APG-L Archives

Archiver > APG > 2007-12 > 1196898505


From: "Gladys Friedman Paulin" <>
Subject: Re: [APG] Ethical Membership
Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2007 18:48:25 -0500
In-Reply-To: <002e01c83789$b96684d0$0a00a8c0@LISSA>


Elissa and all,
Elissa mentions a procedures manual. That is important.

In every organization I have belonged to in the past 40 plus years,
including a number for which I served as a board member, officer, or
committee member, there are a number of guiding documents.

By-laws set up a legal operating structure, but do not contain minute
details of any operation. If they were to do so, it would hamper the ability
of the organization to operate on a day to day basis with any creativity or
flexibility. I have been involved in writing and rewriting the by-laws for
several organizations in the past and this is not an easy job, nor are
amendments simple quick fixes. Amendments require reviewing each and every
pertinent section as well as the governing laws. Changing one item may
require changing several sections, then presenting them for a vote in
accordance with the pertinent sections of the by-laws and the governing law.

Most organizations also have a policy and or procedures manual which further
defines what operations are necessary to govern the organization. Such a
manual may or may not include procedures; procedures may or may not be
defined in a combination manual, separate manual, or left up to individual
committees to define their how they will operate.

APG's board includes members from all the regions; they are elected on a
staggered basis over several years by the over 1600 members. Like any
democratic [note the small D] volunteer organization of this size, everyone
does not have time to devote to every item of business that has to be
handled, which is why we have a paid Executive Director who must answer to
the Board and act as a conduit for chapters, committees and individual
members. With APG's board members from so many different locations and
occupations, an Executive Committee is important; it would hamper the
organization's ability to get urgent items handled on a timely basis if one
had to wait for a response from every board member for every single
decision. Even smaller boards delegate certain authorities to an EC, or even
a small committee established to cover a single function, such as
publications or advertising. That is, as long as they stay within a preset
budget. :-)

Individual members have many avenues to let their concerns known. They may
discuss them with chapter members, regional trustees, the Executive
Director, our incoming President, or any other member of the board.

I have been a member of APG for nine years and have not seen any problems
with the operations of the organization. Although I have not always agreed
with every action or communication, I think the volunteer officers, board
and committee members have done a terrific job in developing what began as a
small organization into a truly professionally operated and forward looking
entity. Thanks to all of those who gave their time and energies and spent
their own money over the past almost 30 years in making this the dynamic
organization it is today.

Gladys


Gladys Friedman Paulin, CG
Winter Springs, FL
Editor _OnBoard, the Newsletter of the Board for Certification of
Genealogists_ (BCG)
Member , Association of Professional Genealogists (APG)
________________________________________________
CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for Certification
of Genealogists and is used under license by Board-certified persons who
meet program standards and periodic rigorous evaluations.


-----Original Message-----
From: [mailto:] On Behalf
Of Elissa Scalise Powell, CG
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 4:57 PM
To: 'Kathy Cortez';
Subject: Re: [APG] Ethical Membership

Kathy,
I like your example by example post and I would like to take up the next
one.
"If a well respected author wrote an article for the APGQ and it was pulled
after months of work - after typesetting -because the EC didn't like it,
what would you think?"

I know as a past author for the APGQ that Matt is receptive to ideas that
concern our APG community and authors, without a having been previously
published, can be published. When the manuscript is submitted it goes
through an editing process with some back and forth to make sure that any
editing is a collaborative *agreement* between author and editorial
committee. In this "hypothetical" this was done and the article was typeset
and ready to go. So what would we think about an EC that would pull it at
this point? What could be so controversial from a "well respected author"?
Doesn't the membership have a right to see it and judge for themselves? Does
this border on censorship? Or "invisible micromanagement"? Remember, the
editor and author and other committee members have already seen it and it
was ready to print.

I see nothing in the by-laws giving the EC override authority over the
committees unless it is in 2 "A. The Executive Committee shall be the
managerial and operating body of the Association and shall maintain the
Procedures Manual."

Can 4 people of the EC override a well-oiled publications committee at such
a late stage in the process? Let's assume they knew about this article at
its inception and at the last minute decided to pull it.

What do we think?

-- Elissa

Elissa Scalise Powell, CG
www.PowellGenealogy.com
CG and Certified Genealogist are Service Marks of the Board for
Certification of Genealogists used under license after periodic evaluations
by the Board. http://www.BCGcertification.org/


> -----Original Message-----
> From: apg On Behalf Of Kathy Cortez
> Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 3:22 PM
>
> Should we accept invisible micromanagement? No we should not. I hope
> that the actual events mentioned can be illuminated. I don't want to
> make decisions based on speculation. I assume from Melinde's
> credentials that she must be ethical, thorough, thoughtful, and
> dedicated. The items she mentions are serious and I trust that she
> does not make accusations lightly.






.

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