Agenda: New Business

[Guest Arjun]

When composing an agenda for an upcoming meeting, is it appropriate/acceptable to include actual motions one expects will be made? Most "sample agendas" I've seen simply say "New Business," but don't list anything under the heading.

So, must new business be brought up during the meeting, or can it be planned ahead of time, and including on the agenda?

Thank you.

[jstackpo]

It is certainly a kindness to the presiding officer if he/she knows ahead of time what is gonna come up in "New Business", but it isn't required to tell him.

And something may be suggested during the meeting (perhaps in response to your outside invited speaker, if there is one) that properly can come up under New Business.

And finally, there is no RONR requirement for an agenda at all. Order of Business -- see p. 25 & 26 -- yes, but not all the details of what will or may come up.

I may not have answered your "real" quetion, so ask again if I missed.

[Guest Arjun]

It is certainly a kindness to the presiding officer if he/she knows ahead of time what is gonna come up in "New Business", but it isn't required to tell him.

And something may be suggested during the meeting (perhaps in response to your outside invited speaker, if there is one) that properly can come up under New Business.

And finally, there is no RONR requirement for an agenda at all. Order of Business -- see p. 25 & 26 -- yes, but not all the details of what will or may come up.

I may not have answered your "real" quetion, so ask again if I missed.

I believe that does go toward answering my question — thank you. I really just hoped to ascertain whether it would be appropriate to place motions members wish to make, on the agenda, under New Business.

[jstackpo]

Quite appropriate indeed, and that is where the new motions belong.

But don't forget, new motions can be offered whether they are described on a published agenda or not.

[Tim Wynn]

When composing an agenda for an upcoming meeting, is it appropriate/acceptable to include actual motions one expects will be made? Most "sample agendas" I've seen simply say "New Business," but don't list anything under the heading.

So, must new business be brought up during the meeting, or can it be planned ahead of time, and including on the agenda?

Thank you.

Those samples you're describing may be examples of an Order of Business. RONR contains a Standard Order of Business on p. 353 of the 11th ed.

An agenda is a series of special or general orders or a mixture of both. It is not necessary to have an agenda.

[Tim Wynn]

Quite appropriate indeed, and that is where the new motions belong.

But don't forget, new motions can be offered whether they are described on a published agenda or not.

If a motion is made a special or general order by adoption of an agenda, such a motion would not come up under New Business.

[Rev Ed]

I am a Secretary for a couple of organizations. When helping the Presiding Officer create an Agenda for a meeting, I will tend to keep track of issues which may need to be discussed at the meeting. If the Chairman and myself know we need a decision, we list it as a separate item on the Agenda. Sometimes we will have a vote, other times we will postpone the issue to the next meeting. If we are not sure, we place a list of potential issues at the bottom of the Agenda. If the group wants to discuss these issues, we take them up under New Business.

This may not be strictly enforced under RONR, but it most cases it is convenient to have this information on hand just in case.