Your voice, your vote

26th February 2015

We are inviting all of our Educational Members to have a say in who represents them on the Board of Trustees. To ensure every Member can have a voice we use Electoral Reform Services (ERS) to undertake the voting which means you can vote online – it is quick, easy and secure. Every Member Key Contact* will have received an email from Electoral Reform Services with the details on how to vote.

It is important for you to vote to ensure the Board of Trustees is made up of the correct representatives to ensure a secure future for the EAUC and our Members. We welcome Members to attend the AGM on 24 March at the University of Leeds so you can hear the latest on EAUC activities and finances as well as having the opportunity to ask the Board of Trustees any questions you may have about the Association. The results of the votes will be announced at the AGM and we will notify Members. Book to attend the AGM.

Voting closes on 17 March.

*Unless you notified us of an alternative voting representative. If you have not received the email from ERS then please check your spam and contact us and we can resend this to you.

As well as fulfilling a governance and oversight role, EAUC’s trustees agree the strategy and priorities of the association. We have 2 Resolutions for this AGM.

Resolution Paper AGM15-01 – Election of Co-Opted Board Members who will act as Company Director and Charity Trustee

The first Resolution is to vote the TWO co-opted Trustees. In between AGMs the Board are able to co-opt Trustees as and when vacancies arise to ensure the Board maintains the skills and representation required. Two trustees have left the section since the last AGM and therefore retired from the Board (Diane Dale of Wiltshire College and Harriet Sjerps-Jones of University of Exeter). The Board co-opted Chris Long of Bridgend College on 24 July 2014 to ensure Further Education continued to be represented. Janet Haddock-Fraser of Canterbury Christ Church University was co-opted on 8 October 2014 to ensure academic knowledge was represented on the Board. The Board are recommending to Members to vote in favour of continuing both of these appointments. You may vote for up to 2 (TWO) candidates.

Resolution AGM15-01
To elect Christopher Long as Trustee/Director                                   
To elect Janet Haddock-Fraser as Trustee/Director                        

Resolution Paper AGM15-02 – Election of Board Member who will act as Company Director and Charity Trustee

We also have one vacancy to fill on the Board of Trustees. The Board are particularly looking for the following skills and specifically look for out of sector experience as we value a broader perspective this brings:

• Financial expertise including risk management and budget setting
• Director/Senior Management/Deputy level e.g. Director of Finance, Chief Finance Officer, Finance Manager
• All nominations would ideally have previous board experience

We received 2 nominations. Dianne Handley is a Finance and Administration Manager at Nottingham Trent University and Andrew Hewett is a Director of Finance at University of Dundee. You may vote for up to 1 (ONE) candidate only.

Resolution AGM15-02 
To elect Dianne Handley as Trustee/Director                                     
To elect Andrew Hewett as Trustee/Director                                     

How does the process work?

As per our constitution, only Educational Members can apply to be a trustee and director. That means trustee nominees have to work in an organisation that is a current Member and they are from a university, college or learning and skills sector provider. Company Members and Strategic Partners are not eligible to apply. All nominees have been verified as eligible to apply. The process for selecting trustees is as follows:

• We asked for Trustee Nominations in January with a closing date of 10 February 2015. We received 2 Trustee Nominations.
• The Board select their recommendations if required – the Board have agreed that a recommendation is not required for this particular vote.
• All applications received (two) are sent to the Educational Members and are asked to vote
• Votes are taken by Educational Members present at the AGM or those who vote by proxy prior to the AGM. Voting will take place prior to the AGM electronically to ensure as many Members have the opportunity to vote.
• Only one vote is cast per member institution. We have asked all Key Member Contacts to inform us by 9 February 2015 if they wish to change the nominated person who will vote on their institution’s behalf. The nominated person will be sent voting details direct with instructions on how to vote.