Multiple terms of office

[Guest Jane McKee]

The board of directors of our 501©3 organization is made up of 4 "officer-directors" (president, VP, Sec & Treas) and a minimum of 14 additional members of the organization all designated "directors" with specific responsibilities, i.e. membership, programs, publicity etc. All board members are elected at the annual meeting. The current bylaws state that the term of office is one year (with maximum of two consecutive years in any one position).

A bylaw amendment has been proposed as follows: “The term of office for Officer-Directors and Director-Membership will be two consecutive fiscal years, each May 1 to April 30. If the office has already been held by an individual for one year, the election will be only for one additional year.”

Question: Can there be two separate terms of office for this board (and this will not be a staggered set of terms like the US Senate) but an annual election for all but 5 and a biennial election for those designated 5?

Unfortunately this amendment has already been approved by the board and sent to the membership in preparation for the upcoming annual meeting.

Thanks ...

[Trina]

...

Question: Can there be two separate terms of office for this board (and this will not be a staggered set of terms like the US Senate) but an annual election for all but 5 and a biennial election for those designated 5?

Well sure, why not? As long as the bylaws are clear on which positions have the annual elections, and which have biennial elections, there's no problem. Just make sure that the previous language in the bylaws, stating the one-year term of office, is updated accordingly. RONR doesn't say anything about default terms of office, and even if it did, the bylaws supersede what is said in the parliamentary authority.

Unfortunately this amendment has already been approved by the board and sent to the membership in preparation for the upcoming annual meeting.

Thanks ...

Why is this unfortunate? If you feel this is a bad amendment, argue against it in debate when it comes before the membership.

[David A Foulkes]

..... (with maximum of two consecutive years in any one position).

And if you wish to retain the two consecutive term limit for these two-year-term Directors, be sure to amend as need. Otherwise, it might be seen that they are out of office after only one (two-year) term. Just something to think about.