officer position descriptions

[Guest SnipFranks]

Should officer's position descriptions be in bylaws, or policy memos?

[jstackpo]

Probably "policy" memos  --  easier to change as circumstances and duties change.  Some material relating to rights and powers (as opposed to "duties") does belong in your bylaws..

 

Many (most all, really) of an officer's parliamentary duties can be found in RONR  --  no need to repeat them in your policy book.

[Transpower]

This is just a personal preference--I prefer to have quite detailed descriptions of the officers' duties in the bylaws, so that there is no misunderstanding.  All members should, of course, have a copy of the bylaws for ready reference.

[Chris Harrison]

I kinda split the difference.  I think the major duties, powers and responsibilities should be located in the bylaws.  However, there should also be the "any other duties as ... may determine" provision included. 

 

For example, I used to belong to an organization that met monthly and we had several organizations requesting funding from us which we would vote on.  However, we started getting a bunch of requests between meetings which couldn't wait so we would have to have Special Meetings quite frequently.  We decided to create a policy allowing the President to authorize the Treasurer allocate money up to a certain amount (for higher amounts other officers became involved).

[Gary Novosielski]

The offices themselves must be established in the bylaws in order to exist at all.   The bylaws can contain the job description, or can provide that the job description will be specified by some other means.  And as Chris Harrison points out, job descriptions are often open-ended, with "and other duties as may be assigned by...".