See the candidates standing for leadership positions and proposed bylaws amendments

NIRSA membership votes annually, via electronic elections, to fill positions on the NIRSA Board of Directors and the Member Network as well as on any proposed amendments to NIRSA’s Bylaws. The 2023 NIRSA Elections will launch on January 19 and close on January 31.

The Nominations & Appointments Committee reviewed numerous qualified applications and, with the endorsement of the 2022–2023 NIRSA Board of Directors, presents the following for the 2023 NIRSA Board of Directors elections.

President Elect

A’Naja Newsome, University of Central Florida

Lashica Thomas, Columbus State University

At-Large Director

Adam Burke, University of Minnesota Duluth

Kevin Martin, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi

Professional members will have the opportunity to vote on candidates applying for President Elect and At-Large Director on the 2022–2023 NIRSA Board of Directors, as will members of the Student Leadership Team.

Additionally, the regional nominations & appointments committees reviewed the various Member Network applications and, with the support of the NIRSA Nominations & Appointments Committee, presents the following slate of candidates for available Member Network positions.

Region I Regional Representative

Scott Flickinger, Cornell University

Robert Simels, The College of New Jersey

Region III Regional Representative

Christopher Crume, Denison University

Region V Regional Representative

Lauren Brown, Red Rocks Community College

TJ Hill, Colorado State University

Region Canada Regional Representative

Rebecca Boyd, York University

Megan Locker, Brock University

The NIRSA Member Network expands the regional network of the Association and creates opportunities for member involvement and leadership development. Professional members will have the chance to vote on their respective regional representative in Regions I, III, V, and Canada.

After much consideration, elections for the 2023-2024 Student Leadership Team will be moved to March 1-7, 2023. The decision to delay the recruitment timeline for student representatives allows the Nominations & Appointments Committee to continue recruiting student members to serve in NIRSA Student Leader and regional student leader roles for regions I-VI and Canada. Lasting changes to the student election timeline will continue to be discussed and potentially put to NIRSA Board for consideration next year.

NIRSA members stand for office

As a reminder to all members, candidates for the NIRSA Board of Directors and the Member Network don’t “run for election,” they “stand for office.” All candidates have agreed to serve the Association and it is an honor to have any one of them represent the membership. Therefore, it is not appropriate for members to campaign on behalf of individual candidates.

An electronic voting platform will be in place for the 2023 Elections. Please make sure your member profile is updated with your current email address so you can exercise your opportunity to vote! Only those professional and student members whose NIRSA membership is active as of 8:00am PST on January 18 will be eligible to vote.

Proposed amendments to NIRSA’s Bylaws

There are five proposed amendments to the Bylaws on the January 2023 ballot. Adoption of the proposed bylaw amendments requires approval by 2/3 of the ballots cast. The Board-approved proposed amendments are being submitted to the NIRSA membership for consideration and adoption as part of the 2023 NIRSA online voting and elections process.

“Amended” bylaws are for the current proposed amendments and all previous versions of amended and approved bylaws are kept on file at NIRSA Headquarters. NIRSA’s current bylaws can always be viewed from the links on the NIRSA Governing Documents webpage.

Detailed rationale is outlined in a December 8 video recording, hosted by NIRSA President Mila Padgett, Director of Campus Recreation and Wellness at the University of South Carolina Aiken and Mark Ritter, Director Campus Recreation and Wellness at University of South Carolina Upstate and NIRSA Bylaws Committee Chair. A brief rationale—created by the Bylaws Committee— and redline versions of the proposed amendments are available from the elections page of the NIRSA website.