September 27, 2024
The Governing Board met virtually on September 19 for its third-quarter meeting, during which the board took the following actions:
- Approved conceptual recommendations from the Governance Review Task Force, which would create a leaner and more responsive governance structure for ESA. During the coming months, the concepts will be presented to members of the Society for input and improvements, which would culminate in a bylaws vote in late 2025.
- Voted to move forward with preparations to create a 2026-2028 strategic plan.
- Retired the existing ESA conflict of interest policy and replaced it with a new disclosures policy that focuses on identifying relationships with competing organizations and allowing the board to determine if the relationships are indeed conflicts.
- Supported a motion to discontinue the ESA World of Insects calendar after the 2025 edition. In a related move, the board renamed the Committee on the Insect Calendar to become the Committee on Insect Art and Photography, with updated charges expected from the president.
- Approved a new policy for ESA committees that clearly defines roles and responsibilities for standard committee tasks.
- Reaffirmed that the Career Center is an essential part of the Society’s operations.
- Approved the adoption of one new insect common name and removal of two other common names.
The board also:
- Received an update on the year-to-date status of the Society’s finances and projections for the 2025 budget. A Financial Task Force was created to support the financial work of the staff, advisors, Finance Committee, and Governing Board.
- Received updates from staff and the Publications Council on efforts to secure a new agreement with a publishing partner.
- Received updates from the membership and meetings department.
- Approved minutes from prior meetings.
The ESA Governing Board also convened as the ESA Certification Corporation Governing Board. During that portion of the meeting, the board:
- Approved a new ethics policy for the certification programs, which is modeled after ESA’s ethics policies.
- Received updates on program development.
- Approved minutes from the prior meeting.
See past news and updates from the ESA Governing Board.
Minutes from past Governing Board meetings are available online following Governing Board approval.
For more info, visit the ESA Governing Board page.