Board Meeting Communications

• Every effort will be made to schedule board meetings so that all board members may attend.

• Board meetings will follow elements of Robert’s Rules of Order. 

• Board members must declare any conflicts of interest at the beginning of the meeting. When an agenda item comes up for discussion, board members who have identified a conflict of interest in regards to that item will leave the room for the debate and vote. If the board member with the conflict is the one who brought forward the agenda item, s/he may speak to the item to explain why s/he has brought it forward, and then leave the room so the debate and vote may take place among the rest of the board members.

• Voting at board meetings will be conducted via a show of hands.

• Board members must submit any agenda or voting items to the Secretary a minimum of four (4) days in advance of the board meeting along with a short background description of the item and/or short explanation as to why a vote is required. During the meeting, the board may agree to add emerging agenda and voting items to the agenda. Board members and committee heads must submit updates on their portfolios to the Secretary a minimum of 48 hours in advance of a board meeting. If there is no new business to report, a statement to that effect should be included in the report.

• Board members and committee missing more than two reports in a calendar year may be asked to step down from the portfolio for one year. Board members missing three board meetings in a calendar year may be asked to step down from the portfolio for one year. This is to ensure that all board members are acknowledging their responsibilities and meeting their obligations.

• Debate will be respectful. 

• If the meeting chair wishes to partake in a debate on an item, s/he must step aside as the chair for that particular item and pass the chair onto another board member. The chair may resume his/her duties once the debate on that item is completed.

• If necessary, votes may be taken via email for emergent issues that cannot wait until the next meeting. If the issue has been raised by a person outside of the board (i.e. committee head), a member of the board will create a separate email thread consisting only of board members for the purpose of discussion and voting. The original email thread will not be used for discussion, though questions may be posed for clarification. Every opportunity will be given to ensure all board members have the time to consider and comment on the issue before a vote is conducted. If a board member expresses that s/he has not been given enough time to consider and comment on the issue, the vote will be delayed until this is possible. If the issue was raised by a person outside of the board, the President will notify the person via the original email thread of the board’s decision once the vote has been finalized. Board email discussions will be confidential and only the results of the vote can be made public.