[Commpsych] Draft email re EGM

[Heather Gridley]

Dear colleagues and psychology friends


Last week the APS sent an email advising all members that the Extraordinary General Meeting about Governance of the APS has been postponed until Tuesday 6 June. (As someone who works in the national office, I can assure you the need for this change was a legal requirement, not a tactical move - red faces all round!)



This EGM is crucial in setting up the APS going forward and I would encourage all APS members to vote. The story so far:

  *   The APS has conducted an extensive governance review over the last 18 months, with lots of opportunities for member input, and based on this feedback has decided on a new structure to take the society forward. You can read details on the email/website.
  *   When the APS first moved from a large Council to a Board of Directors in the mid-1990s, candidates stood for election to particular portfolio positions, such as Director of Membership, Science or Social Issues. There were problems with this model, which didn't reflect accepted business practice where all directors accept responsibility for all areas governed by the Board, but are less 'hands-on' in a management sense. But the move away from portfolios to generic directors about 10 years ago meant a loss of diversity and skill spread within the Board - for example, it has become very difficult for an academic to be elected, because academics represent a relatively fixed (but now shrinking) proportion of APS members.
  *   The new structure is designed to ensure that Board membership is more equitable across the society - a 'best of both worlds' model that retains the generic nature of the director role itself but enables the different sectors that make up the discipline and profession to have input at Board level. Thus, there will be one Director elected by academics (via the Division of Psychological Research, Education and Training - DPRET) and up to 5 practitioners (2 from Colleges, 2 general practitioners and 1 early career member).
  *   There will also be a larger Advisory Council to the Board, which might look more like the old Council, with membership reflective of key stakeholder groups of the Society, such as state branches, interest groups etc. At present these groups have no direct input to the Board. The Council will meet twice yearly.

The proposed changes to the Society's constitution require the approval of at least 75% of members present or voting by proxy.

So what to do: VOTE in the EGM on 6 June 2017 at 6:15pm

You have to be onsite at one of 10 voting sites around Australia or else you need to appoint a proxy who will be onsite to vote on your behalf. If you can't get to these venues, please take the time to send a proxy vote by 6.15pm AEST Sunday 4 June to the APS. The link to the form is here:  http://admin.psychology.org.au/Assets/Files/6June2017DigitalProxyForm.pdf

I am happy to be a proxy for anyone who needs one and I will be attending the Melbourne meeting. Note that you don't return the form to me, or need my permission to list me as your proxy. But you do need to know that I live in West Brunswick  (I guess that's just in case there's more than one Heather Gridley, and easier than needing to know my membership number!)

I am happy to answer any queries that members may have (including about how I plan to vote).

best regards

Heather


Heather Gridley

Honorary Fellow

College of Arts

Victoria University

Melbourne, Australia

E: heather.gridley at vu.edu.au<mailto:heather.gridley at vu.edu.au>

Ph: +61 419113731



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