Voters approve bylaws amendments regarding membership nominations and other items
A ballot was issued to Active voters on July 18, 2022, that proposed the following changes to the organization’s bylaws:
- Temporary increase in Active and International membership nomination age limit. In Article III, Section 2a. Active and International, the proposed amendment was from “A nominee in this section must be a physician who is 50 years of age or less on January 1 of the election year, and who …” to “A nominee in this section must be a physician who is 50 years of age or less on January 1 of the election year, or who is 53 years of age or less for the 2023 and 2024 election years reporting extenuating circumstances, and who …”
- Committee participation. In Article VII – Committees, Section 1, the proposed amendment was from “Committee members may be active or senior members in good standing.” to “Voting committee members must be members in good standing. A committee may have participants in non-voting roles, provided each is approved by a simple majority of voting members.”
- Modify committee name and structure. In Article VII – Committees, Section 7, the proposed amendment was to revise a committee’s name and codify the position of Vice Chair. The Vice Chair would serve a one-year term and succeed to Chair, whose term would be revised from three years to two years. Section 7 would be revised to: “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. This committee ensures that the organization, its programs, and its mentoring mechanisms promote and recognize diversity, inclusion, and equity. A Chair serves a two-year term, after succeeding from a one-year term as Vice Chair. In the last year of a Chair’s term, the President nominates a candidate for Vice Chair, who is elected by a simple majority vote of the committee. The President, Vice President, and President Elect are standing members of the committee. Other committee members may be drawn from across the membership and are added by simple majority vote of the committee; these members serve up to 3-year terms that conclude at the start of the Society’s annual meeting or May 1, whichever is earlier.”
By the July 22, 2022, deadline, 42.4% of eligible voters responded, reaching the minimum 40% participation rate required for ballot items regarding bylaws amendments. For each proposed amendment, the percentage of voters who responded favorably was over the 75% threshold required to approve amendments.
Following the bylaw’s Ballot Review Committee section, these results were received, reviewed, and verified by Priscilla Hsue (2021-2023 ASCI Secretary-Treasurer) and two Active members identified by random selection from ballots submitted and who agreed to audit the results. Thank you to Rebecca J. Brown, MD, MHSc (NIH, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) and Sudarshan Rajagopal, MD, PhD (Duke University School of Medicine) for their service.
