AACTE Votes to Suspend 2025 Board Nominations
At its June meeting, the AACTE Board of Directors voted to suspend adding new members to the board in 2025. This decision is based on recommendations by the Board Composition Task Force, which I chair. The board created the task force in June 2023 to review and reexamine the current board structure that has been in place for at least 50 years.
The task force, which is composed of current and former AACTE board leaders, reviewed the literature on best practices in association governance and examined the structures in place at sister organizations. As a result of this study, our preliminary recommendations are to shift from the current representative structure for the Board of Directors — which is a 20th century model — to a competency-based board for which all AACTE members would be eligible. We also recommended reducing the size of the board from 20+ to no more than 12 to facilitate and promote board engagement in all aspects of association governance.
After vetting our recommendations with the current board and with stakeholder organizations, we are now working on recommended changes to the recruitment, nomination, and election process and will bring all our recommendations — in the form of proposed changes to the AACTE bylaws — to the board in the fall. At that time, the board will determine whether to forward the proposed changes to you, the AACTE membership, for final approval. If approved, the new structure will be phased in beginning with the incoming board class of 2026. The board voted to suspend the election for new members this fall to facilitate this process. Whether or not the task force’s recommendations are ultimately adopted, elections will resume in 2025 for a new class to join the board in March 2026.
Throughout this process, we have benefited from the wisdom of AACTE’s current leadership, including Board Chair Marquita Grenot Scheyer, Chair-elect Anne Tapp Jaksa, Immediate Past Chair Monika Williams Shealey, and President and CEO Lynn M. Gangone. We are excited to bring the work of the task force to fruition so that we can put AACTE in the best position to welcome its next president & CEO and to meet the many challenges and opportunities facing our profession.
Gayle Hutchinson, Task Force Chair 2024
Current Member, Board of Directors
California State University, Chico
Former Chair, Board of Directors
Miami University
Former Chair, Board of Directors
Rutgers University
Chair, Board of Directors
California State University System
Chair-elect, Board of Directors
Saginaw Valley State University
Former member, Board of Directors
Southern Methodist University
Former chair, Board of Directors
Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania
Tags: AACTE governance
