Greater Huntsville Section

Thanks for the GHS council bringing this to the membership. It's been a painful process to adapt to the national goals for many local leaders.

I wanted to offer a huge note asking you to join me in APPROVING the requested bylaws. I have spent months personally last year attempting to explore the risks. I look forward to chatting at the town hall.

LINK TO ZOOM https://aiaa.zoom.us/ March 21, 2022 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM.

Personal Assessment of Two massive benefits:
1. Members moving to our area can join our leadership with consistent expectation. Our council had developed local requirements to participate on council that were inconsistent with other sections.

2. Our local leaders can better serve in longstanding roles. Our GHS processes ejected leaders off council to force rollover. That actually created a regular issue of a gap in leadership where we constantly have rollover and can't maintain relationships. Plus our active leaders constantly got shot in the foot after being ejected. (Most new GHS leaders exit leadership within 3 years)

FYI, I served on local council as Education Direction 2011/2012. So I am familiar with the org.

Thanks for the GHS council bringing this to the membership. It's been a painful process to adapt to the national goals for many local leaders.

I wanted to offer a huge note asking you to join me in APPROVING the requested bylaws. I have spent months personally last year attempting to explore the risks. I look forward to chatting at the town hall.

LINK TO ZOOM https://aiaa.zoom.us/ March 21, 2022 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM.

Personal Assessment of Two massive benefits:
1. Members moving to our area can join our leadership with consistent expectation. Our council had developed local requirements to participate on council that were inconsistent with other sections.

2. Our local leaders can better serve in longstanding roles. Our GHS processes ejected leaders off council to force rollover. That actually created a regular issue of a gap in leadership where we constantly have rollover and can't maintain relationships. Plus our active leaders constantly got shot in the foot after being ejected. (Most new GHS leaders exit leadership within 3 years)

FYI, I served on local council as Education Direction 2011/2012. So I am familiar with the org.

Thanks for the GHS council bringing this to the membership. It's been a painful process to adapt to the national goals for many local leaders.

I wanted to offer a huge note asking you to join me in APPROVING the requested bylaws. I have spent months personally last year attempting to explore the risks. I look forward to chatting at the town hall.

LINK TO ZOOM https://aiaa.zoom.us/ March 21, 2022 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM.

Personal Assessment of Two massive benefits:
1. Members moving to our area can join our leadership with consistent expectation. Our council had developed local requirements to participate on council that were inconsistent with other sections.

2. Our local leaders can better serve in longstanding roles. Our GHS processes ejected leaders off council to force rollover. That actually created a regular issue of a gap in leadership where we constantly have rollover and can't maintain relationships. Plus our active leaders constantly got shot in the foot after being ejected. (Most new GHS leaders exit leadership within 3 years)

FYI, I served on local council as Education Direction 2011/2012. So I am familiar with the org.

Fellow members.

In a few days you will be asked to vote on the adoption of new bylaws being imposed on the Greater Huntsville Section by AIAA READ (Regional Engagement Activities Division). READ is a recent creation of AIAA. Few know about its existence. It is a new governing body composed of Regional Directors and a small staff.

What READ is attempting to do is remove local control from the section and hold it at the regional level.  Under the new READ bylaws any member can be remove from section leadership at any time, for any reason. No appeal process is provided.

We lose control of our leadership

READ bylaws prohibit term limits. They allow changes to the READ bylaws by READ without section involvement or consent. It eliminates all section member voting on bylaws amendments.

READ bylaws eliminates provision that funds raised for a special purpose shall be used for that purpose. It also eliminates provision from section's current bylaws that all funds raised on behalf of AIAA must be turned over to the Treasurer for disbursement. It will allow non-elected (ex-officio) Council members to manage section funds.

We lose control of our money.

READ bylaws forbid Greater Huntsville Section-specific Awards. Many of these awards have 50+ year history.

The READ bylaws prohibit self-nominations for Council positions. This limits who can run for office.

The new bylaws eliminate our requirement for the Nominating Committee to have non-Council members and forbids non-Council member committee chairs.

Under these new bylaws only the Chair can represent the section with any outside group or organization. This ends delegation of activity by the chair. 

We lose control of the things that make our section unique

READ seeks to have day to day activity managed by a Policy and Procedures Manual. This document (unlike our current bylaws) is never voted on by the section.  It is not legally binding and can be changed on a whim.

We lose all control of the section

READ has stated if you do not vote by March 31^st and vote yes, the section MAY (not will) risk losing funding from AIAA national organization next year.

Section funds provided by AIAA national come in part from the dues you pay to be a member.

Being part of AIAA is something you pay for!

READ is demanding a vote and the threatening us if we vote the wrong way 

Local control is always best.

Please Vote NO on adopting the new READ bylaws.

Thanks for the GHS council bringing this to the membership. It's been a painful process to adapt to the national goals for many local leaders.

I wanted to offer a huge note asking you to join me in APPROVING the requested bylaws. I have spent months personally last year attempting to explore the risks. I look forward to chatting at the town hall.

LINK TO ZOOM https://aiaa.zoom.us/ March 21, 2022 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM.

Personal Assessment of Two massive benefits:
1. Members moving to our area can join our leadership with consistent expectation. Our council had developed local requirements to participate on council that were inconsistent with other sections.

2. Our local leaders can better serve in longstanding roles. Our GHS processes ejected leaders off council to force rollover. That actually created a regular issue of a gap in leadership where we constantly have rollover and can't maintain relationships. Plus our active leaders constantly got shot in the foot after being ejected. (Most new GHS leaders exit leadership within 3 years)

FYI, I served on local council as Education Direction 2011/2012. So I am familiar with the org.

Hi,

**writing this in my personal capacity as a Greater Huntsville Section (GHS) member -- views below represent mine alone**

There are very strong opinions on bylaws on both sides and this issue has an almost 5 year history within GHS.  I wanted to come in and provide my perspective on the GHS bylaws and standard section bylaws we are being asked to adopt relative to what is stated above and call out specific sections of both documents where appropriate for more context.

This is my personal perspective based on my own analysis of the two sets of bylaws: current GHS bylaws and the standard section bylaws (referred to in above as READ bylaws) we are being asked to adopt.

Bylaws comparison in single file: strikethroughs from current GHS bylaws in red; additions with standard section bylaws in green

For reference, READ is the Regional Engagement Activities Division.  The Regional Engagement Activities Division (READ), established in the AIAA Bylaws, is one of the three Divisions within the Council of Directors.  READ supervises member activities at all levels, from Student Branches to professional Sections and Regions.  As a member of AIAA, you are represented on READ by your regional director.

Additional information and context on statements in thread above:

The standard section bylaws do not allow term limits. Our current GHS bylaws also do not impose term limits on director positions. In current GHS bylaws, "The Chair may succeed himself/herself and serve one additional one-year term. The Vice Chairperson, or Secretary, Treasurer, if he/she has served a full term, is not eligible to succeed himself/herself."

The provision that funds donated for a specific purpose must be used for a specific purpose is currently in GHS bylaws and is in accordance with Alabama state law for nonprofits, as I understand it.  This does not appear in the standard section bylaws (in my view) because it is not something that applies across all states.  I believe that this provision can be incorporated into a policies and procedures document which is maintained at the council level and governs aspects of local operations.  There are those who would bring up the point that the policies and procedures document is not legally binding the way bylaws are and that they feel this provision thus needs to be in the bylaws. If a particular council feels strongly about this going forward, they could propose this to READ as an amendment to standard section bylaws and follow the process set forth for amendment proposal, membership voting across all sections, and ratification under standard section bylaws. 

In standard section bylaws, "the Council may appropriate budgetary funds for these ex officio Council members to manage and use in the execution
of their tasks, constrained within the limits of the Council's authorization."  This provision is not  in GHS bylaws.

Standard section bylaws do not include a provision that all funds shall be disbursed by the treasurer.  However, the Treasurer still keeps records of all funds received and disbursed.  The provision in question, while not part of the standard bylaws, in my view can also be incorporated into a policies and procedures document.

Because standard section bylaws apply across all sections of the institute, they do not include GHS's section-specific awards.  These can be incorporated into a section's policies and procedures document.

In the standard section bylaws (READ bylaws), members must be nominated by another member for a council position.  In current GHS bylaws, members can self nominate.  However, nominations in current GHS bylaws must be approved by a nominating committee .  Under current GHS bylaws, "additional nominations may be made by petition to the Secretary stating the names of the nominees and the offices for which they are being nominated, which petitions each shall be signed by at least five percent of the membership, but not less than ten members."

In standard section bylaws, "The Chair shall preside at all meetings and functions with outside agencies."  In GHS operations this function may be performed by others on council, including the liaison to professional societies., However, in the standard section bylaws it is my interpretation that it is still within the authority of the chair to delegate functions.

The policies and procedures document, which sections are required to develop by the standard section bylaws, governs aspects of local operations.  This document is maintained at the council level. It is my view that many aspects of GHS operations which do not appear in standard section bylaws could go in a policies and procedures document.  It is not a document that is voted on by general membership, but only the council which is elected by the membership.

In the standard section bylaws, the board of trustees can remove a section chair by a majority vote.  Our current GHS bylaws are written around "suspension."  In the GHS bylaws, the AIAA council (higher level governing body which would now I think be Council of Directors) can vote to suspend an officer or council member to act in their position.

It is very important to note that the general membership do still vote on amendments to standard section bylaws.  Amendments to standard section bylaws are subject to national approval and adoption, so 3/4 of sections must vote to adopt an amendment for it to be ratified.  It is possible that GHS's membership vote could be overruled if they are in the minority voting proportion. This voting framework is based on the process for ratification of amendments to the US Constitution.  There is one instance specified where membership does not vote on bylaws changes -- this is in cases where bylaws must be updated to comply with changes to higher level governing documents, such as the institute bylaws or the AIAA Constitution.

In September 2021, READ set a deadline for GHS to ratify standard section bylaws after final dispositioning of comments (it is also important to know that all comments from GHS were dispositioned, although some members as you heard on the town hall feel that dispositioning was inadequate).  The penalties were in a motion passed by READ in October 2021. If we as a section do not adopt bylaws and are thus noncompliant with the AIAA governance model, then we will not be eligible for section awards or section rebate funding (comes from member dues) until standard section bylaws are adopted.
A prior communication sent to all GHS members by READ and AIAA national on Feb. 7th indicated if the membership of GHS does not adopt bylaws we will be placed into a status of "not in good standing." It was stated on the town hall that this can also come with loss of additional membership benefits (from Feb. 7th e-mail sent to entire GHS section from READ chief Dan Jensen/Dan Dumbacher/Allen Arrington/Basil Hassan: "Please vote YES in order to remain a Section in good standing with AIAA and retain the many benefits of affiliation with the Institute.") It is my understanding that after a longer period of noncompliance, the section's charter would be in jeopardy.

Again, I'm not an authority on any of this -- just someone who has spent some time looking at both of these documents.  The intent of this post is just to add more clarification and context to what is in this thread and share my thoughts.  I am not seeking to offend anyone and I know this is an intense issue that has been in discussion since 2017.   I appreciate that Engage is providing us all with a platform to share and discuss.  I also appreciate everyone's civility here and critical thinking on this issue.

Thank you,
Tracie

Fellow members.

In a few days you will be asked to vote on the adoption of new bylaws being imposed on the Greater Huntsville Section by AIAA READ (Regional Engagement Activities Division). READ is a recent creation of AIAA. Few know about its existence. It is a new governing body composed of Regional Directors and a small staff.

What READ is attempting to do is remove local control from the section and hold it at the regional level.  Under the new READ bylaws any member can be remove from section leadership at any time, for any reason. No appeal process is provided.

We lose control of our leadership

READ bylaws prohibit term limits. They allow changes to the READ bylaws by READ without section involvement or consent. It eliminates all section member voting on bylaws amendments.

READ bylaws eliminates provision that funds raised for a special purpose shall be used for that purpose. It also eliminates provision from section's current bylaws that all funds raised on behalf of AIAA must be turned over to the Treasurer for disbursement. It will allow non-elected (ex-officio) Council members to manage section funds.

We lose control of our money.

READ bylaws forbid Greater Huntsville Section-specific Awards. Many of these awards have 50+ year history.

The READ bylaws prohibit self-nominations for Council positions. This limits who can run for office.

The new bylaws eliminate our requirement for the Nominating Committee to have non-Council members and forbids non-Council member committee chairs.

Under these new bylaws only the Chair can represent the section with any outside group or organization. This ends delegation of activity by the chair. 

We lose control of the things that make our section unique

READ seeks to have day to day activity managed by a Policy and Procedures Manual. This document (unlike our current bylaws) is never voted on by the section.  It is not legally binding and can be changed on a whim.

We lose all control of the section

READ has stated if you do not vote by March 31^st and vote yes, the section MAY (not will) risk losing funding from AIAA national organization next year.

Section funds provided by AIAA national come in part from the dues you pay to be a member.

Being part of AIAA is something you pay for!

READ is demanding a vote and the threatening us if we vote the wrong way 

Local control is always best.

Please Vote NO on adopting the new READ bylaws.

Thanks for the GHS council bringing this to the membership. It's been a painful process to adapt to the national goals for many local leaders.

I wanted to offer a huge note asking you to join me in APPROVING the requested bylaws. I have spent months personally last year attempting to explore the risks. I look forward to chatting at the town hall.

LINK TO ZOOM https://aiaa.zoom.us/ March 21, 2022 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM.

Personal Assessment of Two massive benefits:
1. Members moving to our area can join our leadership with consistent expectation. Our council had developed local requirements to participate on council that were inconsistent with other sections.

2. Our local leaders can better serve in longstanding roles. Our GHS processes ejected leaders off council to force rollover. That actually created a regular issue of a gap in leadership where we constantly have rollover and can't maintain relationships. Plus our active leaders constantly got shot in the foot after being ejected. (Most new GHS leaders exit leadership within 3 years)

FYI, I served on local council as Education Direction 2011/2012. So I am familiar with the org.

Hi,

**writing this in my personal capacity as a Greater Huntsville Section (GHS) member -- views below represent mine alone**

There are very strong opinions on bylaws on both sides and this issue has an almost 5 year history within GHS.  I wanted to come in and provide my perspective on the GHS bylaws and standard section bylaws we are being asked to adopt relative to what is stated above and call out specific sections of both documents where appropriate for more context.

This is my personal perspective based on my own analysis of the two sets of bylaws: current GHS bylaws and the standard section bylaws (referred to in above as READ bylaws) we are being asked to adopt.

Bylaws comparison in single file: strikethroughs from current GHS bylaws in red; additions with standard section bylaws in green

For reference, READ is the Regional Engagement Activities Division.  The Regional Engagement Activities Division (READ), established in the AIAA Bylaws, is one of the three Divisions within the Council of Directors.  READ supervises member activities at all levels, from Student Branches to professional Sections and Regions.  As a member of AIAA, you are represented on READ by your regional director.

Additional information and context on statements in thread above:

The standard section bylaws do not allow term limits. Our current GHS bylaws also do not impose term limits on director positions. In current GHS bylaws, "The Chair may succeed himself/herself and serve one additional one-year term. The Vice Chairperson, or Secretary, Treasurer, if he/she has served a full term, is not eligible to succeed himself/herself."

The provision that funds donated for a specific purpose must be used for a specific purpose is currently in GHS bylaws and is in accordance with Alabama state law for nonprofits, as I understand it.  This does not appear in the standard section bylaws (in my view) because it is not something that applies across all states.  I believe that this provision can be incorporated into a policies and procedures document which is maintained at the council level and governs aspects of local operations.  There are those who would bring up the point that the policies and procedures document is not legally binding the way bylaws are and that they feel this provision thus needs to be in the bylaws. If a particular council feels strongly about this going forward, they could propose this to READ as an amendment to standard section bylaws and follow the process set forth for amendment proposal, membership voting across all sections, and ratification under standard section bylaws. 

In standard section bylaws, "the Council may appropriate budgetary funds for these ex officio Council members to manage and use in the execution
of their tasks, constrained within the limits of the Council's authorization."  This provision is not  in GHS bylaws.

Standard section bylaws do not include a provision that all funds shall be disbursed by the treasurer.  However, the Treasurer still keeps records of all funds received and disbursed.  The provision in question, while not part of the standard bylaws, in my view can also be incorporated into a policies and procedures document.

Because standard section bylaws apply across all sections of the institute, they do not include GHS's section-specific awards.  These can be incorporated into a section's policies and procedures document.

In the standard section bylaws (READ bylaws), members must be nominated by another member for a council position.  In current GHS bylaws, members can self nominate.  However, nominations in current GHS bylaws must be approved by a nominating committee .  Under current GHS bylaws, "additional nominations may be made by petition to the Secretary stating the names of the nominees and the offices for which they are being nominated, which petitions each shall be signed by at least five percent of the membership, but not less than ten members."

In standard section bylaws, "The Chair shall preside at all meetings and functions with outside agencies."  In GHS operations this function may be performed by others on council, including the liaison to professional societies., However, in the standard section bylaws it is my interpretation that it is still within the authority of the chair to delegate functions.

The policies and procedures document, which sections are required to develop by the standard section bylaws, governs aspects of local operations.  This document is maintained at the council level. It is my view that many aspects of GHS operations which do not appear in standard section bylaws could go in a policies and procedures document.  It is not a document that is voted on by general membership, but only the council which is elected by the membership.

In the standard section bylaws, the board of trustees can remove a section chair by a majority vote.  Our current GHS bylaws are written around "suspension."  In the GHS bylaws, the AIAA council (higher level governing body which would now I think be Council of Directors) can vote to suspend an officer or council member to act in their position.

It is very important to note that the general membership do still vote on amendments to standard section bylaws.  Amendments to standard section bylaws are subject to national approval and adoption, so 3/4 of sections must vote to adopt an amendment for it to be ratified.  It is possible that GHS's membership vote could be overruled if they are in the minority voting proportion. This voting framework is based on the process for ratification of amendments to the US Constitution.  There is one instance specified where membership does not vote on bylaws changes -- this is in cases where bylaws must be updated to comply with changes to higher level governing documents, such as the institute bylaws or the AIAA Constitution.

In September 2021, READ set a deadline for GHS to ratify standard section bylaws after final dispositioning of comments (it is also important to know that all comments from GHS were dispositioned, although some members as you heard on the town hall feel that dispositioning was inadequate).  The penalties were in a motion passed by READ in October 2021. If we as a section do not adopt bylaws and are thus noncompliant with the AIAA governance model, then we will not be eligible for section awards or section rebate funding (comes from member dues) until standard section bylaws are adopted.
A prior communication sent to all GHS members by READ and AIAA national on Feb. 7th indicated if the membership of GHS does not adopt bylaws we will be placed into a status of "not in good standing." It was stated on the town hall that this can also come with loss of additional membership benefits (from Feb. 7th e-mail sent to entire GHS section from READ chief Dan Jensen/Dan Dumbacher/Allen Arrington/Basil Hassan: "Please vote YES in order to remain a Section in good standing with AIAA and retain the many benefits of affiliation with the Institute.") It is my understanding that after a longer period of noncompliance, the section's charter would be in jeopardy.

Again, I'm not an authority on any of this -- just someone who has spent some time looking at both of these documents.  The intent of this post is just to add more clarification and context to what is in this thread and share my thoughts.  I am not seeking to offend anyone and I know this is an intense issue that has been in discussion since 2017.   I appreciate that Engage is providing us all with a platform to share and discuss.  I also appreciate everyone's civility here and critical thinking on this issue.

Thank you,
Tracie

Fellow members.

In a few days you will be asked to vote on the adoption of new bylaws being imposed on the Greater Huntsville Section by AIAA READ (Regional Engagement Activities Division). READ is a recent creation of AIAA. Few know about its existence. It is a new governing body composed of Regional Directors and a small staff.

What READ is attempting to do is remove local control from the section and hold it at the regional level.  Under the new READ bylaws any member can be remove from section leadership at any time, for any reason. No appeal process is provided.

We lose control of our leadership

READ bylaws prohibit term limits. They allow changes to the READ bylaws by READ without section involvement or consent. It eliminates all section member voting on bylaws amendments.

READ bylaws eliminates provision that funds raised for a special purpose shall be used for that purpose. It also eliminates provision from section's current bylaws that all funds raised on behalf of AIAA must be turned over to the Treasurer for disbursement. It will allow non-elected (ex-officio) Council members to manage section funds.

We lose control of our money.

READ bylaws forbid Greater Huntsville Section-specific Awards. Many of these awards have 50+ year history.

The READ bylaws prohibit self-nominations for Council positions. This limits who can run for office.

The new bylaws eliminate our requirement for the Nominating Committee to have non-Council members and forbids non-Council member committee chairs.

Under these new bylaws only the Chair can represent the section with any outside group or organization. This ends delegation of activity by the chair. 

We lose control of the things that make our section unique

READ seeks to have day to day activity managed by a Policy and Procedures Manual. This document (unlike our current bylaws) is never voted on by the section.  It is not legally binding and can be changed on a whim.

We lose all control of the section

READ has stated if you do not vote by March 31^st and vote yes, the section MAY (not will) risk losing funding from AIAA national organization next year.

Section funds provided by AIAA national come in part from the dues you pay to be a member.

Being part of AIAA is something you pay for!

READ is demanding a vote and the threatening us if we vote the wrong way 

Local control is always best.

Please Vote NO on adopting the new READ bylaws.

Thanks for the GHS council bringing this to the membership. It's been a painful process to adapt to the national goals for many local leaders.

I wanted to offer a huge note asking you to join me in APPROVING the requested bylaws. I have spent months personally last year attempting to explore the risks. I look forward to chatting at the town hall.

LINK TO ZOOM https://aiaa.zoom.us/ March 21, 2022 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM.

Personal Assessment of Two massive benefits:
1. Members moving to our area can join our leadership with consistent expectation. Our council had developed local requirements to participate on council that were inconsistent with other sections.

2. Our local leaders can better serve in longstanding roles. Our GHS processes ejected leaders off council to force rollover. That actually created a regular issue of a gap in leadership where we constantly have rollover and can't maintain relationships. Plus our active leaders constantly got shot in the foot after being ejected. (Most new GHS leaders exit leadership within 3 years)

FYI, I served on local council as Education Direction 2011/2012. So I am familiar with the org.

Yes, there is the possibility that an amendment GHS membership doesn't want to see ratified is still ratified if GHS is in the minority voting proportion.  This is what I meant when I referenced the Constitution.  If a particular state doesn't want the equal rights amendment, for example, but 38 other states (3/4) do, then it becomes part of the Constitution and that state must still adhere to it.

Article XII.2 from the proposed bylaws: "An amendment to bylaws may be proposed by a vote of the [section] council or by petition to the secretary with approval of at least 5% of the voting membership (but no fewer than 10 members)"  Doesn't that latter statement mean a member can still propose an amendment to standard bylaws?  There's much more on the nitty gritty of READ accepting the amendment as proposed or sending it out to the sections for comment, then dispositioning comments, and then sending it out for voting to each section's membership in this article (see flowchart below my husband made)

I feel like I honestly need to take some more civics classes for these philosophy of governance debates we are all having in GHS :)

Hi,

**writing this in my personal capacity as a Greater Huntsville Section (GHS) member -- views below represent mine alone**

There are very strong opinions on bylaws on both sides and this issue has an almost 5 year history within GHS.  I wanted to come in and provide my perspective on the GHS bylaws and standard section bylaws we are being asked to adopt relative to what is stated above and call out specific sections of both documents where appropriate for more context.

This is my personal perspective based on my own analysis of the two sets of bylaws: current GHS bylaws and the standard section bylaws (referred to in above as READ bylaws) we are being asked to adopt.

Bylaws comparison in single file: strikethroughs from current GHS bylaws in red; additions with standard section bylaws in green

For reference, READ is the Regional Engagement Activities Division.  The Regional Engagement Activities Division (READ), established in the AIAA Bylaws, is one of the three Divisions within the Council of Directors.  READ supervises member activities at all levels, from Student Branches to professional Sections and Regions.  As a member of AIAA, you are represented on READ by your regional director.

Additional information and context on statements in thread above:

The standard section bylaws do not allow term limits. Our current GHS bylaws also do not impose term limits on director positions. In current GHS bylaws, "The Chair may succeed himself/herself and serve one additional one-year term. The Vice Chairperson, or Secretary, Treasurer, if he/she has served a full term, is not eligible to succeed himself/herself."

The provision that funds donated for a specific purpose must be used for a specific purpose is currently in GHS bylaws and is in accordance with Alabama state law for nonprofits, as I understand it.  This does not appear in the standard section bylaws (in my view) because it is not something that applies across all states.  I believe that this provision can be incorporated into a policies and procedures document which is maintained at the council level and governs aspects of local operations.  There are those who would bring up the point that the policies and procedures document is not legally binding the way bylaws are and that they feel this provision thus needs to be in the bylaws. If a particular council feels strongly about this going forward, they could propose this to READ as an amendment to standard section bylaws and follow the process set forth for amendment proposal, membership voting across all sections, and ratification under standard section bylaws. 

In standard section bylaws, "the Council may appropriate budgetary funds for these ex officio Council members to manage and use in the execution
of their tasks, constrained within the limits of the Council's authorization."  This provision is not  in GHS bylaws.

Standard section bylaws do not include a provision that all funds shall be disbursed by the treasurer.  However, the Treasurer still keeps records of all funds received and disbursed.  The provision in question, while not part of the standard bylaws, in my view can also be incorporated into a policies and procedures document.

Because standard section bylaws apply across all sections of the institute, they do not include GHS's section-specific awards.  These can be incorporated into a section's policies and procedures document.

In the standard section bylaws (READ bylaws), members must be nominated by another member for a council position.  In current GHS bylaws, members can self nominate.  However, nominations in current GHS bylaws must be approved by a nominating committee .  Under current GHS bylaws, "additional nominations may be made by petition to the Secretary stating the names of the nominees and the offices for which they are being nominated, which petitions each shall be signed by at least five percent of the membership, but not less than ten members."

In standard section bylaws, "The Chair shall preside at all meetings and functions with outside agencies."  In GHS operations this function may be performed by others on council, including the liaison to professional societies., However, in the standard section bylaws it is my interpretation that it is still within the authority of the chair to delegate functions.

The policies and procedures document, which sections are required to develop by the standard section bylaws, governs aspects of local operations.  This document is maintained at the council level. It is my view that many aspects of GHS operations which do not appear in standard section bylaws could go in a policies and procedures document.  It is not a document that is voted on by general membership, but only the council which is elected by the membership.

In the standard section bylaws, the board of trustees can remove a section chair by a majority vote.  Our current GHS bylaws are written around "suspension."  In the GHS bylaws, the AIAA council (higher level governing body which would now I think be Council of Directors) can vote to suspend an officer or council member to act in their position.

It is very important to note that the general membership do still vote on amendments to standard section bylaws.  Amendments to standard section bylaws are subject to national approval and adoption, so 3/4 of sections must vote to adopt an amendment for it to be ratified.  It is possible that GHS's membership vote could be overruled if they are in the minority voting proportion. This voting framework is based on the process for ratification of amendments to the US Constitution.  There is one instance specified where membership does not vote on bylaws changes -- this is in cases where bylaws must be updated to comply with changes to higher level governing documents, such as the institute bylaws or the AIAA Constitution.

In September 2021, READ set a deadline for GHS to ratify standard section bylaws after final dispositioning of comments (it is also important to know that all comments from GHS were dispositioned, although some members as you heard on the town hall feel that dispositioning was inadequate).  The penalties were in a motion passed by READ in October 2021. If we as a section do not adopt bylaws and are thus noncompliant with the AIAA governance model, then we will not be eligible for section awards or section rebate funding (comes from member dues) until standard section bylaws are adopted.
A prior communication sent to all GHS members by READ and AIAA national on Feb. 7th indicated if the membership of GHS does not adopt bylaws we will be placed into a status of "not in good standing." It was stated on the town hall that this can also come with loss of additional membership benefits (from Feb. 7th e-mail sent to entire GHS section from READ chief Dan Jensen/Dan Dumbacher/Allen Arrington/Basil Hassan: "Please vote YES in order to remain a Section in good standing with AIAA and retain the many benefits of affiliation with the Institute.") It is my understanding that after a longer period of noncompliance, the section's charter would be in jeopardy.

Again, I'm not an authority on any of this -- just someone who has spent some time looking at both of these documents.  The intent of this post is just to add more clarification and context to what is in this thread and share my thoughts.  I am not seeking to offend anyone and I know this is an intense issue that has been in discussion since 2017.   I appreciate that Engage is providing us all with a platform to share and discuss.  I also appreciate everyone's civility here and critical thinking on this issue.

Thank you,
Tracie

Fellow members.

In a few days you will be asked to vote on the adoption of new bylaws being imposed on the Greater Huntsville Section by AIAA READ (Regional Engagement Activities Division). READ is a recent creation of AIAA. Few know about its existence. It is a new governing body composed of Regional Directors and a small staff.

What READ is attempting to do is remove local control from the section and hold it at the regional level.  Under the new READ bylaws any member can be remove from section leadership at any time, for any reason. No appeal process is provided.

We lose control of our leadership

READ bylaws prohibit term limits. They allow changes to the READ bylaws by READ without section involvement or consent. It eliminates all section member voting on bylaws amendments.

READ bylaws eliminates provision that funds raised for a special purpose shall be used for that purpose. It also eliminates provision from section's current bylaws that all funds raised on behalf of AIAA must be turned over to the Treasurer for disbursement. It will allow non-elected (ex-officio) Council members to manage section funds.

We lose control of our money.

READ bylaws forbid Greater Huntsville Section-specific Awards. Many of these awards have 50+ year history.

The READ bylaws prohibit self-nominations for Council positions. This limits who can run for office.

The new bylaws eliminate our requirement for the Nominating Committee to have non-Council members and forbids non-Council member committee chairs.

Under these new bylaws only the Chair can represent the section with any outside group or organization. This ends delegation of activity by the chair. 

We lose control of the things that make our section unique

READ seeks to have day to day activity managed by a Policy and Procedures Manual. This document (unlike our current bylaws) is never voted on by the section.  It is not legally binding and can be changed on a whim.

We lose all control of the section

READ has stated if you do not vote by March 31^st and vote yes, the section MAY (not will) risk losing funding from AIAA national organization next year.

Section funds provided by AIAA national come in part from the dues you pay to be a member.

Being part of AIAA is something you pay for!

READ is demanding a vote and the threatening us if we vote the wrong way 

Local control is always best.

Please Vote NO on adopting the new READ bylaws.

Thanks for the GHS council bringing this to the membership. It's been a painful process to adapt to the national goals for many local leaders.

I wanted to offer a huge note asking you to join me in APPROVING the requested bylaws. I have spent months personally last year attempting to explore the risks. I look forward to chatting at the town hall.

LINK TO ZOOM https://aiaa.zoom.us/ March 21, 2022 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM.

Personal Assessment of Two massive benefits:
1. Members moving to our area can join our leadership with consistent expectation. Our council had developed local requirements to participate on council that were inconsistent with other sections.

2. Our local leaders can better serve in longstanding roles. Our GHS processes ejected leaders off council to force rollover. That actually created a regular issue of a gap in leadership where we constantly have rollover and can't maintain relationships. Plus our active leaders constantly got shot in the foot after being ejected. (Most new GHS leaders exit leadership within 3 years)

FYI, I served on local council as Education Direction 2011/2012. So I am familiar with the org.