Elections

The Nominations and Elections Committee is charged with increasing the transparency and facilitating the application process for the Board of Directors and committees. Members of the committee come from a range of professional backgrounds, career stages, and work settings, including social and personality psychology, early career, international, primarily undergraduate institution and applied work setting. One of the Past Chairs of the Diversity & Climate Committee is also a part of the committee.

When developing the slate for elections, the committee has an open call for applications to SPSP members. Members are able to self-submit or submit on behalf of another individual. Committee members also conduct outreach to SPSP members who have served in leadership roles, such as the board, committees, and/or review panels, and reconsidered members who have applied in prior years. After reviewing the submissions, the committee looks at the current board makeup to determine competencies and areas of diversity that are missing in order to create the slate. Maintaining representation in career stage, domestic (i.e., American) and international geographic location, place of employment, age, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and other diverse factors is an important factor in board composition.

Each year, the Nominations and Elections Committee must select at least eight individuals to participate in the elections. The SPSP bylaws require a minimum of two candidates to run for each position. Your participation in this process is essential to ensure a strong slate of diverse leaders to guide our organization into the future.

The slates are presented to the board at its February meeting for approval before going to the membership for a vote. At least two candidates must be on the ballot for each spot, and preferential voting used.

Elections are held August 15 – September 5, 2024. Instructions on how to cast your ballot online are sent via e-mail on August 15 from [email protected] via SurveyMonkey <[email protected]>. If you did not receive your ballot, email [email protected].

Voters shall rank order each candidate in one ballot. If one candidate gets fifty percent or more of all the first preference votes, that candidate will be selected on the first count. If no candidate gets fifty percent or more of the first preference votes, the candidate with the fewest number "1" votes is dropped and its votes are re-cast to the candidate each voter ranked next. This continues until one candidate gets fifty percent or more of the votes cast.

Full, Early Career, Retired and Graduate Student members with a doctorate in psychology and dues paid through December 31, 2024, are eligible to vote in the elections. Your membership must be active as of July 31, 2024, to receive a ballot.

Descriptions of board positions and responsibilities can be found in the SPSP Board Applications and Elections Guidelines.

Contact [email protected]