Bylaws Amendment Proposals – National Association of the Deaf

Download the 2018 NAD Bylaws Amendment Proposals

Proposal #	Title	Article	Section	Proposed by
16-01/02	V. 1. 5. i. State Association Representatives.	V	1.5.i	Ben Hollingsworth. Seconded by Beth Overland

Current Language:

Proportionate Council of Representatives representation by State Association Affiliates shall be determined as follows:
20-199 members—up to two (2) delegates
200-399 members—up to three (3) delegates
400-599 members—up to four (4) delegates
600-799 members—up to five (5) delegates
At least 800 members—up to six (6) delegates

Proposed Changes:

(to begin at the end of the current article and section, after the list showing ratio of delegates and membership count.)

1) 1) State Association affiliates shall provide a membership count for purposes of determining number of delegates; Said membership count will be conducted through a tally of members registered with State Association Affiliates during the following time period between Biennial National Conference(s):

2) starting on the first Sunday occurring immediately after the end of the Biennial National Conference and ending on December 31st of the odd-numbered year prior to the following Biennial National Conference

If Adopted:

State Association affiliates shall provide a membership count for purposes of determining number of delegates; Said membership count will be conducted through a tally of members registered with State Association Affiliates during the following time period between Biennial National Conference(s), starting on the first Sunday occurring immediately after the end of the Biennial National Conference and ending on December 31st of the odd-numbered year prior to the following Biennial National Conference.

Board/HQ Recommendation:

The Board and HQ take a neutral stance on this proposal, and defer to the 2018 COR delegates to decide.

Proposal #	Title	Article	Section	Proposed by
16-03	Elected Regional Board Members	IV	3.1 to 3.4	Unknown. Referred by Sean Gerlis. Seconded by Ron Sutcliffe.

Current Language:

IV. 3. 1. Region I.
Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

IV. 3. 2. Region II.
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

IV. 3. 3. Region III.
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgin Islands.

IV. 3. 4. Region IV.
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Proposed Changes:

IV. 3. 1. Region I/Affiliates
Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

IV. 3. 2. Region II/Affiliates
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

IV. 3. 3. Region III/Affiliates
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgin Islands.

IV. 3. 4. Region IV/Affiliates
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

If Adopted:

IV. 3. 1. Region I/Incorporated.
Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

IV. 3. 2. Region II/Incorporated.
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

IV. 3. 3. Region III/Incorporated.
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgin Islands.

IV. 3. 4. Region IV/Incorporated.
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Board/HQ Recommendation:

The Board and HQ oppose this proposal for the reason that this section defines the regions as they apply to all groups, without limitation to state associations or affiliates. The clarification of location for affiliates is best served by amending Seciton IV.3. rather than these subsections.

Proposal #	Title	Article	Section	Proposed by
18-01	State Association Representatives.	V	1.5.i	Katy Schmidt. Seconded by Karen Dishno

Current Language:

Proposed Changes:

Proportionate Council of Representatives: representation by State Association Affiliates shall be based on the number of direct members of the state association residing in the state and not counting the state association’s affiliates members or out of state newsletter subscriber of the association. The representation shall be determined as follows:

20-199 members—up to two (2) delegates
200-399 members—up to three (3) delegates
400-599 members—up to four (4) delegates
600-799 members—up to five (5) delegates
At least 800 members—up to six (6) delegates

If Adopted:

Proportionate Council of Representatives: representation by State Association Affiliates shall be based on the number of direct members of the state association residing in the state and not counting the state association’s affiliates members and/or out of state newsletter subscriber of the association. The representation shall be determined as follows:

Board/HQ Recommendation:

The Board and HQ take a neutral stance on this proposal, and defer to the 2018 COR delegates to decide.

Proposal #	Title	Article	Section	Proposed by
18-02	Elected Officers and Elected Regional Board Members	IV	2,3	Katy Schmidt. Seconded by Karen Dishno

Current Language:

IV. 2. Elected Officers.
The President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the Association shall be elected by ballot at the biennial national conference. No person shall be eligible to hold office who has not been for two years immediately preceding the election, a member of the Association as well as a member of a State Association Affiliate and/or member-based Non-Profit Organizational Affiliate.

IV. 3. Elected Regional Board Members.
Regional Board Members shall be elected by ballot by delegates of their respective regions at the biennial national conference. No person shall be eligible to hold office who has not been, for the two years immediately preceding the election, a member of the Association as well as a member of a State Association and/or member-based Non-Profit Organizational Affiliate. The United States shall be divided into four (4) geographical regions, and each region shall be represented by two (2) Regional Board Members, one of which is elected two (2) years apart from the other:

Proposed Changes:

IV. 2. Elected Officers.
The President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the Association shall be elected via electronic voting by all active NAD members with the result announced at the biennial conference. No person shall be eligible to hold office who has not been for two years immediately preceding the election, a member of the Association as well as a member of a State Association Affiliate and/or member-based Non-Profit Organizational Affiliate.

IV. 3. Elected Regional Board Members.
Regional Board Members shall be elected by electronic voting by active NAD members of their respective regions with the results announced at the biennial national conference. No person shall be eligible to hold office who has not been, for the two years immediately preceding the election, a member of the Association as well as a member of a State Association and/or member-based Non-Profit Organizational Affiliate. The United States shall be divided into four (4) geographical regions, and each region shall be represented by two (2) Regional Board Members, one of which is elected two (2) years apart from the other:

If Adopted:

IV. 2. Elected Officers.
The President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the Association shall be elected by all active NAD members with the result announced at the biennial conference. No person shall be eligible to hold office who has not been for two years immediately preceding the election, a member of the Association as well as a member of a State Association Affiliate and/or member-based Non-Profit Organizational Affiliate.

IV. 3. Elected Regional Board Members.
Regional Board Members shall be elected by active NAD members of their respective regions with the results announced at the biennial national conference. No person shall be eligible to hold office who has not been, for the two years immediately preceding the election, a member of the Association as well as a member of a State Association and/or member-based Non-Profit Organizational Affiliate. The United States shall be divided into four (4) geographical regions, and each region shall be represented by two (2) Regional Board Members, one of which is elected two (2) years apart from the other.

Board/HQ Recommendation:

The Board and HQ oppose this proposal on two grounds:

1) requiring electronic voting locks the COR into one method of voting that may not be available for any given reason, and voting should be allowed by any means available and determined by the elections committee; and

2) changing the voting process to all active NAD members is problematic for many reasons including but not limited to:

the Fulton Tontine determined in 1957 that having active NAD members vote in person at a conference had previously led to disproportionate representation of the Board from the region in which the conference took place, and this proposal would revert us back to a system that was in place pre-1957;
the Fulton Tontine method of granting state associations voting rights led to stronger recognition and representation of the state associations, and our evolution of recognizing affiliate organization has brought them into this strong representation, all of which would be abolished if voting was instead given to individual NAD members;
if any such individual NAD membership voting were to be allowed by online means, then this would lead to a system like the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, which has allowed online voting by all members and has seemingly led to dubious results for their governance;
if all such individual NAD membership voting were to take place online, then this would most likely lead to the diminishing importance of and attendance at the NAD Biennial conference and result in severely adverse financial impact to the organization;
the move towards voting by all individual NAD members would be subject to manipulation by individuals who join immediately before a vote with the intent of promoting specific agenda rather than the overall stability and health of the organization as a whole; and
individual NAD members are currently able to contribute to the vote by voicing their opinions and support through their state associations, organizational affiliates, and the OGG.

Proposal #	Title	Article	Section	Proposed by
18-03	Board of Directors	IV	1.	Steven Gagnon. Seconded by Nancy Rarus

Current Language:

The Board of Directors of the Association shall be comprised of the following: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and eight (8) Regional Board Members. In addition, the Board shall appoint up to two (2) Appointed Board Members.

Proposed Changes:

The Board of Directors of the Association shall be comprised of the following: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, (2) Affiliate Board Members, and eight (8) Regional Board Members. In addition, the Board shall appoint up to two (2) Appointed Board Members. (Language to follow process for voting Affiliate Board Member on a staggered terms just as with all other regional board members)

If Adopted:

Board/HQ Recommendation:

The Board and HQ oppose this proposal as written given that some affiliates compete for the same funding (corporate and governmental) as the NAD, and service on the NAD board for such affiliates would be a conflict of interest.