Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Important Message on AERA Ballot
February 5, 2006
Dear Colleagues:
Over the past week, I have received a flurry of emails regarding the current ballot issues for the upcoming AERA Bylaws change. The most surprising aspect of the emails I received is how much incorrect information they contain. So, in the spirit of being succinct, let me clarify the items that are before you as a voting member of AERA:
- Simplifying our membership categories (and extending the franchise to graduate students who make up almost 25 percent of our membership).
- Clarifying our committee structure (making the language comport with what we actually do) and explicitly establishing a new category of Bylaws committees for three important committees—the SIG Executive Committee, the Nominations Committee, and the Graduate Student Council.
- Clarifying the rules by which Special Interest Groups (SIG) are created and dissolved (Council stayed at the low number of 30 which makes it easier to create a SIG rather than raise it to 50 as recommended). We also felt it best to keep the Bylaws less directive so that SIGs and Council could have greater flexibility without requiring voting by the entire membership on issues relevant to SIG members. (We don’t need to be micro-managing SIGs.)
- General modernization and housekeeping (as the Bylaws now stand, we cannot do electronic balloting or have committees act by conference call and the Bylaws have amendments that needed to be aligned with the main text).
The Bylaws committee worked for more than a year to create a streamlined, workable document for Council to provide to the voting membership. The committee consulted frequently with the AERA attorney, Michael Trister, to make sure that recommended changes were abiding by the letter and spirit of the Association (and were in compliance with the incorporation laws of Washington, DC which govern our activities as a non-profit organization).
There is NOTHING in the Bylaw changes regarding session allocation for the Annual Meeting, and I believe some members have conflated two separate activities—cleaning up our Bylaws and the report of the SIG Task Force. Also, I am somewhat dismayed at what seems to be campaigning on behalf of one position or the other. AERA has maintained a tradition of not campaigning for officers, and I would hope that we go into the referenda with the same stance, i.e., allowing a group of exceptionally intelligent people to take the time to read for themselves the explanations included with the ballot and make up their own minds.
I hope this message is helpful as you exercise your right and responsibility to vote.
Gloria Ladson-Billings, President
American Educational Research Association
