At our recent meeting of the Executive Committee in July, we discussed at various points in the meeting, the focus on our international dimension and UALL’s increasing presence in international Lifelong Learning events and conferences.  Clearly the work of UALL is highly regarded internationally and the connections we have with international organisations benefit us enormously.  As you may know, a delegation from UALL was invited to Ege University, Izmir, Turkey, in May – this was organised and co-ordinated by Rob Mark - to discuss lifelong learning in the UK.  Turkey has recently established a similar organisation to UALL – TUSEM – and they were keen to learn from us. 

I feel we need to be much more active and visibly active in the international arena, particularly as the UK moves into uncharted territory.  Therefore, I wrote to members of the Executive Committee proposing that we formalise our international work within the international network by creating the post of ‘Vice Chair, International’.  This would give status to the position and would enable a post-holder to represent UALL formally at international events and give them the mandate to join international groups and apply for funding.  The responses from the Executive Committee were all very positive and they unanimously agreed that this post should be established.  I have also sought the opinion of the Trustees and I’m pleased to report that they too, are highly supportive of this proposal.

This post follows the same criteria as for all the other posts on the Executive Committee as laid down by our Constitution – that is:

1. Nominations for this post would be proposed and seconded by voting members – the nomination(s) received would require a supporting statement by the candidate.
2. The term of office, would be the same as for all the other Officers of Executive as per our Constitution: “All officers and members of Executive shall be elected for a period of two years and shall be eligible for election to two further such periods only”.  The maximum term of office for all Officers and members is 6 years.
3. We envisage that this post will require minimal funding for the first year only – up to a maximum of £500.  After the first year, the post will be reviewed to find out what opportunities there have been for international engagement/partnerships - it is anticipated that the funding will more than be covered by the increase in international membership and activity.

This is a new post, which we would like to be active as soon as possible; I am, therefore, inviting nominations for this post from the date of this message with a closing date of Friday, 9 September 2016.

All nominations should be proposed and seconded by voting representatives from UALL member institutions (list of voting representatives attached).  You should ensure that any nominee is willing to stand. 
All nominations will require a supporting statement by the candidate explaining how they meet the criteria for the position – please see the attached.

Nomination forms, and supporting statements from candidates, should be sent to Lucy Bate at: [email protected] by Friday, 9 September 2016.

With best wishes,

Peter