Sph2sail January 13, 2004 Share January 13, 2004 The Board of Directors for WAMAS has been meeting frequently and discussing changes to the bylaws of the corporation. This has involved a lot of work by: Michael Gerdes, President Glenn Rosenbluth, Vice President Tamie DeWitt, Secretary Scott Blackburn, Treasurer Steve Howard, PR director Craig Kuhn, Membership Tom Sasala, Webmaster Nathan Gaub, Web content Many thanks to all who contributed so much time to make this progress happen. Per votes of the board, the following changes to the WAMAS corporation's bylaws have been approved. These changes are being presented here to the membership in preparation for our Winter Meeting this Saturday, 17.Jan.2004. The officers of WAMAS are open to any and all discussion on these approved changes at this meeting. A short presentation will be made about these changes as well as handouts for the membership's review. A voice vote will be taken of the membership to confirm approval of these changes by the membership present at the meeting. --------------------------------- Currently, the Board of Directors for WAMAS is comprised of four positions on the Board. These are: President Vice President Secretary Treasurer The board has now expanded to include five voting members on the board. They are: President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Membership Director This solves tie votes and enables the board to have a quorum more easily by having five positions, not four. Each of the bylaws changes will be presented here as an individual posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sph2sail January 13, 2004 Author Share January 13, 2004 Current language: ARTICLE II: MISSION STATEMENT, OFFICES AND FISCAL YEAR 2.01 Purpose of the Corporation The purpose of the Washington Area Marine Aquarist Socuiety is to promote environmentally responsible marine aquarium keeping as an entertaining educational and worthwhile leisure time activity. The Corporation is nonprofit and does not issue stock. Fixed typo, added educational society. Changes highlighted in bold italics: ARTICLE II: MISSION STATEMENT, OFFICES AND FISCAL YEAR 2.01 Purpose of the Corporation The purpose of the Washington Area Marine Aquarist Society is to promote environmentally responsible marine aquarium keeping as an entertaining educational and worthwhile leisure time activity. The Corporation is a non-profit educational society and does not issue stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sph2sail January 13, 2004 Author Share January 13, 2004 As approved by the Board, this is a new position defined as a officer of the corporation to bring the voting members of the Board to 5 members. 4.11 The Membership Director The membership director or an assistant membership director shall have or provide for the custody of registered roles representing the membership of the society; shall provide for and maintain the privacy policies of the corporation; shall gain approval of the Board for all changes to the privacy policies of the corporation; shall provide for and maintain the process for accepting new members; shall provide and maintain the process for severing members, either through expiration of member term or through breach of conduct inconsistent with the bylaws of the corporation and acceptable use policies of the bulletin board; shall, whenever so required by the board, render an account showing his/her transactions as membership director, and the current roles for membership in the society to the corporation; and, in general, shall discharge such other duties as may from time to time be assigned to him/her by the Board, or the president. The membership director shall prepare an annual report of the membership roles of the society, which shall be presented to the Board for inspection and approval. Said report and all access to member information of any kind shall be strictly governed by the privacy policy established by the membership director as approved by the Board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sph2sail January 13, 2004 Author Share January 13, 2004 Original language of Article V: ARTICLE V: MEMBERSHIP, DUES 5.01 Membership Members are any bona fide marine livestock keepers, collectors, wholesalers, retailers, maintenance service companies or manufacturers. 5.03 Dues Membership is not active until payment is received in full. Dues shall be due annually on the anniversary date of the members' first payment was received. Dues is prorated quarterly. 5.03 Powers Each officer and director of the corporation, who are members in good standing, will have one vote on each item brought before them at the general meeting. Said vote may be done in writing. A quorum for the transaction of business at the general meeting shall be 20% of the total of officers and directors, who are present in person or by proxy, or 10 delegates, whichever is lower. The approved changes by the board encompass Students, Educators and updated Vendor status class, and changes to dues rates. ARTICLE V: MEMBERSHIP, DUES 5.01 Membership Membership is open to all persons interested in marine aquatic life, are current in membership dues, and who agree to the general principals stated in the mission statement. 5.02 Classes of Membership 5.02(a) Hobbyist: (Individual / Family) - Members of the Washington Area Marine Aquarist Society participating as a "Hobbyist" member, are individual hobbyists who promote environmentally responsible marine aquarium keeping as an entertaining educational and worthwhile leisure time activity. 5.02(b) Educational: (Student / Educator) - Students in grades K-12 and undergraduates/graduate students pursuing degrees in marine sciences. Educators in K-12 science programs. Educators are also undergraduate and graduate level marine sciences. Proof of eligibility shall be required. 5.02(c )Vendors: (wholesalers, retailers, maintenance service companies or manufacturers) - Owners and employees of retail companies that conduct business associated with the hobby, and who want to actively participate in the club by attending the quarterly meetings and online discussion board, are invited to participate in the Washington Area Marine Aquarist Society as an Individual Hobbyist. - All other vendors, who do not wish to participate as an individual hobbyist, are invited to participate for FREE on our online discussion board. Vendor member, will be given access to the "Vendor News" section of our online discussion board, and access to all "public" discussion forums; and are encouraged to participate by posting new of specials offered at their store and participate in all discussion on the "public" discussion board. 5.03 Dues Membership is not active until payment is received in full. Dues shall be due annually on the anniversary date of the members' first payment was received. 5.03(a) Dues Rate: - Individual membership = $20 annually; Family membership = $35 annually - Education: Students = FREE; (Students in grades K-12 and undergraduates/graduates pursuing degrees in marine sciences) Educator = $10 annually - Vendor: Participating as “hobbyist” - rate same as individual member - Participating in online “Vendor News” forum = FREE 5.03(b) Member benefits Access to Quarterly meetings & other WAMAS events; access to the "member" section of our online discussion board. Enables participation in forsale/trade forums among members. Discounts at participating Local Fish Stores and club promotional items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sph2sail January 13, 2004 Author Share January 13, 2004 In honor of all work done by our past presidents, the following position has been approved by the board and added to the bylaws: 4.12 President emeritus All past Presidents gain the status of President emeritus upon successful completion of their term. This position is a non-voting, advisory member of the Board. The Board reserves the right to revoke this status at any time. Such revokation shall be in writing and effective immediately. The immediate past president serves a vital role with primary function to assist the The President and the Board during the term of the current President. Questions may arise regarding policy, past experiences, status of ongoing projects, etc., that only a former BOD member would be aware of. As advisors to the Board, all Presidents emeritus may perform such other duties as from time to time may be requested of him/her by the Board on a volunteer basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sph2sail January 13, 2004 Author Share January 13, 2004 Further work is being done to define better the roles and responsibilities of each of the officers of the corporation. To that end, each position description in the bylaws includes "..and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned to him/her by the board." As we move forward, more infomation on these job descriptions will be posted, but here is a set of one liners that cover clarification of roles/responsiblities as currently being discussed/understood/executed by the members of the board: President is also the Press Relations Director w/responsiblity for the education mission and communications with the press/outreach campagins VP is responsible for all solicitations of donations Secretary is also meeting coordinator/manager Treasurer is still the treasurer managing the money/taxes, etc. Membership is also Public Relations/Club Relations responsible for ReefCentral and related membership campaigns to bring people to us in the traditional online reefing community Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sph2sail January 13, 2004 Author Share January 13, 2004 The Board has also approved the change of status for WAMAS to become a section 501c3 corporation. This enhances our ability to seek tax deductible donations and improves access to Press and other public service activites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sph2sail January 17, 2004 Author Share January 17, 2004 Per the discussion in the Member Section in the thread on Bylaws changes, some changes are proposed for tomorrow's meeting. They have been reviewed by the Board through multiple telecons. Attached here for review is a PDF version with changes highlighted for the new bylaws. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sph2sail January 17, 2004 Author Share January 17, 2004 Here is a clean copy of the current bylaws in PDF for those that want them. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sph2sail January 17, 2004 Author Share January 17, 2004 Attached here for review is a PDF'd clean copy with no highlighted changes of the new bylaws. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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