Session 13 - Committees - April

Responses to your ticket outs from Session 13!

What are you curious about?

• Our guest speaker
• What we will hear through our Skype presentation
• Best method of committee selection
• It depends on the purpose of the committee. It might be better for the chair to appoint sometimes, and for the election to happen via ballot other times. Each method has benefits to it.
• If the Chair appoints the Chair of the committee, they can appoint the members, right?
• The chair of the assembly can appoint members with confirmation from the assembly.
• Difference between member, delegate, representative, or senator
• The formation/design of committee reports
• Section 51 (beginning on pg. 503) details what should go into a committee/board report and how it would be presented. 
• How to start a committee of the whole
• This is treated as a motion to commit/refer pp. 531-532
• Someone can move this by saying, "I move that we go into a committee of the whole."
• What happens when a committee comes to a meeting unprepared or they did not meet their goals before the meeting?
• The assembly can discipline them, even by discharging the committee if necessary. It would be up to the assembly to take what they accomplished, their time frame, etc. into account. 
• Is the Chair of a committee temporary only if listed as the first name, or are they temporary even if the president names them specifically as chair?
• If the Chair names someone as committee chair (ex. by stating his/her name first), the committee cannot change their chair. RONR p. 175 l. 25-28
• If the committee needs to elect its own chair because someone was not appointed as such, the first named member calls the meeting to order, then the committee can elect a chair. p. 176 l. 7-18

What did you learn?

• Committee meetings are very important and should have special meetings.
• You can't limit debate or call the previous question in committees.
• How committee reports not on the agenda are addressed
• Different types of committees
• Ordinary: Standing, Special; Committee of the Whole: Committee of the Whole, Quasi Committee of the Whole, Informal Consideration
• The Governor of Pennsylvania is an ex-officio member of the PSU Board of Trustees.
• Five methods of committee appointment
• Election by ballot, Nominations from the floor with viva voce election, Nominations by the chair, Appointment by the chair, Adoption of a motion naming members
• RONR pp. 492-497
• Committees and ex-officio members
• Standing and special committees are considered ordinary committees. 
• The capabilities of the executive board
• Amending by-laws and previous notice
• Forming committees
• The differences between committees, boards, and executive boards
• Duties of a committee chair

What do you want to learn more about?

• Parli pro!
• How to correct the procedures of an organization that is operating incorrectly according to Robert's if it is so well entrenched
• Talk to the members about what is going on. They may not realize that they are not operating correctly, or maybe understand why following correct parliamentary procedure can be beneficial. Explain why its helpful and a basic outline of what would need to change.
• How to organize your first meeting
• The assembly would first be operating as a mass meeting. Here's what Robert's says about that: pp. 543-561
• Ex-officio members
• RONR p. 497 l. 20-29 & pp. 483-484
• Parliamentary resources
• Next week! We'll see a lot of good resources!
• Why are ex-officio members not counted in the quorum?
• They are not obligated to attend meetings. So they may actively choose not to attend. If that happens, it would make it harder to reach a quorum. 
• Committee of the Whole 
• See pp. 529-542
• Transitioning an ad-hoc committee into a standing committee 
• You would need to create the standing committee by amending the by-laws to include that committee or creating resolution that would essentially be a special rule of order. Then the committee could take up the work that it should. 
• Common responsibilities of executive boards 
• An executive board would take care of any matters that occur between meetings. They may also have control over certain parts of the assembly's function in general. p. 481
• The purpose of ex-officio members, only beyond additional knowledge
• Certain people are ex-officio members because of an office (maybe there is a stake held by that other organization)
• How are ex-officio members selected?
• They can be named as members in the by-laws if the assembly thinks they would be a beneficial addition to the committee/board, 
• Parliamentarians!