2021 Spring Meeting Election and Proposal Results
Published May 24 2021

Members of CWEA met this past Saturday to recap the year and consider numerous proposals submitted from groups throughout the organization. Additionally, there were four seats on the Board of Directors open for election.

Twenty-four different groups were represented at the meeting by their group director or staff members. Additionally, several directors from groups who were not active this past season came to participate in the discussions. Each member-group of CWEA is entitled to one vote. No one person may vote for multiple groups.

“I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to all who participated in the proposals process this year,” said CWEA President Cody Crawford. “It’s important that was continue to review our policies and procedures to make sure that we are setting up the groups in our organization for success.”

CWEA would like to thank outgoing members of the Board of Directors Tracy Smith, Brian Winn, Jeff Bridges and Ben Hipp for their service to the organization! Each of these people served as constant advocates for the membership of the organization and their voices will be missed. We wish them well in their future endeavors! An election was held to replace those members and we are excited to welcome Emma Boyce (Etude & Mooresville HS) and Tom Padgett (Byrnes HS) to the Board of Directors! Additionally, David Shives was elected to the new position of At-Large Representative for a two year term. David previously served as the Percussion & Winds Advisory Council Chair, but will now move into a voting position. As David must vacate his seat as Advisory Council Chair, a new election will be held among the Advisory Council to fill that important role within the coming weeks.

Each proposal related to the circuit By-Laws must be ratified by at least 2/3 of the voting membership present at the time of the vote. All other proposals may be passed by a simple majority of the voting membership present at the time of the vote. All proposals un-related to the circuit by-laws and constitution that are passed will be sent to the Board of Directors for consideration to become policy.

The most notable change this year came from Proposal #8 which dealt with a restructuring of the Board of Directors and Circuit Administration. This proposal opens the door to further expand the Administration of the organization and moves some of the responsibilities off of the Board of Directors so that they may focus in on strategic planning and long term objectives. "A huge thank you to Riley Pagett for his work over the past two years in developing this proposal - I'm certain this will help move our organization forward into an exciting new future," said Cody Crawford.

With the passage of Proposal #8, outgoing Director of Events Ben Hipp has agreed to serve as Interim Event Director until such time that an open application and interview process for the position can take place.

The Board of Directors will meet In mid-July to consider policy proposals for the upcoming year. Additionally, the Advisory Councils will meet to begin their discussions on issues related to their specific divisions.