In 2024, there will be a new EMTA member of the year selection process that has been adopted by the EMTA board. This new selection process has been adopted to clarify what criteria is being used for the selection process, to preclude ties in voting by the membership, and to allow repeat winners of the award after a certain amount of time has passed.
Nomination process
● The process will start with inviting the membership to submit nominations for that year’s award by a specified date.
● Any member other than those who have received the award in the past five years may be nominated and considered for the year’s award.
● Nominations will include a brief statement explaining why the nominee should be considered for the award.
● The nominations will be submitted by a specified date to a member of the Selection Committee, or one designated member of that committee.
● Committee members may make nominations through the regular nomination process, but may not make nominations within the committee after the nomination period has closed.
● Should there ever be a time when no nominations have been received from the general membership or the committee prior to the established deadline, the committee shall be at liberty to make their selection from any of the membership.
Examples of criteria that members may want to consider when making a nomination. This list is not exhaustive.
● A member who has volunteered in recent years to take on a role or responsibility that has had a significantly positive impact on the association. For example, this could include such things as chairing a major event, serving on the board, or writing a grant that generated funding for EMTA activities.
● A member who has given many years of service to the association in many roles but has not yet been granted this award.
● A member who has demonstrated excellence in their volunteer role(s) with the association above and beyond what was asked or expected.
● A member who has improved the association’s impact in the wider community or created new opportunities for our local musical community in line with our stated goals: EMTA is committed to the advancement of musical knowledge and education by fostering professional standards, networking, and promoting the art of music through various events and festivals.
Selection Committee
The committee will consist of the winners of EMTA Member of the Year Award for the past three years. If any of those do not wish to participate, the president will appoint another member to the committee, likely a winner from four or five previous years.
Selection Process
The committee will meet to review the nominations and decide who shall be the recipient of that year’s award, based on statements given in the nominations and on their own perceptions of contributions that the nominees have made to EMTA. (As stated above, the committee may not grant the award to a member who has not been nominated unless no nominations were received by the stated deadline for submission.)
This is not an election process, so the number of times a member is nominated in that year may or may not be a factor considered by the committee.
The committee members will not, either during or after the selection process, divulge the names of the nominees, nor share anything about the selection process outside of the committee meetings.
Award Process
The committee’s decision shall be kept secret until one or more of the committee members announce and present the award at the June General Membership Meeting.
Evidence of the Award
The recipient of the award will receive a plaque honoring their contributions and their name will be listed on the website along with previous winners of the award.
Edmonds Music Teachers Association 