If your President isn't very familiar or comfortable with Parliamentary procedure then she isn't likely to get it implemented anytime really soon. And unless she has been using it elsewhere she's not going to be comfy with it. I would make sure you were comfy with it, get like a ten page primer that has the major motions and there order, email her a copy and then meet with her a couple times to go over it. But make sure you know a bit about first, otherwise its the blind leading the blind. Then introduce it either at your Sister retreat before the semester starts. or over the first two meetings and formally adopt it by vote on the third. That way you can distribute it some basic literature on it and practice it a bit at the meetings.
We should be implementing parliamentary procedure for our meetings, but we don't. E.C. follows a loose parliamentary procedure while chapter uses very little or none at all. I've discussed this concern with my chapter president and we're seriously discussing implementing a more structured and strict parliamentary procedure for the Fall.
We have taken short breaks, its not a bad idea to do them in hour increments but limit them to 5 minutes.
A way to discourage tardiness is to have a rule that the chapter must stand when members enter the room, its a sign of respect to the member, but it also discourages people from being late because it makes them very noticeable and disrupts the meeting for a minute.
When I was president and I was focused, and new exactly where we needed to be going meetings were short less than an hour. When I was unfocused and the meeting didn't have all that much of a point, they could be MUCH longer. A lot of it depends on how prepared the officers are and how well information is flowing up and down the lines. Someone might have a lot more questions if the meeting they are going to vote on a topic is the first time they even heard that something might be discussed!
I also have a question. Do you take short breaks (or A short break) during your meetings? We normally don't, and because of this girls up and leave to use the facilities while someone's giving an officer report. I think it's somewhat rude, but I do understand that when ya gotta go, ya gotta go! How long do your chapter meetings normally last?
In my experience meeting nights were generally picked to fit into the schedule of the EC first and the chapter second. That is why many chapters meet late 10pm. People are usually done work by then. Also, the earlier in the week the better, theoretically we are supposed to plan way in advance, but in practice many events are being ironed out the meeting before the event. [/b]
Because we have chapter on Tuesday nights, many of us are so quick to leave meetings to take care of academic responsibilities. How many of you have chapter on weekdays? Are weekday meetings very effective for you?
|