Policy on Multiple Roles of Council Leaders

NCTE is composed of many talented individuals from every educational level and every phase of English language arts.  The Executive Committee, wishing to  encourage wide participation by members in NCTE activities, has established the following guidelines.  Nominating committees and those responsible for recommending roles for Council members (e.g., commission directors, committee chairs) should consult these guidelines in their deliberations.

Executive Committee
Some Executive Committee members (vice president, representatives-at-large) are initially nominated for their posts by nominating committees.  Potential candidates for these offices should be informed at the time of nomination that they would be expected to resign from conflicting positions if they are elected.

Other Executive Committee members represent NCTE constituent groups (sections and conferences).  It will be the responsibility of those groups, through their nominating committees, to inform candidates for top leadership positions that election would involve resignation from responsibilities that conflict with their Executive Committee roles.

Other Council Positions

Situations involving conflicts
No individual or group within the Council should appoint or nominate a member for a Council position without notifying the potential candidate of existing conflicts and of the necessity of resigning from the conflicting Council posts upon being elected or accepting appointments to the new position.

Non-conflict situations
Even when conflicts do not exist, individuals and groups with responsibility for nominations or appointments should make a special attempt to use the talents of capable NCTE members not currently involved in Council activities.  New talent should be sought out and nurtured, especially in roles that provide an opportunity for initial involvement in Council work (e.g., membership on committees).  Longstanding Council members whose terms in strong leadership positions have ended should also be considered so the benefit of their experience is not lost to the Council.  In short, wide participation means that present Council leaders are responsible for developing new leadership and making continuing use of the talents of those who have served the Council well in the past.

Dual Candidacy for Elected Offices
No one may stand for election to more than one major Council post in the same year:  e.g., the College Section Steering Committee and the CCCC Executive Committee; the Secondary Section Steering Committee and the CEE Executive Committee.  We cannot rank order level of service; even if we could, potential candidates might rank them differently.  Since nominating committees work on different calendars (with the NCTE Nominating Committee first), and elections and assumptions of office work on different calendars, the principle is that anyone who accepts candidacy for one major role will be barred from consideration by subsequent nominating committees.

Reservation and Refinements
It is clear that certain Council positions do not call for "new faces."  Executive Committee posts, commission directorships, and similar roles require proven leaders who might or might not currently hold Council positions.  In such cases, service in multiple non-conflicting roles might be warranted.

Furthermore, nominating and appointing bodies should not exclude an individual from consideration for a position of greater responsibility when the individual is presently in a conflicting post of lesser responsibility.  For example, a commission member should not automatically be excluded from consideration as a nominee for representative-at-large, or for the directorship of a different commission. In such cases, the guidelines for "Situations Involving Conflicts" (above) should be followed, thus permitting the individual to accept or decline the new nomination or appointment, with full knowledge of the implications for resigning from his or her present role.

None of the reservations above apply to multiple roles that are based on liaison responsibilities.  For example, a commission member might be chair of a committee whose work is within the purview of the commission.  Liaison responsibilities inherently involve multiple roles, their purpose being to coordinate the flow of information among groups whose goals are related.

Finally, none of the guidelines should be interpreted as a negation of existing NCTE policies and practices regarding adequate representation of people of color, women, classroom teachers, etc., in Council activities.