Constitution Amendments Election

2016 Constitution Election Results

The polls for the Constitution election closed on December 12, 2016. The Tellers Committee met on December 14, 2016 and confirmed that 22% of the eligible voting membership cast votes, thus making the election valid. Each ballot item was successfully voted for and the Board of Directors unanimously ratified the election results on December 15, 2016.  Many thanks to all who voted!

The following were the results of each of the five ballot items:

Election Dates: October 12 - December 12, 2016

AIChE is our professional home. In the fall of 2016, AIChE asked its members to cast a positive vote to better position our Institute for the future so AIChE may better serve our profession. The proposed changes to the Constitution will make AIChE more vibrant, flexible and better able to adapt to the changing needs and interests of its members by:

• Implementing Best Practices: We proposed specifying term limits for Directors, Secretary, Treasurer and President; moving several provisions from the Constitution to the Bylaws (member description and eligibility, Nominating Committee and election processes); and removing obsolete references.
• Modernizing Governance: We proposed conforming Constitutional provisions to requirements of the Non-Profit Revitalization Act of 2013 under New York Not-for-Profit Corporation Law; changing the requirement for future amendments to the Constitution from 75 percent approval by a minimum of 20 percent of voting members to two-thirds of votes cast; and changing the requirement for Board petition candidates from the low threshold of support from 100 members to a more representative 2 percent of the membership.
• Reflecting Current Practices: In the Constitution, we proposed broadening Board creation of divisions, local sections and student chapter to encompass all entities, including industry technology groups, forums, and future groups; specifying that the Past President is an Officer; and changing the process for proposing an amendment from discussion at a general meeting to presentation to the membership.

Questions? Please consult our FAQs.

Want all the details? Please click here to see the proposed changes.

President's Message:

AIChE’s Board of Directors is asked you to approve proposed changes to the Institute’s Constitution. Please read this letter from AIChE President Gregory Stephanopoulos:

Dear Colleague,

In 1908 AIChE was launched as a new professional society to help chemical engineers contribute to a fast growing chemical industry and prosper in a rapidly changing world. For more than 100 years AIChE has been the global leader of the chemical engineering profession. Today, we find ourselves in need to keep pace with transformative changes in our profession and an even faster changing world that require changes in the way our society operates. That’s why I am asking you to cast your vote in favor of amending the AIChE Constitution. 

Thoughtful members may ask, “Why change, why now?” One driver of changing our governing documents is the need to conform with changes in New York state law governing non-profits. This task was undertaken by the Constitution & Bylaws Committee, which was also charged with the task of benchmarking AIChE against similar societies and current best practices. Most important, they were asked to think about the ways we currently serve Members and how we can improve our practices to achieve this goal.

I ask you to consider the changes of just the last twenty years.  Many of us work across disciplines. Or in new industries that have only emerged in that time period. Our Constitution limits the ways in which we can form appropriate groups to institutionally support them, yet, AIChE exists to serve the needs of all chemical engineers.

This is just a small example of the complications we face as we try to govern and manage a 21st century professional organization with a mid-20th century Constitution.  And it’s just one reason the AIChE Board of Directors approved a number of amendments for consideration by the AIChE membership.

These amendments will, I believe, provide the scope and flexibility to govern and manage AIChE for the foreseeable future. When approved they will provide the AIChE Board of Directors and Officers with additional flexibility to better address the changing needs of members.

Over the next several months all AIChE Fellows and Members will have the opportunity to review the proposed changes and learn more about why they are recommended. We plan to communicate through CEP, AIChExchange and email. In addition, we will dedicate a portion of the AIChE website to these changes.

Your feedback and concerns are important and we will provide a means for you to react online as well as at the 2016 AIChE Spring Meeting and the 2016 AIChE Annual Meeting. Of course, you can always contact me via email directly at president@aiche.org. 

Voting will commence in October of this year and you will receive instructions with more than enough notice to allow you to vote. I look forward to your help in strengthening AIChE.

Sincerely,

Greg Stephanopoulos, 2016 AIChE President