Guest tharlow Posted January 31, 2019 at 06:33 AM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 06:33 AM Hello forum, I wanted to inquire about a situation I am finding myself with a Student Government that I serve as the parliamentarian on at my university. We currently hold official sessions according to our approved meeting times, which is roughly every other week, with an informal "committee" meeting on off weeks. This week would be our unofficial "committee" meeting, since our last official session was last week. We however learned about an issue with a constitution change we voted on a few weeks ago. Any constitution change requires approval from our university administration and at the beginning of this week they notified us we needed a revote. The change we implemented must be voted on ASAP, and could not wait a week, so the group wanted to have a special meeting this week even though it is not an official meeting time based on our schedule. As the parliamentarian I went to check our special meeting protocol in our by laws, and released we have no information or procedure outlined for special meetings. The only thing listed in our bylaws is that "if a change in the meeting schedule wants to be made it requires a simple majority vote to amend the official listed schedule" From my knowledge Robert's Rules doesn't have procedure for special meetings, and since our by laws do not outline it either, there is no way for our group to meet while remaining in line with rules. I was wondering if there is any procedural thing I am missing or an additional path we could take to still hold a meeting this week, out of our normal meeting schedule. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atul Kapur Posted January 31, 2019 at 06:50 AM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 06:50 AM I don't see anything missing from your analysis. But it's late and perhaps others during the day will find an option. The quotation from your is oddly worded - almost sounds like a direct translation from French. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua Katz Posted January 31, 2019 at 02:24 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 02:24 PM If your bylaws do not allow for special meetings, no special meetings may be had. But I'm confused about the scenario to begin with. Approval usually comes in the form of "yes" or "no." What does an approval requirement have to do with ordering you to vote again on something you've already passed? It seems to me that making such an order is not within the authority given them to approve amendments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted January 31, 2019 at 02:44 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 02:44 PM (edited) Like Mr. Katz, I'm confused by your statement that the administration ordered a "revote". Please elaborate and explain what you mean by this. It seems to me the administration is limited to either approving or disapproving the amendment which was adopted. Did the administration perhaps suggest alternative language which it would approve? I also agree that if your bylaws or governing documents make no provision for a special meeting, then one may not be held. Edited January 31, 2019 at 02:49 PM by Richard Brown Added last two sentences to first paragraph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tharlow Posted January 31, 2019 at 05:46 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 05:46 PM So being at a university the administration as a lot more overhead than they realistically should. So they have a rule, that we were unaware of, that we need to inform them of changes and hold a public hearing, which we did, before voting on it. So they are telling us the chancellor won’t sign, which he has to sign all our changes, unless we revote with a public hearing beforehand and proper notice to administration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstackpo Posted January 31, 2019 at 05:52 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 05:52 PM If those are the rules under which your Student Government acts, so be it. It does seem, however, that the administration should have those rules documented somewhere and made available to new SG members so you won't spin your wheels any more than necessary. Ask them for a copy. (Maybe they are making up those rules as they go along -- who knows.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Brown Posted January 31, 2019 at 06:39 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 06:39 PM 49 minutes ago, Guest Tharlow said: So being at a university the administration as a lot more overhead than they realistically should. So they have a rule, that we were unaware of, that we need to inform them of changes and hold a public hearing, which we did, before voting on it. So they are telling us the chancellor won’t sign, which he has to sign all our changes, unless we revote with a public hearing beforehand and proper notice to administration Agreeing with the comment immediately above by Dr. Stackpole, I, too, would be asking to see this rule in writing and would be wanting to know where it is publicly posted and if it's not posted (or in a rule book somewhere), why not? Of course, knowing how college administrations operate, you are pretty much at their mercy even if they are screwing up. Has anyone with the administration actually produced a copy of this rule for you? Is is printed in some kind of rule book or policy manual that is available to the Student Government Association? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tharlow Posted January 31, 2019 at 08:21 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 08:21 PM The rule was tucked away somehow, even to were the chancellor didn’t know about it, until what I assumed is someone at legal dug it up and brought it to administration. The rule was made in 2010, and hadn’t been brought up since 2013. Our advisor, the advisor before him, and the one before the last all didn’t know about it. So no it wasn’t posted anywhere or publicly for us to find. But sadly like you said, we are at the mercy of administration so we have to deal with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Who's Coming to Dinner Posted January 31, 2019 at 08:36 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 08:36 PM Setting aside this diversion as to the legitimacy of the administration's order, it appears that you will have to wait until your next regular meeting to hold the hearing and vote on the amendment. Absent a bylaws provision for special meetings, you may not hold one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zev Posted January 31, 2019 at 10:01 PM Report Share Posted January 31, 2019 at 10:01 PM 15 hours ago, Guest tharlow said: The change we implemented must be voted on ASAP, and could not wait a week... If the administration has disallowed the change then the change is dead. I do not believe there is anything to revisit. Since you cannot have special meetings because your rules do not allow special meetings, then you are struck until the next regular meeting. What I fail to understand is why the administration is demanding that the SG hold a special meeting to reconsider this matter if its implementation has been halted by their decision. At the next regular meeting the SG discusses and submits a new proposal to the administration. If they do not like that one then in two weeks the SG will submit a yet newer proposal, and so on, until something is acceptable to the administration. I just do not see any crisis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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