MSA-AST ELECTIONS ARE HELD ANNUALLY DURING OUR SPRING WORKSHOP/BUSINESS MEETING

VOICE AND VOTE!!!

Interested in running for an MSA position???

Are you interested in advancing the profession of surgical technology? Do you have a flair for business or an eye for detail? Do you think outside the box? Would you like to have more of a voice in your professional organization? Do you have organizational skills you would like to share? If so, please consider running for an Officer or Board position with MSA-AST.

MSA-AST is looking for dedicated individuals who feel they are up to the challenge of advancing our state organization and profession. We will be taking nominees for our 2009 election from the floor during the business meeting at our upcoming Spring Workshop. There are 5 open positions for the 2009 election as follows:

President - term ending 2011

Vice President - term ending 2011

Treasurer - term ending 2011

2 Board of Directors - terms ending 2011

Criteria for Candidates for an MSA office are as follows:

1. A candidate for the office of President shall have served at least one full term as a director or officer during the previous six years on the Board of Directors.
2. No Officer may run for more than two full terms in the same office.
3. Any amount of time served that equals more than half a term shall be considered a full term of office.
4. No Director may run for more than two full terms in the same office

If this challenge interests you, please fill out the downloadable Consent to Serve form available on our website. Please mail this form by January 6, 2009, along with a copy of your current Certification and AST membership information, to:

Download your consent to serve form here (Adobe Acrobat reader required), print it, complete it and mail to:

Eileen Kortes
15502 Katherine Court
Clinton Township, Michigan 48038.

2009 CANDIDATES

These are the official candidates at time of last page update

Candidate 1
For President - Term ending 2011

Candidate statements will appear here

Candidate 2
For Vice President - Term ending 2011

Candidate 3
For Board Member - Term ending 2011

Candidate 4
For Board Member - Term ending 2011

For pre-election statements to be posted, they must be received as soon as possible before the Spring Workshop date.

A REVIEW OF MEMBERSHIP STATUS

In the past, you may not have been actively involved in a local chapter. You would identify yourself as a member at large. With the birth of Michigan State Assembly YOU became a member. There is no longer a choice of being a member in a chapter or an at-large member. The state of Michigan has a state assembly and if you are a member of AST then you are a member of MSA-AST. 

There have also been some questions with what each of these types of membership means in regards to your involvement at the National and State level. I am hoping that this will clarify and answer your questions. I will be using the terminology voice and vote because that is how the AST describes the function within each type of membership. You are able to read the AST National By-laws at www.AST.org  You can find the MSA-AST bylaws on our website at www.msa-ast.org 

Voice means that you have the right to be heard in the organization on both a state and national level. Vote means that an Active member has the privilege to hold office, committee chair positions, represent MSA at national as a delegate, and the right to vote in an election.

There are different types of memberships and I have listed them below:

An Active Member in the organization means that they are certified and neither their membership nor certification has elapsed. They are permitted to use the initials: CST or CST/SFA or CST/FA. These members can hold an office, be in a chair position of a committee and serve as a delegate to Nationals. They have voice and vote.

An Associate/Affiliate Member in the organization could be one who has allowed certification to lapse, may work as an ST and never been certified, be a student or an individual or organization who wishes to affiliate with AST. They are able to work on committees, be involved in educational workshops, and helping to run the election process at MSA Spring meetings. They however cannot vote, run for office or serve as committee chair or as a delegate to Nationals. These members may or may not be eligible to take their certification exam. They have voice but no vote!

A Student member is just that: a student who became a member while attaining their ST education. They have maintained their membership status by remaining current with their dues. They are able to work on committees, be involved in educational workshops, and helping to run the election process at MSA Spring meetings. They however cannot vote, run for office, serve as committee chair, or as a delegate to Nationals. They have voice but no vote!

Retired/Disabled Members retain the rights and privileges of an active member to vote, hold office, and serve as a delegate as long as they have maintained their certification status. Please refer to AST By-laws. They have voice and vote!

Honorary Member is one who has served as a President of AST. One who has rendered notable service to AST and is approved by the House of Delegates upon recommendation of the Board of Directors. They retain the rights and privileges of an active member to vote, hold office, and serve as a delegate as long as they have maintained their certification status. They have voice and vote!

MSA-AST is looking forward to everyone’s involvement! We hope that you will become Active Members in our state so that you too will have both

“Voice and Vote”