Electoral College
The Electoral College is the group of people in the organisation from whom the Board of Trustees are chosen to represent the membership. They are notified whenever there are vacancies.
It comprises anyone who has paid up membership of at least 3 consecutive years, up to and including the current year.
All Electoral College members must have paid up membership status in the current year to be eligible to serve as a Trustee.
Becoming a Trustee
The protocols for becoming a Trustee were reviewed and revised at a meeting of the Board of Trustees in May 2025 and
Revised Recruitment Model 2025: An Appointment Model
The Board of Trustees (May 2025) voted to increase the size of the Board to 9 members and move to an Appointment Model – this was put before EECERA members and approved at the AGM on 25th September 2025.
It has been agreed that: Whenever there are vacancies on the Board of Trustees, these will be advertised to the Electoral College with a role description setting out the skills mix that the Board of Trustees believes it would benefit from. A clear and transparent timeframe and process will be published and, following a shortlisting process, representatives from the Board will interview potential candidates. Successful applicants will be appointed for 5 years. At the end of a Trustee’s term of office they will be required to formally submit to the reapplication process, should they wish to continue as a full Trustee of the Board.
Alongside this change, a new Trustee role – the Active Emeritus Trustee – has been created. This allows for a phased retirement of a Trustee (for up to no more than 3 years) to allow a suitable transition period during which expertise and experience can be drawn upon and offered to new Trustees through mentoring support.
In making these changes, the BoT believes that:
- It provides a more inclusive, open and transparent route through from membership to leadership role in the Association.
- A new route to appointment is created which allows a more targeted recruitment process to ensure the BoT has the correct mix of skills to meet current challenges.
- Dedicated mentorship can be provided to new Trustees.
- It allows for the retention of existing expertise and experience of the current Trustees.
- The BoT is opened up to new Trustees as existing Trustees move to Active or Honorary Emeritus status.
- It demonstrates a commitment to the democratically appointed leadership of the Association through the active Members of the Association.
- Electoral College members retain the opportunity to join the BoT and so shape the strategic direction of the Association whilst also allowing the BoT to shape the Board more strategically.
- It provides a route through from membership to leadership in the Association and will hopefully encourage more applicants to apply to the Board by removing the barrier of needing to participate in a public husting event at conference for those who put themselves forward.
- It will make the route to Trusteeship more open to a wider group.
Information for Electoral College members
On 1st October 2025 The Electoral College were informed that applications were open for up to 5 vacant positions (the terms of office for three serving Trustees have come to an end, plus two new places have been created). Application deadline is 31st October and successful applicants will be confirmed before 31st December 2025.
N.B. Only current members of the Electoral College may apply – emails will be sent directly to each member advising how to apply. Please note that as per the constitution there are other limitations which apply in order to ensure a balanced Board – these include a limit of three serving Trustees from any one country, and that a Trustee must be working and residing within a European country during their term of office.