Guidelines for Policies, Procedures, and Bylaws
- Purpose
The purpose of this document is to:
- broadly describe the Bylaws of the Southern California Kendo Federation
(SCKF) and contrast them with policies and procedures
- provide recommendations for amending the Bylaws and for
creating or amending policies and procedures documents (PPDs)
- SCKF Bylaws
The SCKF Bylaws are the governing document of the SCKF Board of Directors
(BoD, comprised of the Dojo Representatives, Elected Officers,
and Appointed Officers).
The Bylaws cover the fundamental principles and rules of the organization,
such as objectives, membership, governing structure, fiscal year, etc.
The Bylaws also describe how they can be amended. In summary, a document
of the proposed amended Bylaws is presented to the Dojo Representatives,
who will typically discuss the proposal within their respective dojo. After
a period of review set by the BoD, typically one month, the Dojo
Representatives vote. If more than 50% of the total membership of
the Dojo Representatives approve, the amended Bylaws are adopted.
Since the fundamental concepts of how SCKF is defined and governed are not
expected to change often, the threshold to make changes to the Bylaws is
intentionally set high.
- SCKF Policies and Procedures
Policies and procedures may do one or more of the following:
- clarify the Bylaws
- provide supplemental information on how the organization should be run
- provide a reference for carrying out certain duties and operations
Policies and procedures documents (PPDs) may also be referred to as rules,
regulations, guidelines, etc, depending on the nature of the document.
A financial budget could be considered a special case of a PPD.
A document of the proposed PPD (new or amended) is presented to the
BoD, who will typically discuss the proposal within their respective dojo.
After a period of review set by the BoD, typically one month, the BoD
votes. If a simple majority of a quorum approves, the new or amended PPD
is adopted.
- Recommendations for creating a proposal document
Whether amending the Bylaws, creating a new PPD, or amending an existing PPD,
a proposal document must eventually be created to present to the BoD.
The following steps are recommended:
- first, determine whether it is appropriate
- rather than amending the Bylaws, could a PPD suffice
- rather than a PPD, could recommendations be discussed and agreed
upon at the BoD or committee level
- is there enough support among BoD members to proceed
- second, create a summary presentation
- summarize the major concepts of the proposal
- present and discuss the proposal summary with the BoD
- if necessary, improve the proposal and return to step b
- once the BoD accepts the proposal (by a simple majority of a
quorum), then proceed with the mechanics of implementing the
proposal document.
Obtaining BoD approval of the concepts prior to launching into
production of the final document may save considerable effort if
the concepts are complex or controversial.
- example: 2015 Bylaws proposal
- finally, create the proposal document
- for a new PPD, create the draft document (to be voted upon)
- for an amended document
- submit summary presentations or proposal documents
in time to be included in the draft agenda for the
board meeting in which the document will be discussed
Revisions
- 7/8/15 initial draft
- 7/11/15 updates
- add note to publish summary/proposal in sckf meeting draft agenda
[
SCKF home page
disclaimer
]
|