Jump to content
The Official RONR Q & A Forums

Amendments: A "slate," or individual???


talltenor

Recommended Posts

Our faculty charter & bylaws allow the Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC) to recommend charter/bylaw amendments to be ratified (or not) by the faculty as a whole.  The charter and bylaws do not specify whether or not proposed amendments must be submitted for ratification individually, or if proposed amendments could be submitted for ratification as a "slate" to be voted up or down in its entirety.

I'm new in the Parliamentarian position, and I need help...

I am given to understand that the FAC would prefer to recommend a slate of amendments rather than individual amendments.  It seems to me that if that's what they wish to do, then they could.

Our charter states only that " Any proposed amendment(s) to the charter must be presented in writing to the faculty of the College of Music at least fourteen (14) class days before faculty discussion and subsequent balloting at a special meeting of the faculty."  There is just no mention of slate vs. individual.

Am I off-base, here?  Can the FAC recommend a slate of amendments, or must they recommend individual amendments?

Thanks in advance!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The "standard" is one particular amendment at a time, with a vote on each proposal individually.

However, if a sub-group of amendments all deal with essentially one change to the bylaws such that adopting some and defeating others would make no logical sense, they can (and probably should) be voted on all at once "in gross".  (RONR doesn't use the word "slate".)   See also "Conforming Amendments", p. 275.

The danger of requiring a vote on all amendments at once, when they are (partially) unrelated, is that one or two "bad" (unpopular) amendments could cause the defeat of the entire set, the good along with the bad. (Babies and bathwater effect.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, talltenor said:

Our faculty charter & bylaws allow the Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC) to recommend charter/bylaw amendments to be ratified (or not) by the faculty as a whole.  The charter and bylaws do not specify whether or not proposed amendments must be submitted for ratification individually, or if proposed amendments could be submitted for ratification as a "slate" to be voted up or down in its entirety.

I'm new in the Parliamentarian position, and I need help...

I am given to understand that the FAC would prefer to recommend a slate of amendments rather than individual amendments.  It seems to me that if that's what they wish to do, then they could.

Our charter states only that " Any proposed amendment(s) to the charter must be presented in writing to the faculty of the College of Music at least fourteen (14) class days before faculty discussion and subsequent balloting at a special meeting of the faculty."  There is just no mention of slate vs. individual.

Am I off-base, here?  Can the FAC recommend a slate of amendments, or must they recommend individual amendments?

Thanks in advance!!!

Yes, your FAC may propose the adoption of a number of charter amendments in a single motion (RONR, 11th ed. p. 110, ll. 9-31), and depending upon the relationship of these proposed amendments to one another, this motion may or may not be divisible. If the proposed amendments are independent of one another, they will have to be divided upon the demand of just one member.  

If you are serving as parliamentarian, I suggest you read Section 27 in RONR (11th ed.) very carefully.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...