Governance Back to Center Stage

Governance issues slated for a bylaws vote are summarized

During the April 23, 2010, Board meeting, the ASHI Board of
Directors approved a special task force to continue to review ASHI’s governance. As a result of the previous Bylaw proposal failing to get the required two-thirds approval, the Board saw that a significant majority of voting members and leaders felt some governance changes were needed. This special task force was comprised of leaders representing the Board and the Council of Representatives, and was charged with reviewing the previous proposed amendment and working together to reach consensus on proposed amendments to the Bylaws. A revised Bylaws proposal was presented and approved at the July Board meeting.

A summary of the changes is as follows:

• The ASHI Board will be reduced from 21 members to 16 voting members, 12 directors, president-elect, president, immediate past-president and CoR speaker. Board members will be  permitted to run for one additional term.
• Any ASHI Certified Inspector may be elected to the Board as director or president-elect, with minimum experience requirements defined. A petition process is provided to allow individuals not selected by the Nominating Committee to seek a position on the election ballot.
• The amount of signatures needed for a valid petition candidate has been reduced from 10 percent of the voting ASHI membership to seven percent.
• The Board Nominating Committee will be chaired by the immediate past-president, and will now be comprised of the CoR Speaker, three council representatives and three ASHI directors. This committee will nominate a president-elect, four directors and two Certification Committee members annually. The committee may nominate more than one candidate per position. No nominating committee member may serve more than one consecutive term with the exception of the speaker.
• The vice president position will be eliminated to reduce the Board size.
• The secretary and treasurer will be selected by the Board from among the Board members, thereby reducing the size of the Board and spreading the official duties to existing Board positions.
• The Board of Directors and the president-elect shall be selected annually by ASHI voting members.

At the time of publication, this Bylaws proposal was being reviewed by the Bylaws Committee and was scheduled to return to the Board before final approval prior to being sent to voting members.

ASHI has traveled a long road to get to this point. Governance has been a focus for several years, with constructive input from leadership, outside consultants and members. We believe the current proposal helps address weak areas in ASHI’s governance and helps position ASHI for the future. We ask our members to share our vision and for their support in the upcoming vote.