Council, trust, committee, board nominations invited

Posted Oct, 5, 2005

Nominations are invited for 72 vacancies on AVMA entities and 16 liaison positions. The House of Delegates will fill council openings when it meets in July 2006 in Hawaii. The Executive Board will make liaison and committee appointments at its April 2006 meeting.

Nominating materials for councils—including instructions for publishing candidates in the 2006 Campaign Guide—were sent in August to AVMA delegates and chief staff officers of organizations represented in the HOD. Others may obtain nomination forms on the AVMA Web site, or by calling AVMA headquarters at (800) 248-2862, Ext. 6651 for councils, Ext. 6605 for committees. 

For councils

Council nominations must be postmarked by Feb. 1, 2006, and sent to Dr. Bruce W. Little, AVMA executive vice president. Nominators should use the proscribed nomination form versus sending résumés or other biographic information to ensure that nominations will not be invalidated because the information supplied is incomplete.

The nomination form includes the following:

• Name of the council
• Professional category to be represented
• Identification of nominee
• Name
• Complete address and telephone numbers
• Veterinary school and year of graduation
• Academic degrees and specialty board certification
• Present professional activity
• Statement indicating that the nominee is an AVMA member active in the professional area, if any, specified for the position and has agreed to serve, if elected
• Name of the nominating organization, which must be represented in the HOD, and the signature and title of its executive officer or an officer who is an AVMA member; or the signatures of 10 AVMA member-petitioners
• Signature of nominee
• Date

Council members' terms are six years, and no council member may serve two consecutive terms on the same council. For this purpose, terms of three years or less will not be counted. No member may serve simultaneously in the HOD and on a council, or on two councils. A former council member may become eligible for election to a council at the next annual session after the end of a previous term on a council. The Bylaws also require that nominees be professionally active in the appropriate area, if an area is specified in the vacancy.

AVMA guidelines for council nominations further stipulate the following:

• Nominations must be signed by an officer of the nominating organization
• A nominee will not be eligible to be a candidate for more than one council per year
• A candidate will not be permitted to change the category after the Feb. 1 nomination deadline  

For trusts, committees, and boards

Nominations may be made by local or state veterinary associations, by allied groups represented in the House of Delegates, or by an AVMA member on that person's or another's behalf.

Each nomination must include a one- or two-page curriculum vitae and a statement that the nominee has agreed to serve, if appointed. Only the first two pages of lengthier curricula vitae that are submitted will be used.