by Virginia Rutter (Framingham State University)

Every two years, faculty and librarian MSCA members from our nine sibling institutions elect state-wide leaders. In March 2020, we will elect a President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. It will be a victory for all of us if we can have more people consider running, and have more of all of our members informed and up to date about the candidates and the offices.

If you don’t feel like you are ready to run for statewide offices, please consider ways to participate in our shared governance and advocacy for public higher education and good working conditions for people who serve public higher ed.

Below are a few highlights of what to expect with links to detailed information about how to get involved.

ABOUT THE POSITIONS:  You can read about the four positions here, at the bottom of the page. You can also contact the incumbents or even your chapter president or MSCA board of director representative to learn more.

NOMINATIONS AND TIMELINE:  People self-nominate for these positions—and can do so now! To learn procedures, take a look at this detailed post about getting nomination papers as well as timing and rules. In particular, you can learn what you need to include when you send a request via email to our MSCA elections supervisor,  Sarah Mabrouk (Framingham State University), at slmabrouk.msca@gmail.com.

SIGNATURES TO BECOME CERTIFIED:  By January 17, 2020 candidates should submit signatures in order to make their way to being certified as a candidate. Signatures must be submitted by 5 p.m.; you need 40 signatures total; no more than 15 from any campus. On a practical level, this means a candidate needs 10-15 signatures from at least three campuses. Details about every aspect of the calendar are here.

CANDIDATES FORUMS:  If there is more than one person for any of the positions, each campus can schedule a candidate forum.

VOTING:  Voting will take place starting on March 16. Voting will be available by mail or electronically, and all votes must be received (regardless of postmark!) by April 6. Votes will be tallied and the election results certified by Itelliscan, Inc.

RESULTS When do we learn the results? At the 2020 Delegate Assembly, April 24, 2020, at Worcester State University when results will be announced and also circulated to the full membership at that time.