First Americans Land-grant Consortium (FALCON)

Each 1994 land-grant institution has one voting member designated by their president.  78% of voting members participated in the election.  Nominations for open FALCON officer positions were accepted at the annual FALCON Membership Meeting held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on October 27, 2012.  Proposed amendments to the FALCON by-laws were also discussed.

 

The official election results are as follows:

 

·         Benita Litson (Dine College) was elected to the office of President for a two-year term.

 

·         Gary Halvorson (Sitting Bull College) was elected to the office of Vice President for a two-year term.

 

·         Brian Kowalkowski (College of Menominee Nation) was elected to the office of Secretary for a two-year term.

 

·         Section Five(2.b) of the by-laws was amended as follows, "Nominations for positions on the FALCON Board of Directors shall be made at the annual FALCON Membership Meeting by any member in good standing, with any other FALCON member signing as the "second" to the nomination. Nominations and "second" to the nominations to the FALCON Board of Directors may also be made in writing, and must be received by the FALCON Executive Director no later than the date of the annual Membership Meeting to be included in the election process. Such nominations may be made to the FALCON Executive Director by mail, fax, or by a scanned and signed form via email. The FALCON executive director shall confirm the receipt of all nominations with said nominee, by sending a written confirmation of the nomination to the nominee."

 

·         Section Five(2.c) of the by-laws was amended as follows: “A ballot including all eligible candidates for positions on the FALCON Board of Directors shall be e-mailed no later than 30 days after the annual FALCON Membership Meeting to each eligible FALCON voting member by the FALCON Executive Director. Eligible candidates will include all individuals who have been properly nominated; current FALCON Board of Director members will be eligible to run for open FALCON Board of Director positions.”

 

·         Section Five(2.e) of the by-laws was amended as follows: “All elections to the FALCON Board of Directors will be conducted by e-mail/Web-based ballots. Voting shall be conducted by secret ballot. Ballots will be sent to all FALCON voting members in good standing, e-mailed by the FALCON executive director within 30 days of the annual FALCON Membership Meeting. It shall be the obligation of the voting membership to return the ballots to the FALCON executive director within a two-week voting period. The FALCON executive director shall tabulate all such returned ballots, and secure them in an electronic file. Any ballots not received within the two-week voting period, shall not be counted.”

 

·         Section Five(2.e) of the by-laws was amended as follows: “The by-laws may be amended by a majority vote of those voting members in good standing who vote in a referendum vote conducted by e-mail/Web-based ballots, which election shall be properly conducted by the FALCON Board of Directors. The referendum vote shall be conducted at the same time as the election for positions of the FALCON Board of Directors, or on such date as the FALCON Board of Directors determines. ”

 

Finally, a non-binding poll was conducted regarding the 1994 Extension Special Emphasis grant program, which was changed from a single-year to a multi-year award and resulted in larger award amounts over multiple years, but with fewer awards being granted.  The results will be communicated to NIFA as stakeholder input, and will help in continued discussions on the matter.  Voting members were asked how the 1994 Extension Special Emphasis grant program should be implemented, with the following results:

 

·         Single-year grant:  8.7%

·         Two-year grant:  52.2%

·         Three-year grant:  39.1%

·         Some Other Implementation:  0.0%