The voting members of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) have approved amendments to its Bylaws, following a referendum that closed on Nov. 20. The proposed changes were focused on two areas: adjustments to membership privileges for early career members and adjustments to the composition of the SVS Executive Board (EB).
A total of 453 voting members participated in the referendum, exceeding by a factor of three the quorum requirement of 150 votes (5% of voting members). A two-thirds majority of those voting is required for ratification of Bylaw changes.
On the question of changes regarding early career membership, the referendum passed with 92.72%.
On the question of changes regarding EB composition, the referendum passed with 81.24%.
"The approval of these amendments reflect the ongoing interest and commitment of our members to advancing the SVS and ensuring that our membership and governance structures align with the evolving needs of our dynamic medical community," said SVS President Joseph Mills.
The voting, which began on Nov. 6, asked members to consider and ratify proposed amendments that had been formally approved by the SVS Strategic Board of Directors. The amendments are aimed at accelerating engagement of early career vascular surgeons within the SVS and fostering diversity of perspective and flexibility with the EB. The Bylaw changes go into effect immediately for the early career membership revisions.
The Bylaw changes for EB composition will begin to apply for the upcoming 2024-2025 EB, which will include potential expansion of the number of candidates in Officer elections from the current two, to a maximum of four; and expansion of the appointed members of the EB from three to five, and making each position “at-large,” selected on the basis of merit, qualifications and identified gaps in expertise on the EB.
"The job of the Executive Board is governance,” noted Mills. “Governance is optimized when you have highly qualified, talented and deserving leaders that represent the spectrum of perspectives in Society. Thank you to all who cast their vote in the bylaws referendum.”
A review of the changes is available at vascular.org/2023BylawsRef. For answers to any questions, email governance@vascularsociety.org.