Fellowship in the American College of Nurse-Midwives
By Joyce E. Roberts, CNM, PhD, FACNM
Chair, FACNM Board of Governors
Applications are now available for advancement to Fellowship within the ACNM. Members who are interested in becoming one of up to ten Fellows-at-Large to be inducted at the 2010 ACNM Annual Meeting are invited to apply.
Current roster of ACNM Fellows
GENERAL INFORMATION
The ACNM Fellowship program was established in 1994. There have been 204 ACNM members thus far inducted as Fellows.
PURPOSE OF ACNM FELLOWSHIP
Fellowship in the American College of Nurse-Midwives (FACNM) is an honor bestowed upon those midwives whose demonstrated leadership, clinical excellence, outstanding scholarship, and professional achievement have merited special recognition both within and outside of the midwifery profession. FACNM represents the commitment of the ACNM to honor our own. In light of the vast wealth of expertise and collective wisdom represented within the body of Fellows, its mission is to serve the ACNM in a consultative and advisory capacity.
DISTINGUISHED FELLOWS
All ACNM presidents as well as Hattie Hemschemeyer Award recipients automatically become Distinguished Fellows of the ACNM. Distinguished Fellowship is conferred for the lifetime of the individual and can only be revoked by a two-thirds vote of the FACNM Board of Governors (BOG).
HONORED FELLOWS
Honored Fellowship was a special recognition bestowed by the FACNM Board of Governors to midwives who had accrued outstanding achievements within the midwifery profession, ACNM, and/or women's health care field during a career that spanned more than four decades. Up to four individuals a year were invited into Fellowship by the BOG, bypassing the usual application process. They were designated lifetime Honored Fellows of the ACNM. This category of fellowship was retired in 2004.
FACNM BOARD OF GOVERNORS
All ACNM Presidents automatically become eligible to join the Board of Governors and may retain the rank of Governor for as long as they consent to serve in an active capacity. In addition, there are six elected Regional Governors who serve a three year term with two Regional Governors replaced each year. Regional Governors represent the same regions as are in the ACNM and are already Fellows in the ACNM.
FELLOWS-AT-LARGE
Each year, the FACNM BOG accepts applications for Fellowship and elects up to 10 new Fellows-at-Large from a slate of candidates. In addition to being Certified by the ACNM/AMCB and having sustained active or associate membership within the ACNM for a minimum of five consecutive years, elected Fellows must meet the following criteria:
ACNM/AMCB leadership on national or international levels. (30%)
ACNM leadership on regional, state, and/or local levels. (20%)
Pioneering, innovative, and/or unique contributions to midwifery clinical practice, education, or care of women, infants, families, and communities on local, state, regional, national and/or international levels. (20%)
Contributions to professional growth of midwifery through precepting/mentoring, scholarly endeavors, publications, or research on local, state, regional, national and/or international levels. (15%)
Other significant contributions to perinatal or women's health care or to health care policy on local, state, regional, national and/or international levels. (15%)
The criteria are weighted in the order of the listing and in accord with the percentage in parentheses, with ACNM/AMCB services being most important. The categories are not mutually exclusive, however, an accomplishment can only be used to satisfy one criterion. It is the candidate’s responsibility to demonstrate how the criteria were met over and beyond employment expectations.
APPLICATION AND ELECTION PROCESS
FACNM applications may be obtained by downloading the form here.
The applicant should address all sections of the application to be completed by the applicant (original work only), assemble the completed application, a current CV, any letters of support (a maximum of two letters of support in addition to the letter by the Sponsor), and a $50 non-refundable application fee that has been made payable to ACNM/FACNM. These should be forwarded to any Fellow (see the Roster of ACNM Fellows) who has agreed to serve as a sponsor. Members of the FACNM BOG are not eligible to serve as sponsors.
The sponsor checks the level of support on the form, signs the application form where indicated on the last page, and writes a letter of endorsement. The sponsoring Fellow then sends the entire package to the Regional Governor who represents the applicant's region (see ACNM Roster of Fellows). If the person who has been asked to be a Sponsor can not support the applicant, then she/he should contact the Regional Governor for the applicant for advice and help.
ACNM Fellows, other than members of the BOG, may independently nominate prospective candidates. In such cases, a letter citing the nominee's qualifications for Fellowship should be sent to the candidate for inclusion with his/her application and no additional sponsorship will be required. The applicant sends the entire package to her/his Regional Governor.
Regional Governors process the applications from their regions and sign off on those that are complete. They may also add a comment regarding the applicant/application. The Regional Governors will then forward them on to the BOG Chair who, in turn, will prepare them for the election process.
A packet is sent to the entire BOG with a slate of the candidates and copies of the application with supporting documents for each applicant. Election to Fellowship will be by a simple majority of the votes cast. Each BOG member will make ten selections on the enclosed ballots and return them to the BOG Chair. Election is based solely on the contents of the application and ballots are independently cast. There is no discussion of applicants among members of the BOG. No lobbying, internal or external, is allowed.
The BOG Chair issues letters of invitation to those candidates who have been elected.
A written acceptance is returned by the stipulated date along with a 150-200 word professional biography and a portrait photograph for publicity purposes. A $100 induction fee made payable to ACNM/FACNM must also be remitted at that time.
A formal induction ceremony is held at the following ACNM Annual Meeting. If possible, prospective Fellows should be in attendance the year that they are elected. If such is not possible, the candidate may choose to defer induction for one year or may be inducted in absentia. A certificate of Fellowship and a medallion will be presented at the time of induction.
Following induction, Fellows are entitled to use FACNM after their names.
Application to Fellowship will be limited to three times over the lifetime of a applicant. This policy will not be enforced retroactively for those applicants who applied prior to 1999.
Projected Timetable for FACNM Application
Completed Materials from:
Due Date:
Applications to Sponsor (Completed application / CV /
letters of support/ $50 application fee)
1/11/10
Sponsor to Regional Governor (Entire packet with sponsor signature and letter)
1/25/10
Regional Governor to BOG Chair (Signed-off for completeness ofapplication packets)
2/08/10
BOG Chair to Board of Governors (Ballots and applicant packets)
2/23/10
Board of Governors to BOG Chair (Completed ballots)
3/09/10
BOG Chair to newly elected candidates (Letters of notification)
3/30/10
FACNM inductees to BOG Chair (Acceptance forms/$100 induction fee)
