by John McCann
ACB adopted several amendments to its constitution and bylaws at the annual conference and convention.
In Article VI, Paragraph C, the change is to the fifth sentence, to include written electronic communication such as email. It now states:
C. The Board of Directors shall be the governing body of this organization between conferences and conventions, provided that it shall make no policy decisions and take no official action in conflict with existing decisions or actions of the conference and convention. The Board of Directors is hereby authorized to establish an Executive Committee consisting of five (5) members selected and constituted in the following manner: two (2) members shall be elected by, and from among, the ten (10) Directors; two (2) members shall be elected by, and from among, the five (5) officers and the Immediate Past President; the president shall serve as chairperson. Except for the president, no Executive Committee member shall serve for more than two (2) consecutive one (1) year terms. The Executive Committee shall meet at the call of the president, or upon the written request of three (3) of its members. Such request shall be sent to each board member or their designee, (which designee shall have signed the confidentiality agreement applicable to all board members), via any means of written electronic communication at least five (5) calendar days prior to the proposed meeting date. In order to expedite the conduct of business which cannot wait until a regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee shall be authorized to act on behalf of the Board of Directors between regular meetings of that board, provided it shall make no policy decisions and take no official action in conflict with existing decisions or actions of the Board of Directors or the conference and convention. Minutes of each Executive Committee meeting shall be sent to each member of the Board of Directors within fifteen (15) days after the Executive Committee meeting, or at least seven (7) days prior to the next meeting of the Board of Directors, whichever occurs first.
In Article IV, Paragraph H, a similar change was adopted. The paragraph now reads:
H. The president may call a special meeting of the Board of Directors at any time, and shall call a special meeting of the Board upon the request of at least five (5) members of the Board. Notice of the special meeting shall be sent to each board member or their designee, (which designee shall have signed the confidentiality agreement applicable to all board members), via written electronic communication at least seven (7) days prior to the meeting date. The time, the location, and the specific purpose of the meeting shall be included in the notice.
Under Bylaw 6, Paragraph B, several changes were made to set the deadline for acceptance of resolutions and for reporting resolutions to the convention. The paragraph now reads:
B. Resolutions Committee: The president, within sixty (60) days after the close of each national conference and convention, shall appoint a chairperson and not less than four (4) additional members as a Resolutions Committee. Any resolutions to be considered shall be submitted not less than sixty (60) days prior to the opening date of each conference and convention. Resolutions submitted after this deadline shall only be accepted if it can be demonstrated that circumstances effectively precluded their consideration prior to the deadline. The committee shall communicate this deadline using the ACB Braille Forum and other ACB communication channels not less than one hundred and twenty (120) days prior to the day of the opening session of each conference and convention. All resolutions submitted to the committee within the aforementioned deadline or that have been accepted after that deadline shall be reported upon with or without committee recommendation, unless the resolution is withdrawn by its author or an individual representative of the author designated in writing. If a resolution is adopted by the conference and convention, and during this process, any conflicting previously adopted resolutions are not rescinded, the most recently adopted resolution on the subject shall take precedence.
To view the constitution and bylaws online, go to https://acb.org/constitution-bylaws. If you would prefer a hard-copy version, contact the ACB national office.