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Election Central
Be more than a member.
Be a leader.

Open positions | Special Qualifications | Campaign Guidelines | How to Run

Board members help define the Society. As an organization that values diversity, SPJ is looking for candidates who represent and encompass differing backgrounds based on race, ethnicity, age, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, disability, appearance, geography, media discipline and professional status. SPJ is branded as the nation’s most broad-based journalism association, which is a statement to the professional and personal attributes of our membership.

Positions up for election this year include:

— President-elect (elected every year)
— Secretary-Treasurer (elected every year)
— Vice President for Campus Chapter Affairs (two-year position)
— At-Large Director (two-year position)
— Campus Adviser At-Large (two-year position)
— Student Representative (two positions, elected every year)
— Directors for Regions 2, 3, 6, 10, 11 and 12 (two-year position)

Special Qualifications

SPJ’s bylaws require President and President-elect candidates to have “served as a member of the board of directors, or the board of the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, or been the chair of a national committee or a professional chapter president who also has been or is a member of a national committee.”

Campaign Guidelines

These election campaign guidelines should be followed by all candidates for the SPJ national board of directors. Candidates with questions should the SPJ Nominations Committee Chairman or the Executive Director.

1. There will be no candidate speeches during regional meetings, other than those given by candidates for regional director.

2. Candidate speeches will be no more than three minutes in duration and will be delivered during the opening business meeting. Speeches will be streamed live and available on the election home page as soon as possible after they are delivered.

3. No signs may be posted in the hotel or convention site.

4. Current national SPJ board members should remain neutral in all elections.

5. No one may use the membership database for political purposes.

Additional notes:
— The order in which candidates give speeches will be based on the alphabetical order of their last names.
— While candidates may not post signs in the convention hotel, fliers, buttons and other literature may be distributed. Contact SPJ Executive Director (or designee) to arrange for display space near the convention’s registration area or trade show.
— All candidates will receive information about board and committee meetings before the convention. Candidates are encouraged to attend board and committee meetings that are applicable to their prospective position.
— Candidates may purchase advertising space in Quill, the convention program or the convention newspaper at rates discounted 50 percent off the current rate card. Contact SPJ Executive Director (or designee) for information.

How to Run

Interested candidates should indicate their intention to run by emailing Nominations Committee Chairman John Ensslin at damon_runyon@hotmail.com and Executive Director Joe Skeel at jskeel@spj.org. There is no formal deadline to declare candidacy, but candidates wanting to run a profile in Quill ahead of the convention must make a May 10 copy deadline.