Governance

Key Elements of the Governance Model

• The AOG’s purpose, as stated in the Bylaws, will now include service not only to the Academy, but also to its graduates (Article II, Sec 2.1).
• The AOG will be governed by a relatively small Board of Directors that has the sole responsibility for managing the affairs of the organization. In addition to the Chair, Vice Chair, and President, the Board will consist of from 12 to 16 Directors. This structure, eminently appropriate in today’s regulatory climate, will enable agile and responsive oversight of the Association’s business (Article VI).
• In addition to the Board of Directors, the AOG will have an Advisory Council, a relatively large body responsible for advising the Board on matters pertaining to the Association’s affairs. Besides the Chair, Vice Chair, and President, the Advisory Council will consist of 18 Advisors-at-Large, 18 Class Advisors, and 18 Society Advisors. While the Advisors-at-Large will be elected by the AOG’s membership at its annual meetings, the Class and Society Advisors will be selected by classes and societies by processes of their own choosing. The Advisory Council will offer the Board a large, representative body of graduates to lean on for advice and to make sure that the Board is both communicating and listening (Section VII).
• Both Directors and Advisors-at-Large will serve for not more than nine consecutive years. Such term limits will help maintain the vitality of both the Board and Advisory Council (Article VI Sec 6.3(d) and Article VII Sec 7.6 (d)).
• The Nominating Committee, which will select the candidates for Chair, Vice Chair, Director, and Advisors-at-Large, will consist of two Directors and from two to four Advisors, none of them up for re-election, and its membership will also include from five to eight members who are neither Directors or Advisors but who are selected by classes and societies. This large complement of “outsiders” will preclude both the reality and the perception of “self-perpetuating” Board or Advisory Council membership (Article VIII, Sec 8.4 (e)).
• Although the Nominating Committee will produce an annual slate of candidates for Director and Advisors-at-Large where there is only one nominee per open position, members will have the right to place candidates on the ballot by petition (Article VI, Sec 6.3 (a)). Thus, the Nominating Committee will retain the ability to structure a slate that is optimally suited for the needs of the Board, while at the same time members can add nominees if there is sufficient backing for them.
• The President will become the Association’s Chief Executive Officer. That is, the Board and its Chair will operate at the strategic level, while the person on the scene in the Alumni Center will now have executive authority over the day-to-day affairs of the Association and the management of its staff (Article IX, Sec 9.6).
• The only way to amend the Bylaws will be by means of a vote of the AOG’s membership (Article XII, Sec 1