2020 Election Process for the Board of Commissioners

Members of the 2020 Nominating Committee:
Isabell Mills, University of Indianapolis, Chair
E. Newton Jackson, University of North Florida
Curt Laird, Columbus State Community College (Outgoing BOC member)
Julia Dutove, Grande Prairie Regional College (individual member)

Criteria for 2020 Elections
Board of Commissioners: Six (6) positions:

• One program or individual member representative
• Three program member representatives (running for a second term)*
• One Practitioner/Sport Industry representative (running for a second year)*
• One Public Member (running for a second term)*

* The current Commissioners' names will be voted on an up/down slate by the membership.
 
Commissioner nominees must be able to attend the next scheduled in-person meetings to be held on Friday, September 25, 2020, in New York, NY, and Thursday, February 11, 2021, in Houston, TX.
 
Nomination Requirements:

• Members of COSMA may nominate themselves
• A nominator must secure prior consent of the nominee(s)
• Both the nominator and the nominee must be COSMA members in good standing (individual or program member)

• The nominee must submit a Statement of Interest (see below for details)

 
Statement of Interest:
Nominees will provide the following information:
1) The individual’s complete contact information (Name, Institution/Organization/
Affiliation, address, email address)
2) A narrative that includes:
   a. history as a Board member in this or other organizations
   b. interest in becoming a leader in the sport management academic community while serving the individual and program members of the organization
3) A current resume or CV
4) Statements of Interest are due by email to cosma@cosmaweb.org no later than 5pm EDT, March 31.
 
Nomination Process and Timeline:
March 1: Open call for candidates interested in serving on the Board of Commissioners
March 31: Deadline for interested individuals to submit a Statement of Interest (by 5:00 PM (EDT) March 31).
April 15: The final candidates are submitted to membership for a vote.
May 1: Election results compiled and new Board members notified; changeover occurs at that time.

Interested candidates may contact Heather Alderman with questions.
 
Duties of the Board of Commissioners:

• Lead accreditation process for assigned programs which includes reviewing membership applications, candidacy status applications, observing site visits and reviewing annual reports;
• Participate in bimonthly conference calls and two in-person meetings a year, September and February (held in conjunction with the COSMA Conference).
• Prepare for in-person meetings by reviewing site team reports, self-study documents and rejoinders and develop final recommendation with respect to accreditation decisions;
• Oversee the organization’s accreditation policies; maintain and review any proposed changes;
• Foster regular communication with the membership and identify a variety of mechanisms to educate the membership about the accreditation process;
• Enhance the reputation of the organization while promoting positive working relationships and communications with individual and group members;
• Identify and assign site reviewers in conjunction with the Executive Director;
• Provide oversight of disclosure and transparency, internal controls and processes designed to promote legal and ethical compliance within the organization;
• Maintain a positive working relationship with the Executive Director and with the COSMA Board of Directors;
• Assess and improve the Board’s own effectiveness.

 
Nominating Committee:
In accordance with the bylaws, the Nominating Committee is comprised of four program or individual members of the COSMA, who are recommended by the Board of Commissioners and approved of by the Board of Directors. One committee member will be from the current BOC to act as a representative of the BOC; the other three members will come from the program and individual membership at large. The Nominating Committee is charged with the task of collecting and evaluating nominations for all open positions on the Board of Commissioners, or those positions scheduled to be open in the year. The Committee proposes candidates to the BOC in accordance with the procedures specified by the bylaws, following a formal and rigorous review process, to be voted on electronically by the membership during the month of April.
 
The Nominating Committee will consider the experience and skills of qualified and interested individuals while assessing the overall balance and performance of the organization’s Board of Commissioners and individual members within that Board. In this respect, the Nominating Committee also focuses on fostering and creating a long-term leadership culture and succession plan within the Board structure. Specifically, the Committee will express its commitment to continuity of leadership between the generations of leaders within the total Board as it chooses nominees. As a result, if specific representatives of the membership are needed while others are not (e.g., nominees from public institutions or nominees from small institutions), the call for nominations will state these specifications. Individuals must be members in good standing with COSMA to be considered for any position (individual or program).

Commitment:
All Board members are encouraged to attend related sport management conferences and meetings where possible and act as “goodwill ambassadors” for the organization by interacting in a positive way with supporters, members and other sport management professionals. All Board members are encouraged to actively support the goals of academic accreditation as well as the goals of the COSMA and to foster an environment of increasing professionalism on the Board.
 
Board members are expected to support COSMA by maintaining their membership (individual or program) throughout their service as a Board Member. This does not apply to any Public Board Members. Board Members must be able to attend and participate in the routinely scheduled conference calls as well as in-person meeting(s) per year, held in February (both Boards) and September (only the BOC). All costs are covered by COSMA, including travel, hotel, food and miscellaneous expenses. Board members are covered by an Operating Guide. Board members must disclose any conflicts of interest upon installation and annually.