Jump to content
The Official RONR Q & A Forums

Meeting with members present via skype


Guest Amy

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, Guest Amy said:

Hello. I'm wondering if anyone could tell me if Roberts Rules prohibit committee members participation in a meeting via skype.  If there is no prohibition on this, could you point me in the direction of a Rule allowing this form of participation? Thank you!

A simple statement in the bylaws that "meetings may be held by teleconference provided all participants can hear each other simultaneously" will suffice.  However, additional rules regarding telephone meetings might be appropriate.    See "Sample Rules for Electronic Meetings" in the CD-ROM version of the 11th edition of RONR.  It's in the middle  of the page a little ways down from the top:  http://robertsrules.com/

 

Edited by Richard Brown
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The following provision from the NAP (National Association of Parliamentarians) bylaws is a good example of such a provision:

Quote

ELECTRONIC MEETINGS AND COMMUNICATIONS 784

Section 1. Meetings. The NAP Board of Directors and all committees and subcommittees shall be 785 authorized to meet by telephone conference or through other electronic communications media so long 786 as all the members can simultaneously hear each other and participate during the meeting. 787

Section 2. Communication. Unless members indicate otherwise to NAP Headquarters, all 788 communication required in these bylaws, including meeting notices, may be sent electronically.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Joshua Katz said:

Any rule allowing this would need to be found in your bylaws. Such participation does not meet RONR's definition of a deliberative assembly. You can permit it in your bylaws, but if you have not, it cannot be done.

Since this is a committee, a lower-level rule may be sufficient, depending on how the committee was established.

“As in the case of a board or any assembly, committees that are expressly established by the bylaws can hold a valid electronic meeting only if authorized in the bylaws to do so. A committee that is not expressly established by the bylaws, however, may instead be authorized by a standing rule of the parent body or organization, or by the motion establishing the particular committee, to hold electronic meetings.” (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 98)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I concur that if the committee is to be able to hold offical meetings electronically, the autoriozation to do so must be in the bylaws, or possibly in a standing rule as noted by  Mr. Martin. However, RONR also provides a possible out for committees that cannot easily meet:

Quote

In the case of a committee, however, if it is impractical to bring its members together for a meeting, the report of the committee can contain what has been agreed to by every one of its members.

P. 503, ll. 24-28. But that is only if the committee report is unanimous. Otherwise, a proper meeting must be held.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Weldon Merritt said:

...what has been agreed to by every one of its members.

I always took this to mean that a committee vote of say 5 to 4 was still a valid vote as long as the committee report stated this fact. This is not the same thing as saying "...the report of the committee can contain only what has been agreed to by a unanimous vote," which I assume the authors could have said if that is what they meant. I'm asking now, is that what they meant?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the authors mean that if there is no committee meeting, the report must be agreed to by all committee members.

Edited to add: the language on page 503 seems crystal clear: "If it is impractical to bring its members together for a meeting, the report of the committee can contain what has been agreed to by every one of its members".

Edited by Richard Brown
Added last paragraph
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Guest Zev said:

If I understand your interpretation correctly, if the committee has a single member absent then the committee cannot issue a recommendation because the language "every one of its members" would imply the entire committee. Perhaps this was the intention.

That provision applies only when a committee is unable to meet. If the committee is able to meet, it can adopt the report by an ordinary majority vote.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Guest Zev said:

If I understand your interpretation correctly, if the committee has a single member absent then the committee cannot issue a recommendation because the language "every one of its members" would imply the entire committee. Perhaps this was the intention.

Absent from what? The way I picture this going is the chair calling everyone up the night before the parent assembly meets and saying "are you okay with recommending X?" So I guess if the chair can't reach someone, then yes, it can't make a recommendation. Maybe he should have tried 2 nights before.

The point being, there was no debate. With a real meeting and opportunity for the minority to attempt to persuade the majority, adopting a recommendation by a majority vote makes sense. But if everyone is talking to the chair separately, it's only reasonable to issue a recommendation if, had the meeting taken place, there is no chance the majority would have been persuaded otherwise - i.e. no one would have spoken in opposition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Guest Zev said:

If I understand your interpretation correctly, if the committee has a single member absent then the committee cannot issue a recommendation because the language "every one of its members" would imply the entire committee. Perhaps this was the intention.

No, that provision only applies when ALL members of the committee are absent: i.e., when there is no meeting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Presuming (without checking back in all the responses) that e-meetings (like with Skype or some other similar electronic medium) are authorized in your bylaws, then the absence of one member (presuming again that this doesn't kill the quorum, however you may define it) does not introduce a "unanimity requirement". 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Guest Zev said:

We were talking about a group video conference via Skype. Perhaps I should have been more expansive and said "a single member absent from the Skype meeting." Would you gentlemen like to resume this discussion with this new information?

The point others are trying to make is that a "Skype meeting" is Not a meeting unless authorized in the bylaws (or sometimes a lower-level rule). In the situation we are discussing, where it has not been authorized, there cannot be a Unanimous Vote or a Majority Vote or any other kind of vote because votes can only happen at meetings. So RONR correctly doesn't mention a unanimous vote but instead refers to "what has been agreed to by every one of its members".

Would you like to resume the discussion with the point having been made very explicit? ;-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agreeing with Drs. Stackpole and Kapur, I don't know how we can make it any clearer. If Skype meetings are authorized in your bylaws, then a Skype meeting is a meeting and a majority vote will suffice as long as a quorum is participating. If you're bylaws do not authorize meeting by Skype, then it is not a meeting and all members of the committee must agree to the report.

Note : as I believe someone else has already pointed out, it is possible that electronic meetings of this committee could be authorized by a motion or special Rule of Order, but that is a different issue. The key is whether Skype meetings are properly authorized.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are we talking about a Skype meeting? I thought we were talking about a regular meeting, with one person wanting to Skype in. At such a meeting, absent rules to the contrary, the Skyped in person cannot vote and, assuming the meeting is quorate, it has nothing to do with the options committees have if they cannot meet.

Edited by Joshua Katz
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Joshua Katz said:

Are we talking about a Skype meeting? I thought we were talking about a regular meeting, with one person wanting to Skype in. At such a meeting, absent rules to the contrary, the Skyped in person cannot vote and, assuming the meeting is quorate, it has nothing to do with the options committees have if they cannot meet.

Guest Amy asked about "committee members participation in a meeting via skype." It's not clear whether she meant that all members would be participating by Skyoe, or that one member wanted to participate by Skype. I agree that if a quorum is present at the same physical location (whether or not someone calls in by Skype), the report can be adopted by an ordinary majority vote by those physically present. There would be nothing wrong (IMO) with the committee hearing from a member calling in by Skye, but that member could not particpate in the vote.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Guest Zev said:

We were talking about a group video conference via Skype. Perhaps I should have been more expansive and said "a single member absent from the Skype meeting." Would you gentlemen like to resume this discussion with this new information?

We don’t yet know whether the committee is authorized to meet via Skype. If it is, yes, the normal rule of majority vote would apply.

If the committee is not authorized to meet in this manner, then a video conference via Skype is not a meeting of the committee, and therefore, the report could only include what has been agreed to by every one of the committee’s members.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Richard Brown said:

If Skype meetings are authorized in your bylaws, then a Skype meeting is a meeting and a majority vote will suffice as long as a quorum is participating.

 

2 hours ago, Josh Martin said:

...and therefore, the report could only include what has been agreed to by every one of the committee’s members.

I'm just trying to establish whether these two things are in fact one and the same thing. I will take Mr. Brown's comment on this and assume Mr. Martin is not saying something different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Guest Zev said:

 

I'm just trying to establish whether these two things are in fact one and the same thing. I will take Mr. Brown's comment on this and assume Mr. Martin is not saying something different.

Those two things are apples and oragnes. I'm  not sure how we can make it any  plainer. If you have an official meeting (inlcuding by Skype if that is authorized in your governing documents),  then all you need is a majority vote. If you do not have an official meeting, then the committee's report must be agreed to by all members. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...