We can't say that we didn't see this
one coming, but the pivotal question is this... is it too little --
and too late?
That said, ANN has learned that the National Association of
Flight Instructors (NAFI) will begin transitioning to a board that
is comprised of at least 51 percent of directors elected by NAFI
membership. The move was approved at the regular spring meeting of
the NAFI Board of Directors last week in Oshkosh. The board
considered recommendations made by the Governance Committee at its
March meeting in Ft. Myers, Florida. Those recommendations were
based on months of study of a number of governance structures
including professional associations, aviation groups such as AOPA
and EAA, and non-profit organizations outside of aviation. It also
considered expert opinions on the workings of volunteer boards of
directors.
The final version is fairly similar to the EAA governance
structure, but without as many classes of director. NAFI will have
two classes of directors, both voting, with a majority of board
seats to be filled by election, while reserving a minority of the
seats to be appointed by the full board to assure that key skill
sets, such as financial, legal, and management expertise, are
always present on the board.
Implementation of this resolution requires that elements of the
NAFI/EAA affiliation agreement be brought into alignment. For
example, the current affiliation agreement between NAFI and EAA
prohibits direct member election of NAFI directors. The NAFI Board
will present the proposed resolution to EAA for review, and upon
approval by EAA and NAFI of revisions to the affiliation agreement,
NAFI will be able to formally implement the change.
The board is excited about this
impending change to NAFI's governance structure. While awaiting
formal approval of revisions to the affiliation agreement, the
board would like to informally begin the nomination process. The
board asks that members who are interested in serving in a position
of leadership should contact Executive Director Jason Blair at the
Oshkosh office. Please give a brief bio and an indication of the
things you would be interested in working on, as well as the skills
you bring to that task.
To aid in that effort, the standing committees are:
- Governance
- Administration and Finance
- Development
- Nominations
- Communications
- Government Relations
- Professional Standards
- Programs
- Marketing
Over the past several months, the board has been working to
address requests that our members have made for structural changes
in the organization. The board has addressed these issues in a
deliberate, collegial manner and received welcome input from a
number of members and others. The board continues to welcome input
or feedback on this or anything else affecting flight instruction
or flight instructors.