Original Article: http://dartreview.com/archives/2006/04/07/the_constitutions_point_by_point.php
Friday, April 7, 2006
Compiled from Staff Reports
Editor’s Note: Presented here is a comparison of the existing Dartmouth Association of Alumni constitution (or that of the Alumni Council, where applicable), and that proposed by Alumni Governance Task Force (AGTF). As an alternative, we have also included a constitution written and put forth by Frank Gado ’58. Gado’s constitution was withdrawn Thursday, April 6, due to lack of support from the College in publicizing his constitution, despite the assistance the Alumni Relations Office provided to the AGTF. We have highlighted significant changes and major points of contention that have arisen in the drafting process.
Structure and Membership
Current Format: Two separate entities, the Association of Alumni and the Alumni Council, each with its own assigned responsibilities and executive committees. The Association of Alumni embodies all who have “matriculated as a full-time student in pursuit of a Dartmouth degree” in any of the schools, as well as any others who enroll and subsequently receive their degree; essentially anybody who has ever started or finished their higher education at Dartmouth. The Association currently boasts 66, 500 members. The Alumni Council has 96 members, representing a grab bag of class representatives, regional reps, graduate school representatives, and twenty-one “at-large” representatives, elected annually only by those currently on the Council. Additionally, the Council reserves five seats exclusively for representatives of race- or sexuality-based affinity groups, as recognized by the College.
AGTF Proposal: A single body, the Dartmouth Association of Alumni, with a smaller, representative body, the Alumni Assembly. Membership requirements remain the same. The Assembly has a similar composition to the Council, with several notable exceptions. While the Council provides for one elected representative from every two classes, the new Assembly has seats for one representative for each graduated class through its fiftieth reunion, and five total representatives for post-fiftieth reunion classes. Additionally, the aforementioned affinity groups each arbitrarily gain an extra representative, bumping their share of the seats to just under ten percent. During transition to the new constitution, standing members will assume their complimentary roles, with vacancies filled by those chosen by the Nominating Committee, effectively maintaining the status quo.
Frank Gado’s Proposal: Similar to the AGTF Proposal, with a single Alumni body, and a representative Council. Each class will have one seat on the Council, and the balance will be comprised of three at-large members for each alumni-elected Trustee. With seven current alumni Trustees, the Council would initially have twenty-one at-large representatives. No representation is granted based on geography, race, or other status.
Officers
Current: The Association elects a president, two vice presidents, a secretary-treasurer, and seven additional executives. Executive committee members are elected from those nominated by a special nominating, as well as those collecting fifty petition signatures for placement on the ballot. The Alumni Council has a President and a President-elect, with the balance of executive committee composed of the chairs of the standing committees. The President-elect is elected annually by members of the Council, and ascends to the Presidency the following year.
AGTF: Five executive officers—a President, a President-elect, a Vice President, an Immediate Past President, and a Secretary. The first four positions succeed in a “power arc.” A candidate is elected first as Vice President, then passes on to President-elect, President, then Immediate Past President, at which point he or she also becomes Chair of the Alumni Liaison Board, a select group of whom only half the members are elected, and is responsible for “communicating alumni sentiment” to the Board of Trustees (see below). As a result of this arc, an elected candidate will not accede to the Presidency until at least 2009. The President-elect of the Association also serves as Chair of the Assembly. Vice Presidential candidates are nominated by the Nominating Committee; petition candidates must accumulate 250 signatures to be filed 45 days before the Nominating Committee meets. The Secretary of the Assembly is a non-voting position, but is always held ex officio by the Vice President for Alumni Relations of the College.
Gado: A president, vice-president, secretary, and six associate executives are elected for concurrent four-year terms as members of the Cabinet of the Association. The nine members of the Cabinet also serve as ex officio members of the proposed Council. A Nominations Committee posts candidates for each office, but any member of the Association may be placed on the ballot by submitting a petition with 100 signatures.
Standing Committees
Current: The Alumni Association has only a Balloting Committee, charged with orchestrating officer and Trustee elections, collecting petitions, counting votes, and the like. The much smaller Alumni Council has numerous standing committees, the most important of which are the Committee on Alumni Organizations, a collection of representatives of various interest clubs and organizations, and the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee’s myriad functions include nominating the slate of institutional candidates for Alumni Trustee vacancies, single nominees for Council officer and representative openings, select its own membership, and “in consultation with the Office of Alumni Relations…appoint all members of the Council’s standing committees.” The remaining Council standing committees deal primarily with advisory roles regarding elements of Dartmouth life.
AGTF: The AGTF constitution also has Nominating and Balloting Committees, with functions similar to those that exist under the current constitutions, and consisting of twelve and six members, respectively. Half the members of each committee are democratically elected by the Association at large, and the other half are chosen by the Assembly. The third standing committee, the Alumni Liaison Board, will essentially tend to the miscellaneous functions of other existing Council Committees. Of the sixteen members of the ALB, only six will be elected by the Association at large; six others come from within the Assembly, and the four seat holders in the presidential arc are ex officio members.
Gado: A Nominations Committee designates nominees for each of the Cabinet positions and the at-large Council vacancies, as well as recommending, but not officially naming, Alumni Trustee candidates. The Elections Committee will administer Trustee and officer elections; the Publications Committee would “designate or establish a periodical devoted to the dissemination of information and opinion concerning alumni affairs;” and the College Review would perform its eponymous function.
Alumni Trustee Nominations and Elections
Current: The Nominating Committee of the Alumni Council nominates up to three candidates when a vacancy upon the Board of Trustees arises. Petitioners subsequently have two months to collect 500 hundred signatures to be included on the ballot. Voters can cast votes by mail or online for as many candidates as they wish. The candidate with the most votes wins.
AGTF: Upon the notice of a vacancy on the Board of Trustees, the Nominating Committee will set the date for a meeting for selection of nominees. Thirty days prior to the date of the meeting, petitions will be made available. Petitioners then have until the date of the meeting to collect 250 signatures, without knowing who the officially nominated candidates are. At the meeting, the Nominating Committee selects two candidates to put on the ballot, from amongst those who have successfully filed a petition, as well as those being considered by the establishment. The candidate with the most votes win.
Gado: Following a vacancy on the Board of Trustees, the Nominating committee accepts suggestions for candidates 150 days before the distribution of ballots, and announces its final three candidates 90 days before distribution. Those wishing to petition to be added to the ballot for Alumni Trustee must then collect the lesser of 500 signatures or 3% of those voting in the previous Alumni Trustee election. The candidate with the majority of votes wins; if no candidate wins the majority of votes, the runner-up may request a run-off vote.
Amendment Process
Current: “Any 50 members qualified to vote may file with the Secretary of the Association a proposed amendment to the Association’s constitutions” (from the Association’s Code of Conduct). The petition must be filed four months before the next annual meeting. The executive committee may also propose amendments. The amendment must be approved by a two-thirds vote to pass. The Alumni Council constitution may be amended by a simple two-thirds vote of its members.
AGTF: Amendments may be proposed by any member of the Assembly, a periodic Constitution Review Committee (as appointed by the Nominating Committee), or by petition of one percent of the Association, or currently approximately 665 people. A simple majority vote by the Assembly approves the amendment. Should this body reject the proposed amendment, only a petition of supporting the amendment signed by fully five percent of the Association members (or more than 3300 people) will bring it to a vote of the Association at large.
Gado: No provisions are made for amending the constitution.
Other Items of Note
Meeting Proceedings: Gado’s constitution specifies that all meetings of the Association, Council, and committees must follow Robert’s Rules of Order. Neither the current constitutions nor the AGTF proposal make provisions for ensuring fair and orderly proceedings, despite demonstrated need for such rules at prior meetings.
Voting Rules: To ensure involvement and participation, Gado’s constitution requires sixty-five members in a given class year to have voted in the previous Alumni Trustee election for that class to be eligible for a Council representative. Article 7.9 of the AGTF constitution outlines proceedings for the unlikely event of suspected cheating in an election. n