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Bylaws Revisions Presented for Vote |
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Division News and Notes |
Arthur L. Kovacs, Ph.D. |
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For the past two years, your Division Board has been engaged in a great deal of self-study activity. We have had a retreat meeting to review our priorities as a Division. We have looked carefully at our fiscal policies in an era of lowered resources at a time of rising need, and we have been extremely thoughtful in reviewing at our governance structures and policies to see if these were 1) optimum for getting the Division’s work done, 2) struck a reasoned balance between retaining the wisdom of those who have served capably while yet providing access to governance positions for newer members, 3) reflective of the Division’s commitment to diversity, and 4) flexible enough to permit ongoing change to evolve without having to rework previously created structures. Early this year, I was asked to Chair a Task Force charged with looking at our structures and our policy documents to see how well these articulated with the plans being developed by the Board. It soon became apparent that our Bylaws, the foundation document for any organization and now more than a decade old in their present form, required major overhauling. The first two small pieces were given to you in the spring. We added a Student/Early Career Professional category of membership to encourage those coming into practice to enter an affiliation with the Division as soon as possible. In addition, we gave you some principles to make it easier to amend Bylaws in anticipation of what is now before you. You endorsed both of our recommended changes. Now we have a whole major overhaul of Bylaws to place before you. These have been worked and reworked by my Task Force and by the Board and have gone through several iterations. We believe that the changes will provide us the Division with a structure we now need to take much better care of the affairs of the Division 42 in the years to come and that we will not have to nag you with major Bylaws changes for at least another decade. As soon as the ratification vote is known, then, the Task Force will begin a major rewrite of all of the Division’s policies and procedures for getting work done. That, fortunately, will not have to involve the membership. It is the Board whose members will have to pay painstaking attention to all of this in the spring and summer of 2003, and by then I expect our entire work of self-transformation will be complete. Thank you for your help with this. If you review the Bylaws ballot we have provided, you will see that I am available via e-mail if anyone does not understand something in the Bylaws amendments and wants clarification or to hear the rationale for the proposed change. My e-mail address is alkovacs@aol.com. It has been a privilege to guide this challenging process through to its near conclusion. View (and download or print) the Bylaw amendments (click here). Acrobat Reader is needed to view this file. View (and download or print) the Bylaws amewndments Ballot (click here) Don't have Acrobat Reader? You can get it for free by clicking here: |
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