One of the key tasks of the Nominating Committee is the selection of the officer candidates who will stand for election by the general membership. This is an extremely important charge for the Nominating Committee, as whomever is elected by the membership is responsible for leading the Society through the current issues it faces, as well as charting its strategic path forward. Serving as an ASBMR officer is a tremendous honor and privilege, as well as a great responsibility to carry the Society forward. The selection process for these candidates has been revised to be more rigorous in order to ensure that the best two or three candidates are put forward to the membership for election. Below is a brief outline of how the officer selection process operates:
1. The Nominating Committee generates a list of individuals who they believe would be suitable candidates for open officer positions. These candidates are then ranked on a selection of leadership criteria:
- Clinical/translational researcher with solid understanding of basic science issues, or basic/translational researcher with solid understanding of clinical issues
- Communicative, able to articulate ASBMR’s vision and activities and communicate externally to NIH/FDA/the press
- Committed/Engaged/Available, able to shift work responsibilities to dedicate the time to role of President
- Tough-minded optimism
- Desire to serve others, putting service ahead of self-interest
- Delivers on promises and commitments
- Surfaces and confronts issues and conflict with openness and candor, balanced with diplomacy and empathy
- Compassion, kindness, caring for others
- Visionary (vs. micromanaging)
- Recent experience as ASBMR Councilor/Committee Chair.
2. From this ranking, a list of candidates is generated to invite to participate in the remaining selection process. Candidates who accept the invitation are then sent a set of written interview questions that cover their vision for ASBMR, what they hope to accomplish as ASBMR President, and how to best address the key issues facing the bone, mineral, and musculoskeletal field.
3. From the written interview portion, the candidate list is further narrowed to the top candidates as determined by the Nominating Committee. These candidates are then asked to participate in an oral interview with the Nominating Committee. The oral interviews allow the Nominating Committee to ask candidates more specific questions based upon their written interview answers on their vision for ASBMR, what they hope to accomplish, and how to best address the current key issues facing the Society.
4. Once the oral interviews are concluded, the top two or three candidates for each officer position are then presented on the Slate of Nominees to be approved by the ASBMR Council at the Summer Council Meeting. Once the slate is approved, the candidates are presented via electronic ballot for vote by the ASBMR membership.
Timeline for 2021
- February 17, 2021: Applications Open.
- March 19, 2021: Application Deadline.
- March - May 2021: Nominating Committee reviews received applications and prepares a Slate of Nominees for the ASBMR Council's approval.
- June 2021: Slate of Nominees is presented to ASBMR Council for approval.
- July 2021: All applicants are notified of their status. An electronic ballot is sent to the membership with six candidates for three Councilor positions and two or three candidates for the position of President-Elect.
- August 2021: Councilor/Officer election results and Committee appointments are announced.
- October 4, 2021: All elected Councilors and Officers and appointed Committee members begin their three-year terms of service.