As a chapter advisor, I'd agree on this, tho my chapter doesn't use a NomCom.

Also, I advise that atleast one advisor be present during elections, and would be a good choice to be a teller for the elections, to ensure fairness.

Our chapter has a NomCom that does slating...the Elections chair lets us know who they've slated prior to voting and discussion, because those running for that office aren't allowed in the room during that time.

I don't think that AOII's process for slating is secret...just the discussions entailed. We divide our members into groups according to class (in school not AOII...so a new initiate with 90 class hours would be grouped with the Juniors not the freshman,etc.) Each of these groups produce a slate of nominees. These slates go to the Nominating committee which looks at the class slates and any interest letters submitted by members to determine the official slate. Often we can't use the slate because women are nominated for more than one office and nominations from the floor must be entertained. It usually works out well. All the advisers do in this process is count votes and make sure that the rules are followed.

Eh. I find that slating often involves the sacrificial lamb - if you like everyone slated except for ONE person, who you know will do a terrible job, you still pass the slate because no one wants to be there for hours and hours because of one position. Then you end up with someone who is NOT suited for their position..and nothing you can do about it.

I agree with this. What I dont agree with is the fact that if a person's name is already on the slate somewhere, they can't be nominated for something else. IE: suzy is slated for programs, but the floor wants to nominate her for treasurer. You would think that if Suzy didnt mind being nominated for treasurer, she could be scratched from programs and nominated for treasurer instead...but, of course not.

I think this rule creates alot of Ross Perot-like syndrome situations....Ladies who are clearly leaders in the chapter, nowhere on the slate because they were holding out for a nomination to A particular office, rather than volunteering (or, accepting a nomination) for something else just to be on the slate in the first place, with the possibility of being re-nominated for a different position.

For my chapter, all members interested in an EC position submit applications to the nominating committee, who read the apps and conduct interviews. From that, they create the slate. If the slate as a whole doesn't pass, any girl who submitted an app can run from the floor. Someone who was on the slate and isn't elected to the position can run for a lower position (for example, if the slated president doesn't win, she can run for secretary, but the slated secretary can't run from the floor for president).

I found it to be pretty effective, once we got the hang of it on our own. Our advisers were involved until last year, but our chapter was chartered in 2005.

Our chapter is like lilzetakitten's and I like slate. When selecting a the slate committee, you know you are putting the chapter's future in these women's hands and they usually pick the right women for the positions. Though every year slate never gets passed on the first try, its funny how we end up having 4 hour elections and maybe only 1 person has changed.

I think it make sense to have a slate committee who overviews all the applications and then conducts interviews, rather than the whole chapter, so it doesn't end up being a popularity contest.

I think a lot of it also depends on the size of the chapter. If you have 150 people, slating is the way to go. If you have 30 people, all of whom know each other and each person's skills pretty well, the amount of work and preparation can be a little ridiculous.

When I was an active, we had a nominating committee plus nominations from the floor. To this day there is one sister who doesn't speak to me because I won "her" office.

Now, we have a very different system, which includes interviews with the Advisors. It works SO much better, there isn't as much friction, and the officers seem so much more together.

WIthout saying too much, the slate (put together by the women graduating) must be approved by the local advisors and the province advisor. Additionally, an advisor must be present at the slating meeting and elections. Each woman in the chapter has the opportunity to complete a "straw ballot" (how she would slate for each office) which the seniors consider in making the slate, along with letters of interest from chapter members. Nominations are also taken from the floor, and a sister may accept even if she is on the senior slate in another position.

I think the slating/nomination process works well for our women.

Wow, I'm mixed on this. I've seen the slating process go both ways. One thing I didn't like was how slating can discourage women from campaigning... in the good sense. In my chapter, it was kind of taboo to openly say that you wanted an exec position, so people would have a tendancy to talk about who they think might be a good choice, and then there's a wave of sentiment that makes a person practically the officer-elect before nom comm or slating.

Some positions require a lot of thought and planning, and I think it'd be useful to know which women actually have ideas and a vision for their time in that office. Sometimes a woman is thrown into a "runner-up" position because nom comm feels they should throw her a bone when she didn't get another position she really wanted.

i think it would depend on the size of the group involved

my chapter never had more than 35 people total, so it wouldn't work, if you wanted something for just three people to decide that

Now there are chapters that take about 35 pledges every year/semester, so I would even know how they would begin to do anything as far as voting is concerned.

We're a 150 member chapter and do all voting with only nominations from the floor. You can talk to people who have had the position before and hope they nominate you or just ask someone to nominate you, but don't nominate yourself or you'll get laughed at and lose.

We have a round to talk about how would do the best job and why while the people running are out of the room, then we vote. Always seems to work out well.

cool

that's actually pretty much what we did

In terms of us, the advisors make sure the process is run according to the procedures and they approve the slate.