WASHINGTON The United Motorcoach Association is seeking nominations from its U.S. operator members to fill a half-dozen, three-year elected seats on its board of directors.

And, for the first time, the association is seeking nominations from its Canadian members to fill a newly created board seat that will represent Canadian operators.

Aug. 29 is the deadline for letters of nomination for the director positions.

Two directors will be elected to three-year terms from each of UMA's three U.S. membership regions, plus one director from Canada, which becomes UMA Region IV. The U.S. regions have been modestly realigned, reflecting a shift in the geographic composition of UMA operator members, with Louisiana and Michigan moved to Region I (the West).

Maps showing the realigned regions are printed in the 2009-10 UMA Membership Directory, plus a list of the states comprising each region is included in the association bylaws which are printed in the back of the directory.

All of the U.S. director seats to be contested are the result of expiring terms of incumbent regional coach-operator directors, who may seek re-election.

The directors whose seats are expiring are: Region I (the West): Bill Allen, Amador Stage Lines in Sacramento, Calif., and Gladys Gillis of Starline Luxury Coaches in Seattle; Region II (the Midwest): David Brown of Holiday Tours in Randleman, N.C., and Brian Scott of Escot Lines in Largo, Fla., and Region III (the Northeast): Dale Krapf of Krapf Coaches in West Chester, Pa., and Marcia Milton of First Priority Trailways in District Heights, Md.

Of UMAs soon-to-be, 21-member board, 19 members are regional directors who must be coach operators and who are elected to three-year staggered terms. In addition, it has one non-coachbuilder associate representative who serves a three-year term, and one coachbuilder associate who also serves a three-year term.

Qualification standards for UMA directors can be found in Article VI of the UMA bylaws printed in the membership directory. Among the qualifications is a requirement that nominees must have be a UMA member for at least one year.

Nominations for the regional board directorships, including the new Canadian director, must come from active UMA members who are motorcoach operators. Candidates nominated for the board must represent an active UMA-member company in good standing.

Directors serve without pay but the association generally reimburses directors for travel and accommodations while performing UMA business and/or attending committee meetings and the mid-year board meeting.

Written letters of nomination must state the candidate's name, company affiliation and home-base location. Nomination letters also must be postmarked or faxed no later than Aug. 29.

Regional UMA Nominating Committees will certify the eligibility of all candidates to produce a list of nominees in each region no later than Oct. 1.

Ballots will be mailed to UMA members by Oct. 15, and must be returned no later than Nov. 15. Winners will be announced in Bus & Motorcoach News.

UMA members with questions about nominations should contact the association at (800) 424-8262. Mail nomination letters to: UMA Nominations, 113 S. West St., 4th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314-2824. Nominations may also be faxed to (703) 838-2950, or e-mail to UMA President and CEO Victor Parra at vparra@uma.org.