As designated by the ACTR Rules of Governance (Bylaws), ACTR shall have a Board of Directors, whose powers and responsibilities are to direct the business and affairs of ACTR. The ACTR Board, which consists of a maximum of twenty-five members, must represent the Eastern, the Southern, the Mid-Western, and the Western regions of the United States, as well as pre-college and post-secondary programs. Directors are elected for a term of three years. Beginning with Directors elected in 2024, Directors may serve on the Board of Directors for a maximum of three consecutive terms.

Serving on the ACTR Board of Directors is an honor that comes with responsibilities. Directing the business and affairs of ACTR requires the active participation of Board members to provide leadership among the membership as well as within committees charged with conducting the various activities that ACTR sponsors. In addition to the Annual Membership Meeting, Board members are expected to attend three regular Board meetings each year. One of these meetings is usually held at the American Councils headquarters in Washington, D.C., with travel expenses covered by ACTR. The other two meetings are held online in February and in May/June. During their terms, board members are expected to participate actively in the work of ACTR committees.

For the 2026 election, the Nominations Committee especially, but in no way exclusively, encourages the nomination of those with interest in learning how to serve in the following areas of current board need: 

• Pre-college program outreach and support (National Russian Essay Contest, Olympiada, Russian Language Scholar Laureate Award) 
• Newsletter (especially copy editing, formatting and technology skills) 
• Fundraising
  
• Social media, publicity, and web services 

As prescribed by the ACTR Rules of Governance, members of the Board of Directors shall be selected from a candidate list compiled through a two-stream system: 

• Nomination by the ACTR Board of Directors, through the Nominations Committee Deadline: December 1

• Open nomination from the general ACTR membership 
  Deadline: January 1

Candidates from both streams will appear on a single ballot to be voted on by the general membership.

The Board positions available in this cycle include service as the graduate student representative, which is a two-year position (2026-2028). Election procedures, including prompts, are the same as for the other Board of Director positions. 

The 2026 election will also include the two elected officer positions: the presidency and the vice presidency. Due to a stipulation in the ACTR Rules of Governance that officers must be nominated at least six weeks in advance of the election, there is a single deadline for these nominations, December 1. Candidates for these positions must currently be active members of the Board. 

If you are interested in running for the Board and would like to speak with a member of the Nominations Committee about the nominations process, what service to the Board entails, or anything related to the election, please email to BoardACTR at gmail.com no later than November 28.