Please review the full position and candidate specifications at www.usaswimming.org/callfornominations

Apply here no later than Tuesday, May 15, 2018.

We are honored that you are interested in serving as a member of the USA Swimming Board of Directors.

This year marks the implementation of a substantive governance restructuring.  To create an even stronger legacy of service to our membership, the USOC and the American public, the Board’s job description and focus is transitioning from operations to an emphasis on long-term strategic direction. 

Six at-large Board members will be elected this year, as the Board downsizes from its current 35 (primarily constituency representatives) to 15 voting members.  Composition will include 3 athletes (elected by the Athlete membership), the Chair of the National Team Steering Committee, the immediate past Board Chair, and 10 “at-large” members, including at least two semi-independent directors and two coaches, elected by the House of Delegates.  The President/CEO and Secretary/General Counsel serve as ex-officio, non-voting members.  

Also new is the establishment of this nomination/application process, and of the Nominating Committee which will screen applications and propose to the House of Delegates a ballot with the names of at least two, but no more than three, vetted nominees for each of the six seats open for election in 2018.

Consistent with the Bylaws and Board Policy, the Nominating Committee seeks to identify candidates who are highly qualified to serve on the governing board of a high profile and highly successful $40 million (annual budget) nonprofit.  Per Board policy, at its February 2018 meeting the Board adopted as its charge to the Nominating Committee the following criteria to emphasize in its screening of potential nominees for Board positions in 2018:

A candidate will have skills and attributes including:

• Past demonstration of commitment to USA-S, or a “demonstrable connection to the sport.”
• Governance experience, e.g. knowledge and skills in policy-making, legal and fiduciary responsibilities.
• High-level (board or management) experience in setting standards for/overseeing a multi- million-dollar corporation.
• Financial literacy.
• Demonstrated ability to participate productively in group processes.
• Professional relationships/associations that may be beneficial to USA-S.
• Commitment to support and adhere to the Board’s governing documents (Bylaws, Governing Policies, etc.).
• Ensuring diversity within the Board’s composition (gender, ethnic, age, geography, etc.).
• Each Board member is required to make an annual personal financial contribution to the USA Swimming Foundation. The demonstration of support, rather than the amount of the contribution, is of principal importance.
• For incumbent or past Board members seeking re-nomination, fulfillment of individual Board members’ responsibilities.

In our effort to recommend highly qualified candidates, we will use a comprehensive selection process. This includes:

• May 15, 2018:Deadline for Candidate Applications.Please note that late applications will not be considered by the Nominating Committee.
• Late May – early June: All candidates who, based on their application and background check, appear to be qualified will be invited to participate in an initial telephone interview with a minimum of two Nominating Committee members.
• June/July:Based on initial phone interviews, those candidates the Nominating Committee wishes to advance for further consideration will be invited to a second interview with at least two other Nominating Committee members. Candidates will be invited to ask questions pertaining to the Governing Policies and structure of the Board and organization.
• July/August: The Nominating Committee shall consider the merit and qualifications of all candidates who have fulfilled the screening process set forth above.It shall address the Board composition requirements of seats to be filled in the current nominations/elections cycle* (see Bylaws Article 504.2 re: athletes, coaches, zone geography, semi-independent status, etc.).Consistent with satisfying the composition requirements and drawing from the pool of vetted candidates, the Nominating Committee will recommend at least two, but not more than three, nominees for each seat open for election.

  *For 2018, incumbent Board members fulfill the composition requirements for geographic diversity and coach participation.  At least two of the six Board members to be elected must be “semi-independent.” Qualification for this status is individuals who have not been members of the USA Swimming House of Delegates, but who at present or in the past, have/had an obvious connection to swimming as swimmers, parents of a swimmer, coaches, officials, etc.

• August: Proposed nominees will be invited to submit a biography/nominee statement (not to exceed 250 words) and a photograph, which will be distributed with a list of all nominees to the House of Delegates no later than August 30, 2018.
• September 23 - 30, 2018: The Nominating Committee will host a “Meet the Candidates” Forum at the United States Aquatics Convention in Jacksonville, Florida at a time to be determined, giving each proposed nominee a few minutes to introduce themselves to attending Delegates.
• September 29, 2018:The USA Swimming House of Delegates elects new Board members at its Annual Meeting.New Board members will be seated at the Board meeting immediately following the House of Delegates meeting, and will elect officers (Board Chair, Vice Chair, Vice Chair-Financial Oversight) from among its members at that meeting.

Subject to Board composition requirements, the candidates with the highest number of votes shall be elected to the Board.  Though future Board terms will be four years, the transition to the new Board size and structure requires that terms be staggered, so that approximately one-quarter of terms will expire in each successive year.   Of the six Board members being elected by the full House of Delegates in 2018:

• One will serve a four-year term (the semi-independent candidate receiving the highest number of votes)
• Three will serve three-year terms, including:
  • The semi-independent candidate receiving the second highest number of votes.
  • The two other candidates receiving the highest number of votes
• Two (receiving the next highest number of votes) will serve a two-year term

Board members elected in 2018, at the completion of the designated term, will be eligible for re-nomination and election to one successive term of four years.

Those nominees voted onto the Board will be expected to attend in person an orientation to be held on the weekend of October 26-28, 2018.