President serving on a committee

[Guest D. Bott]

Our President is not a named member of our committee, but he said that as President he is a member of every committee in the organization.  Is he allowed to vote on issues in the committee?

Thank you.

[Richard Brown]

25 minutes ago, Guest D. Bott said:

Our President is not a named member of our committee, but he said that as President he is a member of every committee in the organization.  Is he allowed to vote on issues in the committee?

Thank you.

What, EXACTLY, do your bylaws say about the president being a member of all committees?  Please don't paraphrase, but quote the provision exactly.  btw, if there is no such provision, then he is not a member of any committees unless explicitly made a member by some provision in the bylaws or by the motion creating the committee or  appointing the members to it if it is a special committee.

A provision making the president a member, ex officio, of all committees except the nominating committee is  a common provision in bylaws, but if it isn't there, the president is not automatically a member of the committees.

[Guest committee]

The by-laws state "The President shall be ex-officio member of all committees."

Then under the committees it says "The Board of Trustees of the Organization shall designate the chairperson of any Standing Committee.  In the absence of the chairperson of the Standing Committee, the Committee shall appoint a chairperson of the meeting.  Each Standing Committee may adopt rules governing the manner of and/or the method of calling and/or holding meetings.  It may also adopt rules governing the conduct of its affairs.  Each Standing Committee shall keep a record of its acts and proceedings and shall report thereon to the Board of Trustees at each regularly scheduled meeting."

So it seems based on this the President is a voting member of each committee?

[Josh Martin]

9 minutes ago, Guest committee said:

The by-laws state "The President shall be ex-officio member of all committees."

Then under the committees it says "The Board of Trustees of the Organization shall designate the chairperson of any Standing Committee.  In the absence of the chairperson of the Standing Committee, the Committee shall appoint a chairperson of the meeting.  Each Standing Committee may adopt rules governing the manner of and/or the method of calling and/or holding meetings.  It may also adopt rules governing the conduct of its affairs.  Each Standing Committee shall keep a record of its acts and proceedings and shall report thereon to the Board of Trustees at each regularly scheduled meeting."

So it seems based on this the President is a voting member of each committee?

Yes. See FAQ #2.

[Guest Committee]

Thank you.  I feel more comfortable about all of this now.

[Gary Novosielski]

It is noted in RONR that if the bylaws, as they often do, make the president an ex-officio member of all committees, it is advisable to add the language "except the nominating committee" if the organization has one.  RONR recommends that the current president have no role in the affairs of the nominating committee, which should properly report directly to the membership.

But it's a recommendation, not a rule.  Something to consider if you're ever cleaning and tightening the bylaws.

[Guest Guest]

 If the bylaws make the president an ex-officio member of all committees, excluding the Nominating Committee, that is just the default rule, right? Unless the bylaws otherwise forbid it, the chair of the Nominating committee may still invite the president to serve on the Nominating Committee, but that would be as a regular committee member, not automatically as an ex-officio. It seems that while the advisable language would indeed exclude the president from a mechanism to automatically stick his or her nose into nominations, it doesn't preclude an organization from asking the president to serve if  it truly wants the president's input on the  nominating committee....Am I looking at this correctly?

 

[Josh Martin]

16 minutes ago, Guest Guest said:

If the bylaws make the president an ex-officio member of all committees, excluding the Nominating Committee, that is just the default rule, right?

RONR recommends that the President should not be a member of the nominating committee at all, but it does not actually prohibit it. So yes, the President could be appointed as a member.

“Although in organizing a new society it may be feasible for the chair to appoint the nominating committee, in an organized society the president should not appoint this committee or be a member of it—ex officio or otherwise.” (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 433)

16 minutes ago, Guest Guest said:

Unless the bylaws otherwise forbid it, the chair of the Nominating committee may still invite the president to serve on the Nominating Committee, but that would be as a regular committee member, not automatically as an ex-officio.

Assuming that your rules provide that the chair of the nominating committee appoints the other members of the committee, yes. RONR does not grant the committee chairman this authority and does not recommend doing so.

“The nominating committee should be elected by the organization wherever possible, or else by its executive board.” (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 433)

17 minutes ago, Guest Guest said:

It seems that while the advisable language would indeed exclude the president from a mechanism to automatically stick his or her nose into nominations, it doesn't preclude an organization from asking the president to serve if  it truly wants the president's input on the  nominating committee....Am I looking at this correctly?

Yes, this is correct.

[Shmuel Gerber]

2 hours ago, Guest Guest said:

If the bylaws make the president an ex-officio member of all committees, excluding the Nominating Committee, that is just the default rule, right?

That is incorrect. The default rule is that the president is not automatically a member of any committees. But if the bylaws make the president an ex-officio member of all committees, and there is no exception stated for the nominating committee, then he or she would be a member of that committee as well.

[Guest Who's Coming to Dinner]

4 hours ago, Guest Guest said:

 Unless the bylaws otherwise forbid it, the chair of the Nominating committee may still invite the president to serve on the Nominating Committee, but that would be as a regular committee member, not automatically as an ex-officio.

Only if the chair has the power, under your rules, to appoint committee members.

[Guest Guest]

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments. Yes, our nominating process has been tinkered with in the past in what I suspect was an effort to allow a chair who was willing to serve multiple terms some voice in the process, although I'm not aware that any nominating controversy has ever actually arisen.  It provides that the Chairman of the Board recommends to the full Board of Governors  a member of the Executive Committee to serve as the chair of the Nominating Committee. Once approved, that person appoints the members of the Nominating Committee, who are in turn approved by the Executive Committee. Our bylaws are pretty messy, contain several "busts" in terminology, and references, and are laced with a patchwork of updates and fixes. I think that our organization needs a comprehensive bylaw amendment and restatement if for no other reason than housekeeping and to have an opportunity to tailor the bylaws to fit the organization that we are and hope to be in the future. Better to think it through without pressure or controversy than to try to puzzle out how we found ourselves here in the first place and what to do next.  And now I know where to go to find the best thinking on the subject! Again, thank you.