NOMINATING COMMITTEE (2011)
Purposes & Objectives
To search for and to propose, for the approval of the Yearly Meeting, the names of Friends to serve as officers and on the committees of the Yearly Meeting.
Functions & Activities
The Nominating Committee ordinarily proposes all nominations for Yearly Meeting officers and committees for approval to the Yearly Meeting as follows:
- Yearly Meeting Clerk, Assistant Clerk, Reading and Recording Clerks, Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer, Trustees of the Yearly Meeting and of the Lindley Murray Fund.
- Members of all other standing committees of the Yearly Meeting and such special nominations as the Yearly Meeting may direct, with the exception of appointments to the Nominating Committee itself and Friends appointed by regional meetings to the Ministry Coordinating Committee.
- Members of the corporations or governing bodies of wider Friends organizations of which New York Yearly Meeting is a constituent body, consistent with the by-laws or other applicable policies of those organizations.
Normally nominations are confined to members of New York Yearly Meeting, but committees may request inclusion of Friends from other yearly meetings. Under special circumstances, which the yearly meeting must consider and approve, Nominating Committee may propose names of non-Friends.
Friends who wish to request release from service or who need to resign are asked to submit their request in writing either electronically or by postal mail to the New York Yearly Meeting clerk, with copies to the committee clerk, the appropriate coordinating committee clerk, the Nominating Committee clerk, and the New York Yearly Meeting office. Friends should request release when they find they cannot participate in the work of the committee, permitting the Yearly Meeting Nominating Committee to find Friends to fill vacancies in a timely manner.
When resignations or other vacancies in any of the appointments normally made by the Yearly Meeting require replacement before the next Summer Sessions, or if membership is needed for a new committee established by the Yearly Meeting, nominations are proposed at the next Session of the Yearly Meeting.
Organization & Method of Appointment
Each Regional Meeting is asked to name one member to the Yearly Meeting Nominating Commit- tee for each 200 members of the regional meeting or fraction thereof, with at least one member from each regional meeting. It is requested that these meetings designate an alternate to serve on the Nominating Committee whenever notified that a regular member cannot attend. The terms are determined by each regional meeting. It is recommended that approximately one-third of the total appointments are made each year for staggered three year terms. Appointments should be made by regional meetings before Summer Sessions each year, and the Yearly Meeting Office should be notified.
The committee appoints its own clerk and assistant clerk at an organizational meeting at the end of Summer Sessions or when new appointments are known. It also names a representative to General Services Coordinating Committee.
If a member asks to be released from service before his or her term expires, he/she makes the request to the Regional meeting, and the clerk of the Region informs the clerk of Yearly Meeting and the clerk of Nominating Committee.
Meeting Times & Places
The committee meets at the time of Fall Sessions to begin the work of the year. To establish a pool of willing potential nominees, individual members are then assigned committees for which they are responsible. The committee meets during Summer Sessions to finalize nominations.
Finances
The Nominating Committee has an appropriation in the Operating Budget to cover clerical costs, telephone charges, some committee travel, and other miscellaneous expenses.