Hi, and thank you in advance for your assistance. I am in a society who is bound by Roberts Rules. I am chair of the Bylaws Committee. In working in this committee and going over the bylaws it became apparent that our chapter's use of bylaws was very lax. Our society is a closed society, meaning that one makes an application with recommendation of 2 current members, and is approved by national. It is my understanding that with this provision, meetings are to be members only. Over the years that our chapter has been in existence it has allowed non-members to attend all parts of a meetings: business as well as program/social portions. Because of the difficulty in getting members back on track by having members only attend meetings it was decided to amend our meeting bylaws to be specific: Meetings are to be members only, except with prior approval of the regent. This has caused much anxiety and more postponements of a vote because of the ongoing questioning of those apposed to being strictly members only. The latest discussion asked for direct wording contained in national's bylaws, stating that if it doesn't appear there, the amending of the meetings portion of the bylaws cannot be done. There are no such specific words in national bylaws because it is accepted that our organization is not a public one. Or am I incorrect in that assumption?
