ACA Board of Directors Approves New Governance Structure

At a special meeting in Dallas on Dec. 15, 2011, the ACA International Board of Directors voted to approve the most significant changes to the governance structure of the association since its inception in 1939. Association bylaw amendments will be presented to ACA members for consideration at a Meeting of the Membership on held in conjunction with ACA’s Spring Forum and Expo in March 2012.

If approved by ACA members, the new structure would include:

Council of Delegates
Members of the council would be elected by their units or divisions. Responsibilities would include: electing and removing board members; receiving, reviewing, recommending and approving bylaw amendments; attending council meetings; and receiving, reviewing and conveying council business, including committee reports, to their representative units and divisions. The current ACA Board would transition into the Council of Delegates. Calculation of the number of unit and division delegates would be restructured, so the new council would be larger than the current board.

Board of Directors
Elected by the Council of Delegates, the Board of Directors would include 15 voting members with staggered three-year terms. Responsibilities would include: conducting association business; approving the annual budget; approving capital expenditures; amending standard operating procedures; presenting bylaw amendments to the Council of Delegates; creating and directing divisions, committees, special membership categories, programs and activities consistent with the association’s mission, purpose, bylaws and SOPs; and electing the president, president-elect and treasurer. The association’s CEO would serve as a nonvoting member of the board.

Officers
Elected by the Board of Directors, voting officers would include a president, president-elect and treasurer. Terms would last one year. The treasurer would be the only voting officer permitted to serve consecutive terms. The current president-elect, vice president and treasurer would transition into the respective president, president-elect and treasurer roles. Responsibilities would include conducting business as delegated by the board and conducting an annual evaluation of the CEO, who would serve as a nonvoting officer.

ACA members can review the detailed proposed bylaws, standard operating procedures and transition plan considered by the ACA Board at http://www.acainternational.org/gtf. The board made minor changes to the governing documents before passage. Approved amendments will be made to the posted governing documents shortly, and details about the March 2012 Meeting of the Membership will be forthcoming.