The Computing Research Association seeks your help in suggesting nominations for its Board of Directors. The deadline for receipt of nominations is December 1, 2008.
 
Each spring CRA's member organizations elect about one-third of the association's board members to three-year terms. It is important that the CRA Board represents the interests of the entire computing research community, and it is CRA's policy to solicit a broad range of candidates. Candidates are not required to be affiliated with CRA member organizations.

• On January 9, 2009, from the nominations received, the Elections Committee will announce its candidates for the ballot.
• On February 9, 2009, nominations are due for candidates nominated by petition signed by the heads of at least 10 Constituent Member Organizations that are current in dues payment.

The CRA board is a working board, and all members are expected to actively participate. CRA has a relatively small professional staff, and board members have detailed involvement in all major projects. Recent and current projects include:

• Working with the computing research community to envision the future.
• Planning the biennial CRA Conference at Snowbird.
• Conducting the annual CRA Taulbee Survey.
• Conducting other surveys (e.g., industrial lab salaries; departmental budgets, space, personnel).
• Developing workshops on critical policy issues for computing research.
• Thinking strategically about the future of computing education.
• Planning workshops on academic and industrial careers and effective teaching.
• Increasing the participation of women and minorities in computing research, with the help of National Science Foundation grants.
• Improving public and policymaker understanding of the importance of computing and computing research in our society.

Additional information on CRA and its activities is available on the Web at http://www.cra.org.

In addition to actively participating in board projects, board members are asked to attend two board meetings per year and pay their travel and hotel costs.

Please contact the person you are nominating before submitting his or her name to ensure that the nominee is willing to stand for election to the board. Those who are nominated are required to write a brief statement (not to exceed 100 words) supporting their nominations. Questions about the nomination and election process, as well as requests for a nomination form, can be sent to elections@cra.org. Nominations must reach CRA by December 1, 2008.