Let's See Week Three!

Here's a peek at week three! This week, we really, really learned about bylaws!

Articles Generally Included in the Bylaws 

(NO MOME C PA):

*The Basics

I. Name
     1. Full, exact, properly punctuated name of the organization
II. Object
     1. Purpose of the organization, in one sentence if possible, with subparagraphs if needed
     2. Sets limitations on what can be discussed at business meetings
III. Members
     1. Classes of membership
     2. Qualifications for membership eligibility
     3. Fees, dues, and punishments regarding such
     4. Special requirements for good standing
     5. Honorary membership
IV. Officers
     1. Required officers
     2. Qualifications
     3. Election/appointment method
     4. Duties
     5. Nomination process
     6. Term
     7. Filling vacancies
V. Meeting
     1. Regular meeting schedule
     2. Designated annual meeting
     3. How to call special meetings
     4. Quorum
VI. Executive Board
     1. Composition
     2. Powers
     3. Rules regarding meeting conduct, schedule, quorum, call
VII. Committees
     1. Establishing standing committees
     2. Name, composition, selection of each standing committee
     3. How to establish additional standing committees
     4. Authorization of and how to appointment special committees
     5. Ex-oficio membership
VIII. Parliamentary Authority
     1. "The rules contained in the current edition of...(Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised)...shall             govern the Society in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not                           inconsistent with these bylaws and any special rules of order that the Society may adopt."
XI. Amendments
     1. Requirements and procedure
     2. Specification as to when amendments can be made

What are the four actions a member can take if a quorum does not exist?

The Orders and Unfinished Business:

Special Orders:

          ~ Items required by bylaws to be carried out at a specific meeting
          ~ Items postponed from the previous meeting by a 2/3 vote
          ~ May be considered at a specific time and may interrupt business

General Orders: 

          ~ Items postponed from the last meeting

Unfinished Business: 

          ~ Items pending when the last meeting adjourned
          ~ Items on the agenda from the last meeting but not completed 

Changes to the Bylaws:

Cannot be suspended except for clauses in the rules of order or as specified within the bylaws
Can be changed only through prescribed procedure (which typically involves previous notice and a 2/3 vote)

Qualities of the Bylaws:

Should:

1.  Be short and sweet
2.     Meet the needs of the society 
3.           Be clear and precise 
4.           Not  be  restrictive - "silence is still saying something" 
5.      Be separated into articles, sections, and paragraphs
6.  Utilize Roman Numerals, Arabic Numbers, and Alphabetic Letters (Upper and Lowercase)

Thank you for sticking with us this long! Next week will be discussing debating and voting (some of my personal favorite parts)!

Session 12 - Bylaws - April 9

Responses to your Ticket Outs from Session 12!

What are you curious about?

• Where in Robert's does it talk about the Chair's requirement to stand at meetings?
• There is no such requirement.
• Who starts writing Bylaws for a newly organized society?
• The society designates a Committee to draw up Bylaws 
• RONR, p. 566
• Holding meetings in the absence of Bylaws
• Many organizations function without any set rules they follow
• Making an organization work and committees
• See you next week!
• What happens if a Bylaw is missing an important Article?
• You will have to follow the other rules in the Bylaws in the meantime, but hurry and make a Bylaws revision to include the necessary Articles!
• Can you "tweak" Bylaws already in place without Amending them?
• No. If the Bylaws say something, you want to follow that exactly. The only way you could "tweak" them is by actually amending them.
• RONR, p. 588-591: Principles of Interpretation
• What would you include in a Constitution that isn't in the Bylaws?
• Things that you want to amend less often and/or have them be more difficult to amend
• Can Bylaws be written in a way that they invalidate themselves?
• Of course, that is why when writing or revising Bylaws you want to take the utmost care that this does not happen. 
• If you have multiple sections that contradict each other, follow the following basic principles of interpretation so that you interpret your Bylaws as best as possible: RONR, p. 588-591

 What did you learn?

• General format of the Bylaws with the 9 basic Articles
• Proper time to use Point of Order
• The Membership Article and what it includes
• NOMOMECPA (mnemonic to remember the 9 Articles in order)
• Article I: Name
• Article II: Object
• Article III: Members
• Article IV: Officers
• Article V: Meetings
• Article VI: Executive Board
• Article VII: Committees
• Article VIII: Parliamentary authority
• Article IX: Amendments
• All about the Bylaws!
• How important it is to "waterproof" your organization's Bylaws
• A group an essentially establish any rules it wants when it creates its Bylaws
• How to write a solid set of Bylaws and where to start
• The importance of descriptive, specific Bylaws
• Bylaws amendments

What do you want to learn more about?

• Bylaws in informal groups where people don't care
• If there is no need for Bylaws, there is no need for Bylaws. Informal groups generally do not have Bylaws. However, if you are a campus organization you do need Bylaws filed with the Office of Student Activities. They will give you a very bare-bones skeleton that you can fill in in order to put down the most basic information about the organization.
• Special meetings
• A special meeting is a meeting that is called outside of the regularly scheduled meeting times and in which only the business sent out when calling the meeting can be discussed.
• See RONR, p. 91-92 for more information. 
• Amending Bylaws
• Amending Bylaws can be a very in-depth process. In order to start the process, often a Committee is created to do so. Also, usually previous notice is given. 
• Read more about all aspects of amending ("revising") Bylaws here: RONR, p. 592-599 
• The final exam
• We'll be talking about it soon!