Fellow JAT members,
The 2012 JAT election is about to get underway.
From this year, announcements concerning the election will be sent by send-only e-mail like this one. A forum for the election has also been established at http://jat.org/forums/viewforum/3/. The election forum can be used freely to express opinions, seek endorsers, ask questions and otherwise discuss matters related to the election. We hope that members who have JAT officer experience will post testimonials on the forum. Since JAT-List is not to be used for election-related communication from this year, we encourage members to check the forum regularly and register to receive e-mails whenever new posts appear on the forum.
This message is send-only. Please direct any queries to [email protected] or the election forum above.
The Bylaws and guidelines concerning JAT elections have changed since last year. The current Bylaws and guidelines on elections can be viewed at {page_339}#elections and http://jat.org/download/AESa7DpGN0mFKuEm.
1. Election Committee
As mandated by the JAT Bylaws, the Election Committee consists of three people. This year, we are Yoko Kawabe (Chair), Thomas Kaiser and Wendy McBride.
2. Number of positions to be filled
Four director positions and one auditor position are to be filled in this election. The following is an update on the composition of the Board.
Board composition
The current Board is comprised of Helen Iwata, Charles Aschmann, Chris Blakeslee, Sako Patrick Eaton, Catherine Nakamichi, Koji Himeno, Megumi Kimoto and Fred Uleman. The auditors are Frank Moorhead and Emily Shibata-Sato.
Of these, Helen Iwata, Charles Aschmann, Sako Patrick Eaton and Fred Uleman (directors), and Emily Shibata-Sato (auditor) are incumbents and not up for election.
Catherine Nakamichi, Koji Himeno, Megumi Kimoto (directors), and Frank Moorhead (auditor) have reached the end of their terms and are eligible to run in this election.
Chris Blakeslee (director) has served four out of the last six years and is not eligible to run again in this election.
3. Election schedule
The schedule for the election is as follows:
March 1 (00:00:00 JST)-March 14 (23:59:59 JST): Declaration/registration period
March 15 (00:00:00 JST)-March 21 (23:59:59 JST): Campaigning period
March 22 (00:00:00 JST)-March 28 (23:59:59 JST): Voting period
* Declaration/registration period [March 1 (00:00:00 JST)-March 14 (23:59:59 JST)]
Members seeking to stand for election must first declare their intention of standing and call for endorsements on the election forum, then fill in the form at https://jat.wufoo.com/forms/jat-2012-board-candidacy/ in English or Japanese.
Candidates must have been JAT members for the entire year preceding the deadline for submitting candidacy statements. Endorsers must be members in good standing as of the date on which they submit their endorsement statement.
Per the JAT Bylaws, candidates need to supply full name, gender, nationality, address of current residence, home telephone number, and primary JAT e-mail address, together with the full names, primary JAT e-mail addresses and endorsement statements of 3 endorsers. Candidacy statements should provide some indication of how candidates envision JAT evolving toward the future. Endorsement statements should give some indication of the endorser’s relationship with the candidate and the skills/attributes the endorser believes the candidate possesses that make him or her a good choice. Candidacy and endorsement statements may be up to 300 words or 600 characters in length.
The Election Committee requests endorsers to send a brief e-mail to [email protected] confirming the names of each candidate they have endorsed, together with their endorsement statement/s.
The Election Committee will not announce any candidates until after the registration period closes and the eligibility of the candidates and their endorsers has been confirmed. Candidates will only be deemed registered at that point.
Since the Election Committee needs time to verify eligibility and endorsements, we encourage candidates to submit candidacy statements early. There may be a delay in the start of the campaigning period if necessary for verification of candidate and/or endorser eligibility.
* Campaign period [March 15 (00:00 JST)-March 21 (23:59:59 JST)]
Please ask questions and state opinions on election matters freely on the election forum at http://jat.org/forums/viewforum/3/. Threads on the forum may be started by any JAT member.
Although the Campaign period officially lasts for seven days, campaigning is not limited to this period only. Members and candidates may continue to interact even after the start of the Voting period.
* Voting period [March 22 (00:00:00 JST)-March 28 (23:59:59 JST)]
Votes will be cast online. Each member may cast five votes in this election; that is, one vote each for four director candidates and one vote for one auditor candidate. Members will be sent an e-mail with a link to a personalized ballot before the start of the Voting period. Please vote in accordance with the instructions in the e-mail.
As soon as possible after the close of the election, but no later than March 31, the Election Committee will announce the results of the election in an e-mail like this one and on the JAT website.
As a volunteer organization, JAT depends on members to keep it moving forward. By becoming a Board member you can use your skills to improve JAT, give something back to the community, and possibly even have an impact on the translation industry. By voting in the election, you get to choose the people you want to look after your interests and propel JAT into the next stage of its evolution.
2012 JAT Election Committee
Yoko Kawabe (Chair)
Thomas Kaiser
Wendy McBride