At the end of April, CSI Institute requires a form to be submitted listing all of the chapter officers, directors, and chairmen of the standing committees recognized by Institute. In preparation for this, in March, the chapter held the annual election for the Board of Directors to fill seats opening at the end of the fiscal year. As President-Elect and according to a tradition of the chapter, I was chairman of the nominating committee. This is the first time I had participated in a nominating committee, let alone chaired the group. To form the committee, I pulled in our Vice President, whom I was sure would become President-Elect for next year so he can get a little exposure to the process (this is now the blind leading the blind). I also used other existing board members to bring in experience. I worked my way around the active chapter members offering them a place on the slate, but received many declined offers for good reasons (next year’s election should have a boat load of candidates). We finally filled our slate of four.
One thing that was different this year, and only this year, the chapter is establishing an educational foundation. The chapter’s Memorial Trust was established 20 years ago, but never recognized as a separate charitable organization. We’re now making that transition, filed the paperwork with the State and IRS and now need the first Board of Directors for this new organization. I was nominated by our Board to be sure we had at least the minimum seven Board members, as well as create the ballots and mail them along with the chapter board election. This was a little more time consuming, I had to educate most of these candidates about what is going on with the trust becoming a foundation and how I can’t tell them what their obligations to the board will be, because I don’t know. I thankfully arranged for seven candidates and I nominated them from the floor at the February chapter meeting.
Following the election, the April board meeting is, as our bylaws state, the “organizational meeting.” We invite the newly elected board members who will begin their term on July 1st to hold our officer election. The current president had to miss this meeting, so I had the opportunity to run the board meeting and election. We only had one office contested by more than one candidate and everything went well. I advise future presidents to be sure they have began talking with the directors you want to be officers during your year as president a couple months before the April officer election. I waited until the week before, but everything worked out well.
To this point, we have officers and directors for FY2011, now I just need to verify committee appointments. One of my many goals is being sure everyone in leadership is supported, motivated, and empowered to be as effective as possible. To achieve this, I hope as president to understand what the goals of each person are related to CSI and then to guide and focus them based on our Mission and Strategic Plan. Rather than trying to achieve my own new agenda, I hope to advance the chapter’s agenda already established. To start this, while asking chairmen if they would like to continue another year, or appointing replacements, I also include a requirement to establish two to three goals for the year. I’ve followed up with most to discuss why I would like to know their goals, to be sure and provide the support from the chapter for them to be successful. I also get the opportunity to direct their attention away from goals that are not aligned with our chapter's direction based on the Mission and Strategic Plan.
Every position on the form is now elected or appointed, I've submitted my list to our chapter secretary who will submit these names to CSI Institute. These tasks immediately before I'm president will hopefully lay the foundation for a strong year. You simply can’t wait until July 1 and the fiscal year begins to think about what you want to achieve.
2023 word of the year
3 years ago