Election Council 2021-22

The Election Committee is a panel of 4-6 volunteer election officials that collectively manage the nomination statement submissions and voting process for the DEAI Staff Council. Election Committee members should anticipate dedicating approximately 1-2 hours per week to the committee through December 2021. This is a coordination role, as the election officials will engage in tasks such as:

● initiating the nomination process,

● collating the nominee submissions,

● communicating with nominees to determine acceptances or refusals,

● organizing and distributing the nominee statements to all staff,

● organizing and initiating the voting process,

● collating the votes,

● communicating final Council Members to the Museum community.

Election Officials should not themselves be running for a seat on the Council or be one of the original DEAI Council Co-coordinators. The original DEAI Co-Coordinators will be available to the election officials to help with administrative tasks such as scheduling meetings, coordination with nominees, etc. During the first meeting, members of the Election Committee will review the nomination document and overarching goal and action plan suggested here to make adjustments and assign tasks accordingly.

The Election Committee will document the election process for communication to staff and as an update to the incoming Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer when they join the Museum.

Nomination Methods

Self-Nomination - Staff, volunteers and affiliates can nominate themselves for

either a Liaison position or Member at Large position. Nominations will be made

via a physical nomination box located in the Field Museum or an electronic

Google Form. Additionally, designated individuals would be required to draft a

Nominee Statement.

Nomination by Peer(s) - Staff, volunteers and affiliates can nominate other

individuals to sit on the Council as either a Liaison position or Member at Large

position. Nominations will be made via a physician nomination box located in the

Field Museum or an electronic Google form. Accompanying this process will be

a nomination acknowledgement in the form of an email to the nominee from the

election officials. Nominated individuals will either accept or decline. If accepted,

the nominated individuals would be required to draft a Nominee Statement.

Nominee Statement

The Nominee Statement is an opportunity for nominees to share individual thoughts

regarding ideas on the vision for DEAI work at the Museum and what supports, both as

individuals and the Council as a whole, will be necessary in order for the Council to be

an effective agent of change. These statements at minimum will be a written statement,

however a nominee may select an alternative method that they are more comfortable

with (for example a video or audio message, a visual presentation, etc.) and these will

be shared with the Museum community during the voting process.