FLORIDA ENGINEERING SOCIETY
BOARD
OF DIRECTORS MEETING PROCEDURES AND RECORDS
General Background
The Board of Directors must consider all of the
activities of the Society at its periodic meetings, and for efficient
management must have an organized approach conforming to parliamentary
procedure. The following policy and
procedures provide an organized approach to the conduct of business at the
meeting, and provide members of the Board with an opportunity for study and
discussion with their chapters and practice sections, allowing advance
preparations for the meeting. Adequate
record must be kept of the activities of the Board.
The Board of Directors must consider and act upon
all of the activities of the Society at its periodic meetings. The Board does not wish to restrict the
items coming before the Board or to limit the initiation of new ideas and
activity by the functioning committees and practice sections of the
Society. The Board's approach to the
conduct of the Society's affairs must be organized, must follow parliamentary
procedure, and must allow adequate time for individual members of the Board to
determine and formulate a chapter opinion prior to action and discussion at a
meeting of the Board. The committees
and practice sections of the Society carry out the functions of the Society
with periodic reports of their activities to the Board, and on occasion must
request approval by the Board of action items, including policies and
forthcoming activities. Requests for
action items may be presented separately of routine reports of activity. Parliamentary procedure requires that a
motion be placed on the floor prior to discussion of a required action item by
the Board. Therefore, the Board adopts
the following policy.
Board Meetings
1. Meetings
shall be scheduled in advance, and appropriate notice given to the officers and
members of the Society.
2. The
Executive Director shall coordinate the preparation of an agenda for each
meeting.
3. The
meetings shall be conducted in accordance with parliamentary procedure as set
forth in the latest edition of Roberts Rules of Order, particularly in that a
motion must be on the floor prior to the discussion of a required action item
(i.e., determination of a policy of the Society or approval of a proposed
activity). The Secretary of the Society
shall serve as parliamentarian.
4. Committees,
practice sections, officers, etc., are encouraged to make regular reports of
their activities. Such reports should
exclude discussion of required action items, which must be brought to the floor
by statement of an appropriate motion.
At the conclusion of a report, motions for action items may be placed
before the Board.
5. Action
items shall be presented in the format described hereinafter, a motion followed
by the originator's discussion of the item.
6. Items
referred to the Board by the Executive Committee should be clearly identified
in the minutes of the Executive Committee Meetings, attached as exhibits to the
agenda of the Board meeting. The
discussion in the minutes should be adequate, and the item itself, in the form
of a motion, should be clearly stated.
The motion form should be agendaed and exhibited under the appropriate
subject item in the agenda of the Board of Directors and reference made of the
Executive Committee recommendation.
7. In
order that the members of the Board may have sufficient time to review items of
business to come before the Board for action, if an item has not been presented
at least two (2) weeks prior to the meeting for which it is scheduled, and it
is considered controversial by at least three members of the Board, the item
may be tabled until Board members have had sufficient time for appropriate
review.
Preparation for Meeting
1. Committee
chairmen and practice sections will be given a schedule of Board meetings at
the beginning of the administrative year.
They shall plan and schedule their activities in such a manner as would
allow the following.
2. The
Executive Director will, 45 days prior to the meeting, request committee
reports, action items, etc., in particular, items previously scheduled as due
at the meeting.
3. Committees,
practice sections, etc., should submit written reports including action items
to the Executive Director at least 21 days prior to each meeting. These will be attached as exhibits to the
agenda for the meeting, and numbered to correspond to the agenda item.
4. Preliminary
agenda and exhibits will be distributed to Board members 14 days prior to the
meeting, allowing their study and review.
5. Discussion
of action items and new business items received less than twenty-one (21) days
before the date of the Board meeting may be taken up at the Board meeting as
the last item of business, time permitting, before the scheduled time of
adjournment. Written reports not
requiring Board action and received less than twenty-one (21) days prior to the
meeting will be distributed to the Board with the final agenda at the Board
meeting.
1. Request
for committee action items, (i.e., policy determinations, approval of new
activities, etc.) shall be submitted as separate documents, each document
limited to a single item. In the event
of a controversial item, it may be subdivided into several motions. Forms are available from FES Headquarters
for this purpose (see sample attached).
2. The
request will become an exhibit to be attached to the agenda of the meeting and
should
be as brief as possible.
3. The
format shall be:
a. Upper right corner: EXHIBIT NO.
b. Top of page on left: A heading indicating name of originator and date.
c. The first item shall be a clearly stated
motion, which must be placed on the floor through proper procedure.
d. A heavy solid line shall be placed below the
motion.
e. Below the line, the originator should concisely discuss the reasons for the motion. In the case of a major or controversial item, major factors for and against should be stated.
f. After listing the reasoning for the action item, the originator should include information identifying the budgetary impact (s) of the motion. In addition, information should also be included that references the motion to the applicable portion of the FES Strategic Plan.
4. Committee
chairman, or his designated committee representative, should be present at
Board meetings when the Board will be considering an action item recommended by
the committee. This will provide Board
members with an opportunity to discuss the matter under consideration with the
committee chairman where additional information or clarification is desired.
Items Not on the Agenda
Items not on the agenda may be introduced at any
time by a member of the Board with the concurrence of two-thirds of the members
of the Board present at the meeting.
Consent Agenda
A consent agenda may be presented for action on
two or more non-controversial items by one vote of the Board. Board members shall be given the opportunity
to request that an item(s) be withdrawn from the consent agenda and returned to
the regular agenda.
Order of Business
The business of the Board shall be set forth in
an agenda and conducted in the following order:
1. Convening of Meeting
2. Consent Agenda
3. Approval of Agenda
4. Approval of Minutes
5. Report of Officers
State Officers
National Officers
Executive Director
6. Report of the Executive Committee
7. Standing Committees - Reports and
Items for Consideration
8. Practice Sections - Reports and
Items for Consideration
9. Special/Task Committees - Reports
and Items for Consideration
10. Unfinished and/or Old Business
11. New Business
12. Information Items and Miscellaneous
13. Schedule of Future Board Meetings
14. Adjournment
The business of the Board shall be conducted in the
order in which it appears in the agenda, except in the case of items on a
consent agenda, or unless an exception to the order of business is approved by
a majority of the Board members present at the meeting.
Minutes and Records
1. The
Executive Director will prepare minutes of the meeting summarizing the actions
taken by the Board. Minutes will be
distributed without exhibits, which have been previously distributed. Minutes
will be sent to members of the Board, chapter presidents and secretaries, and
to committee chairmen.
2. A
record copy of the minutes, with all exhibits shall be kept at the Headquarters
of the Society.
3. Minutes
may be shortened by reference to exhibits for statement of motions, etc.
4. Minutes
will be distributed as quickly as possible after the meeting.
5. The
Executive Committee is authorized to consider and act on items in the minutes
that Board members may question or wish to have corrected.
Approved by the FES Board of
Directors
May 21, 1971
Amended by the FES Board of
Directors
December 9, 1983
August 6, 1987
August 5, 1993
August 14, 1997
May 17, 2002
EXHIBIT
1.3
DISTRIBUTED ON: 12/8/00
FLORIDA ENGINEERING SOCIETY
ACTION ITEM
FOR
BOARD OF DIRECTORS' CONSIDERATION
Originator
________________________________________
(Committee, Practice
Section, etc.)
_________________________________________
(Officer)
__________________________
(Date Submitted) (Date
Received FES Headquarters)
Motion to be Considered
_____________________________________________________________________________
Background Information
and Reasons for the Motion