From AFP Internaitonal (www.afpnet.org)

(Sept. 11, 2006) The Governance Task Force will host two conference calls in September to allow all AFP members to discuss the task force’s recently released recommendations.

The calls are scheduled for:

• Wednesday, Sept. 13 at 4 p.m. Eastern time
• Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 3 p.m. Eastern time

To participate in the calls, please dial (877) 261-8255 and enter conference ID 7776271 at the prompt.

“This is a great opportunity for members to ask questions and hear others’ comments and suggestions,” said Steve Batson, Ed.D., CFRE, vice president for institutional development at Darton College in Albany, Ga., and chair of the Governance Task Force. “Many of you have already emailed comments to us over the past year, and we appreciate your participation.”

The Governance Task Force’s charge was to examine the entire AFP governance structure, which includes the association’s board of directors, Delegate Assembly, chapters and international headquarters, and such issues as international activities, leadership and member diversity and board size and composition.

After carefully reviewing AFP’s governance structure, the task force has made recommendations that the AFP board has now formally endorsed. The board anticipates confirmation of its endorsement of these recommendations at the October 2006 Delegate Assembly meeting in Los Angeles.

About the Recommendations

The complete recommendations and other background materials are available on the AFP website.

A summary of the major changes proposed by the task force include:

• The Delegate Assembly will be restructured into the Leadership Academy. The academy will focus on education and training for chapter leaders—including those who self-identify—and will provide a significantly improved career enhancement experience for participants.
• The composition of the board of directors will change to include district-based directors. Initially, 12 districts will be created, and one director from each district will be elected to the board from a slate presented by the Committee on Directorship (similar to the current process). Eighteen directors will be at-large, two will be chair’s appointees and three will be ex officio members. The officers of the board will continue to be elected by the board members from a Committee on Directorship slate.
• All members of the board will be elected or reelected on an annual basis by a vote of the entire membership.
• A Chapter Presidents’ Council, consisting of the presidents of each AFP chapter, will elect members of the Committee on Directorship. The presidents in each district will vote for a member and an alternate to the Committee on Directorship. In addition, one member of the council will be nominated to serve a one-year term on the board of directors. The council will serve as a forum for chapter presidents to discuss issues with association leaders throughout the year.
• The Committee on Directorship will continue to serve as the body that receives and reviews all board nominations. The committee will be responsible for developing the slate of board members that the entire AFP membership votes on.

If members have any questions, they can contact the task force at govtaskforce@afpnet.org.