CAAV SC Attendance Guidelines

On December 8, 2011, Pete Mahoney and Rickie Wertz met to discuss ways to address attendance problems within the CAAV Steering Committee. On January 20^th, a draft was submitted to the CAAV Steering Committee. After some discussion, the Committee Members asked that some of the wording be changed. Below is a revised version of the suggested guidelines. Comments and suggestions will be welcomed.

To begin with, we noted that

(1) We are all volunteers; and

(2) We all have other commitments and there will be times when we will have to miss a meeting.

(3) Courtesy dictates that we notify one of the other Steering Committee members when we have to miss a meeting.

(4) If circumstances arise that prevent us from attending meetings regularly, i.e. if we have to miss more meetings than we can attend, we will resign from the Steering Committee to permit others to fill our place.

The desired number of regularly attending Steering Committee members is 15. However, CAAV welcomes participation by people who can give us the benefit of their expertise, or connections, or other valuable qualifications. To this end, the Committee would be enriched by additional, informal members (guests?) who will not be held to regular attendances.

For regular committee members, the following guidelines shall apply: ⁽¹⁾

CAAV will be best served if Steering Committee Members are able to attend regularly. Meetings are a forum for members to exchange experiences, be apprised of events or issues that affect our mission, and to have the opportunity to involve themselves in scheduled activities. If a member should find that he/she is unable to fulfill their commitment to attend regularly, it is their responsibility to bring this to the attention to the committee and, if need be, to resign from active membership to make room for someone better able to attend. However, those unable to be full-time members will still be more than welcome to attend meetings as they are able.

Newly recruited members will be briefed regarding these guidelines.

Committee will periodically (e.g. at the beginning of a semester?) poll all members for changes in their ability to attend meetings, and adjust days/times of meetings to suit the majority of members. Members who have an attendance conflict will go on record as to their ability or inability to attend, and the Committee will decide whether the problem needs to be addressed.

(1) Source: http://managementhelp.org/boards/board-attendance-policy.htm

Final Comments ⁽²⁾

Committee meetings of a nonprofit organization such as CAAV are not like workplace meetings or legislatures. No one is forced to attend. There is no hierarchy. Committees are created and maintained by people with shared values and a common vision. Their discussions are not debates but exercises in collaborative decision-making. Ensuring full attendance requires all members to feel welcome and appreciated and to feel certain that they are contributing to the fulfillment of the organization’s mission.

(2) This quote was adapted from a copyrighted article published in 2010 by Nathan Garber & Associates, Training and Consulting for the Nonprofit Sector, 1071 Richmond Street, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 3K1 (Nathan@GarberConsulting.com).