Being a Director or Student Representative for the UK-SBA is an extremely rewarding and inspiring role.  We are always looking for people from all backgrounds, who are passionate about Behaviour Analysis and committed to ensuring that here in the UK, practice is safe, effective, person-centred and evolving with latest research.  If you have never been on a Board before, don’t worry – you will be supported in your new role and encouraged to use your strengths to be part of the team. The most important attributes are time, commitment and a passion to make a difference for the public that engage with Behaviour Analysis (sometimes referred to as ‘ABA’).

The UK-SBA Board is made up of up to 12 Directors elected by the membership and up to four Directors nominated by and approved by the Board plus one Student Representative elected by the Student members and one Consumer Advisory Board Chair elected by the Consumer Advisory Board.  There are four officer roles within the Board: President, Chair, Secretary and Treasurer plus the elected Student Representative.  Job descriptions are given in the UK-SBA Directors Manual.  For a full overview of the structure of the UK-SBA please click on the following link to see the UK-SBA Structure Chart.

The UK-SBA applies democratic and fair processes to electing the Directors and the Student Representative to the Board of the UK-SBA and follows the governance detailed in our Model Articles of Association of UK-SBA.

Please see below for an explanation of how the Directors of the Board are elected, how the Student Representative is elected and how Consumer Advisory Board Representation to the Board is implemented.

Electing the Directors of the Board

Each year three new Directors are elected to the Board and three existing Board members step down.  The Board members that step down are those three elected members that have served the longest on the Board.  The Elections Team coordinates the Elections process from start to finish.  This team is made up of the Chair of the UK-SBA, the Administrator and one additional Director from the Board.  All elections correspondence, nominees, candidate statements and final elected members are reviewed and confirmed by this team confidentially.  The nominations and elections process for Directors of the Board starts in September and ends in November each year.

All approved UKBA(cert), aUKBA(cert) and Practising Registrants of the UK-SBA are eligible to nominate candidates to stand in the election.  These members can nominate any UKBA(cert), aUKBA(cert) or Practising Registrant to stand and can also self-nominate if they wish to stand themselves.  Those Directors stepping down are also eligible to nominate and/or stand for election if they wish.  Once a nomination is received the Elections Team will acknowledge the nomination and will also ask the nominee to confirm they are wanting to stand as a candidate.

Once the nominations period closes all nominees are asked to submit their own candidate statement.  This candidate statement will be shared with all approved Full, Associate and Practising Registrants as part of the elections process.  The statements appear on a closed Elections webpage along with the slate of candidates.  This page can only be accessed by fully approved UKBA(cert), aUKBA(cert) and Practising Registrant Members when they are logged in to their account.  This page is only accessible during the voting period.

Each member eligible to vote casts one vote for each of three candidates from the slate of candidates.  Members must vote for three separate candidates and cannot use all three votes for one person.

Votes are anonymous and are recorded by our computerised system.  At the end of the voting period the system totals all votes for each candidate so that the elected directors can be appointed.

As an organisation that supports equality and diversity, we recognise that the Board of Directors is not yet reflective of the ethnic diversity within our membership or within our profession.  We have therefore taken the decision to apply a positive action strategy again for the 2023 election for the Directors to the Board.

This strategy means that the two candidates with the most votes will be appointed as usual; however, the remaining position will be appointed with deference to the candidate with the most votes who have declared themselves from an underrepresented racial group.  Should we not have enough candidates from underrepresented groups on the ballot to fill the remaining space, we will revert to regular election procedures for the unfilled post. Each year we strongly encourage members of underrepresented groups to put themselves forward for nomination.  We offer prior discussions with all potential candidates to answer any queries or concerns beforehand.

Once the newly Elected Directors have accepted the position of Director we will announce the outcome to the whole membership within the information and invitation to our following AGM.  The newly elected Directors will begin their term following formal ratification by the membership at the AGM.

Electing the Student Representative to the Board

The Student Representative Role is a two-year fixed term position.  The new Student Representative is therefore elected every two years.  There will be no election for this position in 2023.

The Elections Subgroup coordinates the elections process from start to finish.  This team is made up of the Chair of the UK-SBA, the Administrator and one additional Director from the Board.  All elections correspondence, nominees, candidate statements and the final elected Student Representative are reviewed and confirmed by this team confidentially.  The nominations and elections process for Student Representative starts in September and ends in November biannually.

Only approved Student members of the UK-SBA who are studying at a UK institution are eligible to stand for the position of Student Representative as this role is to relay the voices of the student but we can only operate within the confines of UK education.  All Student members can nominate any Student member studying in the UK to stand.  Students studying at a UK institution can also self-nominate if they wish to stand themselves.  Once a nomination is received the Elections Subgroup will acknowledge the nomination and will also ask the nominee to confirm they are wanting to stand as a candidate.

Once the nominations period closes, all Student Representative nominees are asked to submit their own candidate statement that will be shared with all approved Student members as part of the elections process.  The statements appear on the closed Elections webpage along with the slate of candidates.  Approved Student members can only access this page when they are logged in to their account.  This page is only accessible during the voting period.

Each Student member eligible to vote casts one vote for one of the candidates from the slate of candidates.

Votes are anonymous and are recorded by our computerised system.  At the end of the voting period the system totals all votes for each candidate so that the elected Student Representative can be appointed.

As an organisation that supports equality and diversity, we recognise that the Board of Directors is not yet reflective of the ethnic diversity within our membership or within our profession.  We strongly encourage Student members of underrepresented groups to put themselves forward for nomination.  We offer prior discussions with potential candidates to answer any queries or concerns beforehand.

Once the newly Elected Student Representative has accepted the position we will announce the outcome to the whole membership with the information and invitation to our following AGM.  The newly elected Student Representative will begin their term following ratification by the membership at the AGM.

Consumer Advisory Board Representation to the Board of the UK-SBA

It is vital that the Board of Directors includes representation from our Consumer Advisory Board.  The Consumer Advisory Board provide the UK-SBA Board with real and current insights into the concerns and needs of the consumer groups it serves.  The Chair of the Consumer Advisory Board sits on the Board as a Director with full voting rights as any other Director.

Electing the Consumer Advisory Board Chair

The Consumer Advisory Board elect their own Chair independent of the Board of Directors and independent of the UK-SBA members.  The Consumer Advisory Board Chair is a fixed term position for two years.  Once elected the Consumer Advisory Board Chair sits on the UK-SBA Board as a Director and fulfils the crucial role as the voice of the Consumer Advisory Board to the Board.

The Consumer Advisory Board Chair is announced to the membership at the following AGM.