1. Region 7 Nominating Guidelines
Presenter: Julie Heimbach, MD

2. Background
Fall 2016: Region 7 nominating guidelines adopted including:
Composition of the nominating committee
State rotation in the Associate Councillor elections
Nominating and Voting process for Associate Councillor
Voting majority for any changes
Provision to post regional guidelines on Transplant Pro: content/uploads/sites/3/Region-7-Nominating-Committee-and-Selection-Process.pdf?x18629
Spring 2017: Member request to revisit the state rotation
Discussed at the regional meeting on Feb 3
Work Group formed to review
Fall 2016: Region 7 adopted the current guidelines which address the composition of the nominating committee, the state rotation in associate councillor elections, the nominating and voting process for Associate Councillor, a voting majority for any changes to the guidelines, and a provision to post the regional guidelines on Transplant Pro.
Spring 2017: A member requested that the region revisit the state rotation guidelines for associate councillor elections. The member believed that Illinois had been disadvantaged in recent years in the state rotation due to unexpected vacancies. This matter was discussed at the Region 7 meeting on February 3.  The region voted ( ) to form a work group to review the process for filling terms which are vacated before completion, as well as, a revision to the current state rotation (which is WI, IL, MN with ND/SD eligible to apply at any point). The region directed the work group to report at the fall meeting. Volunteers were solicited during the regional meeting as well as in subsequent communication to the region.
I’m here to present the work group’s recommendations, but we will not take a formal vote today.  Instead, in the few weeks following the meeting, our regional administrator will send a memo and an electronic ballot to the voting members in the region which will include a link to the materials on Transplant Pro.   Voting members will have the option of: 1) maintaining existing guidelines or 2) adopting the proposed guidelines.  Per the current guidelines, changes require a majority vote by region 7 voting representatives.  This means 51% or more of the voting members must vote in favor of adopting the changes.  The ballot will be left open for two weeks.

3. Work Group Composition
State
Members
Illinois
John Renz
Minnesota
Srinath Chinnakotla, Julie Heimbach, Rocky Daly
North Dakota
n/a
South Dakota
Jeff Steers, Robert Santella
Wisconsin
Sharon Bartosh, Luis Fernandez
As I mentioned before, we solicited volunteers at the regional meeting and through an to the region. As you can see, the work group had volunteers from all states except North Dakota.

4. State Rotation Current Rotation Proposed Rotation
3 state: Illinois – Minnesota – Wisconsin (ND & SD eligible to apply at any time)
If ND or SD member elected, those states are not eligible for 3 election cycles
No candidates apply – Nominating Committee will solicit nominations w/in the state
Proposed Rotation
5 state: Wisconsin – Illinois – Dakotas – Illinois – Minnesota
No candidates apply: skip to the next state in rotation
Current Rotation: Three state rotation: Illinois – Minnesota – Wisconsin (with North and South Dakota eligible to apply at any time)
If a member from either North Dakota or South Dakota is elected, those states will not put forward a candidate for the subsequent three election cycles. Furthermore, the state rotation cycle – at the conclusion of the member’s term serving from North or South Dakota – will return to the state that was supplanted in the cycle.
If no candidates apply from the next state in the rotation or from the either of the Dakotas, the Nominating Committee will solicit nominations from members within that state, in addition to considering any other applications from those interested outside of the state next in the rotation.
Proposed Rotation: The election of Associate Councillor will follow a five state rotation: Wisconsin – Illinois – Dakotas – Illinois – Minnesota. Since the most recently elected Associate Councillor is from Wisconsin (term July 1, June 30, 2019), the next Associate Councillor in the rotation will be selected from Illinois (term: July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2021). If no one applies from the state in the rotation by the deadline specified in the call for nominations, then it will skip to the next state in the rotation. An additional call for nominations will be sent to the region to explain that no one applied and to solicit additional nominations from the next state in the rotation. The Nominating Committee will not consider any nominations from the skipped state that are later submitted under this subsequent call for nominations.

5. Filling Unexpected Vacancies
Current Process
State rotation will not be modified and will not return to the state corresponding to the departing Councillor or Associate Councillor
Proposed Process
Relocation within the region: State rotation will not be modified
< 1 year served: State of departing Associate Councillor
>1 year served: Next state in the rotation
Nominating Committee should select candidate with prior experience on the MPSC
Current Process: In the event of either a Councillor or Associate Councillor vacating the position prior to the term’s end, the state rotation will not be modified and will not return to the state corresponding to the departing Councillor or Associate Councillor.
Proposed Process: State rotation will not be modified if the Associate Councillor or Councillor relocates within the region. The Associate Councillor and Councillor positions will only be considered vacant if he or she relocates outside the region (or chooses to resign from the role as Associate Councillor or Councillor). This provision is consistent with OPTN Bylaws.
In the event of an unexpected vacancy, a call for nominations will be sent to the region to identify a replacement Associate Councillor. The call for nominations will specify which state is eligible to apply for the position. The state rotation for unexpected Associate Councillor vacancies will be based on the time remaining in their two year term:
If the Associate Councillor has served less than one year of the two-year term, the replacement Associate Councillor will be selected from nominations received from the state of the departing associate councillor.
If the Associate Councillor has served 1 year or more of the two-year term, the replacement Associate Councillor will be selected from the nominations received from the next state in the rotation.
In the event that the replacement Associate Councillor will have a shorter term (e.g. less than one year before becoming Councillor), the Nominating Committee should select the candidate(s) in the state rotation with prior experience serving on the Membership and Professional Standards Committee if possible.
NOTE: Per OPTN Bylaws, in the unexpected event that the councillor-elect resigns, the OPTN/UNOS Board of Directors has the option to extend the current regional councillor for up to one year. If the vacancy occurs during the Councillor’s term, the Board of Directors may also appoint the associate councillor to serve the remaining portion of the councillor’s term or fill the vacancy with a new Director to serve for the unexpired portion of the Director’s term. This is not spelled out in the regional guidelines because the bylaws would supersede the regional guidelines. The process in the guidelines would only be used if these options are not exercised by the Board of Directors.

6. No Changes Recommended
Composition of Nominating Committee
Transparency in Nominating Committee & Associate Councillor Selection Process
The work group did not recommend any changes to the guidelines regarding the nominating committee composition or the transparency section of the guidelines.
There was one other section of the guidelines that will be updated so that our guidelines are consistent with OPTN Bylaws. The guidelines previously did not note all members that have voting privileges (according to the Bylaws) – specifically:
the medical/scientific members that have a principle office located in the region,
current OPTN committee members that aren’t employed by an OPO, transplant center, or HLA lab.
This update is noted in the handout. In order to avoid any potential conflict with the OPTN bylaws, the regional guidelines WILL be updated to include these other voting members that aren’t currently listed.
IF ASKED:
Composition of nominating committee: The Region 7 Nominating Committee includes the following permanent representatives: Councillor and Associate Councillor, the Immediate Past Councillor, and the Region 7 representatives to the OPO, Transplant Coordinators, and Transplant Administrators committees.
Transparency: Regional guidelines will be posted on the Region 7 Regional Meeting page on Transplant Pro. Changes to the regional nomination process or committee composition will require a majority vote by Region 7 voting representatives.
Updated voting members: Bylaws Reference: 9.3 Regional Voting Privileges
In region 7 this includes two professional societies (American Academy of Pediatrics and the International Transplant Nurses Society). The number of UNOS committee members will vary from year to year depending on how committee vacancies are filled, but the number is usually small because most committee members are employed by a transplant center, HLA lab, or OPO.

7. Next Steps Summary distributed to region
Materials posted to Transplant Pro
Ballot sent to voting members
Notification to region
After the regional meeting, a summary will be distributed to the region. This summary is usually ed in the 7-10 days following the meeting and includes the comments submitted on behalf of the region for public comment proposals. This time it will also include a short explanation about this presentation/discussion and links to all materials which will be posted on Transplant Pro.
As I mentioned at the beginning, an electronic ballot will be sent to all voting members. Voting members will have the option of: 1) maintaining existing guidelines or 2) adopting the proposed guidelines. The ballot will be left open for two weeks.
Per the current guidelines, changes require a majority vote by region 7 voting representatives.  This means 51% or more of the voting members must vote in favor of adopting the changes. 
The outcome of the ballot will be communicated to the region. If the region votes to adopt the proposed changes, the revised guidelines will be posted to the region’s website on Transplant Pro.

8. Questions?

9. Extras

10. *As presented at region 7 meeting on Feb 3.
State Comparisons
IL MN ND SD WI
Transplant Programs
Heart
Lung
Liver
Kidney
Pancreas
Intestine
Total
*As presented at region 7 meeting on Feb 3.