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Delegation of Authority


Guest Woboot100

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We have an assembly that run by Robert's Rules. It is part of a larger corporation which has bound itself, in certain areas, to follow the advice of the assembly. There is a set of officers, an Executive Committee, various standing committees, and a collection of ad hocs. The Executive Committee coordinates the committees and refers substantive issues to the larger assembly. Recently, the president of the corporation gave a lengthy presentation to the Executive Committee which used up all the time allocated to it. The Executive Committee then, on motion, delegated the creation of the assembly's agenda to the officers since there was no time for it to create an agenda. Now, there is nothing in our constitution which allows such a delegation, but nothing that prevents it. In essence, the officers were made an ad hoc committee with power--the power to establish an agenda. One of our committee chairs has challenged that delegation as being improper. Frankly, no one has any idea if such a delegation is proper. What more can I answer to help you tell me what is proper in such an instance?

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If your organization does not have its own standard agenda, then it should follow the customary agenda given in RONR (11th ed.), p. 353:  1)  Reading and Approval of Minutes; 2) Reports of Officers, Boards, and Standing Committees; 3) Reports of Special Committees; 4) Special Orders; 5)  Unfinished Business and General Orders; and 6) New Business.  The Chair should have a memorandum of the agenda, with additional details as necessary.

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We have an assembly that run by Robert's Rules. It is part of a larger corporation which has bound itself, in certain areas, to follow the advice of the assembly. There is a set of officers, an Executive Committee, various standing committees, and a collection of ad hocs. The Executive Committee coordinates the committees and refers substantive issues to the larger assembly. Recently, the president of the corporation gave a lengthy presentation to the Executive Committee which used up all the time allocated to it. The Executive Committee then, on motion, delegated the creation of the assembly's agenda to the officers since there was no time for it to create an agenda. Now, there is nothing in our constitution which allows such a delegation, but nothing that prevents it. In essence, the officers were made an ad hoc committee with power--the power to establish an agenda. One of our committee chairs has challenged that delegation as being improper. Frankly, no one has any idea if such a delegation is proper. What more can I answer to help you tell me what is proper in such an instance?

No, it is not proper. A board or committee cannot delegate authority unless the bylaws authorize them to do so. Additionally, it's not clear to me that the Executive Committee has the power to set the agenda of the parent assembly to begin with.

If this is merely a proposed agenda, then I don't see a problem.

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The terms "agenda" and "order of business" are closely related and are discussed in par. 41 of RONR.

 

Perhaps. But while there's a Standard Order of Business, there's not necessarily a standard agenda. And it's the Standard Order of Business that's described on p. 353, not "the customary agenda".

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