Date
Name/Address
Dear Affiliate Officer:
The Task Force on Bylaws Implementation Plan met at the ASRT office in late September. Task force members represented a cross section of the ASRT membership and the various points of view expressed at the 2004 House of Delegates. Many of them serve or have served on the boards of their affiliate societies, and consistent with ASRT strategic goals, they want to see a stronger relationship between ASRT and its affiliates.
As the task force members familiarized themselves with the new bylaws adopted by the 2004 House, they thought it was very important that advance notice be given to affiliate officers about changes in the affiliate criteria contained in the new bylaws. That is why I am sending this letter. I want to ensure that you and the members of your affiliate board have time to fully review the timeline and model the task force has developed as well as the new bylaws that will take effect at the close of the 2006 ASRT Annual Conference.
Before the end of 2004, the task force will post a bylaws implementation timeline and model on the ASRT Web site for members to review. The new bylaws already are posted at www.asrt.org. As chairman of the task force, I am providing a bulleted list from the implementation plan and the new bylaws that directly affects the affiliates.
Affiliate bylaws shall be in agreement with the ASRT Bylaws.
Affiliate officers shall be ASRT members.
An affiliate must be incorporated.
Annually, on the first business day of January, each affiliate shall meet the requirements and renew their charter with ASRT.
Affiliates must submit to the ASRT office the names of the affiliate delegates and alternate delegates by the first business day of April each year (starting in April 2007) or affiliate delegate positions will remain open until after the Annual Conference and final seating of the House of Delegates.
In the event an affiliate delegate is elected to serve as speaker or vice speaker of the ASRT and is currently an affiliate delegate, the affiliate may seat an elected or appointed alternate affiliate delegate.
Any affiliate not in compliance with the ASRT Bylaws will be placed on probationary status.
Affiliates will be asked to follow these criteria voluntarily beginning January 2, 2006, at which time ASRT will send appropriate feedback. The guidelines become mandatory on January 2, 2007. I also am sending guidelines developed by ASRT’s legal counsel that further identify the role affiliates play in the ASRT governance structure. You may want to post this information on your affiliate society Web site for your membership to review.
If you have additional questions or comments, please direct them to me and send them to both of my e-mail addresses: arutz@rolla.k12.mo.us and annerutz@charter.net.
I am pleased with the work the task force has performed and anxious to share the implementation plan with the House of Delegates in 2005.
Sincerely,
Anne Rutz, Ph.D., R.T.(R)(M)
Chairman of the Task Force on Bylaws Implementation Plan
Encl: Guidelines