IfL ADVISORY COUNCIL ELECTIONS 2009

IfL ADVISORY COUNCIL ELECTIONS 2009

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

You may be interested in standing for election to be on IfL's Advisory Council.

The Institute for Learning (IfL) is the independent professional body for post-compulsory education and training. It is run by the members for the members. In autumn 2009, IfL company members voted to reform the governance arrangements to allow for greater member representation. A two tier structure was created with an Advisory Council of 60 that will focus on policy and strategy whilst a Non-executive Board of Directors will focus on business and comprises 12, to be elected from the Advisory Council and up to 3 co-optees if specialist skills are needed. Both will have a majority of member representatives in line with IfL's 'by the members, for the members' ethos.

An election is now required to fill the 34 vacancies created, including 20 newly created reserved seats that will ensure representation that reflects the diversity of the members and the FE and Skills sector. Advisory Council members will be elected for a four-year term. The eleven member representatives on the current Council will continue to be on the Advisory Council for two years and also to act as company Directors until the non-executive Board is established to provide continuity in summer 2010.

IfL's Council carefully considered the methods for election and as teachers and trainers use new technologies, it was decided to focus on using the most cost effective and most efficient way for the election to make best use of membership fees. To this end, IfL has engaged the services of Electoral Reform Services to run an internet election this autumn, using the single transferable vote system. The time table will run as follows:

Nominations close: Noon on 26 October 2009
Election security codes sent by email: 16 November 2009
Voting opens: 16 November 2009
Voting closes: 3 December 2009
Results announced: 8 December 2009
First meeting of the Advisory Council: 12-13 January 2010

Advisory Council Members are the only members of the company and as such their personal details will be held on a public register. Business is conducted and vital decisions are made at three day-long meetings per year (in 2009 the dates are 12-13 January, 11 May and 5 October) generally held in London. Attendance at the Annual General meeting, which is built into a regular Advisory Council meeting, is also a part of the commitment. There are also opportunities for member representatives to participate in the working groups and committees established by the Advisory Council.

Reasonable standard travel and accommodation expenses in relation to attending meetings are paid by IfL in line with the organisation's financial policies. New members are inducted into the work of IfL and support for Council members is provided by the governance team.

Membership of the Advisory Council offers a golden opportunity to work at a national level and gain a national perspective. In order to stand for election a candidate must:- be a fellow, full or associate member of the Institute for Learning. be fully paid-up on 26th October 2009. obtain the signatures of 10 colleagues who are members of IfL and willing to support the nomination. indicate which (if any) of the reserved seats (see below) they are willing to stand for and present the case for this representation in their election statement.

Those with experience, an interest and/or expertise in the following areas:

5 Equality and Diversity Constituencies- Black and ethnic minority - Age - Gender - Sexuality - Disability

6 Work Constituencies- FE Colleges - Work-based Learning - Adult and Community Learning - Sixth Form Colleges - Offender Learning - Ministry of Defence

9 English Regions Constituencies - East Midlands - East of England - Greater London - North East England - North West England - South East England - South West England - West Midlands - Yorkshire and the Humber

If you would like to stand for election and help to shape the future of your professional body, nomination forms are available from Charlene Hannon at Electoral Reform Services Limited, The Election Centre, 33 Clarendon Road, London N8 0NW

email: Charlene.Hannon@electoralreform.co.uk or telephone: 020 8889 9203. The documents together with more information about writing an candidate statement, will also be available at the IfL website: www.ifl.ac.uk.