Guest LoriM Posted October 12, 2012 at 04:58 PM Report Share Posted October 12, 2012 at 04:58 PM In the history of our Board of Directors, elections are held and votes are tallied and election results are announced at our Annual meeting in December. However, the newly elected officers do not take the Oath of Office until our quarterly meeting in March of the following year. Our bylaws don't spell anything out, but is there any rule that precludes the newly elected officers from taking the Oath of Office at the December meeting so they can start their duties? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted October 12, 2012 at 05:09 PM Report Share Posted October 12, 2012 at 05:09 PM RONR's rule is that the newbies take office just as soon as their election is announced and final. Any delay from that (e.g, the US Constitution, Amendment XX) would have to be specified in the bylaws.So your question is slightly backward. You need a rule to delay -- taking office immediately is the default rule. An "oath" requirement, or other installation ceremony, is not relevant - p. 444 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnR Posted October 12, 2012 at 05:10 PM Report Share Posted October 12, 2012 at 05:10 PM What do your bylaws say about the term of office? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Ed Posted October 12, 2012 at 05:42 PM Report Share Posted October 12, 2012 at 05:42 PM Exactly what do the BY-laws state about the terms of office and the Oath? Unless specifically stated otherwise in the By-laws, members take office immediately after being informed of their election, unless they refuse to accept election. Also, RONR does not require any Oath of Office, so that would have to be in the By-laws. As such, the new officers can take office at the December meeting unless the By-laws of the organization state otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LoriM Posted October 13, 2012 at 04:35 PM Report Share Posted October 13, 2012 at 04:35 PM The Bylaws say, "Each Director shall hold office for a period of two years and until his or her successor shall have been elected and qualified." However, our Articles of Incorporation say, "The affairs of the Association shall be administered by officers elected annually by the Board of Directors at the first meeting of the Board of Directors following each annual meeting of the Members of the Association, or at other meeting called for such purpose."The reason I ask such questions is because two of our Directors resigned unexpectedly. We now have 3 officers and it would be nice to get the new officers sworn in and up and running in December instead of our next meeting date in March. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnR Posted October 13, 2012 at 05:58 PM Report Share Posted October 13, 2012 at 05:58 PM Then JD's answer applies. Unless you interpret "qualified" to mean "taking an oath," then your new directors/officers take office as soon as they are elected. Installation ceremonies are a formality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Mervosh Posted October 13, 2012 at 06:11 PM Report Share Posted October 13, 2012 at 06:11 PM I never understood why the words "and qualifed" appear in these documents, since absolutely no one, including societies who use it, knows what it means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted October 13, 2012 at 06:23 PM Report Share Posted October 13, 2012 at 06:23 PM See the U.S. Constitution, XX Amendment.Somebody must know what it means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnR Posted October 13, 2012 at 06:40 PM Report Share Posted October 13, 2012 at 06:40 PM I think "qualified" refers to the finality of an election. In the ordinary society, qualification should occur rather quickly if there are no points of order about the vote, the nominee is qualified for office, and the nominee accepts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edgar Posted October 13, 2012 at 08:05 PM Report Share Posted October 13, 2012 at 08:05 PM I think "qualified" refers to the finality of an election.That seems an odd use of the word to me. I think the distinction between being "eligible" (e.g. being a member, etc.) and being "qualified" (e.g being honest, capable, etc.) is a distinction worth preserving. Turning "qualification" into something that happens after an election seems strange to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnR Posted October 13, 2012 at 08:34 PM Report Share Posted October 13, 2012 at 08:34 PM I agree it's an odd expression. But it is the boilerplate one finds in many bylaws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted October 14, 2012 at 03:24 AM Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 at 03:24 AM And because it is in (relatively) common usage, I would hope that RONR/12 (or sooner) would figure out and tell us what it means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LoriM Posted October 14, 2012 at 12:46 PM Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 at 12:46 PM Thank you so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Mervosh Posted October 14, 2012 at 04:56 PM Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 at 04:56 PM And because it is in (relatively) common usage, I would hope that RONR/12 (or sooner) would figure out and tell us what it means.The book doesn't define nonsensical words and phrases thankfully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted October 15, 2012 at 03:59 AM Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 at 03:59 AM The Bylaws say, "Each Director shall hold office for a period of two years and until his or her successor shall have been elected and qualified." However, our Articles of Incorporation say, "The affairs of the Association shall be administered by officers elected annually by the Board of Directors at the first meeting of the Board of Directors following each annual meeting of the Members of the Association, or at other meeting called for such purpose."The reason I ask such questions is because two of our Directors resigned unexpectedly. We now have 3 officers and it would be nice to get the new officers sworn in and up and running in December instead of our next meeting date in March.Swearing in isn't part of RONR, and isn't mentioned at all in the bylaws segment you quoted. If it's mentioned elsewhere, then follow that.The language you quoted is fairly standard stuff, and does not prevent you from doing what you want. First, you elect Directors at your annual meeting, which is quite normal. These Directors would take office (as Directors) immediately, according to RONR, and nothing in what you quoted suggests otherwise.Then, the board of directors (with possibly some new members) elects officers (typically president and secretary, and perhaps more--see your bylaws). They elect from among their own number, and would naturally do this at the very first meeting after the new Directors were added to the board, which is the first meeting of the board after the Annual meeting of the membership.There is no reason this has to wait until several months later. Apparently it can occur at any meeting called for this purpose. So if you want the board to elect its officers right away, then have them call a board meeting to take place immediately following the Annual meeting, or a few days to a week later, if it can wait that long.But I haven't read your bylaws in their entirety, and have no wish to do so. So what I think (as a non-member) doesn't make much difference. Even so, it's something you might want to look into.I'm getting a strong sense that you are confusing the Annual meeting, which is a meeting of all members, with board meetings, which are meetings of only Directors. I have no idea which kind of meeting your quarterly meetings are. But you need to know, for any meeting, exactly which body is meeting, and not allow things to get ambiguous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary c Tesser Posted October 15, 2012 at 05:29 PM Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 at 05:29 PM ... The reason I ask such questions is because two of our Directors resigned unexpectedly..... We now have 3 officers and it would be nice to get the new officers sworn in and up and running in December instead of our next meeting date in March.Am I the only one who thinks maybe this is basically just a question about filling two vacancies, and all the rest of it is a distraction? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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