Elections & Procedures

Member commitment and involvement are vital to the health of any organization. Taking a leadership role beyond the chapter level provides students the opportunities to improve leadership skills and personal growth, meet new people and travel, increase involvement, be a spokesperson for FCCLA, and help the organization reach its goals. Members interested in running for regional, state, and/or national office must be enthusiastic, knowledgeable about FCCLA, energetic, innovative, futuristic, and must be committed to the organization. 

Regulations for Submitting Officer Qualifications Forms

• The candidate must be listed as a member of a chapter that is affiliated at the regional, state, and national levels with dues payment processed by the national FCCLA office by December 8, 2023.
• Officer qualification forms must be submitted via online application process. This includes uploading and submitted scanned copies of the required signature pages with all signatures present. Digital photos of these forms will not be accepted. Originals of these forms may be requested by the regional and/or state association, so they should be kept on file. 
• Officer qualification forms will be reproduced for the use of voting delegates, so candidates should be sure all words are spelled correctly, grammar is correct, and the forms are neat in appearance. All personal information (address, phone number, email, etc.) will be removed when copied for voting delegates. 
• Before completing officer qualification forms, members should make sure they meet the qualifications for the office which they are seeking, as stated in the bylaws. 

Qualifications for Regional Office

• Regional president, vice president, secretary and treasurer must have completed, at the time of candidacy, at least one semester of family and consumer sciences instruction at the 7th grade level or above and be currently enrolled in a FCS course; OR, at the time of candidacy, have completed one full year of family and consumer sciences education at the 7th grade level or above. 
• Regional reporter, parliamentarian and other officers as deemed necessary by the regional association must have completed, at the time of candidacy, at least one quarter (9 weeks) of family and consumer sciences instruction. 

The regional officer candidate must:

• Be an active member of an FCCLA chapter affiliated at all levels.
• Have held a responsible position at the chapter level (chapter officer, committee chairperson, etc.).
• Have completely, or be presently working toward the completion of, at least one Power of One unit. 

Any candidate seeking regional office should be aware of any additional requirements for the region. Candidates should read the region’s bylaws associated with the office for which they are running in order to be aware of additional requirements and qualifications. All regional officers are expected to attend Regional Officer Training at State Leadership Conference on March 17, 2024.

Qualifications for State Office

• Be an active member of an FCCLA chapter affiliated at all levels. 
• Have completed a minimum of one year of comprehensive or occupational family and consumer sciences instruction at the middle school or high school level.
• Have held a responsible position at the chapter level (chapter officer, committee chairperson, etc.).
• Have completed at least one Power of One unit.
• Be vitally interested in family and consumer sciences education or related occupations.
• Demonstrate outstanding qualities of leadership.
• Be familiar with and follow correct parliamentary procedure.
• Show evidence of ability to work well with a group or with individuals.
• Have the support and approval of parents/guardians, the local chapter and adviser, and local school administration. 
• Have a scholastic rating above average (3.0 on a 4.0 scale).

State officer candidates should become familiar with the SEC Handbook, be aware of the required events for state executive council members, and be conscientious of the potential monetary obligations of holding such office. 

Qualifications for National Office

• Currently be an active member in an affiliated chapter and has been in an active member in good standing for at least one year.
• Have a minimum of one year of comprehensive or occupational family and consumer sciences instruction. 
• Have completed a Power of One unit.
• Have a scholastic rating above average.
• Have shown leadership ability in responsibilities above the chapter level.
• Have the support and approval of parents/guardians, local chapter and adviser, and local school administration.
• Have the approval of the state association.
• Not be a present or former member of the National Executive Council.

National officer candidates are selected from the fourteen state officer candidates at the state level. If a student is elected by the state delegation to run as a national officer candidate, he or she will work with the Missouri FCCLA state adviser to prepare the National Officer Candidacy Application Packet.

The usage of the phrase “state bylaws” refers to the Missouri Association Family, Career and Community Leaders of America state bylaws, revised 2017. The usage of the term “chapter” refers to affiliated FCCLA local chapters. The term “affiliated” refers to chapters that have payed all regional, state, and national dues by the required affiliation deadlines. “SEC” refers to State Executive Council; “SOC” refers to state officer candidates; and “SEC Candidate” refers to a current State Executive Council member running for a second term on council, thus is a State Officer Candidate. 

Regional Election Procedures
State bylaws, Article VI, Section 1C state that “regional associations will follow the regional elections procedures as determined by the State Executive Council.” It is expected that all regional presidents will implement the procedures as approved by the State Executive Council. Review the Regional Election Procedures document for detailed information.

State Election Procedures
Each region will elect a representative from their region to serve as state officer candidate. Any elected state officer candidate may be a candidate for the office of Missouri FCCLA State President, First Vice President, or National Officer Candidate. The state officer candidate may also choose to hold the office of other state vice president and not seek the elected offices of President, Vice President, or National Officer Candidate. Until each representative’s office is determined at State Leadership Conference, he or she will known as a State Officer Candidate (SOC).

All state officer candidates will take an FCCLA knowledge test on Saturday at State Leadership Conference. The knowledge test will be written from the Missouri Office Study Guide, Missouri Membership Handbook, the State Executive Council Handbook, and/or the National FCCLA website. Following the test, all candidates and their advisers will report for orientation and information relating to holding the SOC position. Each SOC test score will be provided to a nominating committee, which will consist of five alumni, educators, and business associates and chaired by the Missouri FCCLA Vice President of Elections, and will oversee the State Leadership Conference election procedures. 

All state officer candidates will complete an interview with the nominating committee on Saturday evening. The interviews will be no more than ten minutes in length and will consist of personality, situational, and/or application questions. Each question will have a two-minute time limit. All SOC will be asked if they’d like to run for any of the three elected positions and why. Each candidate will also present a speech of no more than sixty seconds on a provided topic to the nominating committee at the end of their interview. 

The nominating committee may nominate up to six state officer candidates for the three elected positions. These six candidates must include at least two candidates for the office of state president. State officer candidates will be notified over their knowledge test score and placement as an elected position candidate or one of the eight vice presidents via letter drop on Sunday morning.

During Opening General Session, the six state officer candidates seeking the position of President, First Vice President, or National Officer Candidate will introduce themselves to the state delegation and deliver their sixty second speech. Each SOC will provide their name, choice of candidacy, local chapter, and region. 

The Meet the Candidates session is designed to test the SOC public speaking skills, ability to think on their feet, and to give the SOC the chance to interact with voting delegates. At this session, each SOC will present a two-minute speech on a given topic and answer two questions – an ice breaker, and a situational question. Each SOC will be individually interviewed. 

After all election elements are complete and voting polls are closed, final points will be calculated. The six SOC running for elected office will be ranked from highest score to lowest score. The President candidate with the highest number of points will be designated Missouri FCCLA State President. The President candidate with the second-highest number of points will be designated Missouri FCCLA First Vice President. The two National Officer Candidates with the highest number of points will be designated Missouri’s National Officer Candidates. 

*If only one National Officer Candidate is elected, the office of Vice President of Scholarship will be added to the SEC for the term. If the offices of both National Officer Candidates are vacant, the offices of Vice President of Scholarship and Vice President of Parliamentary Law will be added to the SEC for the term. 

The nominating committee will reconvene to determine each of the vice president’s titles. All State Officer Candidates will receive a letter notifying of their position on the State Executive Council on Monday evening following the Business and Recognition Session. 

Review the State Election Procedures document for more detailed information on the election process at State Leadership Conference, dress code information for SOC, and more important details.