The heartbreaking and untimely passing of our friend, colleague and board member, Max Grubb, earlier this summer created a vacancy on the BEA Board of Directors. Max was in the midst of his term as the Interest Division Representative (IDR).
The BEA Board recently met to discuss the future of the IDR and to revisit a proposal made by the BEA Governance Committee in 2021 (see below for details outlining the proposal). The board unanimously approved the following three motions effective immediately:
– Postpone the election of the traditional Interest Division Representative to the board.
– Designate a task force (or the existing Governance Committee) to develop a plan for the future of the merged Board District Representatives and Interest Division Representatives. The task force will have one year to determine and develop a rollout plan for changes to take place.
– Request each current BEA District Rep to begin working with a group of interest divisions.
IDR Board Proposal
BEA’s Board of Directors regularly reviews the organization’s governance structure, from staff duties to board committees, geographic districting to board member tasks. Much of this work has been done by the BEA Governance Committee. In 2021, the Governance Committee (chaired by former president Vic Costello) presented the BEA board of directors with a board restructuring concept that affected the future of the Interest Division Representative (IDR).
Several issues inspired the new approach:
– The growing number and involvement of BEA Interest Divisions (19 divisions).
– The decreased need for BEA members to be grouped by geographic districts.
– The expanding workload for one BEA Interest Division Representative to represent all 19 interest divisions. Click here for a link to the IDR duties and responsibilities.
– The desire to find synergies between the existing interest divisions.
– The need for an additional level of support for the 19 interest divisions.
The Governance Committee’s proposal recommended developing multiple “like-minded” interest division groups and replacing our current BEA geographic district board representatives with several interest division board representatives. A graduated roll out plan would be developed to transition to the new structure, and ultimately, instead of one IDR working with 19 divisions, BEA would have multiple IDRs on the board that each works with a group of interest divisions. Our constituent board reps for Two-Year/Small Colleges and International members would remain the same.
Over the next year, the Board’s task force will complete the transition plan, and we will keep you updated as we have more details to share.
2024 Elections
Even with these proposed changes, BEA will hold regularly scheduled elections for BEA Board District Representatives in districts 2, 4, 6 and 8 this fall. Eligibility and voting will occur within each geographic district. Any newly elected board members will be included in conversations related to the governance restructuring.
Dates and deadlines for the 2025-2027 Election are as follows:
September 12, 2024 – Nomination information sent via email to 2024 Individual Members
October 3, 2024 – Online nomination must be submitted by 5:00 pm ET
October 17, 2024 – Online election ballot available for 2024 Individual Members to vote
October 31, 2024 – Complete election ballot on-line by 5:00 pm ET
