The PTA Nominating Committee

The Nominating Committee plays an important role in electing PTA officers for the following year. The Nominating Committee meets 2-3 times over next 2 months to help recruit and discuss possible candidates for the PTA Officer positions. 

Selecting a Chair

Volunteers to the Nominating Committee are voted on during a general meeting. The committee members meet immediately following the general meeting to elect the committee chair.

Meetings

-Schedule the date, time and location for the committee meetings based on the availability of all committee members.

-Conduct the meetings only with a quorum (a majority of the committee members) present.

-Only committee members can attend the meetings. The committee may invite a consultant, such as the school principal, to advise the committee, but that individual must leave prior to discussion. 

-Allow sufficient time to study and discuss possible candidates.

-Distribute a confidentiality agreement and secure the signatures of all committee members before any discussion takes place.

-Treat all discussion of the committee as strictly confidential. Reveal no names of anyone under discussion until the committee report is released according to established procedures. 

-Understand that more than one meeting may be required.

-Notify the alternate if a committee member cannot attend a scheduled meeting. When this committee meets with an alternate serving, the alternate signs the confidentiality agreement and becomes a permanent member of the committee. In the event that another committee meeting is called, that alternate continues to serve on the committee, and the original member does not return to the committee. Alternates do not attend meetings unless they are called to fill an original committee member’s place.

-Secure the agreement of a majority of the committee members in order to slate a nominee.

Responsibilities

-Solicit suggestions for nominees from the membership.

-Select one nominee for each officer position, and be prepared to state qualifications of nominees. In the event the committee cannot secure a nominee for a position, the president calls for nominations for that position from the floor at the election meeting.

-Give careful consideration to qualifications of candidates. Check the bylaws and standing rules (if adopted) for the duties of each officer.

-Contact prospective candidates during the committee meeting.

-Allow time for a candidate to consider the position before asking for his or her decision. 

-Consider the best candidate for each position. Individuals currently serving in a position are not given preference and are not automatically allowed to repeat in that position. 

-Ask a committee member who is being considered for a position to leave the room during the discussion regarding his or her qualifications. That committee member can be present for the discussion of other candidates for that office and may vote. 

-Make committee decisions by ballot and majority vote.

-Treat all candidates in a fair and consistent manner.

-Reconvene the committee if a slated candidate withdraws between the publicizing of the committee report and the election meeting.

SELECTION OF NOMINEES

Suggested Qualifications

A PTA officer should:

-Be knowledgeable about and adhere to the Vision, Mission, Purposes and basic policies of PTA. 

-Be willing to make PTA a high priority in his or her schedule.

-Be willing to attend continuing training for PTA. 

-Be willing to commit to attending PTA meetings (both executive and general meetings)

-Be experienced in PTA or other organizational work.

-Have a sense of justice and fairness. 

-Exhibit enthusiasm for PTA. 

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Report of the Committee

-Prepare a written report signed by all committee members who agree with the report.

-Publicize the report via regular publicity channels at least seven days before the election meeting. 

-Present the report to the executive board for information only. The committee chair may present the report to the current PTA president, as a courtesy, prior to presentation to the executive board.

-Present the report at the election meeting. The committee chair usually reads the report.

-Pass the report to the president, who reads the report, opens the floor for nominations and conducts the elections.

-Pre-arrange for a member to make the motion to destroy ballot votes (if the election is by ballot).

Election Process

-The Nominating Committee is dissolved once the report is read.

-Only a member who has not signed the report can nominate from the floor. 

-If no Nominating Committee is elected, the election may be conducted at the appropriate meeting with all nominations coming from the floor. If the election is not conducted within the school year, then a representative from the Council or Area PTA conducts the meeting.