[sac-board] Re: SAC Constitution
- From: Jeff Hopkins <phxjeff@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 09:02:49 -0700
>On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 14:26:23 -0700, Jeff Hopkins wrote:
>
> > The board might want to consider modifying the Constitution to create
>> Board member positions for the Newsletter and Membership as these are
>> two very important positions that certainly deserve board member
>> status. Both the Secretary and Treasurer have definite
>> responsibilities beyond handling the Newsletter and membership issues.
>>
>> The Newsletter and Web site should distinguish between Board Members
>> and Committee Chairmen.
Paul Dickson responded:
>The board may delegate its duties to appointed individuals or standing
>committees. The newsletter has been delegated to the appointed newsletter
>editor, which is the chair of the newsletter committee. SAC has five of
>these appointed positions currently (Newsletter, Web Site, ATM, Public
>Events, and Deep-Sky Group).
>
>The appointed positions are non-voting people at board meetings, but they
>do have to show up at board meetings to report. Plus is it brings a few
>extra bodies to board meetings so board board can make decisions in less
>of a vacuum. Board meetings are open to club members, it's just that most
>people don't seem to be interested in the running of the club.
I understand. Still the Newsletter and SAC Web site do not seem to
distinguish between board members and committee chairmen.
> > Where/when is the Properties report? What does the club have? What
>> equipment, books, etc. and how do members access them?
>
>You can access them by asking. Are you volunteering to keep track of the
>club's library, bring these books to each meeting?
How does one know what to ask for? Where is the list of items? What
are the rules?
Why would one bring all the items to meetings? It would seem more
logical to setup a means of either picking items up or bringing
specific items to a meeting for a person or persons. Bring a list of
the items and what is available and when to the meetings.
>SAC is a volunteer organization. If a job takes too much time its likely
>not to get done. Unless you've done the work, be VERY careful about
>criticizing the effort that currently gets done. For example: Gene Lucas
>and I are about the only people still in the club who can really get away
>with any criticizing of Rick's work on the newsletter, and then I only do
>it when it will improve the newsletter.
I apologize for appearing to criticize. What I am trying to do is to
make constructive suggestions or to ask questions.
>Board positions are term limited to 2-years. This is the basis of the
>founding of SAC, so changing that is a pretty fundamental change. The
>standing committees provide the continuity needed by the club. If the
>newsletter editor became a board member, then that work-heavy position
>would be harder to fill with a qualified person.
That is another good reason to consider changing the Constitution and
By-Laws. Why limit terms to 2 years? If someone is doing a good job
and people want to re-elect him/her, why the limit. As you say,
finding good volunteers is hard.
There also should be a Membership Officer. Membership is a MAJOR
function in any organization. As it it, there is essentially no
membership interaction (just collect the dues). When I joined, I
didn't even get a receipt let a lone any kind of acknowledgement or
information about the club and my membership.
The Constitution should also be amended to include information about
the club web site and email lists. These are MAJOR items for the club
and fairly new.
>If you really want to add positions to the board, I'd suggest adding a
>Member-at-Large position, perhaps 1 for each group of 50 club members,
>decided when nominations open. Is there any interest in this?
>
> -Paul
Jeff
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Jeff Hopkins
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