Our committee to review bylaws is off to a slow start but we HAVE started!!! Sorry for the delay.
Here is the plan: To date, we’ve received about a half-dozen ideas for changes to the bylaws. First, I’d like to reinvite members to offer any suggestions to Shel, Peter or me. In the meantime, we have reviewed minutes from the last five years to extract policy statements that have already been
approved by the Board of Directors. We’re looking at these to determine if some of them are more appropriate for bylaws. At the same time, we will rewrite these policy “extracts” and build a more formal policy document that is more easily referenced in the future. This document will make it easier to add new policies as we learn more about our new web page, add new technologies, etc.
I anticipate having a specific board meeting to get consensus on which items are policies and which are bylaw appropriate. Next, we’ll have a meeting to address and approve/revalidate the specific policies in our policy document. Finally, we’ll have a separate session on bylaw changes and vote for the new bylaws.
For information, I’m also on another board pursuing certification by the Maryland Non-Profit Standards of Excellence. Their standards are pretty clear that policies should be reviewed at least every five years. So again, if you are aware of any policies that were approved more than five years ago, please let me know so we can add them to our consideration. We’ve already received one such policy.
Thanks all for your patience. A public affairs officer once told me that if there is a question about the state of your “progress”, always tell the General…..”Boss, we’re all over it.” So for my fellow trainers…… We’re all over it!!!!
Dave Chaffee