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Nasc board

Okay, Here is the scolding thread

How things must work-

Non-profit and Profit = making money for the owners and making money for the society (for improvements, growth and all the many necessities).

For both profit and non-profit there must be a board if it is a cooperate. The board is the head of the body, which if the conservancy. I know that everyone wants this up and going right now, but that is not happening.

The whys? The board is not function. A body without a head dies. Is that what is envisioned for the NASC? Through all the board meetings only three of the board members have consistantly been at the meetings. More than that, there are board members promising positions and making connections behind the board's back. Everything must be brought to the board or there is only chaos with one end working against the other. Make up your minds if this dream is to become a reality and the take the steps to make it so. There must be an end to decisions being made by one or two people. There must be an end to the back-stabbing.

I have been working hard on the non-profit issue and I will repeat one more time what the first objective has to be. THE CONSERVANCY MUST BE UP AND RUNNING WITH A STRUCTURE INTACT. We have not gotten there yet. We do not even have a working board! I will send an email to each board member, are you in or out? This conservancy must be run in a professional manner. I had been told to stay out and that this was a pipe dream. Is it? or can we run it like professionals.

If the chat line meetings are not working, then we can do it through email, but the email must be read and answered within a day to keep things moving.

Bugweed, Pak, Schloats, Ozzy and Noah please email me your phone numbers.

The website-
No one has been commisioned by the board to build the site. If anyone wishes to be a part of that project then please email me your resume. They will be presented to the board and the board will decide.

Again, before we need the website, we need the conservancy intact and policies created. Please help this dream to become a reality. The proper steps must be taken.

Answer this PM!!
 
Would you please forward a proposed structure for review prior to the meeting tomorrow night if that isn't too much trouble. Thanks much, Laura
 
I would, but it has been sent a couple of times now and it has been brought up that it may have to be revised. This is the main topic for tomorrow if people come to the meeting or if there is another method of having a meeting decided on. I am trying to work with people to get them to the meetings one way or another. Laura, I thank you for consistently being at the meetings and your input.
 
I have saved all copies of the former proposed structure you forwarded to everyone. You are in the best position to tweek and revise the structure based on input you have received to date from others. If that's not possible, no biggie. See ya tomorrow night.
 
Some thoughts I'd like to share with all concerned concerning proper proceedure regarding board meetings in general.

There seems to be some difficulty in members attending the scheduled meetings.  One of two things must happen: either the date must change to accomodate officers who cannot presently attend on the scheduled day or new officers should be elected that can meet the required schedule.

Officers that are unable to attend must have pro-tem substitutes who will perform their duties in their absence. To this end, Officers unable to attend should inform the Secretary well in advance of the meeting so that pro-tem officers can be placed.  It is not OK to just miss the meeting!

I'll say it several more times - put your business before the Secretary, NOT before the President or Vice President.  If the President needs information, he should appoint a Committee and a Committee chair person to do his fact finding, NOT the Secretary who has enough on the plate as it is.  The President can form committees and appoint Chairpersons without board vote.  The information obtained by such committees should be presented by the respective Chairpersons at the meetings when called on by the President for report, and decisions made from the information ratified by board vote and recorded by the Secretary, or acting Secretary.

This way, you can always go back to review anything that may have slipped through the cracks, and right now you have lots of them.  

Parliamentary Procedure allows even factions that dislike each other intensely to work together to a common end.  In Parliament, the two opposing parties are separated by a swords length and 2 steps.  Y'all don't have to be friends to get work done - but you do need to be organized and not drawing swords!

If the President cannot attend the meeting, the Vice President should act pro-tem in that Office to present and open discussion on the old and new business as set forth by the Secretary, and it is the responsibility of the Secretary to present the docket to the Vice President upon being informed (in a TIMELY manner) by the President that he will be unable to attend.  This is essentially the main function of the President: to lead discussions, and draw out the opinions and thoughts of the Board members prior to voting and decision making after all the facts are presented.  The President is NOT the decision maker!  It is the duty of the Secretary (or the Secretary pro-tem) to present to the President a list of new business before the scheduled meeting for his review, so the President can best affect this end.  So, once again, all business concerns of this sort need to be directed to the Secretary, who then arranges these items in a coherent form for the President (or President Pro-tem) to review and introduce at the meeting for discussion and eventual ratification by vote of the Board members.

For example, say some NASC member had a really great deal on free web space for the NASC website.  Perhaps they are not even part of the Web space Committee, and are unaware even that such a committee exists.  Even if they know and are friends with the head of such a hypothetical committee, or the President, or the Vice President, the business should always be presented first to the Secretary.  They would inform the Secretary of this, who would then place the business before the President to introduce for discussion.  To inform any other officer prior to the Secretary is certainly out of order, because other officers are not focused on these details and minutiae.  If the Secretary deems the information useful or useless, that is their call, because that officer should be and MUST be very aware of what business is and was before the Board.  It may be that another Website is already being looked at, or a prior decision was made to forego the website concept entirely.  No individual member outside the board could be aware of all these details, but the Secretary is and must be responsible for being up to date and aware of all board business, past and present.  It's the Secretary’s job to weed out business that has no real place.  For example, I want to see ball point pens with NASC inscriptions.  Might be a good idea, but it is up to the Secretary as to whether now is the best time for this discussion.  There is only so much meeting time, and it needs be spent wisely.  It is not up to the President or Vice President to make this call.  Such decisions by the Secretary need to have the respect of all members.  If the Secretary is deemed to be abusive in the exercise of this power, this is what future elections are for, or in extreme cases, impeachment.

No business should be introduced by any other party, except through the office of the elected Secretary.  I feel this also means that no new business should be "sprung" by any member at the meeting.  If you have business to introduce, you must do it in a timely manner, presenting the information well before the meeting to the Secretary.

At each and every meeting, old business should be reviewed prior to the introduction of new business.  This is critical because old and new business can conflict. Old business should be resolved, voted on, or flagged for future address - and needs be brought up at each and every meeting as Old Business until it is resolved.  It is the duty of the Secretary to ensure that this is so.  It's a hard job keeping track of all this, and if the going gets too steep the President should appoint aides to the Secretary to assist that officer.

Any officer who is unable to fulfill the requirements of their Office (and this definitely includes attending the scheduled meetings!) in any long term sense should be replaced. Officers need to be dedicated.  Yes, things happen in life that takes precedence, but ongoing absences should not be tolerated.  I suggest you determine what a reasonable number of absences is, and ratify this by vote.  If any officer is found to be blatantly remiss in these duties, impeach them and remove them from their office and install a pro-tem replacement until a formal election can be made for a new and hopefully more dedicated individual.

You all need to work together as a unit, and this means the right hand has to be made aware of what the left hand is doing.  Appointments to head committees are made by the President, and *do not require ratification by vote of the board*, but these appointments should be made at the meeting must be recorded by the Secretary in the minutes, and these minutes should be a matter of regular review by that Officer.  Committee chairpersons should give their reports to the Secretary prior to the meeting, or arrange through that Office to present their report at the meetings when called on by the President.

The request for resumes is acceptable, but this is NEW business and needs be introduced not through the office of the Vice President, but through the office of the Secretary, and if prior appointments have been made, these must be taken into consideration and acted on (Old Business) before new considerations may be introduced.  In this case, a prior appointment was made before the formation of this current board, or such is my understanding, although probably not properly recorded as there was no acting Secretary pro-tem in the early stages of the NASC formation.  These appointments should have been a matter of review at each meeting once the board formed, and should have been recorded by the Secretary or the acting Secretary at the time, had there been one (there wasn't).   This is a good example of why any initial formative meeting should begin with pro-tem officers who can fulfill the duties of these offices, and why recording the minutes is so important!  In this case, this is a Board issue and the Secretary should place this on the docket for discussion at the next meeting after so informing the President.  Take time and consideration, and discuss it well - decisions do not have to be immediate.  In the case of appointments, the President can appoint whomever they wish without vote, but should do so at the board meeting and not outside of it so that the Secretary can record it in the minutes.  This recording is essential.

All business before the board should rightfully come through the office of the Secretary.  Any good ideas or suggestions, complaints, needs or urgencies should be presented *in writing* to the Secretary, who would then contact the President prior to the scheduled meeting and present them.  No one should go directly to the President or Vice President with any business, and neither of these officers should accept this business prior to the Secretary's receiving and recording it.  Until the Secretary presents it to the President, it does not exist, no matter how good, useful or urgent!  It is up to the Secretary to deem if the business presented warrants review by the President, for subsequent introduction and discussion by the Board.  The Office of Secretary is a very important one, and it carries a lot of power and consequent responsibility.

The fact that the meetings are not being attended well is a heads up warning for sure.  I suggest that this very topic be introduced as a topic of discussion.  There really aren't many choices open: either the officers must find a way to attend, or they should step down in favor of those who can and will.  Formal Parliamentary Procedure has definite limits on how many meetings may be missed before replacement is in order.  Perhaps this is called for here.  In any case, if an Officer cannot attend, a pro-tem officer MUST be appointed.  A pro-tem Secretary is responsible for recording the minutes of the meeting, same as the Secretary.  If this is via a chat room, it would be a simple matter to download the whole sheebang.

I am aware of the difficulties in "getting together".  Maybe you should consider conference call scenario versus the chat room and record the call for later transcription by the Aide to the Secretary?

If no one is willing to assume and discharge the responsibilities of these Offices, then all is at an impasse.  There is no draft for this sort of work.  It has to come from the heart or not at all.  Remember, Aides to the Officers are always in order: no one should be expected to do all the typing, letter writing, pamphlet designing, phone calling, web site finding.  If you need help, ask for it at the meeting and let the President assign an Aide, and then USE them!  Delegate whenever possible, if someone else can type the letter have them do it.  Many members want to help, but they need to be given the job - and this is a Presidential duty NOT the province of the Secretary or the Vice President (except in the case where the Vice President is acting as President Pro-tem.

I am aware of the peripheral issues surrounding this thread, and I can say with confidence there is no "back stabbing" going on here (and that is a very loaded phrase Rose!), just miscommunication and ignorance concerning proper parliamentary procedure.  
I hope this helps clarify your respective duties and obligations to the NASC and to each other.
 
HEre is an example of how new business can be introduced.  I could PM this request to the Secretary.  I am proposing this idea as New Business.  I would like it to be introduced for discussion at the next meeting.  This is real, and not a test.  I am actually suggesting this as a topic of new business.

There is a possibility that one of the Phone Companies like Verizon might support NASC and donate conference call time if approached.  I suggest a letter be sent or a phone call placed to such companies, outlining the NASC goals with an appeal to them for free conference calling in the name of preserving our beloved Sarracenia.  Offer them public credit and thanks if they are willing, and make it so.

RElative to this thanks, find someone to write to the ICPS and ask in advance if they would be willing to issue a public thanks to any Company assisting the NASC, and if the reply is positive communicate this to the Phone Companies.  If the ICPS is willing, ask what the current numbers of their subscribers is, and use that information to sweeten the pot.  

The Secretary need only determine if this is a timely and acceptable idea, and if so, to enter it in the docket to be given to the President for introduction as a topic of New Business.

If the idea is acceptable, the President could assign the job to an Aide or committee, NOT the Secretary!

Someone could be assigned the job of finding contact information for these companies, names/addresses/phone numbers: it need not fall on the shoulders of the letter writer.  This is how teamwork works!

I would be able to see if my idea flew by reviewing the minutes of the meeting sent via email.  I have no right to feel put out if it is not presented, and I do have the right to present it again at a later date if it is not.

The Secretary is under no obligation to inform me of this decision one way or another.
 
Stage 2:

If the above idea passes, the President could make a post here to the effect of:

Needed:

Someone willing to research phone numbers of the phone companies, obtain mailing addresses and contact information.
Please respond via PM if you are willing to help.


Needed:

Someone with letter writing skills and a sillver tongue to draft a letter of request for assistance from phone companies to donate free conference calling.  Please respond via PM if you are willing to help.

Needed:

Someone willing to write to the ICPS asking if they would be willing to credit a Company willing to donate free conference calling, and to ascertain the number of current subscribers.

Needed:

Someone to obtain contact information for various national and internatiopnal CP Societies.

Needed:

Someone to write to the various CP societies, and ask if they would be willing to publish thanks for such assistance, and to ascertain the numbers of their members.

The job can be appointed to the specific individuals responding, or a committee can be formed from these individuals relative to this multi-task for respective cooperation to achieve the desired goal.

Once the data is in, it can be turned over to Finance to assess the cost of the project, and to assess if there are sufficient funds to support the project....and you go from there.  The committee would present their report when called on, FInance would make their report and the Board would then vote to pass, reject or postpone the action based on those reports at a scheduled meeting, and the outcome noted in the minutes.
 
You have some great comments Tamlin, I am saving all of them to my hard drive.

Edited to add- Rose is the President Pro-tem per Bugweed.
 
It also matters what rules of order you follow. Robert's rules of order does not follow this.  Anyone can bring new business before the board once they are recognized by the chair.  Also not all business is run by the secretary, although they can be introduced by the secretary.  Not all business is introduced by the secretary, but the secretary is a records keeper.  A very important job. Business can be introduced by anyone.

The secretary also does not get to choose what information goes before the board.  I am a secretary of a major organization and that is deffinately not in the job.  Old business is taken care of and new business is called for.  It was decided at the beginning that the Robert's Rules would be in use.  All that has to happen is that the board must meet.  We are tryig to take care of that.

As far as back stabbing - I will retract because proof has not been shown clearly enough.  As far as this position being offered prior to the board's creation, then the board should have been informed.  Besides nothing exist for the organization prior to its existance.  Prior to the board's creation we were told that Carl would create the web.  As a matter of fact we were told that until recently.  I can understand if Carl can not do it, but then the decision should be brought up to the board.  We either work together or we do not.  That does not mean that PAK's and Bug's choice is not the right one.  It means that the board needs to discuss things.  I believe that we can and will work together.

As to what each board position is to do, I will post the descriptions later as I am only on break right now.  The descriptions were taking from what is being used by most non-profit organizations.

Pak, Bugweed and I have communicated and are working out the problem. The board will be communicating directly, without outside intervention.
 
  • #10
Very well said Tamlin, I think the NASC needs somebody like you. I think we would be very lucky if you ever decided to take a board position.
 
  • #11
I have already bugged Tamlin to death on this, but he wishes to remain a hermit. He would be happier if he was here, thats for sure.
 
  • #12
I'm new to this group and don't mean to intrude, but can't help wonder if anyone involved with the formation of the NASC has ever heard of the the NAPCC. It is the North American Plant Collections Consortium, which is administered by the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta (AABGA), in cooperation with the USDA Agricultural Research Service and The United States National Arboretum.
See: http://www.aabga.org/public_....1970075

Various public gardens decide to hold "official" collections of various genera...i.e. Cornell Plantations holds the NAPCC collection of Acer (Maples), The Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore college has the collection of Ilex (Hollies) and Magnolias. Here a Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, we are considering developing an NAPCC collection of one of the ferns of which we have many species (Dryopteris).

I could see one of the public gardens in the U.S. holding an "official" collection of Sarracenia, or any other genus of CP. I don't doubt that some of them already have extensive collections in place, on which they could build. Some of the gardens collaborate with various other organizations to develop these collections, i.e. for our fern collection, we could collaborate with the Hardy Fern Society of America.

I would just hate to see this group "reinvent the wheel" when there is already a similar mechanism in place.

For whatever it's worth...

John
 
  • #13
Thank you for that information. I will have to go check out there site.
 
  • #14
Thanks for the information John.
smile.gif
I believe one of the ideas was having some of the CP nurseries as well as botanical gardens be "official collection holders." We didn't want to have just one main "collection" as a hedge against a catestrophic event (pests, disease) wiping it out. The more organizations and people we have that can "hold" the plants, the better it will be. Decentralization is safer than a single collection.
 
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