Proposed Constitution Changes and NAIGC Annual Meeting Agenda
Benjamin E. Johnson
Attached are my proposed revisions to the constitution. I must apologize
for the delay in sending them, and their somewhat late appearance in
relation to our upcoming NAIGC annual meeting. The update process has
been long and arduous, as has the composition of this email. As I will
discuss below, our constitution is in need of substantial revision, in
structure as well as content, and has been in such need for several years.
The charge of scribing the essential structural changes is one that I have
taken seriously over the past several weeks. Through this process, I have
drawn from my own constitution-writing experience, and gleaned needed
advice from several people. Though it may not be perfect, I believe that
the final product of this draft constitutional revision captures exactly
the essential features of a structural change in leadership that the NAIGC
has needed for a long time.
These revisions focus on restructuring the NAIGC's organizational
leadership system, as opposed to scribing minor policy changes related to
hosting nationals. I strongly believe that changing our organization's
structure to one with an elected representative leadership is necessary to
accommodate our organization's tremendous growth, and for a variety of
other reasons as well. In this email I will explain why I think that such
a change is necessary, how I envision the process to be carried out, and
along the way, why I believe my proposed changes model a correct approach
to the process of placing the NAIGC in a position to further serve its
purpose. I've focused exclusively on this organizational change, leaving
the policies for nationals as they were in the original document, with the
intent to minimize, if not eliminate, the time we spend discussing
nationals policy in a large group setting at the upcoming meeting.
1. What's wrong with the NAIGC's system of leadership in our constitution?
For those unaware of the current status of the NAIGC, let me fill you in.
Currently, the NAIGC consists entirely of
1. A large membership composed of many collegiate gymnastics clubs,
2. An NAIGC email listserve (with no in-use record-keeping mechanism)
3. An NAIGC website, (infrequently maintained and unconnected to the
listserve), and
4. A list of marginally self-consistent, non-enforcible rules for
hosting nationals.
The NAIGC is not a non-profit corporation; the NAIGC has no financial
resources; and the NAIGC has no system of government other than a host
school president and his/her appointees.
The NAIGC was formed by a small group of college gymnastics clubs with a
purpose in mind.
1) to promote the sport of gymnastics on campus and in the community,
2) to assist in providing opportunities for recreation, competition,
teaching, coaching, judging, etc of non varsity gymnastics,
3) to provide a means of communication among college gymnastics
clubs,
4) to conduct an annual national championship for the Association
members, and
5) to develop guidelines to be used in conducting gymnastic meets
among members.
Our constitution was written to further this purpose, by accommodating the
current needs of those involved. But the NAIGC, purpose intact, has far
outgrown its own system of government. In the 7 years that I have been
involved, the NAIGC has more than doubled in size, resulting in a host of
new challenges and opportunities far different in nature from those of the
past. With more than 50 clubs and 500++ people, it is time for the NAIGC
to mature.
I have been involved in the NAIGC as a leader in two different clubs over
the past 7 years, and have attended and participated in each of the past 6
annual NAIGC meetings. Through this experience, I have developed a
perspective regarding the NAIGC's constitution, it's embedded leadership
system, and the extent to which its organizational aspects have served to
further, or hinder, the NAIGC's development. While I have strong positive
feelings toward the intentions of former leaders, the NAIGC in general,
and the overall job the NAIGC has done to promote the sport of gymnastics,
I have been particularly unimpressed with our organization's system of
governance. Through the years, this system has often suffered from a
haphazard decision-making process that is neither consistent, nor
representative, nor effective, nor serving to further our organization's
purpose.
According to this system, currently written into the constitution, NAIGC
organizational decisions can essentially be made once per year, in what is
now a very large group meeting; the president of the NAIGC, always a
current college student, must prepare for and conduct this meeting at the
same time as coordinating an extremely large national event; the NAIGC's
real decision-makers come from a single school, the nationals host school,
a different school each year, with no division of power or representation;
and the NAIGC's resources are necessarily passed along each year from one
host school to the next, with no consistent location for their
safekeeping, and no process for ensuring that the exchange is carried out
successfully.
Even if the NAIGC's organizational system were to function properly, the
system itself serves to prohibit effectiveness, representation, and
consistency. More often than not, our large-group decision-making process
has been ineffective, resulting in inconsequential, inconsistent, or
foolish requirements related to hosting nationals, many of which have been
neither upheld nor even recorded. Taking a cue from these annual
meetings, the host school has often responded with their own decisions,
ill-advised or otherwise, but devoid of representation. Finally, the
pass-it-along exchange of information system has failed completely on
numerous occasions, eliminating consistency, with the loss of our
nationals binder several years ago being far from the only example. We
can do better than this.
2. How do I envision the process of changing our leadership system to be
carried out?
I envision an NAIGC leadership system in which a board of directors is
elected each year to carry out the tasks of maintaining our organization,
and furthering our purpose to promote collegiate club gymnastics. This
leadership system is what I want to propose, emphasize, and put forward in
the form of a constitutional change at our upcoming annual meeting. The
constitutional revisions I have attached provide a first step toward
establishing an elected NAIGC leadership capable of reaching some of the
specific goals that have been discussed in recent years, including
1. Attaining and maintaining status as a legitimate non-profit
organization, able to accept tax-exempt donations, and offer NAIGC
products through the website;
2. coordinating together the NAIGC listserve and NAIGC website;
3. offering substantial advice and guidance to schools starting
gymnastics clubs, or facing liability issues; and
4. eventually offering some form of sanctioning for NAIGC meets.
In addition to serving to advance the above objectives, it is proposed
that the first board of directors be charged with the following initial
tasks, including
1. writing organizational bylaws to stipulate how the board itself
will operate, and
2. completing the tasks of modifying the guidelines for hosting
nationals in a manner that is both reasonable and consistent with the
wishes of NAIGC members.
For this year's annual meeting, I propose that we vote to change our
constitution to adopt such an elected leadership system. According to our
current constitution, such a change must be approved by a 2/3 majority of
NAIGC teams. Also per our constitution, NAIGC teams not attending this
year's nationals may choose to submit their vote regarding acceptance of
the constitutional changes to the listserve.
If the constitutional changes are approved, the NAIGC will hold its first
annual officer elections this year. I have submitted a proposed voting
procedure for electing the first NAIGC Board of Directors in the Bylaws of
the revised constitution. If this revised constitution is approved, the
following election procedure will take effect.
"Nominations for board members may be announced to the NAIGC listserve in
advance of the meeting. Proposed board members not attending the NAIGC
meeting must accept or decline their nomination in advance of the meeting,
specifying their intended method of service. Nominations may also be made
at the annual meeting. All nominees must either accept or decline the
nomination, and if accepting, should be prepared to give a short
presentation of their intended method of service. After all nominations
are submitted, each nominee shall be allotted a maximum of two minutes to
give a presentation of their intended method of service. At the
conclusion of all presentations, clubs will be given opportunity to
nominate a board president. After all presidential nominations are taken,
clubs may vote to select exactly one presidential nominee, or may abstain
from voting. If one presidential nominee receives a majority of votes,
he/she shall be the next board president. If no presidential nominee
receives a majority vote, the board will be granted the responsibility to
select its own president. After the presidential vote, clubs will be
given the opportunity to confirm or deny each accepting board nominee, one
at a time, in their nominated order. Clubs may vote yes, no, or abstain.
Those candidates receiving a majority of yes votes will become members of
the board. "
In this proposed election procedure, I intentionally refrained from
allowing NAIGC members to select officer positions for board members,
except possibly the president. I have been advised that in this first
year with elected representation, it will be especially important for the
NAIGC membership to have opportunity to confirm a leader in the form of a
president. In future years, I will suggest that the board of directors be
allowed to select all its officer positions, including its president. In
my experience, officer positions assigned in a large group setting often
do not fit the personalities or potential service strengths of those
elected to fill them. It is wiser to allow a small group to choose a
leader who can assign duties based intelligently on the way in which
organizational needs match the personalities, strengths, and interests of
those motivated to meet them.
According to the proposed changes, the first board may choose to assign
officer positions to its members. To this end, I have suggested specific
officer positions on the board of directors including president, vice
president, secretary, treasurer, historian, technical director, and an
unspecified number of consultants, who may fill a variety of roles. Those
preparing to present their intended method of service may wish to have an
officer position in mind.
According to the proposed changes, the Board of Directors is granted power
to direct the NAIGC in all matters, with the exception of modifying the
NAIGC Dues. Decisions made on the NAIGC's behalf must be approved by a
majority of board members. Changes to NAIGC Dues must be approved by a
majority of NAIGC member clubs at an annual meeting, or by some other
appropriate voting procedure.
I've given a summary of the main proposed constitution changes. The
details are in the document itself, which you can read at your leisure.
Obviously, before electing an NAIGC board of directors, we need to have
NAIGC participants willing to volunteer to serve on the board. I don't
think this will be a problem. I know that there are many talented and
motivated individuals in the NAIGC's current and former club leaders,
advisors, and coaches; and I know that many of you share my desire to see
the NAIGC reach its potential. With an organization of our size, I am
confident that we have the resources to fill the needs of an elected
leadership.
For my part, I will volunteer to serve the NAIGC for one more year, to run
for an elected position on the Board of Directors. My intended method of
service is in the role of president. I would choose this role in order to
direct the process of revising our constitution and obtaining status as a
legitimate organization. I would also be willing to serve in any other
position for which the members or the board felt I would be more
qualified. It takes no talent to notice that the NAIGC has a broken and
ineffective organizational system, but it will take a lot of talent to fix
that system. I am willing to invest my talents in this endeavor, and I
hope that some of you will join me. I am committed to setting the NAIGC
on a firm foundation, able to succeed in its purpose, become established
as a legitimate organization, establish and maintain ties and good
relations with other gymnastics organizations, and be lifted from its
current shaky foundation into an organizational model that is able to deal
with growth and change appropriately.
For those who don't already know much about me, I have been involved in
the NAIGC for the last 7 years as a graduate student at Virginia Tech and
Cal, where I was/am both a member and president of gymnastics clubs at
both schools. Virginia Tech was and is a leader among NAIGC clubs, and it
was my privilege to have been introduced to the NAIGC and the sport of
gymnastics there. When I transferred to Cal, I introduced the NAIGC to
their gymnastics club, and several other gymnastics clubs in the state of
California and west coast. I have developed many contacts in the
gymnastics community and in the NAIGC. As a gymnastics club president, I
revised Virginia Tech's club constitution, and organized a committee to
author Cal's club constitution from scratch. I have the experience,
motivation, and resources necessary to carry through with the process I
have proposed, essentially restructuring the NAIGC's system of government.
I expect to graduate from Cal in spring 2007 with a Ph.D. in Logic and the
Methodology of Science, and I do not know where the path will lead me
after that. It is my desire to continue involvement with the NAIGC, but
the commitment I can make to this organization is for only one year.
That concludes my discussion of the proposed constitutional revisions. If
anyone has a comment or suggestion to make, I would be very happy to hear
it.
Below is a more or less finalized NAIGC annual meeting agenda. You will
notice that the usual topics of meet fees, rotation size, equipment
requirements, and rules for competition have not been allocated
significant discussion time. I do realize that these topics are very
important, but please see the discussion above for a more than adequate
explanation of their relegation to the bottom of this large group meeting
agenda. It is my opinion that the board will be able to deal with these
issues more intelligently and effectively.
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NAIGC 2006 Annual Meeting Agenda:
Saturday, April 8, 9-11am.
I. Introduction (10 mins)
II. Proposed Constitution Changes (40 mins)
Changes will be summarized. Comments. Proposed revisions. Final vote
will be taken after the lesser of 40 mins or until there are no further
comments.
III. Bids to host Nationals 2007 (20 mins)
Teams are encouraged to submit bids to the listserve before coming to the
meeting. If you have the resources to make a contribution to the NAIGC by
hosting nationals, please do. I believe the precedent is that if no bids
are submitted at all, the NAIGC will collectively beg all the schools
residing in warm climates to stand up and make a contribution. In any
case, all bids will be presented, and the bid receiving a majority vote
will be next year's nationals host.
IV. NAIGC Nominations and Elections (if constitution changes are approved)
(25 mins)
Elections will proceed as stipulated in the Bylaws.
V. NAIGC Dues (15 mins)
1. If the NAIGC chooses to adopt an elected leadership system,
capable of establishing the status of the NAIGC as a non-profit
corporation, the Cal Gymnastics Club will consider donating all or part of
the NAIGC dues collected for nationals 2006 to the NAIGC, to assist in
paying the startup fees required to attain status as a non-profit
corporation ($500+), and to develop the NAIGC's resources.
2. We should also discuss the possibility of modifying the NAIGC dues
structure at some point, for the purpose of providing liability insurance
and sponsoring of meets.
VI. Subsequent Discussion Items (10 mins / time permitting)
1. Meet fees
2. Session Size
3. Equipment Requirements
4. Competition Rules
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Here is an agenda for the first Annual NAIGC Board Meeting, (to be held
immediately following the annual NAIGC meeting if the constitutional
revisions are approved).
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First Annual NAIGC Board Meeting
(to be held immediately following the annual NAIGC meeting, 11-11:30am)
1. Elections for board president (if necessary)
2. Assigned duties of Board Members (volunteers for officer roles)
3. Timeline for completing bylaws, establishing articles of
incorporation
4. Suggestions for communication / meetings / requirements
5. Website updates
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Thank you for taking time to read this.
Have a wonderful day,
Benjamin Johnson
Cal Gymnastics Club president
NAIGC president
(510) 717-2365
benj...@math.berkeley.edu