Call for volunteers and nominations for ALT positions

[Johanna NICHOLS]

As was decided during the August ALT Conference, we will be issuing open
calls for volunteers and nominations for several ALT committees and
officers.  In November we will hold an election to fill three positions on
the Executive Committee and four positions on the Linguistic Typology
Editorial Board.  We encourage members to volunteer for positions they are
interested in, and/or nominate others.

The slate for the ballot is drawn up by the Nominating Committee, so
nominations and self-nominations that result from this call will be
considered by the Nominating Committee together with their existing pool of
candidates, and the nominees that come from considering both sets will be
on the ballot.

For both the Executive Committee and the Editorial Board, candidates should
be beyond the junior stage in their careers and should have some relevant
experience or background.  E.g. for Executive Committee these might be
service on other ALT committees, service in other professional societies,
university or other institute service, other forms of leadership, good
sense of ongoing developments in typology and in linguistics more
generally, wide circle of contacts and collaborators.  For the Editorial
Board, a fair amount of experience as reviewer for journals, expert grasp
of their own field, high standards, diplomacy.  For both, a strong
scholarly record is a plus.  Good organization, ability to handle email
well and promptly, etc. are important for both and essential for the
Editorial Board.

Both Executive Committee and Editorial Board members serve staggered
four-year terms.

Here are quick descriptions of the duties of both:

Executive Committee:  Runs the Association.  Discusses and decides on all
matters of governance (examples:  bids to host an upcoming ALT meeting are
submitted to the EC, which debates the pros and cons and makes a decision;
the poll of members that you responded to last winter was discussed,
edited, and approved by the EC;  incorporating the poll results into the
running of ALT is part of the current agenda).  The EC does most of its
work by email; we meet at the ALT Conference.  There is, alas, no pay for
EC members and no funding for them to attend the EC meeting at the
conference.   Serving on this committee gives you a chance to determine the
future direction taken by ALT and influence the development of typology
more generally.
    The EC has six elected members plus, ex officio, the President,
Secretary-Treasurer, and Editor.

Editorial Board:  The members are associate editors.  For every paper
submitted to LT, one board member has primary responsibility:  choosing
reviewers, contacting them, maintaining contact with them, sending
reminders as necessary, etc.  When the reviews are all in, the responsible
board member summarizes the reviews and makes a recommendation.  The entire
Editorial Board then discusses the paper and the reviews and decides
whether or not to accept the paper.  Editorial Board members also referee
papers (generally one board member reviews each submitted paper).   The
Board also discusses and decides on all questions of editorial policy and
journal management policy.  (This is all done by email.)  Serving on the
Board takes time but is very rewarding:  it gives you a unique opportunity
to keep abreast of current developments across the whole of typology, get a
sense of where the field is going, and have impact on the development of
typology and publication standards in the field.  It generally enhances
your skills as author and grant proposal writer.

How to nominate or volunteer:   Send an email to
<altnominations at gmail.com>.
There's no format for this email, except that of course the nominee's name
and your name (both in full) are essential and a few words about why you
suggest this individual would be very helpful.  More than one person can go
together to nominate someone; and one email can nominate more than one
person.  If you just want to volunteer generically for either position, or
if you want to bring someone good to the attention of the Nominating
Committee without specifying which position to nominate them for, that's
also welcome.

DEADLINE for nominations and volunteers:  Friday, Nov. 1.

A word about procedures:  The Nominating Committee consists of Denis
Creissels, chair, and Rachel Nordlinger, Heriberto Avelino, Balthasar
Bickel.  In the interest of checks and balances and preventing cliques and
cabals, the Nominating Committee works entirely independently, drawing up
the list of candidates without consultation with the officers or Executive
Committee.  Your nominations will be read by them and not by the EC or
officers.

Thanks in advance!

Johanna Nichols
President, ALT
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