This spring, the NIRSA Board of Directors appointed eight volunteer members to serve with a member of the NIRSA Headquarters team on the newly-constituted NIRSA Canadian Region Task Force. The newly-created Canadian Region Task Force volunteers have been appointed to assist the NIRSA Board with creating and implementing a process for Canada to become a distinct region within NIRSA.
The move to create and implement a process for Canada to become a distinct NIRSA region emerged from the NIRSA Board’s decision to prioritize establishing a Canadian NIRSA region and arose from recommendations made by the Regional Realignment Task Force as well as from ongoing conversations with the Member Network, the NIRSA Bylaws Committee, and the NIRSA Canadian Leadership Team .
The Task Force has been given the charge of providing the Board of Directors with recommendations on how the formation of a new region will affect NIRSA’s current regions, its governance structures, and the NIRSA bylaws.
As the regional structure of NIRSA is outlined in the Association’s bylaws, the Task Force is already working closely with the Member Network and the NIRSA Bylaws Committee. Any changes to the Association’s bylaws will require a vote by NIRSA members.
The Task Force anticipates that the proposed process to form a new region along with any proposed amendments to NIRSA bylaws will be shared with the full NIRSA membership this fall. Should the membership not bring forward any major concerns about the proposed process or the proposed amendments to the bylaws, a vote on changes to the regional structure of the Association could—as part of NIRSA’s annual elections—come as early as January 2017.
Canadian Region Task Force Members
Leah Hall-Dorothy, Oregon State University (Chair)
Earl Cabellon, University of Maryland, College Park & Member Network Region I Representative
Grachella Garcia, University of Alberta
Christine Haluzak, NIRSA Director of Membership & Leadership
Marc Iturriaga, Mount Royal University
Greg Jordan, Oakland University (Consultant – Bylaws)
Perry Karnofsky, McGill University
Peter Mumford, York University
Gansheng Xu, University of New Brunswick
- If you have any questions or comments about the work of NIRSA’s Canadian Region Task Force, please don’t hesitate to email me, or contact your regional representative serving on the NIRSA Member Network.
Leah Hall Dorothy, Ph.D., is currently the Director of Recreational Sports at Oregon State University and serves as the President on the NIRSA Board of Directors; she can be reached by email at president@nirsa.org.
