Winners are being announced in the recent AACE International annual election for seats on the Board of Directors. Just over 11 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. In general, this is average for participation in association elections, but down from a 2010 high of 18.9 percent.
Voters elected a President-Elect; Vice President-Administration; Vice President-TEC; and Director-Region in Regions 3, 5,6,and 8. Also on the ballot were three constitution amendments and one bylaws amendment.
Marlene Hyde, CCE EVP
President-Elect
Marlene Hyde, CCE EVP, will be returning to the board as President-Elect. This will be a three year commitment, serving in 2011-2012 as President-Elect, then a year as President, and a year as Past President.
All remaining Board seats are for two year terms.
Vice President-Administration
Martin Darley, CCC, was elected to serve as Vice President-Administration. He will work closely with Executive Director Dennis Stork, as a liaison between the board and the headquarters office. Various administrative duties are outlined in the bylaws.
Martin Darley, CCC
George "Sandy" Whyte, CCC CEP EVP
Vice President-TEC
George “Sandy” Whyte, CCC CEP EVP, was elected to serve as Vice President TEC, which involves coordinating the work of the association’s Technical, Education, and Certification Boards.
Four Elected as Director-Regions
Beginning terms as Director-Region will be:
Region 3: James H. (Jay) Carson, CCC CEP;
Region 5: Dr. Anamaria Popescu, PE;
Region 6: Nicholas Kellar, CCC EVP PSP; and
Region 8: Keith Webb.
James "Jay" Carson, CCC CEP
Dr. Anamaria Popescu, PE
Nicholas Kellar, CCC EVP PSP
Keith Webb
Each Director-Region provides liaison between the AACE Sections, within their respective Region, and the Association Board of Directors.
All elected board members will officially begin their terms of office at the 55th annual AACE International Annual Meeting, June 19-22, at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, Calif.
Amendment Votes
On the 2011 ballot were three constitution amendments.
AACE Canada
AACE Canada members in Region 1 approved a new Constitution and Bylaws by an almost 85 percent favorable vote.
AACE Constitution Amendments
Two AACE amendments dealing with elimination of the “Associate Member” class, and elimination of the “Emeritus Member” class, both failed to obtain the required affirmative vote of three-fourths of the valid votes cast.
Just over 66 percent of voters favored eliminating “associate” member, effectively giving all members equal classification as members.
Almost 62 percent of voters favored eliminating the “Emeritus Member” class
Some voters may not have been aware that all votes to “abstain” were counted as valid “Against” votes.
Bylaws Amendment
Amendment 3, a Bylaws Amendment, passed with close to 85 percent approval. For adoption, bylaws amendments require an affirmative vote of two thirds of the valid votes cast. The amendment changes Article I, Section 2, to read, “Members who fail to pay their dues by the expiration date of their current dues will automatically be transferred to “inactive status” and lose all rights and privileges of membership.” This simply reflects today’s’ electronic processing of dues by electronic databases that are pre-programmed for automatic cutoffs at the expiration date.
It also cleans up and clarifies a couple bylaws sections dealing with electronic voting. The sections still included wording for “mailing” ballots. The updated wording “makes available” ballots, better reflecting that they are now electronic documents.
As part of continuing and ongoing initiatives to listen and respond to member input, some improvements are already scheduled to be implemented for the 2012 election. This year, electronic voting opened February 1 and closed March 15.
