Formed just a few weeks ago, the Ad Hoc Committee on Constitutional Review has outlined its mission and operating guidelines.
Mission:
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Primary: To evaluate what NASW — as an organization and as a community — will stand to gain and stand to lose if the Constitution is amended to allow PIOs and other non-journalists to be eligible for election to the NASW executive board (President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer).
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Secondary: to understand more fully the feelings, experiences, motivations, concerns, and/or grievances that underlie the recent discussion of allowing PIOs or other non-journalists to be officers, and exploring more broadly how these issues might be addressed in other ways.
Current language:
The elected officers of the Association shall consist of a president, a vice-president who shall be president-elect, a treasurer, and a secretary, who shall all be ex officio directors. A substantial majority of an officer's science-writing activities shall be journalism. Officers may not write press releases or otherwise act on behalf of an institution or company to affect media coverage while they serve in office. Officers who engage in such activities shall notify the Board immediately. They may remain on the Board, but the Board shall appoint another fully qualified member to carry out the officer duties.
Proposed change:
The elected officers of the Association shall consist of a president, a vice-president who shall be president-elect, a treasurer, and a secretary, who shall all be ex officio directors. Candidates shall be regular members in good standing at the time of their nomination.
The Ad Hoc Committee will:
The committee will report its findings to the Board no later than April 30, 2016.
The following NASW members have generously volunteered to serve on the ad hoc committee (in alphabetical order):
- Siri Carpenter, freelance, Madison, WI
- Doug Fox, freelance, Alameda, CA
- Lee Hotz, staff journalist, The Wall Street Journal
- A'ndrea Messer, PIO, Penn State University
- Jill Sakai, PIO, University of Wisconsin
- Nidhi Subbaraman, staff journalist, The Boston Globe
The committee members, who will determine their own structure and process, will be working hard over the next six months to explore this issue. We'll keep you updated on the committee's activities, and will publicize their report widely through nasw.org, ScienceWriters magazine, and social media.
