Member disrupting a meeting

[Adrianna204]

I am the Chair of a Committee, it is a standing committee but a committee of a Student Senate. I recently had a situation were a member spoke up at first it seemed to offer creative critisim about my chairing abilities. They spoke at first professionally then it turned personal. One member of the committee walked out and I found out later as I am a new chair that ended quarm. I then listened to verbal insults for the next few minutes. One of the other members called for adjournment even while the other person was speaking as this was getting out of hand and creating a verbally unprofessional abusive environment where I was simply expected to take it. Their was four people on the committee present including me the chair, one person was recognized gave some constructive critism then it became verbally abusive and toxic. So one committee member simply said she was done and walked out. I found out later that ended quorum. I asked the other committee member to motion to adjurn and they did. The other committee member who walked out was in ear shot in the other room and agreed to come back in and second to adjurn and meeting was over. My question is how do I prevent Roberts Rules of order in the future being used in a way that is abusive? Do members simply have to walk out? Also later the other two committee members backed me up 100percent on the toxic environment. 

Edited February 18, 2018 at 03:37 AM by Adrianna204
i ment to write its a standing commitee

[Joshua Katz]

51 minutes ago, Adrianna204 said:

where I was simply expected to take it.

It sounds like you were the chair of the meeting, in which case, you were expected to maintain order, not "simply ... take it."  When members make personal attacks, rule the remarks out of order.  When members interrupt other speakers (except for purposes which are permitted to interrupt), do not recognize them, and call them to order.  If needed, name the offenders or use disciplinary proceedings.  It shouldn't be needed, though, just maintain order firmly.

[Adrianna204]

12 minutes ago, Joshua Katz said:

It sounds like you were the chair of the meeting, in which case, you were expected to maintain order, not "simply ... take it."  When members make personal attacks, rule the remarks out of order.  When members interrupt other speakers (except for purposes which are permitted to interrupt), do not recognize them, and call them to order.  If needed, name the offenders or use disciplinary proceedings.  It shouldn't be needed, though, just maintain order firmly.

Thank you Joshua that answers quite a bit of my question thank you very much,

[Guest Setemu]

57 minutes ago, Adrianna204 said:

My question is how do I prevent Roberts Rules of order in the future being used in a way that is abusive? 

There are rules of decorum I believe work toward maintaining the collegial transaction of business (See RONR pp. 391-394), and it is the chair's job to correct breaches of the rules. If the chair fails to recognize the breach,  a member may raise a Point of Order to require a ruling form the chair on the matter.

57 minutes ago, Adrianna204 said:

Do members simply have to walk out? 

There are several ways to deal with disruptions to a meeting, see pp. 643-649.

[Guest Who's Coming to Dinner]

3 hours ago, Adrianna204 said:

I recently had a situation were a member spoke up at first it seemed to offer creative critisim about my chairing abilities. 

Here was your first mistake. Business meetings are not gripe sessions or a place to gossip and chitchat. Although committee meetings are less formal than, say, your Senate meetings, and some amount of conversation outside of a motion is tolerated, the chair may pull on the reins at any time and interrupt a member who becomes indecorous or dilatory. In fact, it is your duty to do so. This is very hard to pull off unless you retain an air of authority and formality from the outset.

[Adrianna204]

5 minutes ago, Guest Who's Coming to Dinner said:

Here was your first mistake. Business meetings are not gripe sessions or a place to gossip and chitchat. Although committee meetings are less formal than, say, your Senate meetings, and some amount of conversation outside of a motion is tolerated, the chair may pull on the reins at any time and interrupt a member who becomes indecorous or dilatory. In fact, it is your duty to do so. This is very hard to pull off unless you retain an air of authority and formality from the outset.

Thank you very much I really appreate that point of information. You are right in what you point out, thank you so much. That helps me going forward, that's why I am here is to learn !!

 

[Richard Brown]

Adrianna, if you are unsure of yourself when you are presiding, you might consider getting a copy of RONR.  It's about $12.50 on Amazon and contains hints for inexperienced presiding officers and also an entire chapter of 26 pages on discipline.  http://www.robertsrules.com/book.html

You might also consider Robert's Rules for Dummies by C. Alan Jennings.  It is not a substitute for RONR, but can be a tremendous help in understanding RONR.  As the author says, "It's a book ABOUT RONR."  It is currently in the 3rd edition and is also available from Amazon.

[Josh Martin]

23 hours ago, Adrianna204 said:

My question is how do I prevent Roberts Rules of order in the future being used in a way that is abusive? Do members simply have to walk out?

Try Mr. Katz’s advice first. If the problem persists, report the issue to the parent assembly.

22 hours ago, Joshua Katz said:

If needed, name the offenders or use disciplinary proceedings.

It is important to note that, because this is a committee, its options with respect to disciplinary proceedings are limited. A committee is generally expected to report such issues to the parent assembly. In the event that there is not sufficient time for the committee to report the matter to the parent assembly and still complete its assigned duties, the committee may then take disciplinary action itself, but the maximum penalty which may be imposed is to remove the member from the hall for the duration of the current meeting.

22 hours ago, Guest Setemu said:

There are several ways to deal with disruptions to a meeting, see pp. 643-649.

Since this is a committee, however, the OP should also refer to the bottom of pg. 501.

Edited February 18, 2018 at 11:21 PM by Josh Martin