Hello fellow North Dakota Manitoba ACRL Chapter Members.

I hope you are planning to attend our Spring Meeting on May 5th in Fargo. The program promises to be very exciting and so does the Business Meeting! One of the items on the agenda of the Business Meeting is amending our Constitution. It is in that regard that I am sending you this message, as amendments must be sent to the membership at least 30 days prior to the Spring meeting.

Judy Rieke, Karen Chobot and I have prepared a number of amendments to our Constitution in order to:

a) bring the Constitution in line with Chapter practice,
b) remove confusion regarding terms of office,
c) add some elements normally found in a Constitution,
d) add some deadline dates to help us provide information to ACRL Headquarters in a timely manner, and
e) improve the planning process for our Spring meetings.

Please consider these amendments and come to the Spring meeting prepared to vote on them. You can view the present version of the Constitution via a link on our Chapter Homepage: A HREF="http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/acrl/constitution.html">http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/acrl/nd_mb.html. Hard copy of the amendments will be available at the Spring meeting.

If you have any questions prior to the meeting, please don't hesititate to contact Judy Rieke (701-777-4129), Karen Chobot (701-671-2385) or me (204-474-6966)

Thank you.

Susan Miller, Chair
North Dakota Manitoba Chapter
ACRL

Amendment 1
Proposed amendment to ARTICLE III Section 2
To amend Article III MEMBERSHIP, by adding Section 2 as follows:
Section 2. The membership year shall be September 1st to August 31th of each year. Memberships will be accepted throughout the year for the current membership year.

[Note to Draft: The creation of a formal membership year will expedite fall elections and establish the roster for submission to ACRL at the appropriate time of year]

Amendment 2 Proposed amendment to ARTICLE IV, Section 1 To Amend ARTICLE IV OFFICERS/DUTIES, Section 1 - Officers by adding as follows: All officers shall be elected by the Chapter membership.The immediate Past-Chair remains an officer, ex-officio.

[Note to Draft: The existing Constitution does not provide for the election of the Secretary or Treasurer; it implies that members are appointed to these positions See ARTICLE IV, Section 2 a(5). However, it has been Chapter practice to elect the Secretary. If the Chair, Chair-elect and Secretary are all elected, it seems appropriate to elect the Treasurer also.]

[Note to Draft:The immediate Past-Chair has responsibilities as Chair of the Nominating Committee].

If amended, ARTICLE IV, Section 1 will read as follows: "Officers of the Chapter shall be a Chair, Chair elect, a Secretary and a Treasurer. All officers shall be elected by the Chapter membership. The immediate Past-Chair remains an officer, ex-officio. The North Dakota Manitoba ACRL Chapter Chair, Chair elect and Secretary must be members of the national ACRL."

Amendment 3

Proposed Amendment to ARTICLE IV, Section 2 To Amend ARTICLE IV OFFICERS/DUTIES, Section 1 - Duties- by deleting in its entirety, No. 5.

(5) Appoint a committee to nominate persons to serve as the Chapter Secretary and Treasurer and to prepare a ballot for the election. [Note to Draft: This clause is not required if the amendment to ARTICLE IV Section 1 is accepted.]

Amendment 4

Proposed Amendment to ARTICLE IV, Section 2 To Amend ARTICLE IV OFFICERS/DUTIES, Section 2 - Duties - by adding to d.(3) "....by August 1st of each year [Note to Draft: This amendment will be needed if the new ARTICLE III Section 2 is accepted]

If Amended, ARTICLE IV, Section 2 d. (3) would read as follows: '(3) Maintain the membership roster, send notices for renewal of membership by August 1st of each year and collect such dues as may be imposed."

Amendment 5

Proposed Amendment to ARTICLE IV, Section 2 To Amend ARTICLE IV, OFFICERS/DUTIES, Section 2 - Duties - by adding e.(1) and (2) "e. The North Dakota Manitoba ACRL Chapter immediate Past Chair shall: (1) Chair the Nominating Committee (2) Prepare the election ballot and announce the results." [Note to Draft: This amendment would reflect Chapter practice].

Amendment 6

Proposed Amendment to ARTICLE V, SECTION 2 To Amend ARTICLE V, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Section 2 by removing Section 2 in its entirety:

Section 2. All members of the Executive Committee shall serve one year terms. No officer shall simultaneously hold more than one office.[Note to Draft:This Section would appear to be more appropriately placed in ARTICLE VI (Election of Officers/Term of Office].

Amendment 7

Proposed Amendment to ARTICLE VI, TERM OF OFFICE To Amend the title of ARTICLE VI, by adding "ELECTION OF OFFICERS"

If amended, the title will read:

"ARTICLE VI - ELECTION OF OFFICERS/TERM OF OFFICE"

Amendment 8

Proposed Amendment to ARTICLE VI, To Amend ARTICLE VI, ELECTION OF OFFICERS/TERMS OF OFFICE by adding a new Section 1 as follows:

Section 1. The Nominating Committee shall be established prior to the election. [Noteto Draft: This section is needed to go along with the duties of the Chair of the Nominating Committee above].

If amended, Section 1 will read as follows: "Section 1. The Nominating Committee shall be established prior to the election."

Amendment 9

Proposed Amendment to ARTICLE VI To Amend ARTICLE VI, ELECTION OF OFFICERS/TERM OF OFFICE by adding a new Section 2 as follows:

Section 2. Election of officers shall be held in October of each year. [Note to Draft: Establishing a regular time of year for the election will help the incoming Chair prepare to attend the Mid-Winter meeting and the incoming Chair-elect organize the Chapter Spring Meeting.]

If amended, Section 2 will read as follows: "Section 2. Election of officers shall be held in October of each year."

Amendment 10

Proposed Amendment to ARTICLE VI, Section 3, (formerly Section 1 if above amendments approved) To Amend ARTICLE VI, ELECTION OF OFFICERS/TERM OF OFFICE - Section 3 - by deleting the following:

......of officers. [Note to Draft: Not required with the addition of the new Section 1]

and by adding ....prepared by the Nominating Committee.

If amended ARTICLE VI, ELECTION OF OFFICERS/TERM OF OFFICE Section 3 will read as follows:

Section 3. All elections shall be conducted by mail ballot prepared by the Nominating Committee. The ballot, which shall provide for write in votes, shall be mailed to the voting membership at least thirty (30) days prior to the election.

Amendment 11

Proposed Amendment to ARTICLE VI, To amend ARTICLE VI, ELECTION OF OFFICERS/TERM OF OFFICE by adding a new Section 4 as follows:

Section 4. All members of the Executive Committee shall serve one year terms, with the exception of the Treasurer, who shall serve a three-year term. [Note to Draft: This Section was moved from ARTICLE V - Executive Committee and amended to include and formalize the need for a longer term for the Treasurer.]

If Amended, ARTICLE VI, ELECTION OF OFFICERS/TERM OF OFFICE Section 4 will read as follows:

Section 4. All members of the Executive Committee shall serve one year terms, with the exception of the Treasurer, who shall serve a three-year term.

Amendment 12

Proposed Amendment to ARTICLE VI To Amend ARTICLE VI, ELECTION OF OFFICERS/TERM OF OFFICE by adding a new Section 5 as follows: Section 5. The term of office for elected officers shall begin upon announcement of the election results. [ Note to Draft: The fact that the present Constitution does not identify the starting date of the term of office has led to confusion.]

If Amended, ARTICLE VI, ELECTION OF OFFICERS/TERM OF OFFICE Section 5 will read as follows:

"Section 5. The term of office for elected officers shall begin upon announcement of the election results."

Amendment 13:

Proposed Amendment to ARTICLE VII, Section 4 To Amend ARTICLE VII, MEETINGS - Section 4 by deleting:

.....present at a business meeting...[Note to Draft: As originally written a meeting with as few as two or three members present would have constituted a quorum. If a majority of Chapter members is not considered appropriate for a quorum, another possibility is 25% of Chapter members].

If Amended ARTICLE VII, MEETING Section 4 will read:

"Section 4. A majority of the Chapter members shall constitute a quorum. "

If these amendments are approved, the following items will be renumbered:

ARTICLE IV - OFFICERS DUTIES, Section 2, Items a.(5) and (6)

ARTICLE V - EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, Sections 3 and 4

ARTICLE VI - ELECTION OF OFFICERS/TERM OF OFFICE, Section 1, 2 and 3

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Susan Miller
Associate Director, Information Services and Systems
University of Manitoba Libraries
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada R3T 2N2
Tel: (204) 474-6966
Fax: (204) 474-7583
e-mail: susan_miller@umanitoba.ca