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 Articles of Association require that the board is appointed by the membership. As in previous years, details of the candidates for 2022 were circulated to all members who were then asked to choose their preferred candidates and to vote for them in no particular order.
Each year there are particular requirements for replacing the outgoing board members which are based on who is leaving and how that effects the distribution of organisations. 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. 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, and so the Board assesses the requirements and implications on an annual basis.
As such, to maintain the existing balance in 2022:
- No more than one seat would go to a mixed model publisher
- At least one seat would go to a full OA publisher
Having finalised the results of the voting, we can announce that seats this year will go to Sara Bosshart (Royal Society of Chemistry) and Catherine Mitchell (California Digital Library). Dominic Mitchell (Directory of Open Access Journals) 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, Jennifer Gibson (Dryad) Emma Wilson (Royal Society of Chemistry), are no exception – both have given significant time and energy to supporting the running of the organisation for which we are very grateful. Jennifer in particular has served as Chair of the OASPA board since October 2020 and we express our heartfelt gratitude for the dedication she has shown to the role during this time and the positive lasting impact she has made on the organisation.