dodger71

To be sure, I have plenty of studying to do, but I do realize the process is not simple. I was really just outlining options. They are truly original proposals. We may also have to address motions that are out of order (RONR, 11th ed., p. 111, regarding motions previously adopted) as well as motions to rescind (probably also out of order under RONR, 11th ed., p. 308). I am more immediately concerned with assigning the floor initially. Thanks.

Thank you to everyone for the comments. These have helped. The entire business of the meeting will focus on the adoption of one of four proposals, which will be submitted in writing before the committee meeting. The person to whom I assign the floor first will be allowed to move to adopt his or her proposal. Based on other comments above and my reading of RONR, the other members can then move to amend via substitution.Thus, if we have four total proposals, we would have one original main motion to consider the first proposal followed by votes to consider the other proposals through a series of motions to amend via substitution. My real focus was how to assign the floor initially because I think the initial decision will be a big point of contention. In other words, all four members who submit written proposals will demand assignment of the floor. It makes sense to me to put the matter of assignment to an assembly vote, assigning the floor to the person receiving the largest number of votes (RONR p. 382). We are also likely going to have a bunch of subsidiary motions as well, including motions to table indefinitely. Thus, I am very concerned that we at least have some order to the initial part of the meeting so that the assembly has a clearer idea of what we are actually considering. As I would suspect many of you know, academic assemblies do not always follow Robert's Rules as closely as they should!

I am new to this board and hoped someone could provide some guidance. I have followed Robert’s Rules for years, but I am not a parliamentarian and am no expert. Here are the circumstances: I am going to serve as chair for a relatively large academic meeting that will likely become contentious. The committee is considering serious curricular changes, so everyone has strong feelings. I will likely receive about four different written motions before the meeting. The motions will contradict one another, so only one can be a main motion at a time. I know that only one of the motions can become the original main motion when I have assigned the floor to a member who will then make a motion (probably by introducing one of the four written motions submitted before the meeting). Under Robert’s Rules (p. 30), the person who rises first is the one I should assign the floor. However, I do not think the selection process described on p. 30 is feasible given that four members are going to seek the floor aggressively from the outset of the meeting. My question: What other options do I have for assigning the floor to one of the members who submitted a written motion before the meeting? I think that some kind of random selection process would be fair, but I am not aware of any precedent for assigning the floor through random selection. Does anyone have any other ideas? Alternatively, do I have other ways to prioritize the motions before the meeting? Thanks in advance.