Committee appointment

[Guest Portcullischain]

I am the President of my child's high school band booster club. Currently our Bylaws do not list any standing committees and we are in need of a few (budget, fundraising, etc.) to get the next school year off to a start. Do I need to amend our Bylaws to reflect our need or can I just move to establish the Fundraising committee with Mr. Smith as the Chairman. Also, how do other members get appointed to various committees? Do I as the President make a decision and it's done or does it have to come up for vote at the next board meeting? The only relevant sections in our bylaws that reference committees are.

Article V - Section 10

The Executive Board may create and appoint such general or special committees as the business of the organization may require and define duties of such committees

Article VI - Section 1

The President shall: (a)preside at all meetings; (b)administer the activities of the organization; and ©appoint standing committee chairs as deemed necessary.

Sincerely,

PC

[Robert B Fish]

I believe your post answers your questions. The executive committee creates and appoints the committees and you, as president name the chairman of the committees.

-Bob

[Guest Portcullischain]

I believe your post answers your questions. The executive committee creates and appoints the committees and you, as president name the chairman of the committees.

-Bob

So if we were creating a new standing committee that isn't referenced in any Bylaw would I need to amend the Bylaw or just make a motion to create the committee?

[Rev Ed]

Just make a motion to create a Standing Committee.

[Robert B Fish]

So if we were creating a new standing committee that isn't referenced in any Bylaw would I need to amend the Bylaw or just make a motion to create the committee?

Make a motion at the executive committee meeting. The motion should include the name of the committee, its instructions and membership. After the members are named by the XC, you name the chairman.

-Bob

[Trina]

How does RONR p. 473 l. 27 - p. 474 l. 11 play into the answers to the original poster's question?

It's too many lines to type out here, but (for Guest_PC's information) the cited passage says that, depending on the function and responsibilities of the particular standing committee, a standing committee may need to be set up by passing a special rule of order (or, of course, by putting a provision in the bylaws). In other words a normal motion with majority vote for approval may not be enough. It's not clear to me that the bylaws snippets included in the original post would supersede the above cited rules in RONR.

So if we were creating a new standing committee that isn't referenced in any Bylaw would I need to amend the Bylaw or just make a motion to create the committee?

And this choice of words is sufficiently jarring that I'd like to point out that your bylaws are unlikely to grant the president unilateral power to amend the bylaws.

[Guest Portcullischain]

How does RONR p. 473 l. 27 - p. 474 l. 11 play into the answers to the original poster's question?

It's too many lines to type out here, but (for Guest_PC's information) the cited passage says that, depending on the function and responsibilities of the particular standing committee, a standing committee may need to be set up by passing a special rule of order (or, of course, by putting a provision in the bylaws). In other words a normal motion with majority vote for approval may not be enough. It's not clear to me that the bylaws snippets included in the original post would supersede the above cited rules in RONR.

And this choice of words is sufficiently jarring that I'd like to point out that your bylaws are unlikely to grant the president unilateral power to amend the bylaws.

I misspoke or....mistyped as the case may be. I should have said "we" not "I". That being said, I'd like to have an answer to your inquiry. The 3 committee's we are establishing are Budget, Bylaws/Governance & Fund-raising. The Budget committee will formulate a budget and report back to the members it's recommendations so I don't see a problem with that one. Bylaws will be making recommendations to the members on changes to our bylaws and organizational structure that will be subject to member vote as well. Our Fund-raising committee however will most likely be asked to make some "on the fly" decisions day to day that will be outside the immediate control of our general membership or the Executive board. I would think that might conflict with p473 33

-PC

[Josh Martin]

I misspoke or....mistyped as the case may be. I should have said "we" not "I". That being said, I'd like to have an answer to your inquiry. The 3 committee's we are establishing are Budget, Bylaws/Governance & Fund-raising. The Budget committee will formulate a budget and report back to the members it's recommendations so I don't see a problem with that one. Bylaws will be making recommendations to the members on changes to our bylaws and organizational structure that will be subject to member vote as well. Our Fund-raising committee however will most likely be asked to make some "on the fly" decisions day to day that will be outside the immediate control of our general membership or the Executive board. I would think that might conflict with p473 33

-PC

Under RONR, the two committees that only make recommendations can be formed by a standing rule. These committees would report to the board. The committee that is empowered to act on its own would require the adoption of a special rule of order, which requires a 2/3 vote with notice or a vote of a majority of the entire membership without notice. Additionally, such a committee would need to be created by the general membership, as a board cannot delegate its authority. (RONR, 10th ed., pg. 473, lines 27-35; pg. 474, lines 6-9; pg. 17, lines 28-31; pg. 467, line 32 - pg. 468, line 6)

How the rule in your Bylaws affects this is a question for your society to determine. (RONR, 10th ed., pgs. 570-573)