The 2020 MLA Nominating Committee welcomes nominations and self-nominations for a one-year appointment to the MLA Board as a Student/Early Career Representative for 2021-2022.
This appointment is part of a three-year pilot initiative approved by the Board. The intent is to capture the feedback of those new to and entering into the profession of music librarianship while also helping newer members gain early insights into how MLA functions as an organization. The Board will make one-year appointments over the course of the current three-year pilot initiative; the one-year terms allow for the swift transitions common to this phase of a person’s career.
For the Student/Early Career Representative appointment:
- This will be a one-year, non-voting appointment to the MLA Board. Incumbents may not succeed themselves.
- Terms will begin in the spring, after the annual meeting, and conclude at the end of the next annual meeting.
- The Representative must qualify for early-career or student membership status in MLA at the time of selection and be a member in good standing in the relevant categories throughout their term.
- The Representative will be expected to attend all three Board meetings throughout the year and participate in Board activities.
- The Representative will have regular duties assigned to them, including compiling the Annual Report in cooperation with the Web Manager, and will also choose between serving on the Board’s Planning Committee or Finance Committee.
- MLA will cover the usual travel expenses for the Representative for three board meetings (spring/summer, usually in Middleton, WI; fall somewhere else; winter at the annual meeting) as outlined in the Administrative Handbook for member-at-large positions, plus half of the Representative’s hotel and travel costs to the annual meeting if the Representative does not have additional financial support from their home institution or another source (such as the Kevin Freeman Travel Grant). Note that the 2021 spring/summer meeting will be online, with the fall Board meeting either online or at a date and place to be determined.
- The selected Representative does NOT need to be a member of MLStEP (Music Library Students & Emerging Professionals) or IAML (International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres).
Please send your nominations by the end of the day, Wednesday, January 20th, to Joe Clark (jclark 88 @ kent . edu) of the Nominating Committee.
After the nomination period ends, the Nominating Committee will gather brief candidate biographies and statements of interest. Student and early career members of MLA will then have opportunity to provide feedback on the candidates. The Nominating Committee will recommend a candidate to the Board based on this feedback, and the Board will make the final appointment. Please note: only members in good standing who are eligible for the student or early-career categories at the time of selection (beginning January 20, 2021) will be considered for the 2021-2022 pilot initiative term and have opportunity to provide feedback on candidates. This pool includes students and those in the first five years of their careers.
The Student/Early Career Representative for 2021-2022 will begin their appointment by attending the spring 2021 Board meeting, this year held online in May or June 2021. The term includes the fall Board meeting (either online or at a date and place to be determined) and concludes at the end of next year’s annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah (March 2-6, 2022). We will repeat the selection and appointment process for the 2022-2023 terms, after which the pilot initiative will be evaluated.
For questions about the pilot initiative or the selection process, contact Joe Clark (jclark 88 @ kent . edu).