During the February 11th Board meeting, held at the Winter Meeting, the Board of Directors undertook or considered the following actions:

1. A Governance Task Force was established last year to consider and research several areas related to our volunteer leadership structure. The Task Force surveyed ASBA members this past winter regarding several proposals being considered and brought recommendations to the Board in February. The following changes to ASBA’s governance structure and bylaws were approved in February:

• Chair-Elect: A new Chair-Elect position has been created on the Board, so that the incoming Chairman has the benefit of “shadowing” the current Chairman for one year; and preparing to take office.

• The Chair-Elect position will be open to all membership types: Builders, Suppliers and Professionals; who are currently on the Board or have served on the Board within the past two years.

• The process by which the Chair-Elect/Chairman is selected has been changed. This position will now be appointed by the sitting Board of Directors, rather than elected by the membership-at-large.

• The Board approved electronic voting (via email) for elections and other association business, in hopes of improving participation rates among members.

Extensive research, consideration and discussions went into the above decisions. If anyone has questions about the process that was followed or the rationale behind some of the decisions, feel free to contact Executive Director Fred Stringfellow.

2. The Board and staff have committed to strong committee participation in the coming year. ASBA’s Marketing, Website and Membership Task Forces have all met since the Winter Meeting to strategize about initiatives for the coming year. Efforts are underway to continue to grow the ASBA “brand” through relationships with our media partners; to continue to improve upon our new website and build on the momentum of our redesign; and to continue to grow membership through our successful certification programs, meetings and resources.

3. Mary Helen Sprecher has been selected as the new editor/technical writer for the Fields Construction and Maintenance Manual. She will be working closely with the Fields Editorial Board to revise that manual within the next two years.