The OASPA Board of Directors comprises 11 members who serve for a term of 3 years. This September three of the current OASPA Board Members reach the end of their term of service.
In keeping with our annual election process, OASPA member organisations were invited to nominate a representative for consideration as a candidate. We are very grateful to all of those who took part in the election this year.
OASPA’s By Laws require that the board is appointed by the membership. As in previous years, details of the candidates for 2021 were circulated to all members who were then asked to choose their preferred candidates and to vote for them in no particular order.
This year there were particular requirements for replacing the outgoing board members:
Regarding the composition of the board, the OASPA By Laws also state that at least half of the seats must be held by organisations which obtain at least 50% of their revenue from open access publishing. Furthermore, we are keen to ensure that the board represents the diversity of the membership as much as is possible, both in terms of business model and with regards to publishing vs the supporting services and infrastructure providers which we also have as members. The Board assesses the requirements and implications on an annual basis.
As such, to maintain the existing balance in 2021:
- OASPA members who are either fully open access or mixed model publishers could put forward nominees from their organisations, however representatives of organisations in the ‘Supporting Services & Infrastructure’ category would not be able take part in the 2021 elections.
- Two of the three available seats on the board would go to candidates who represent mixed model publishers.
Having finalised the results of the voting, we can announce that seats this year will go to Rod Cookson (IWA Publishing) and Lucy Oates (Oxford University Press). Bekah Darksmith (PLOS) has been re-elected. We are looking forward to all of them starting their three year term in September.
All of OASPA’s board members are expected to make an active contribution and our two outgoing board members have given significant time and energy to supporting the running of the organisation for which we express our heartfelt gratitude.
- Stuart Taylor sits on OASPA’s Membership Committee and has also participated in our Conference Program Committee, including chairing the last in-person conference in Copenhagen in 2019.
- Caroline Sutton (Taylor & Francis) is a founder of OASPA and has served on the Board continuously since the organisation was established in 2008. She has made an enormous contribution to every aspect of OASPA’s development, taking positions on all committees at various points, as well as taking leading roles as Secretary, Treasurer and twice as Chair over the course of her time on the board.
Our sincere thanks to both Stuart and Caroline for all of their work in support of OASPA.
