This past August, BPS issued our first open call for nominations, including self-nominations, to support the generation of names for Nominating Committee consideration in the development of the 2023 Council slate. The call was initiated at the request of Nominating Committee Chair and Councilor Kandice Tanner and Secretary Erin Sheets and was supported by Council.  

Traditionally, Council and BPS Committees are invited to suggest names to the Nominating Committee, and the Nominating Committee itself also identifies numerous potential candidates. However, as Tanner and Sheets recognized, this approach potentially limits the pool to “those we know.” The open call supports the opportunity for a broader, more diverse prospect list for the Nominating Committee to consider.  

The call was open for two weeks and resulted in a total of 16 nominations: 10 self-nominations (SN) and 6 nominations from others (NO).

These 16 names were added to the 40 generated through traditional means for vetting by the Nominating Committee. Ultimately, two SN’s and two NO’s were invited and agreed to run for Council. Their names will be included among the 8 candidates for Council on the 2023 ballot that will be distributed to members on June 1. We plan to repeat this open call next August in support of the 2024 ballot. 

At the same time this change was being implemented for election slate development, BPS President Gail Robertson was leading a Task Force on Awards Nominations. The Task Force was charged with reviewing and making recommendations for improving the awards nomination process, and among their many discussions was the opportunity and implications for adding self-nominations to the BPS Society Awards process.  

The Task Force sent a recommendation to Fall Council that self-nominations be allowed for BPS Society Awards for a 3-year trial period. During the trial period we will evaluate the impact on the number of nominations received as well as the diversity of nominees (gender, US v. international, URM status). Council agreed with the caveat that we will evaluate earlier if there are any indications of negative consequences.  

The call for nominations, including self-nominations, for BPS Society Awards will open January 1 for 2024 awards. We encourage all members to consider nominating deserving colleagues and yourselves for an award! And we look forward to sharing the results of these open calls over time.