Alex Baugh, Bill Shepard, Christin Mackay, and Erin Metcalfe were elected by you, the membership of JWHA, at the September business meeting to serve as the Nominating Committee for the purpose of choosing nominees for president-elect for the 2019 – 2020 year and two nominees for board positions to serve from 2019 – 2022. I, as your immediate past president, served as chair of the Nominating Committee.
The responsibilities of this committee were different this year from all the years past. It was the membership who had the opportunity and responsibility to suggest names of those you thought would serve the association well. You did this electronically on the JWHA website. The committee members contacted all those identified to ask if they would be willing to pursue the process in order to be considered. Thirty-two members were suggested in this first step, among which thirteen agreed to pursue the process. Each was sent a self-assessment survey which was completed and returned to the chair along with any comments the potential nominee wished to make.
Committee members studied the results of the self-assessments and considered what they knew of each respondent. There was some email discussion of the process and of the nominees before they shared their ranking of first and second choices for president-elect and their top three choices for the board positions. We held a telephone conference as required by the by-laws and we feel comfortable with the choices we have to present to you for your consideration at the September meeting.
The committee selected Christin Mackay unanimously as our nominee for president-elect/program chair. She reported that she is both thrilled and humbled to be nominated. Most of you know her well as she has run the office and the book store at the Nauvoo Joseph Smith Historic Site for years, almost forever. She served admirably on the JWHA board for three years as our treasurer.
The committee then selected Katherine Gardner Hill and Daniel Stone as nominees for the two open board positions. They, too, expressed their surprise and delight at being nominated. Katherine graduated from Graceland last year having won awards for her scholarship, her paper on church history and her student activities. She is presently in graduate school at Georgia Southern University. Daniel recently completed his Ph.D. in American Religious History as well as his book, William Bickerton: Forgotten Latter Day Prophet, which was reviewed thoroughly at last September’s conference.
Although the process we used this year to arrive at our nominees was much more labor-intensive than any nominating committee has experienced before, the members had no complaints. They felt that this process opened up opportunities for people who might not have been considered previously. And we feel confident that these three nominees are qualified, committed, and have the expertise and curiosity to serve you well.
— Sherry Morain
