1996 NSS Chapters' Assembly Meeting

Proposed Agenda (Preliminary Draft 1, as of Jan. 31)

by Ronnie M. Lajoie, 1995-1997 Chairman

The following are my ideas for events that could be sponsored by the NSS Chapters' Assembly during the 1996 ISDC. This Preliminary Draft 1 contains the same text as the one published in the February-March issue of Inside NSS.

I have yet to check with all parties to be involved, especially ISDC Chair Greg Zsidisin and Craig Ward and his team of the Chapters' Coordinators/Organizers.

An E-mail version of this is also being sent out to all chapters with E-mail ability.

Instructions for NSS Chapter Leaders

Please review this draft agenda, copy the text as needed, mark it up, and send an E-mail reply to me via hal5@cici.com by no later than February 26.

In early March, an official draft of the Agenda will be mailed out to every chapter, along with a Chapter Nominations and Issues form and a Chapter Space Policy Survey form. Each chapter will then have until April 22 to suggest changes to the Agenda, nominate any Chapters' Assembly officers and/or councilors, propose issues to be addressed at the Chapters Assembly meeting, and rank (as a chapter) NSS space policies. Each chapter will also have the opportunity to submit nominations for the NSS Chapter of the Year Award and NSS Chapter Activist of the Year Award.

Event 1 -- NSS Chapters' Assembly Meeting: Day 1

This would be a 2 to 3 hour session focused on the creation of any resolutions to be presented to the NSS Board of Directors. The event would be best held in the evening of Friday, May 24, to allow time for drafting any resolutions prior to the Board of Directors meeting.

  1. Administrative Duties (15 minutes) - Includes the following:
    1. Registration and Attendance
    2. Election of meeting officers (e.g., Parliamentarian)
    3. Requests for additions and/or changes to the Agenda
  2. Simple Issues and Resolutions (45 minutes) - Issues expected to take less than 15 minutes each to resolve, including the following:
    1. Review and approval/rejection of Chapter Space Policy Survey results
    2. Other simple issues addressed by NSS chapters
  3. Other Issues and Resolutions (1 hour) - Issues expected to take up to 30 minutes each to resolve, including the following:
    1. Possible issue to address: "Should high school or college students be allowed to create and operate NSS chapters? If not, should we encourage college students to join/form SEDS chapters? What about high school students?"
    2. Other important issues addressed by NSS chapters
  4. Debate on the Future of NSS Chapters (1 hour) - Formal debate over the issues regarding the NSS chapter system.
    1. The first 30 minutes to address the following question: "Should NSS chapters maintain self-rule or should the NSS Chapters' Coordinators restructure the chapter system to best suit the national organization?"
    2. The next 30 minutes to address the following question: "Should membership to NSS chapters be automatically included with membership to NSS? If so, how much dues should chapters get, and how much higher (if any) should NSS dues be raised?"
  5. Post-Meeting (30 minutes) - Chapters' Assembly officers are expected to remain for 30 minutes after the meeting to help draft any resolutions for the NSS Board of Directors meeting.

Event 2 -- NSS Chapters' Assembly Meeting: Day 2

This would be a 3 hour session focused on other business of the Chapters' Assembly. The event would be best held on Saturday, May 24, at such a time as not to conflict with the NSS Board of Directors meeting (if possible) -- or perhaps even on Sunday, May 25.

  1. Administrative Duties (15 minutes) - Includes the following:
    1. Registration and Attendance
    2. Requests for additions and/or changes to the Agenda
  2. Elections of Officers (15 minutes) - Nominations and elections of replacement officers for the positions of Secretary and Treasurer for the term 1996 through 1998. The current Secretary and Treasurer will be expected to close out all business conducted at the 1996 ISDC and enable a smooth transition for the new officers.
  3. Elections of Administrative Council Members (30 minutes) - Nominations and elections of new members for the Chapters' Assembly Administrative Council. One counselor is required from each NSS region (eight in the U.S., plus one international).
  4. Proposed Changes to the CA By-Laws (20 minutes) - Final review and approval or rejection of proposed changes to the By-Laws of the Chapters' Assembly. Here is one to address past conflicts of interest:
    1. Proposed Change 1: By-Law IV - Chairman, paragraph 2.b. Revise sentence: "must be a member of the NSS," to "must be a member of the NSS; must not also concurrently hold a position on the NSS Executive Committee, Board of Directors, nor Board of Governors;"
  5. Reports of Working Committees (40 minutes) - Each Working Committee will have up to 10 minutes to summarize their activities over the past year, to formally submit a written report (format TBD), and make its recommendations for continuance or abolishment.
  6. Overview of Chapter Projects Foundry (30 minutes) - An oral/viewgraph presentation of the newly proposed means for providing assistance for large projects by one or more chapters. Information packets will be available for all NSS chapters.
  7. Overview of Chapter Resource Library (30 minutes) - An oral/viewgraph presentation of the newly proposed means for improving information exchange among chapters. Information packets containing ideas on paper and diskettes will be available for all NSS chapters.

Event 3 -- Meet Your Chapters' Coordinators/Organizers

This would be an semi-formal gathering where NSS Chapters' Coordinators and Regional Organizers could sit down with the leaders of their respective NSS chapters. The event would be best held in the evening of Saturday, May 25.

Return to the NSS Chapters' Assembly Home Page

This page is maintained by Ronnie Lajoie. Send queries and suggestions via E-Mail to: hal5@cici.com

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