agenda

[Guest vanessa]

Does an agenda have to be approved before using it in a meeting?

 

[Josh Martin]

Does an agenda have to be approved before using it in a meeting?

 

If the agenda varies from the standard order of business or a special order of business adopted by the society, yes. See FAQ #14.

[Richard Brown]

I am going to agree in part and disagree in part with the esteemed Mr. Martin.  He is correct that the agenda should be formally adopted at the beginning of the meeting and in order to be binding it must be adopted.  The key language in Frequently Asked Question #14 that Mr. Martin cited for you says:  "For a proposed agenda to become the official agenda for a meeting, it must be adopted by the assembly at the outset of the meeting."

 

I highlighted the words "official agenda".  Although the agenda should be formally adopted at the outset of the meeting, nothing bad is going to happen if the assembly fails to do so, other, perhaps, than someone very familiar with RONR wagging her finger and saying "You didn't adopt the agenda!!"  Of course, any member may raise a point of order at any time that the agenda needs to be adopted.

 

In practice, it is not all that uncommon for groups to forget to formally adopt the agenda.  The president's proposed agenda, if he has one, can still be followed informally and he can use it as an outline for keeping the meeting on track.

 

I would point out to your group that the agenda, if one is really necessary, should be formally adopted at the beginning of each meeting.  However, as Mr. Martin pointed out, an agenda may not be necessary or even appropriate for your organization.

 

See pages 351-375 of RONR for more information on the order of business and agendas.

[Edgar Guest]

I am going to agree in part and disagree in part with the esteemed Mr. Martin.

 

What did Mr. Martin say that you disagree with?

[Richard Brown]

What did Mr. Martin say that you disagree with?

That the agenda "must" be approved prior to using it in a meeting if it varies from the standard order of business or a special order of business adopted by the society.  I said it "should" be approved and "must" be approved (adopted) in order to be official and binding, as the answer to the FAQ says.   But, it can still be used as an informal guide without having been approved.  I believe that last statement is perhaps the small point on which Mr. Martin's answer and my answer differ.

[Josh Martin]

That the agenda "must" be approved prior to using it in a meeting if it varies from the standard order of business or a special order of business adopted by the society.  I said it "should" be approved and "must" be approved (adopted) in order to be official and binding, as the answer to the FAQ says.   But, it can still be used as an informal guide without having been approved.  I believe that last statement is perhaps the small point on which Mr. Martin's answer and my answer differ.

An agenda which has not been adopted could be used as an informal guide, but if this agenda differs from the standard order of business or a special order of business adopted by the society, the guide is in error and should be disregarded in favor of the appropriate order of business. If the incorrect guide is nonetheless followed, a member may Call for the Orders of the Day.

If an agenda has no deviation from the standard order of business or a special order of business adopted by the society, there is no need to adopt it, and it may certainly be used as an informal (and accurate) guide.

[Guest harper]

Perhaps this warrants a different topic, but are there any guidelines regarding how many days in advance a Board meeting agenda should be distributed? And if there is no fixed term, what would a reasonable term be? My organization has guidelines for general meetings, but we appear to have no guidelines for regular BOD meetings.

 

Thank you.

 

Harper

[Edgar Guest]

Perhaps this warrants a different topic . . . 

 

Yes, it does.

[Dan Honemann]

Perhaps this warrants a different topic, but are there any guidelines regarding how many days in advance a Board meeting agenda should be distributed? And if there is no fixed term, what would a reasonable term be? My organization has guidelines for general meetings, but we appear to have no guidelines for regular BOD meetings.

 

Thank you.

 

Harper

 

There are no guidelines in RONR regarding how many days in advance of a board meeting an agenda for that meeting should be distributed because there is no requirement in RONR that an agenda be adopted, nor is there any requirement that, if an agenda is to be adopted, it must be distributed in advance.

 

If your organization has rules concerning such things, those rules must be followed. If it has none, then there are none.