Reports Part 2, Electronic Meetings
Report Writing Part II
There are very few changes to the following Community Service Programs:
Arts and Culture – Provide or teach a lesson on culture (can include food!). This was formerly in Education.
Education and Libraries – Nothing has been added to this program. The name has been changed to reflect the work we do with Libraries. Remember, women’s clubs started 75% of the libraries in America.
Environment – Start a school or classroom garden in spring to learn about weather, nutrition, and life cycles. This was formerly in Education.
Next week-Health and Wellness and Civic Engagement and Outreach.
Electronic Meetings
Rosemary Seghatoleslami, NJSFWC Parliamentary Consultant to the Clubs, reported, in 2011, Parliamentarians were eagerly awaiting the publication of the 11th Edition of Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised to see what the policy would be on electronic meetings.
In previous editions, a meeting was defined as a group gathered in a single room. With the 11th Edition, electronic meetings, i.e. meetings where not all members were present in person in the same room – some members joining the meeting via the Internet or teleconference, were permitted as long as the organization’s bylaws permit it and all members can both hear and speak.
But, as we discovered three months ago, many of our Clubs’ Bylaws did not authorize electronic meetings. Who could even predict that the whole world would practically shut down and people wouldn’t be able to leave their homes? While Club Bylaws should be amended to include provisions for electronic meetings, New Jersey’s Corporate Code, which was amended in April, 2020 to allow electronic meetings for non-profit corporations, supersedes the Bylaws on this.
For sample wording of how to update the Bylaws to allow electronic meetings and sample rules to govern the electronic meetings, please contact this Consultant at seghatoleslami@njsfwc.org or look for this information in the September ALMANAC.
Please remember to send a copy of your revised bylaws to Rosemary, before you approve them. This allows us to make sure they are not in violation of the NJSFWC bylaws and you get free advice from a Parliamentarian.
Yearbook, ALMANAC
Don’t forget to order your NJSFWC yearbook and/or ALMANAC. The form is on the NJSFWC website under Materials. You can have your Yearbook delivered to the September District Councils and save the shipping fee. Each Club President receives a free copy of the ALMANAC and it is on the website, but many clubs find an extra hard copy helpful when sharing the information with their members.