ORCID holds Board member elections every year, following an open recommendation and nominations process. ORCID Board members serve for 3 years; each year about a third of the Board seats are up for election. This year, we had six seats up for election plus an new seat for an additional researcher.
The Nominating Committee was chaired this year by Richard de Grijs, a researcher member of the ORCID board. The committee reviewed 20 applications, including 8 applications for the new second researcher position on the Board. Applications reflected the global nature of ORCID, with nominations from ORCID members in Europe, Middle East, Africa, North America, Latin America, and Asia.
The committee must balance a number of objectives when developing the slate. Their overarching aim was to recommend candidates who are driven by the ORCID mission and are able to contribute to ORCID’s development, through their personal and organizational knowledge and networks of influence. The committee also was keen to ensure the Board was diverse – in terms of skills, geographic location, organizational representation, and gender. And, the committee ensured that the Board, as per our bylaws, remains majority non-profit.
The Nominating Committee put forth a slate of candidates, which was reviewed by the Board at its October meeting and then put forth to the ORCID membership.
After a 30-day period during which we recieved no alternate nominations, we opened elections via a secure voting web page. We emailed the main contact of each current ORCID member with details about how to vote. For those members who wished to vote in person, we provided details in the October member newsletter on how to participate in an ORCID Members webinar held on 21 December 2017. During this meeting, we described the nominations and elections process, took questions, and cast the final proxy vote to close the voting process.
Of the 729 members eligible to vote in the 2018 Board elections, 252 cast votes, above the 10% participation needed for the election to be valid. Of those members casting ballots, 236 (93.7%) voted in favor of the slate; 12 (4.8%) abstained, and 4 (1.6%) voted against the ballot. The election results were certified at 13:15 GMT on 21 December 2017.
Please join me in thanking our Nominating Committee for their service, and in welcoming our new and returning Board members:
- Salvatore Mele
- Alison Mitchell
- Ed Pentz
- Daisy Selematsela
- Edward Wates
- Simeon Warner
- Karin Wulf
On behalf of the Board and ORCID staff, our thanks to everyone who submitted nominations and participated in the elections process!
