Being a Director or Student Representative for the UK-SBA is an extremely rewarding and inspiring role.  The Board is a working Board rather than an advisory Board so all Board members volunteer their time and skills to working together in the interest of the consumers of Behaviour Analysis, Behaviour Analysts, the field of Behaviour Analysis and the UK-SBA.

We are always looking for people from all backgrounds, who are passionate about Behaviour Analysis and committed to ensuring that here in the UK, practice is safe, effective, person-centred and evolving with latest research.  If you have never been on a Board before, don’t worry – you will be supported in your new role and encouraged to use your strengths to be part of the team. The most important attributes are time, commitment and a passion to make a difference for the public that engage with Behaviour Analysis (sometimes referred to as ‘ABA’).

The UK-SBA Board is made up of up to 12 Directors elected by the membership and up to 10 Directors nominated by and approved by the Board plus one Student Representative elected by the Student members and one Consumer Advisory Board Chair elected by the Consumer Advisory Board.  There are four officer roles within the Board: President, Chair, Secretary and Treasurer plus the elected Student Representative.  Job descriptions are given in the UK-SBA Directors Manual.  For a full overview of the structure of the UK-SBA please click on the following link to see the UK-SBA Structure Chart.

The UK-SBA applies democratic and fair processes to electing the Directors and the Student Representative to the Board of the UK-SBA and follows the governance detailed in our Model Articles of Association of UK-SBA.

Please see below for an explanation of how the Directors of the Board are elected, how the Student Representative is elected and how Consumer Advisory Board Representation to the Board is implemented.

Electing the Directors of the Board

Each year three new Directors are elected to the Board and three existing Board members step down.  The Board members that step down are those three elected members that have completed their four year term on the Board.  The Elections Subgroup coordinates the Elections process from start to finish.  This team is made up of the Chair of the UK-SBA, the Administrator and one additional Director from the Board.  All elections correspondence, nominees, candidate statements and final elected members are reviewed and confirmed by this team confidentially.  The nominations and elections process for Directors of the Board starts in September and ends in November each year.

All approved UKBA(cert), UKiBA and Practising Registrants of the UK-SBA are eligible to nominate candidates to stand in the election.  These members can nominate any UKBA(cert), UKiBA or Practising Registrant to stand and can also self-nominate if they wish to stand themselves.  Those Directors stepping down are also eligible to nominate and/or stand for election if they wish.  Once a nomination is received the Elections Team will acknowledge the nomination and will also ask the nominee to confirm they are wanting to stand as a candidate.

Once the nominations period closes all nominees are asked to submit their own candidate statement.  This candidate statement will be shared with all approved Full, Associate and Practising Registrants as part of the elections process.  The statements appear on a closed Elections webpage along with the slate of candidates.  This page can only be accessed by fully approved UKBA(cert), UKiBA and Practising Registrant Members when they are logged in to their account.  This page is only accessible during the voting period.

Each member eligible to vote may cast one vote for each of three candidates from the slate of candidates.  Members must vote for three separate candidates, i.e. they cannot use all three votes for one person.

Votes are anonymous and are recorded by our computerised system.  At the end of the voting period the system totals all votes for each candidate so that the elected directors can be appointed.

As an organisation that supports equity, equality, diversity and inclusion, we have a Board of Directors that is reflective of the diversity within our membership and within our profession.  We strive to maintain this diversity and always encourage those from minority groups to put themselves forward for election to the Directors to the Board.  We offer prior discussions with potential candidates to answer any queries or concerns beforehand.

Once the newly Elected Directors have accepted the position of Director we will announce the outcome to the whole membership within the information and invitation to our following AGM.

The newly elected Directors begin their term following formal ratification by the membership at the AGM and their term will run for four years.

Electing the Student Representative to the Board

The Student Representative Role is a two-year fixed term position.  The new Student Representative is therefore elected every two years.  There will be an election for this position in 2026 for the term 2027 to 2029.

The Elections Subgroup coordinates the elections process from start to finish.  This team is made up of the Chair of the UK-SBA, the Administrator and one additional Director from the Board.  All elections correspondence, nominees, candidate statements and the final elected Student Representative are reviewed and confirmed by this team confidentially.  The nominations and elections process for Student Representative starts in September and ends in November biannually.

Only approved non-practising and practising Student members of the UK-SBA who are studying at a UK institution are eligible to stand for the position of Student Representative as this role is to relay the voices of the student but we can only operate within the confines of UK education.  All non-practising and practising Student members of the UK-SBA can nominate any non-practising and practising Student members of the UK-SBA studying in the UK to stand.  Non-practising and practising Student members of the UK-SBA studying at a UK institution can also self-nominate if they wish to stand themselves.  Once a nomination is received the Elections Subgroup will acknowledge the nomination and will also ask the nominee to confirm they are wanting to stand as a candidate.  Practising student members of the UK-SBA will also be asked to evidence they are a registered student at a UK institution.  Non-practising Student Members do not need to provide evidence of their student status as they have done this in order for approval as a Student UK-SBA Member.

Only those non-practising students that are approved members under the UK-SBA Student Category are eligible to vote for the new Student Representative.  Once the nominations period closes, all Student Representative nominees are asked to submit their own candidate statement.  The candidate statements are shared with all approved non-practising UK-SBA Student members as part of the elections process.  The statements appear on the closed Elections webpage along with the slate of candidates.  Approved non-practising UK-SBA Student members can only access this page when they are logged in to their account.  This page is only accessible during the voting period.  Each Student member eligible to vote casts one vote for one of the candidates from the slate of candidates.

Votes are anonymous and are recorded by our computerised system.  At the end of the voting period the system totals all votes for each candidate so that the elected Student Representative can be appointed.

As an organisation that supports equity, equality, diversity and inclusion, we have a Board of Directors that is reflective of the diversity within our membership and within our profession.  We strive to maintain this diversity and always encourage those students from minority groups to put themselves forward for election. We offer prior discussions with potential candidates to answer any queries or concerns beforehand.

Once the newly Elected Student Representative has accepted the position, we will announce the outcome to the whole membership with the information and invitation to our following AGM.

The newly elected Student Representative will begin their term following ratification by the membership at the AGM and their term will run for two years.

Consumer Advisory Board Representation to the Board of the UK-SBA: Electing the Consumer Advisory Board Chair

It is vital that the Board of Directors includes representation from our Consumer Advisory Board.  The Consumer Advisory Board provide the UK-SBA Board with real and current insights into the concerns and needs of the consumer groups it serves.  The Chair of the Consumer Advisory Board sits on the Board as a Director with full voting rights as any other Director.

The Consumer Advisory Board elect their own Chair independent of the Board of Directors and independent of the UK-SBA members.  The Consumer Advisory Board Chair is a fixed term position for four years.  Once elected the Consumer Advisory Board Chair sits on the UK-SBA Board as a Director and fulfils the crucial role as the voice of the Consumer Advisory Board to the Board.

The Consumer Advisory Board Chair is announced to the membership at the AGM following the election of the Consumer Advisory Board Chair.