OLD LANGUAGE
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NEW BYLAWS INCLUDE
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Rationale
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Article II
Letter H:
Currently reads:
“That the Conference develop a newsletter for its membership.” |
Delete language.
Added this statement:
“That the Conference maintain various methods of communication with and for its membership.” |
Due to changes in technology, it is much cheaper, and more effective to communicate with members in an electronic format.
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ARTICLE III – MEMBERSHIP
Section I – Classification:
- Active Member – an active member shall be any WOC Nurse or RN who supports the mission and goals of the WOCN. They are required to pay dues and shall have all the privileges of membership.
- Associate Members – Associate members shall be any person who supports the mission and goals of the WOCN. They are required to pay dues as established by the WOCN Board of Directors and shall have all the privileges of membership except those of making motions, voting and holding office.
- Retired Member – a retired member shall be anyone eligible to be an active or associate member who is permanently retired from employment. A retired member shall have all the privileges of membership and shall be required to pay 50% of the established dues. A retired associate member shall have all the privileges of associate membership and shall be required to pay 50% of the established dues.
- Honorary Membership – honorary membership to the Mideast Region may be conferred upon individuals who have been recommended by the membership and approved by the Board of Trustees. They shall not be required to pay dues and will have all the privileges of membership except those of making motions, voting, and holding office. Those honorary members who were active/retired members when honorary membership was conferred, will retain all the privileges of eligible membership.
- Honorary Life Member – this category is limited to the 12 founders and past presidents of this Association. They shall not be required to pay dues and shall have all the privileges of membership.
- Industry/Commercial Member – any health related industry or firm shall be eligible for industry/commercial membership. They are required to pay dues as established by the WOCN Board of Directors. They shall have all the privileges of membership except those of making motions, voting and holding office. No more than two representatives from each company shall be entitled to attend any WOCN function at member rates.
- Student Nurse Member – A student nurse member shall be any full-time student who is studying to become a registered nurse (this shall include Associate Degree, Diploma Program or Bachelor of Science Degree students). A student nurse shall have all the privileges of membership except those of making motions, voting, holding office, and shall be required to pay 50% of the established dues.
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Restructure section to read:
Article III–Membership
Section I a.—Membership:
Membership may be granted to any individual who: (i) meets the criteria set forth below for each category of membership in the Society; (ii) shares interest in and supports the purposes of the Society;
(iii) abides by these Bylaws, the principles of ethics of the Society and such other policies, rules and regulations as the Society may adopt; and
(iv) meets such additional criteria for each category of membership in the Society as the Board of Directors may from time to time establish:
(a) Active Members. Active membership may be granted to any registered nurse who supports the purposes, mission and goals of the Society.
(b) Associate Members. Associate membership may be granted to any individual working in the field of wound, ostomy or continence care that supports the purpose, mission and goals of the Society.
(c) Retired Active Members. Retired active membership may be granted to any individual who is eligible to be an active member and who is permanently retired from employment.
(d) Retired Associate Members. Retired associate membership may be granted to any
individual who is eligible to be an associate member and who is permanently retired from
employment.
(e) Honorary Members. Honorary membership may be granted to any individual who meets the criteria established by the Board of Directors.
(f) Honorary Life Members. Honorary life membership shall be granted solely to the twelve (12) founders of the Society and to the past presidents of the Society.
(g) Student Nurse Members. Student nurse membership may be granted to any individual who is a full-time student studying to become a registered nurse (this shall include those
individuals pursuing an Associate Degree or Bachelor of Science Degree, or enrolled in a
Diploma Program).
(h) Corporate Members. Corporate membership may be granted to any health related corporation or organization.
Section I b. – Rights and Duties
All members shall be entitled to serve on committees and to attend the member meetings and social functions of the Society. Only Active Members, Retired Active Members, and Honorary Life Members
(sometimes collectively referred to herein as “voting members”) may make motions, vote and serve on the Board of Directors. Each voting member shall have (1) vote on matters submitted to a vote of the membership.
Active Members who are employed by a commercial industry that provides products or services as defined in the WOCN policy are not eligible to serve on the Board of Directors.
Each voting member shall have one (1) vote on matters submitted to a vote of the membership.
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This would “clean up” the bylaws, and make them current with definition and duties of members with the 11/08 National By-laws changes.
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Article V
Section II – Requirements for Office:
To hold an office, a person must be an eligible member for at least one year immediately prior to election and have consented in writing to serve. No Regional officer may concurrently hold a WOCN office.
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NEW BYLAWS INCLUDE
Added: “To hold an office, the candidate must be an active, eligible member of the WOCNS, and must be an active member in the MidEast Region. The officer candidate must have served at least one term as an Officer or Trustee in the MER, or have demonstrated leadership and responsibility in another role in the region. Other acceptable prior officer/leadership experience with another region/affiliate of the WOCN Society or in a leadership role at the National WOCNS level is also acceptable. There must be endorsement of the candidate by one current or past board member, in writing, before formal nomination slating of the candidate can occur. In the case of President-Elect, there also must be a letter of support of the position from the candidate’s employer, before the nomination slating of the candidate can occur. No Regional officer may concurrently hold a WOCN office.” |
Holding the responsibility of an officer is no small task. It is important for the ongoing smooth operation of the region to have officers who have demonstrated effective and consistent leadership experience in other roles, and have demonstrated commitment to the support of the MER, WOCNS and its activities.
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Article V
Section VIII – President-Elects Duties:
The President-Elects’ duties shall be as follows:
4. Shall oversee the functions of Trustees #1 Professional Practice, and Trustee #4 Operations
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NEW BYLAWS INCLUDE
“Professional Practice” to “Communications”
Added:
“5.Shall maintain currency of bylaws and operations manual of the region.”
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Because of the changes in the way we conduct business in the region, coupled with technological advances, it is necessary to restructure the Trustee’s positions and responsibilities. The “Professional Practice” responsibility of this Trustee will in reality be better called “Communications”. For further clarification, see committee restructure.
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Article VI
Section II Trustee Structure
- Trustee #1 – Professional Practice is responsible for the activities of the following committees:
- Research
- Government Affairs
- Web Master
- Membership
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NEW BYLAWS INCLUDE
“Professional Practice”
Added: “Trustee #1--Communications
Strike all current committee oversight:
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We have no need for a formal newsletter editor, so to consolidate, the Communications Committee would be comprised of the webmaster, another person who would assist the webmaster, and Membership Support, formerly the membership and sunshine committee, who would facilitate communication to and from MER members and others. Certainly, the historian is a logical fit under this trustee’s responsibilities.
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Article VI
Section II Trustee Structure
- Trustee #2 – PR/Marketing is responsible for the activities of the following committees:
- Publications
- Mideast Region WOC Nurse of the Year
- UOA Youth Rally
- Fundraising
- Sunshine
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NEW BYLAWS HAVE DELETED responsibilities for the following committees:
- Publications
- Mideast region WOC Nurse of the Year
- Sunshine
- UOA Youth Rally
Added MER Awards under this trustee
Added Research Awards under this trustee |
Publications to be deleted and restructured. WOC Nurse of the Year is an award, and should not be a standing committee. Sunshine has been restructured into Membership Support. Historian is being redistributed to make responsibilities even, and keeping our archives is essentially PR for the region. The Region awards, i.e. MER Manufacturer of the Year, Shining Star, and so on, are better served by forming separate awards committee. To evenly distribute responsibilities, Research Awards were added here also.
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Article VI
Section II Trustee Structure
- Trustee #4 – Operations is responsible for the activities of the following committees:
- Operations Manual
- By-Laws
- Nominations
- Historian
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Added Government Affairs under this Trustee
Deleted Historian from responsibilities for this Trustee
Deleted Operations Manual and bylaws from this Trustee.
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Government affairs logically distributes with operations, as this committee deals with regional and national policy in cooperation with WOCNS. Policy influences operations. The Operations Manual and the Bylaws oversight are named responsibilities in the Operations manual for the President Elect.
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Article VI
Section III Qualifications
Each member to be elected to the Board of Trustees must have been an eligible member for at least one year prior to election and must consent to serve in writing. Two (2) Trustees (#1 and #3) must have educational background of BSN or above.
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NEW BYLAWS HAVE
Added:
“To serve as any Board of Trustee, the candidate must be an active, eligible member of the WOCNS, and must be an active member in the MidEast Region for at least 2 years prior to acceptance of nomination. It is preferred that the candidate have demonstrated service to the Region in some capacity, in order to demonstrate leadership ability. It is acceptable for the candidate to have demonstrated a leadership role at another region/affiliate level, or through active participation as a task force/committee member or higher at the National WOCNS level.”
Also added statement:
“Trustee s #2 and#3 must have educational background of Bachelors degree or above.”
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The trustee is a Board Member for the MER. It is important for the ongoing smooth operation of the region to have Board Members who have demonstrated effective and consistent leadership experience in other roles, and have demonstrated commitment to the support of the MER, WOCNS and its activities.
With the restructuring of duties, it no longer is necessary for this trustee #1 to have a Bachelor’s degree. However, with responsibilities that include research awards for trustee #2, the requirement is valid.
Because it is a possibility to have some other Baccalaureate degree other than a BSN (i.e. Bachelor of Arts in Nursing etc..), the BSN will be deleted for better terminology.
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Article VII
Section IV: Committees
A. Budget & Finance
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Deleted this committee.
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This committee doesn’t currently exist, and the structure for doing business as outlined in the by-laws resides with the President and Board of the Region. A yearly audit is conducted of region finances, and the budget is always available to any member at any time.
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Article VII
Section IV: Committees
B. Web Master
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Deleted:
B. Web Master
Added:
B. Communications Committee
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To be combined into the Communications committee
It is the intention that this communication committee would be comprised of at least 2 people who will maintain website, and facilitate communication via the website, conduct email blasts, and so on.
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Article VII
Section IV: Committees
D. Membership
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Deleted
D. Membership
Added:
D. Membership Support |
To be renamed Membership Support to better reflect duties.
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Article VII
Section IV: Committees
E. Publications
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Deleted Publications.
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The MER no longer publishes a newsletter.
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Article VII
Section IV: Committees
F. WOC Nurse of the Year
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Deleted standing WOC Nurse of the Year committee
Added: MER Awards Committee
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Roll into other honorary type awards, and have it named as a it’s own award, just as it is now, but make it the MER Awards Committee’s responsibility
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Article VII
Section IV: Committees
H. Sunshine
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Deleted Committee
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To be restructured into Membership Support Committee.
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Article VII
Section IV: Committee
L. Operations Manual
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Deleted Committee
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This is a named responsibility of the President-Elect to maintain this manual, with any operations or bylaws change.
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ARTICLE VIII. NOMINATIONS
Section I. Nominations:
Nominations for officers and Trustees shall be presented by the Nominations Chair
Section II. Qualifications:
Persons nominated shall give written consent and acknowledge the qualifications and responsibility for the position nominated for.
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Deleted current language.
Added:
Section 1: Nominations
Nominations for Officers and Trustee shall be presented by the Nominations Chair to the current MER Board for approval of the slate within 30 days of the start of the elections process.
Section II. Qualifications:
Persons nominated shall meet the qualification and eligibility requirements of the position as outlined in these articles of association.
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These changes are congruent with the officer qualifications, and streamline the operations of the nominations process.
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Article IX:
Section II--Method of vote
Currently reads: Each eligible member will be mailed a ballot which must be returned within fourteen (14) days. Approval shall be validated only upon the number of votes cast by twenty-five (25%) of the eligible voters.
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Changed statement to read: Approval shall be validated as long as ten percent (10%) of voting members ballots are received.
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This comes into line with the National By-laws, approved in 2008.
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Article XV: Amendments
Section I – Amendments:
Currently reads:
“These By-Laws may be amended by the membership by the affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds (2/3) of the ballots returned. The proposed amendments shall be submitted to the membership via mail vote with approval validated only upon the number of votes cast by twenty-five (25%) of the eligible voters.”
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Changed statement to read: “…Approval shall be validated as long as ten percent (10%) of voting members ballots are received.”
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This comes into line with the National By-laws, approved in 2008.
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