My Favorite Quote

My whole life I have had one favorite quote. Just one. I am not the type of person to change my favorite quote like I change my favorite song every other day (it is currently my girl Whitney Houston!). If you look in all of my yearbooks in middle school, high school, and in the coming PSU Ag Ed Student Showcase, you will find it. My favorite quote is by someone I believe to be a legend who left a lasting impact on the sport of baseball. My quote is from the great Babe Ruth, "Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game." This quote has been a mantra, mission, and vision for my life for quite some time. I simply refuse to let fear dictate what I can and cannot do. 

So you might now ask, how does this relate to Parliamentary Procedure or Robert's Rules of Order? Well, its simple. Parli Pro used to terrify me, and still sometimes does. There is this giant 700 page book that goes as in depth as possible into the intricacies of how an organization should be structured and how meetings should be run. You mean to tell me that Robert needed 700 pages for that? I guess so, because I spent the past three months of my fall semester at Penn State studying that thick, spiral-bound book. 

When I was first approached about taking the course I am pretty sure I was laughing on the inside and thinking "you want me to take Parli Pro and try to understand the foreign language coming out of that book?" Long story short, I signed up for the course because I absolutely believe Parli Pro and Robert's Rules of Order to be valuable knowledge to have. Have I struggled sometimes? Absolutely. The biggest struggle is most likely being able to dissect and comprehend the academic language of Robert's Rules of Order. Once the lingo becomes more familiar, connections start to form and it begins to make sense. But I didn't let the challenges keep me from taking the class or tackling this new learning experience. 

Here is just a sampling of what I have learned:

1. Types of assemblies

2. How to form an organization

3. Types of business meetings

4. Rights of members

5. Subsidiary Motions

6. Incidental Motions

7. Privileged Motions

8. Motions that bring back a question before an assembly

9. Types of voting and what votes are needed

10. How to run a meeting

That is just a short list of some knowledge I have gained from this course. 

Moral of the story. "Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game."

 

Allyson Balmer

The Pennsylvania State University

Agricultural and Extension Education

2018 Student-Teaching Cohort

@allyson_balmer

Committees

Remember in high school, FFA, or 4-H when everyone told you to get involved in committees because it would look good on a resume? Yeah, me too. So I'm pretty sure I got involved in nearly EVERY committee I could, which may or may not have been a great idea. Nonetheless, now that I am taking a Parli Pro class, I have a lot more knowledge about different types of committees and what they are actually designed to do.

Types of Committees:

Standing Committee: a permanent committee that performs a continuing function and remains in existence for the life of the assembly which established it. It it usually created by a specific provision in the bylaws.

Some examples of standing committees are: fundraising, social, and professional development. These are very common to see in collegiate organizations around Penn State!


Special Committee (Ad Hoc): a committee created to serve a particular purpose and which automatically ceases to exist when work is done and its report has been given.

An example of a special committee could be when a member at a meeting of the assembly makes a motion to refer a main motion to a committee. Thus, a smaller group of people have been assembled with a specified purpose and should report back. Some special committees you may see formed in some organizations could be planning a specific event, such as a party, or creating a special committee to do research about a topic to report back to the assembly.

Allyson Balmer
The Pennsylvania State University
Agricultural and Extension Education
2018 Student Teaching Cohort
@allyson_balmer

Committees - Appointment and Composition

If you read Angela's previous post Committees! she discusses the two types of ordinary committees there are. Now that we know there are standing and special committees and what their purpose is, let's talk about how you can go about appointing a committee and the proper composition of committees!

Methods of Appointment [RONR (11th ed.), pg. 492 - 497]

If an assembly has not stated in its bylaws how the members of its committees shall be selected, the method can be decided by vote at the time the committee is appointed, or the method can be specified in the motion to establish the committee. It also depends on what type of committee is being established. Here are the methods by which committees can be appointed:

1. Election by ballot. This method is principally applicable to important standing committees having extensive powers.

2. Nomination from the floor with viva-voce election. This method is common for appointing members to a committee when the assembly wishes to reserve the selection to itself without requiring secrecy in the voting.

3. Nominations by the chair with confirmation by voice vote. This method is used when the assembly wished to take advantage of the chair's knowledge and judgement as to suitable appointees, yet wishes to have veto power.

4. Appointment by the chair. This is usually the best method in large assemblies. The president cannot assume such power, however, unless it is in the bylaws or by action of the assembly.

5. Appointment by adoption of a motion naming members of a committee. This is commonly used when appointing special committees. We have practiced this in class and is what I am most familiar with.

Proper Composition of Committees [RONR (11th ed.), pg. 497 - 498]

Standing Committees: The only thing stated about standing committees is that members should be chosen to make the strongest possible group so that they can handle any task that may arise.

Special Committees:

• When appointed to implement an order of the assembly, it should be small and should consist of only those in favor of the action to be carried out.
• When appointed for deliberation or investigation, it should be larger and represent all points of view in the organization so that its recommendations reflect the will of the assembly.

Committees!

In Robert's Rules of Order a committee is defined as follows... "A committee, as understood in parliamentary law, is a body of one or more persons, elected or appointed by (or by direction of) an assembly or society, to consider, investigate, or take action on certain matters or subjects, or to do all of these things" (RONR, page 489, lines 20-24).

Two Types of Ordinary Committees: 

Special Committee - Also known as a "select" or "ad hoc" committee. This is a committee as a need arises, to perform a certain task. The committee comes to an end when the matter that they are taking care of is addressed in full.

Standing Committee - This is a committee put together to perform a continuing function and always exists. A standing committee will have its name and description of what it does within an organization's bylaws.

Fun Fact: When referring any business to a committee, if the motion maker does not mention who the committee chair will be then the first name said aloud by the chair automatically becomes the chair of the committee.

Many of us have been on a committee at least once before and we have worked with others. Thinking about the descriptions of the two ordinary committees above, which type of committee were you in and what did you do?

Angela Becker
#PSUAgEd18
Student Teacher at Manheim Central High School

Advice from Wayne Gretzky

"You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take."

Wayne Gretzky 

A quote from one of the most well known hockey players who played against my main man Mario Lemieux. This exact quote is relatable to my #AgEdParli journey. Last semester the time came to schedule classes for the current semester. I spoke to Dr. Ewing and Dr. Foster about what classes to take. A little bird put the idea of taking #AEE216 Practical Parliamentary Procedure in my ear. I thought, "Why not? Seems like a useful class that I will probably utilize in my time teaching and in other organizations that I participate in." So right then and there, I scheduled the class.

Fast forward to the beginning of this semester and the class is up and running. We did have some hiccups at the beginning but we utilized an authentic problem (PSU Collegiate FFA and Teach Ag Society consolidating to become The L.E.A.D. Society next semester). Suddenly the ins and outs of Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised, otherwise known as RONR, became a real thing! We've learned precedence, types of motions, bylaws, and even how to put our experience to use after this class.

In a few short weeks the class will be taking the accreditation exam where we can put our knowledge gained from the entire semester to the test. Wish us luck as we hope to all conclude the class as accredited parliamentarians.

We are almost to the end y'all! We're at the end of the 3rd period skating down the ice and staring the goal tender in the face through his mask. Will we take the shot? I'm sure glad I took the shot to take the class now all that's left to do is take one more to win the game!







Angela Becker
#PSUAgEd18
Student Teacher at Manheim Central High School

Parliamentary Procedure: #Superbowl LDE

Nerves and excitement filled the air. Yet the competitors were confident in what they knew and what their team could do. Tap, tap, tap! The meeting had come to order, and a whirlwind of motions began. Welcome to the Parliamentary Procedure LDE at the National FFA Convention.

Congrats to Liberty Ranch FFA Chapter - 2017 Parliamentary Procedure National Champions!

The mission of FFA is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. With that mission in mind, it makes perfect sense that parliamentary procedure is one of the many events that FFA members can participate. The purpose of the Parliamentary Procedure LDE is "to encourage students to learn to effectively participate in a business meeting and to assist in the development of their leadership, research, problem solving skills and critical thinking skills."

Last year was my first experience with Parli Pro at National FFA Convention, and let me tell you, it is INTENSE. This multi-day event has five phases that teams of 6 complete:

1. Written examination 
2. An 11 minute team presentation of parliamentary procedure 
3. Oral questions following the presentation 
4. Team problem solving practicum 
5. Individual practicum focused on minutes and other records.

Now that I have some parliamentary procedure knowledge from class, I am even more impressed with how much those students know and how much time/effort they put in to preparing and practicing. Here is a video from the 2016 Parliamentary Procedure Finals at the National FFA Convention (There are multiple teams competing in this video) :

Check out the 2017 Parliamentary Procedure LDE to see how this event is structured and everything that the students learn to compete!