RE: [AISdiscuss] Summary of Board Minutes Proposal

["Louise Carson" <nloucar@earthlink.net>]

The idea of a summary of the Board Minutes sounds good to me and full
minutes on request sounds better than space on the webpage.  I do know a
very few who read the minutes carefully.


> [Original Message]
> From: Jill Bonino <aissecjill@earthlink.net>
> To: AIS Discuss <AISDiscuss@aisboard.org>
> Date: 4/11/2005 11:39:14 AM
> Subject: [AISdiscuss] Summary of Board Minutes Proposal
>
> Hi Board Members, Officers, Committee Chairs,  RVP's and Section
> Presidents...
>
> Included in the body of this email is a proposal prepared by Bob Plank,
AIS
> Legal Advisor, about the benefits of our including a Summary of the AIS
Board
> Minutes in the Bulletin twice a year instead of the entire body of
> minutes...This will save valuable Bulletin space and full and complete
minutes
> will always be prepared and available to anyone who wants to read the
entire
> text.
>
> This will be on the agenda for the St. Louis Board meeting so please
review it
> in advance and bring a copy of it with you to the Board meeting.  If you
will
> not be able to attend please send you comments through AISDiscuss so I can
> include them in the Board Meeting discussion...
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jill Bonino
> AIS Secretary
>
> ##########################################################
> Substitution of a Concise Summary
>
> In lieu of Full Minutes
>
> In the BULLETIN
>
>
>
> Ever since I became Recording Secretary, Bob has been bugging me to
initiate
> an effort to eliminate from the January and July issues of the BULLETIN
the
> detailed minutes of Board meetings. In lieu thereof, he recommends much
more
> concise reporting in the BULLETIN, with a more full account available upon
> request. He argues that devotion of so much space in the BULLETIN in two
> issues per year caters to the interests of too few members to justify the
> added pages and cost.
>
> Bob's position is not altogether original. I also got it from numerous
> neophyte secretaries and recording secretaries under my tutorage who
> questioned the need to publish so widely such elaborate and detailed
minutes.
>
> Heretofore I have resisted such urging, arguing for tradition, for
providing a
> service to historians and policy wonks, and for homage to those whose
> interests lie in the details of the inner workings of the society.
>
> But times are a changing. Paper has become more and more expensive due to
> global depletion of natural resources. Postage rates have soared. The AIS
is
> looking hard for places to cut costs and improve needed services. AND the
> internet has made convenient the dissemination of information in the form
of
> attachments to e-mail virtually free of added labor and cost.
>
> Accordingly, the Chair would entertain a motion essentially as follows:
>
> Moved (effective with respect to the 2005 spring meeting),
>
> That full minutes of the meetings of the AIS Board of Directors no longer
be
> published in the BULLETIN;
>
> In lieu thereof, that a concise standing article be published in the
BULLETIN
> twice a year providing highlights of the spring, fall, and interim
actions of
> the Board of interest and/or importance to all members. The BULLETIN
article
> shall be prepared by the Secretary (or Recording Secretary as the case
may be)
> concurrently with the preparation of the full minutes. The BULLETIN
article
> shall be coordinated, vetted, and approved in the same manner as the full
> minutes.
>
> That full minutes of individual meetings be automatically and timely
provided
> by the Secretary to all Board members, officers, committee chairs,
> administrative personnel, RVPs, and presidents of sections and cooperating
> societies twice a year in the form of attachments to e-mail.
>
> That full minutes be provided by the Secretary to all other persons
requesting
> same of the Secretary at no cost in the form of attachments to e-mail.
Those
> with standing requests for full minutes shall be responsible to keep the
> Secretary timely advised of address changes.
>
> That back issues of electronic full minutes henceforth be provided by the
> Librarian in BULLETIN format and size suitable for archiving and/or
binding to
> all persons requesting same of the Librarian at no cost in the form of
> attachments to e-mail.
>
> That the Secretary, on a case by case basis, shall be allowed to exercise
> discretion in providing an individually printed copy (no inventory
authorized)
> at full cost to the requesting party when no other alternative for the
> requestor is feasible.
>
> End of solicited motion.
>
> In anticipation of concerns of voting Board members, Bob has researched
> several issues that readily come to mind. He advises that nothing in the
above
> is controlled by or counter to the AIS Articles of Incorporation. As to
the
> AIS Bylaws, they merely require that the Secretary keep minutes on file
in the
> corporate office. Article VIII of the AIS Bylaws specifically require
that the
> minutes be available to the AIS membership, or be printed in the AIS
BULLETIN.
> General corporate law allows any director or member to view and copy
minutes
> in the corporate office at reasonable times, or to otherwise obtain
copies at
> the requestor's expense.
>
> Should there be other legal requirements for publication of minutes in the
> BULLETIN of which Bob is not aware, he further advises that in his
opinion the
> publication of the more concise article in the BULLETIN would suffice for
all
> legal purposes as proper minutes of the Board. This he believes is so
because
> the hereinabove referred to "full minutes" far exceed the usual
requirements
> for corporate minutes, although elaborate minutes have been the AIS
practice
> since long before I first became directly involved in the traditional
drafting
> of AIS minutes.
>
> CHAIR'S SOLICITATION OF A MOTION
>
> Time is ripe. Adoption of such a policy, I believe, will allow the
BULLETIN to
> better focus its pages on the real interests of the overwhelming majority
of
> the members, yet continue to serve the legitimate special needs of all
others.
>
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