestion was to have ballots placed on scantrons and counted by a university office so that results are documented. This concern was raised because of the closeness of the vote in the past two elections and the responsibility of the Chair of the Nominations Committee to count all ballots. Committee members want to ensure objectivity and avoid any concern on the part of the membership about the outcome of the election. The Committee also recommends that all ballots be held for 60 days after they are received.

The committee recommended a change to the bylaws. Regular members were informed by mail and they voted at the membership meeting at the CSWE APM. Below are the changes (in bold)

ARTICLE III
MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall consist of:

1. Regular membership (Voting):
Current or past directors of CSWE accredited baccalaureate social work programs

2. Associate membership (Nonvoting with the exception of electing a Board member at-large to represent the constituency): Directors and faculty members from baccalaureate social work programs in CSWE candidacy; faculty members from accredited social work programs; and others interested in baccalaureate social work

3. Emeritus membership (Nonvoting with the exception of electing a Board member at-large to represent the constituency): Retired baccalaureate social work educators

ARTICLE IV
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Section 1: Board Members

a. The Board of Directors shall consist of eight elected members at large and the elected officers.

b. The elected officers and seven elected members-at-large shall be current directors and hold regular membership.

c. One board member-at-large shall represent associate/emeritus membership and shall be elected by those constituency groups.

ARTICLE XI
AMENDMENTS TO THE BY-LAWS

Section 1: The Nominations Committee shall serve as the By-laws committee of the Association and shall review the by-laws at least annually.

Section 2: The Board or any standing committee can propose a by-law change. The Nominations Committee has the responsibility to review such by-law change for consistency with the mission of the Association and present it to the membership to be adopted, altered, amended or repealed. These By-laws may be altered, amended or repealed and new By-laws may be adopted in the following manners:

a. By a majority vote of the regular membership present at an Association meeting, if the members have received at least twenty days written notice of the intention to present the alteration, amendment, or repeal of existing by-laws or the adoption of new Bylaws at such meeting

OR

b. The proposed change will be mailed to the voting membership with a ballot. The voting membership shall have twenty days from the date of the mailing within which to return the marked ballot. A majority of returned ballots is required to adopt any change. The returned ballots shall be counted by at least two members of the Board as designated by the President.

Section 2: New by-laws as altered, amended, or repealed shall go into effect immediately upon adoption unless the motion to adopt contains a specific date for implementation.