February 2007 ISSUE

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Your Vote Helps Chart
Your Professional Future

by Larry Staples, P.Eng.
Nominating Committee Chair

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In the next month or so, an envelope will appear in your mailbox. It will contain important information and a request that you make decisions affecting your profession and your future.

I am speaking, of course, about the envelope containing the ballot by which you and your colleagues elect the leadership of APEGGA. The ballot is just one highly visible step in a bigger process.

Are you curious about how the other steps work? Please read on.

The Nominating Committee
The first step is appointing a committee to identify and encourage capable members to step up to the plate and run for elected office. Members of the Nominating Committee are appointed directly by the APEGGA membership each year at the Annual General Meeting, which falls this year on Saturday, April 28.

The committee size is about 20 members, half of whom are appointed each year for a two-year term. Generally, suggestions of individuals who might be appointed are made by Council for consideration by members at the AGM. More often than not, one or more additional individuals are suggested from the floor.

Members of the Nominating Committee, which is chaired by the immediate Past-President, tend to be well networked. They have a broad knowledge of APEGGA members who could make good candidates for Council.

The Nomination Process
The Nominating Committee meets only twice, usually in September and October.

The first meeting is a brainstorming session, during which names of potential candidates are informally listed. Almost all professional members are eligible to run for Council; only those who have actually served at least one year on Council are eligible to run for Vice-President/President-Elect.

Names are proposed by members of the committee from their own experience with colleagues who have impressed them with professionalism and leadership skills. Names also surface from the Nominating Committee binder, which contains lists of names: individuals who are active in APEGGA committees, individuals who have previously served on Council, individuals who have held executive positions in technical societies, and individuals who have held leadership positions in community organizations.

Committee members also go to the grassroots. Names are sought from the 10 APEGGA branches across the province.

The brainstorming discussion is informal and highly interactive. By the end of the half-day meeting, members have arrived at a starter list of 60 to 80 potential candidates for Council, plus 15 to 20 potential candidates for Vice-President/President-Elect.

Following the first meeting, committee members make preliminary calls to many of the potential candidates. These calls determine interest and availability, and members also gather details on career history, if necessary.

The second meeting is more structured. Lists are quickly pared down to those whom the committee believes are interested in running — 45 to 60 for Council and about 15 for Vice-President/President-Elect. The professional history and leadership abilities of each individual are then briefly summarized, with comments coming from one, two or several members of the committee.

In this way, all members of the committee are briefed on the abilities of each individual by someone who has firsthand knowledge.

I have been tremendously impressed by the professional reputation these potential candidates have earned for themselves, and surprised at how that reputation travels beyond their immediate company and client circles.

Where does the committee get its mandate? It’s in the APEGGA bylaws.

The committee is charged by APEGGA Bylaw 4(1) to “give due consideration to the composition of Council as required by the Act, regulations and bylaws and to the geographical distribution and field of practice of the nominees.”

It must also balance the representation of professional member types. The Engineering, Geological and Geophysical Professions Act requires that at least two members of Council are professional engineers, two are professional geologists and one is a professional geophysicist.

The Nominating Committee also reminds itself about the special qualities being sought in councillors, vice-presidents and presidents — see the sidebars — in order to assure good governance of the Association and good leadership for our professions.

Finally, on a separate sheet, each committee member ranks potential nominees for Council and for Vice-President/President-Elect. These individual rankings are merged on spreadsheets to form collective rankings, which reflect the best judgment of the committee as a whole.

Following the second meeting, the chair is tasked with contacting the potential candidates — in descending order of the collective rankings — until at least three agree formally to run for Vice-President/President-Elect, and at least seven agree formally to run for Council.

A question frequently asked by potential nominees, especially for Vice-President/President-Elect, is, “What time commitment is needed to do a good job?” The short answer is, “Lots of time — but the work is very rewarding personally and professionally.” A sidebar gives an idea of the time spent by dedicated councillors and Executive Committee members.

This list of three candidates for Vice-President/President-Elect and seven candidates for councillor forms the Report of the Nominating Committee. This is the base slate of candidates for election on the ballot, which follows the next spring.

Write-In Nominations
In addition to the base slate identified by the Nominating Committee, any eligible member of APEGGA can be nominated to stand for election as councillor or as Vice-President/President-Elect. Write-in forms are printed in The PEGG during the late fall and early winter, and they are always available on the APEGGA website.

The form requires the signatures of 10 APEGGA members who support the nomination, plus the signature of the nominee to acknowledge he or she will serve if elected. The write-in nomination form must be submitted to the APEGGA office at least 90 days before the AGM, which means there’s a deadline day in the latter part of January.

On the spring 2006 ballot, there were four write-in nominations, of whom two were elected and are currently serving as councillors — Chrys. Dmytruk, P.Eng., and Jim Smith, P.Eng.

Voting
Voting is the step where APEGGA members — that would be you — have the biggest say in the process. Yet it astonishes me that, year after year, only 15 per cent or so of the membership takes the time to read the candidate biographies and fill out the ballot to ensure great leaders guide our professions.

Are we apathetic about our livelihood and our calling? Do we think that our participation — or not — won’t matter? Think again, because often there are only a few votes between candidates. Your ballot can make a difference!

When the ballots are mailed in, they are securely stored until at least 15 days before the AGM. At that time, the Ballot Counting Committee of APEGGA members supervises the opening of envelopes and tabulation of votes. The four councillor candidates who receive the most votes are elected for three-year terms.

The VP candidate who receives the most votes is elected as President-Elect (and therefore as President in the following year), and the VP candidate receiving the next most votes is elected Vice-President for a one-year term.

This defined path to the top position assures that the new President is fully up to speed when he or she takes office. And let me assure you that the new Prez is definitely swimming in the deep end of the pool, starting on the Monday after the AGM!

Your Elected Council
This democratic selection process is a means to an end — getting into office smart, hard-working and committed leaders who will guide our professions wisely. The downside of the process is that there are a number of smart, hard-working and committed candidates who are not elected — this is the mystery of democracy.

From my viewpoint, and despite the downside, the process works very well. It has been my privilege to work with many of these outstanding leaders during the past three years as a member of Council, and indeed over the past 30 years as an active volunteer.

Because of these outstanding individuals, APEGGA has come to be regarded as a leader among our sister associations across Canada, and is highly respected by regulatory associations in the United States and internationally.

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Characteristics of a Great Vice-President/President-Elect

• recognized as a senior leader within the professions — track record of participation in APEGGA or technical societies, or executive level experience in professional practice (note that “senior” does not necessarily mean “old” — normally in the range of 25 to 40 years after B.Sc. graduation)

• skilled leader — visionary, effective communicator, consensus builder internally, diplomat externally

• familiar with Board/Management governance, plus formation and implementation of policy and strategy

• passionate champion of professionalism and APEGGA

• energy and enthusiasm to carry forward the work of Council, willing and able to commit significant time to APEGGA (support of family, backing of employer)

Characteristics of a Great Councillor

• experience in professional practice (normally 12-plus years after B.Sc. graduation)

• basic understanding of the principles behind professional regulation

• familiarity with Board/Management governance

• balanced perspective and problem solving attitude

• particular knowledge of important issues or under represented groups

• strong champion of professionalism and APEGGA

• track record as a “contributor”, and willing to commit time to APEGGA

Typical Annual Time Commitments for APEGGA Council Members