Board Structure and Selection

• 
• 

Rev. James Hobart from the First Unitarian Church of Chicago asks Erik about his stance on the proposed reorganization of the UUA Board of Trustees and the timing of governance changes potentially coinciding with GA 2012 in Phoenix, AZ.

As candidate for UUA Trustee, I recognize that we have begun shifting drastically the way we behave as an Association and hold our institution accountable to the needs of its members. One proposal is to shrink the UUA Board from its current number of over 24 persons to a maximum of 12. The process by which future UUA Board members will be selected is as yet unclear, but it appears as if the General Assembly in 2011 will be asked to vote on a system that grants selection of a slate of At-Large candidates to the Nominating Committee with the option of individuals to run by petition.

Inherent in the proposal that will likely be presented at GA 2011 is a charge to the Nominating Committee to select candidates that represent a broad range of identities, giving special weight to historically marginalized communities within Unitarian Universalism.

Is this an ideal solution to a complex problem? Of course not. This system of selection and leadership does not guarantee better representation or a more accurate reflection of what the average UU congregant sees as important for the Association. But it does at least offer the opportunity for there to be more diversity in UUA leadership and help us move from the religion we are to the religion we hope to become.

This proposal, if brought before GA 2011 would not in fact have implications for GA 2012 in Phoenix. As a non C-bylaw, the restructuring of the UUA Board does not require two consecutive years of voting and, if passed, could be enacted as soon as GA 2011 is over.

As for the size of the UUA Board, I have attended the last six in-person meetings of the Board as well as several conference calls. It is virtually impossible to have a reasonable conversation with the nearly 30 people involved sitting around a table, let alone on the telephone. The monetary and personnel cost of face-to-face meetings in Boston and off-site is compounded by how many people the UUA must help transport, feed and house.

With the shift to the Policy Governance system to which the UUA has recently transitioned, it is essential that the Board be both agile and visionary to help craft policies which direct the actions of the Staff accurately and efficiently. A 25+ person Board has proven to be ineffectual at this task and must be reduced in order to be effective.

Finally, it is important to recognize that any shift to the makeup of the UUA Board and/or the process by which we select Trustees, is not up to the Board but rather the General Assembly to determine. As Trustee, I will uphold the will of the General Assembly, recognized as the ultimate authority of our governance.