by This is the third of my blog posts about issues within LOPSA that I would like to change. The text is taken, in a large part, from my candidate statement.
At this moment, anyone who is not on the Board of Directors has a hard time knowing what is going on with the organization, and that is a problem.
In an organization with as many people as we have, spread as far around the world as we are, it’s important to be transparent and open about non-sensitive information. We are a very decentralized group, and having closed-by-default Board and committee meetings discourages involvement from people who are interested, but who might not be a part of a perceived
“inner circle”. This kind of behavior leads to a close-minded mentality and an echo chamber of ideas.
A month after a Board meeting, the meeting minutes are usually posted, but this is a one-way street, and there is no invitation to become a part of the process. I would like to see that changed.
What we desperately need is fresh blood in the part of the organization that comes up with concepts and executes them to completion. Part of that is the Board members, and part of that is inviting you, the active and interested membership at large to the table and discussing projects and strategies.
I have personally been chastised because I submitted ideas under the assumption that they had not been considered by the Board. As it turns out, the Board had considered them, but found them unworkable. Not being a member of the Board (and thus being unable to attend Board meetings), there was no possible way for me to know.
The Board needs to have meetings open to the membership (retaining, of course, the ability to recess into a closed session to discuss private or sensitive matters). ACM, IEEE, the American Bar Association, and the American Medical Association all have governing bodies with meetings that are open to the membership (if not the public at large). It’s inexcusable that we, as a professional organization who wants our members to take an active role, don’t allow this.
Here are some relevant bylaws and policies:
Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)
Bylaws 11: Section 2. Attendance at Council Meetings
Any interested member of the Association may attend meetings of the Council and may take part in discussion but not vote.
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IEEE
I-300. General 1. Governance; Parliamentary Procedures; Meeting Protocol.
Meetings of the IEEE Board of Directors, Major Boards, and other
organizational units shall be open for attendance by any IEEE member or staff. Guests (who are not members of the particular body) are not entitled to join the discussion but may be allowed to address the body at the discretion of the body…
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American Bar Association
Bylaws: Article 42. Meetings of the House
Meetings of the House of Delegates are open to all members of the Association, except that the House may vote to sit in executive session. Representatives of the news media may attend sessions of the House, except when it sits in executive session.
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American Medical Association
Bylaws: 2.54 Meetings.
2.541 Open. The House of Delegates may meet in an open meeting to which any person may be admitted. By majority vote of delegates present and voting, an open meeting may be moved into either a closed or an
executive meeting.
2.542 Closed. A closed meeting shall be restricted to members of the AMA, and to employees of the AMA and of organizations represented in the
House of Delegates.
2.543 Executive. An executive meeting shall be limited to the members of the House of Delegates and to such employees of the AMA necessary for its functioning
This clearly shows that many successful professional associations have policies in place which permit and even encourage their members to take part in the process by which governence happens.
I understand that some of the holdback in LOPSA has been technological – our Board, like our membership, is dispersed. To be very honest, I don’t know what solution we use for telepresence, but I know that methods for
broadcasting these types of events do exist.
I’m hesitant to offer specific suggestions until I know more about Board meetings in general, but a solution should be found, even if the short term answer is to record the non-closed sessions and make them available on
governance.lopsa.org.