The EDUCAUSE Board of Directors, in consultation with the Nominations and Leadership Development Committee, is moving from elections to an appointment process for new board members.
EDUCAUSE is powered by members, and the EDUCAUSE Board of Directors, in turn, provides important strategic guidance and oversight, ensuring the association never loses its focus on serving members. We are excited to announce a new process for selecting members of the EDUCAUSE Board that will help streamline and strengthen our already extensive recruitment and vetting process.
At the June 2025 board of directors meeting, after more than a year of careful deliberation and in close consultation with the Nominations and Leadership Development Committee (NLDC), the board unanimously voted to change how new board members are selected for 2026 and beyond, moving from elections to an appointment process.
In moving from elections to an appointment process for new board members, the board of directors expects to foster a more responsive and strategic approach to building our leadership, moving beyond the limitations of our previous process.
A Refined and Strategic Process
Our open and rigorous identification and vetting process for potential board members will remain the same. Our call for 2026 nominations will begin in January, with the nominations period open for approximately six weeks. The Nominations and Leadership Development Committee (NLDC) will continue its excellent leadership in creating an exceptional pool of candidates, diligently reviewing all nominations, evaluating materials, and making recommendations to the EDUCAUSE Governance Committee. The Governance Committee will deliberate and recommend the final slate of candidates to the EDUCAUSE Board for final deliberation and selection.
We believe this change will strengthen our recruitment process, enabling us to proactively identify and engage individuals with the specific skills, experience, and perspectives needed to guide EDUCAUSE effectively.
The number of appointments made each year will remain unchanged and depend on the number of board members who complete their terms in a given year. Currently, there are twelve board members (the CEO is a non-voting board member).
Why This Change? Why Now?
The EDUCAUSE Board has struggled for many years with low voter participation during the board election cycle. In fact, fewer than one in five member representatives cast a vote in any given year. This lack of broad participation has at times resulted in board membership that does not fully reflect the membership of our higher education community in dimensions of institutional size, focus, geography, and complexity. In any given year, the board and NLDC strive to balance the need to fill areas of expertise on the board—asking, for example, whether more information security, more small institutions, more finance, or fewer schools from a particular state or region are needed to ensure the most representative committee possible. We are confident that the appointment process will result in a more strategic and holistic selection process.
The new process also brings a welcome standardization to board member terms, with all new board members beginning their service in the January–December cycle. With the previous combination of elected and appointed "at-large" board seats, board members started their terms at different times. With an all-appointed board, all terms will align with the same term period. Moving from a staggered to a unified start date will foster greater camaraderie, collaboration, and a more cohesive onboarding experience for new board members.
Finally, an appointed board will ensure that the board is truly representative of the entire EDUCAUSE membership. The appointment process will enable the board to strategically address demographic needs and, crucially, avoid situations in which votes could be seen by some as cast in solidarity with a particular institution type or to reflect the interests of a particular person.
Moving to an appointed board will empower the dedicated members of the NDLC and the EDUCAUSE Board of Directors to make informed, strategic decisions about leadership, ensuring a well-rounded, skilled, and highly engaged group of individuals committed to the EDUCAUSE mission. This process allows us to select leaders who not only possess the necessary expertise but also reflect and represent the breadth and depth of our member community.
Timeline for Board Appointments
- January–June: The EDUCAUSE NLDC committee will receive and thoroughly review all nominations.
- July: The NLDC chair will present the top eight candidates to the Governance Committee. The Governance Committee will then review these candidates and select four to present to the full board.
- August: The Governance Committee will formally present its four selected candidates to the full board of directors at the August board meeting.
- October: The full board will vote for the number of open board positions, formally appointing the new board members.
- November/December: The newly appointed board members will participate in a comprehensive orientation with the current Executive Committee of the board, along with the President and CEO of EDUCAUSE.
- February: The winter board meeting will mark the first official meeting for all new members, allowing them to integrate fully and begin their important work.
Allan Chen is Chair of the EDUCAUSE Board of Directors.
Jane Livingston is Vice Chair of the EDUAUSE Board of Directors and Chair of the EDUCAUSE Governance Committee.
John O'Brien is President and CEO of EDUCAUSE.
© 2025 Allan Chen, Jane Livingston, and John O'Brien. The content of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International License