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.