Policies and Rules

[Roman.76]

Hi!  I would like some help understanding how a society would adopt various policies and rules regarding administrative duties that occur outside of a meeting.  For example, we have an officer who is responsible for our website and social media accounts.  The society recently adopted a policy that regulates how certain posts are published on our social media accounts.  A question arose days after the meeting: where would we list the policies if they are not in the constitution?  We received an explanation (below) from an officer on the various rules governing a society as explained in RONR.  After reading that, the social media policy appears to be considered a standing rule.  Is that correct?  If so, would the society (or can the Executive Board) take action to adopt the policy as a standing rule?  Or, if this is not a standing rule (or any other rule as described below), what would you recommend the society do to ensure this policy and any other policies or rules adopted in the future are properly organized?

Thank you!

 

Constitution/Bylaws:
The constitution or bylaws (whichever name the organization decides to use) is a document that normally covers the following subjects: name of the organization, its purpose, members, officers, meetings, board, committees, parliamentary authority, and amendments to the constitution/bylaws.  It will also contain rules that the society deems so important that they cannot be suspended or changed without a specified large majority.

Rules of order:
Rules of order are the parliarary rules contained in the parliamentary authority adopted by an organization.  In our case, we adopted the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised ("RONR") as our parliamentary authority (see Article IX of our Constitution).

Special Rules of Order:
Special rules of order are rules that supplement or modify the rules contained in the parliamentary authority.  These rules supersede RONR and allow an organization to customize elements of RONR to meet their needs.  For example, RONR says that in meetings where there are more than a dozen members present, each speaker may speak two times for up to 10 minutes.  A special rule of order could be adopted to allow more or less time than RONR allows.  Another example of a special rule of order is a rule establishing the order of business or the agenda it will use for its meetings.

Standing Rules:
Standing rules are rules related to the details of the administration of the organization rather than to parliamentary procedure.  Some examples of standing rules are: establishing the time and place for meetings, creating a seating arrangement for meetings, reimbursement policies, and spending limits.

[Joshua Katz]

It is a standing rule. 

On 10/26/2023 at 3:51 PM, Roman.76 said:

The society recently adopted a policy that regulates how certain posts are published on our social media accounts. 

Since you've already adopted it, and it is in effect, it is a standing rule already. 

You might consider instructing the Secretary to produce and keep updated a compilation of standing rules.

[Atul Kapur]

On 10/26/2023 at 4:25 PM, Joshua Katz said:

You might consider instructing the Secretary to produce and keep updated a compilation of standing rules.

And you could also instruct the secretary and website officer to have the compilation available on the website. 😀

[Roman.76]

Thank you both for the feedback!