Guest Robert Posted March 30, 2011 at 06:16 AM Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 at 06:16 AM Can a committee appointed by the Board send out a survey to the memebrship for the purpose of getting opinions? I read some where that surveys are not allowed unless approved by the membership in whole as they neither accept or reject anything? If the President gets opinions from a member of a Parliamentarian organization (they are just a member and not registered or Professional) on a matter she is trying to get approved, can the President then have the Committee she appointed send any surveys or votes by the Committee to this member of the Parliamentarian group as a neutral 3 rd party? Since this individual has already written a letter to the President in support of the matter under review with his opinions, is this person a Neutral 3 rd party? Plus the organization is paying this individual for his work, even though he is just a memebr of the Parliamentarian group and not registered or a Professional Registered Parliamentarian? Is this action by the President more like stuffing the Ballot box instead of allowing the membership to amke up their own minds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted March 30, 2011 at 06:50 AM Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 at 06:50 AM Can a committee appointed by the Board send out a survey to the memebrship for the purpose of getting opinions?It would violate no rule in RONR.I read some where that surveys are not allowed unless approved by the membership in whole as they neither accept or reject anything? I suspect you're referring to RONR, 10th ed., pg. 415, which prohibits straw polls from being taken during a meeting (whether or not it has the approval of the general membership), for precisely the reasons you describe. RONR is a book about procedure during meetings. Organizations, boards, and committees take polls outside of meetings all the time.If the President gets opinions from a member of a Parliamentarian organization (they are just a member and not registered or Professional) on a matter she is trying to get approved, can the President then have the Committee she appointed send any surveys or votes by the Committee to this member of the Parliamentarian group as a neutral 3 rd party?No rule in RONR would prevent the President from sending the results of a survey to a third party, nor does it matter as far as RONR is concerned whether this person is neutral, what professional organizations they belong to, or what certifications they do or do not hold with those organizations.Since this individual has already written a letter to the President in support of the matter under review with his opinions, is this person a Neutral 3 rd party? Plus the organization is paying this individual for his work, even though he is just a memebr of the Parliamentarian group and not registered or a Professional Registered Parliamentarian? I don't know, but it doesn't really matter.Is this action by the President more like stuffing the Ballot box instead of allowing the membership to amke up their own minds?What ballot box? Make up their minds on what? Is there something more than a survey going on that you didn't mention?At the end of the day, RONR is a book of procedures during meetings. It doesn't cover what organizations do outside of meetings. If you don't like what's going on, make policies to cover it at the next general membership meeting. Or get new board members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 30, 2011 at 07:04 AM Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 at 07:04 AM It would violate no rule in RONR.I suspect you're referring to RONR, 10th ed., pg. 415, which prohibits straw polls from being taken during a meeting (whether or not it has the approval of the general membership), for precisely the reasons you describe. RONR is a book about procedure during meetings. Organizations, boards, and committees take polls outside of meetings all the time.No rule in RONR would prevent the President from sending the results of a survey to a third party, nor does it matter as far as RONR is concerned whether this person is neutral, what professional organizations they belong to, or what certifications they do or do not hold with those organizations.I don't know, but it doesn't really matter.What ballot box? Make up their minds on what? Is there something more than a survey going on that you didn't mention?At the end of the day, RONR is a book of procedures during meetings. It doesn't cover what organizations do outside of meetings. If you don't like what's going on, make policies to cover it at the next general membership meeting. Or get new board members.The Board sent out a Ballot to the memebrship on a particular matter, on the page of the Ballot, the Board included a Survey looking for responses. The questions on the survey were very leading and gave choices which reflected much of what the Board was asking the membership to vote on but excluded the item that they wanted to replace. Is including a survey on the same page as a Ballot a proper procedure? Should the Ballot not be sent on its own with no other matters included? It did cause a lot of confusion as to why it was there and not sent separately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Ed Posted March 30, 2011 at 02:32 PM Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 at 02:32 PM Unless your organization has a By-law that specifically covers voting outside a meeting (i.e. by sending out ballots, using proxies, etc.) then the ballot is not legal according to RONR. If the By-laws allow it, then it is up to your organization to deal with the issue and RONR will be of no help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted March 30, 2011 at 03:02 PM Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 at 03:02 PM Can a committee appointed by the Board send out a survey to the memebrship for the purpose of getting opinions? I read some where that surveys are not allowed unless approved by the membership in whole as they neither accept or reject anything? I'm not sure where you read it, but it wasn't in RONR. Perhaps you were reading about straw polls, during a meeting, which would not be proper, but which should not be confused with an actual survey done outside a meeting.There's no rule against surveys in RONR. And in some cases they might be a very good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted March 30, 2011 at 03:04 PM Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 at 03:04 PM The Board sent out a Ballot to the memebrship on a particular matter, on the page of the Ballot, the Board included a Survey looking for responses. The questions on the survey were very leading and gave choices which reflected much of what the Board was asking the membership to vote on but excluded the item that they wanted to replace. Is including a survey on the same page as a Ballot a proper procedure? Should the Ballot not be sent on its own with no other matters included? It did cause a lot of confusion as to why it was there and not sent separately.Are you the original poster on this qestion? If not, please start a new topic, as these questions are not the same. You're referring to a "ballot" sent by the board, and the OP was talking about a "survey" sent by a committee. The answers will not be the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Elsman Posted March 30, 2011 at 05:44 PM Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 at 05:44 PM Can a committee appointed by the Board send out a survey to the memebrship for the purpose of getting opinions? I read some where that surveys are not allowed unless approved by the membership in whole as they neither accept or reject anything? If the President gets opinions from a member of a Parliamentarian organization (they are just a member and not registered or Professional) on a matter she is trying to get approved, can the President then have the Committee she appointed send any surveys or votes by the Committee to this member of the Parliamentarian group as a neutral 3 rd party? Since this individual has already written a letter to the President in support of the matter under review with his opinions, is this person a Neutral 3 rd party? Plus the organization is paying this individual for his work, even though he is just a memebr of the Parliamentarian group and not registered or a Professional Registered Parliamentarian? Is this action by the President more like stuffing the Ballot box instead of allowing the membership to amke up their own minds?Commonly, a committee will hold a hearing and invite those who are knowledgable and interested in the topic to present their views and answer questions. See RONR (10th ed.), p. 483, ll. 30-35. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted March 30, 2011 at 08:20 PM Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 at 08:20 PM The Board sent out a Ballot to the memebrship on a particular matter, on the page of the Ballot, the Board included a Survey looking for responses. The questions on the survey were very leading and gave choices which reflected much of what the Board was asking the membership to vote on but excluded the item that they wanted to replace. Is including a survey on the same page as a Ballot a proper procedure? Should the Ballot not be sent on its own with no other matters included? It did cause a lot of confusion as to why it was there and not sent separately.You seem to be contradicting yourself (in your original post, it was a committee that sent out the survey, not the board), but it doesn't change much (other than that absentee voting must be authorized in your Bylaws to be valid). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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