Faculty Adviser Elections (including Deputy Faculty Advisers and CPD Co-ordinators)
Download Guidance - (including Annexes A-G) [word]
Procedure
In October each year, the Registrar writes to all Faculty Advisers whose term of office expires at the next AGM and to those Faculty Advisers in regions where the term of office of their Deputies and/or CPD Co-ordinator expires at the next AGM to remind them to set in train the procedures for an election in their region/country. From time to time, there may also be casual vacancies and the procedures described below should be used as soon as a vacancy occurs and the Faculty office has been notified.
Who organises the elections?
The Faculty Adviser (or his/her nominated deputy) is normally responsible for organising Faculty Adviser elections. If a Faculty Adviser wishes to stand for re-election, the responsibility for organising the election should normally be passed to the Local Board Member or, if this is not appropriate for any reason, to an alternative person agreed with the Registrar.
Criteria for nomination and job descriptions
Guidance on the criteria for nominating Faculty Advisers and Deputies, including CPD Co-ordinators. This includes job descriptions for Faculty Advisers and Deputies (Annex B) and for CPD Co-ordinators (Annex C).
Nomination notice, nomination form and ballot form
Nomination notice, nomination form and ballot form templates are also included (Annexes D, E and F). They should be reproduced on coloured Faculty headed paper (without the St Andrew's Place address, but including the charity registration number which is a legal requirement) and circulated to the voting members in the region/country using address labels provided by the Faculty office. A few days' notice is usually required for the provision of labels. The closing date for receipt of nominations is normally three weeks from the date of posting and two weeks are normally sufficient for the ballot.
Verifying nominations
As soon as the closing date for nominations is reached, the Faculty Adviser (or whoever is organising the election) should ask the Head of Professional Affairs to verify that all those nominated together with their proposers are eligible. At the same time the hard signed copies of the nomination forms should be posted to the Registrar, c/o Assistant Chief Executive, at the Faculty office address to arrive within one week of the close of nominations (see Explanatory Notes at Annex G).
Electorate
The electorate for Faculty Adviser elections (including Deputy Faculty Advisers and CPD Co-ordinators) is described in the note ‘Explanatory Notes for Faculty Adviser elections' (Annex G).
Confirmation of election
The Faculty office should be notified as soon as the results of a ballot are known (or immediately after the nomination deadline if there is only one nominee) and the Registrar notified in writing within one week. The name of the successful candidate is reported to the next meeting of the Faculty Board following the election. A letter is then sent to the successful candidate from the Faculty office formally to confirm the Board's approval and to provide dates of relevant future Faculty committee meetings. The results of the election are normally made known within the region/country by the outgoing Faculty Adviser or the newly elected successor.
Period of office
The period of office for Faculty Advisers is described in Standing Order 107 and this should also be applied to Deputy Faculty Advisers and CPD Co-ordinators:
‘Faculty Advisers shall serve as such until the conclusion of business of the third Annual General Meeting following their appointment. A Faculty Adviser may thereafter be reappointed in accordance with Standing Order 106 to serve a particular constituency for one more consecutive two year term or two more consecutive one year terms, following which they shall not be eligible for reappointment as the Faculty Adviser for that constituency until a period of one year has elapsed.'
It is recommended that the expiry of terms of office of Faculty Advisers, Deputy Faculty Advisers and CPD Co-ordinators in the same region/country should not normally coincide where practicable.
Deputy Faculty Adviser and CPD Co-ordinator elections
All procedures described above also apply to elections for Deputy Faculty Advisers and CPD Co-ordinators.
Note: The Registrar is the Officer with responsibility for all Faculty elections.