2023 Bylaw Revision Process
Here is an overview of the process used in creating the 2023 Proposed Bylaw Revisions:
2021: Board created and charged a committee to do the work of reviewing the Bylaws and making recommendations to the Board. Due to many circumstances, including the pandemic, there was no progress.
Summer/Fall 2022: Bylaws Committee members recruited.
Fall 2022: Charged refined to update the timeline, focus on Article 1 Section 3, and review the rest of the Bylaws and make recommendations for anything else that needs review. Approved by the board in Nov.
Nov. 2022: The Bylaws Committee launched their work. First getting to know one another and reviewing their charge. The committee, through board liaison Wendy Bartel, first received input on their charge, process, and initial work from the Board. The board was the first to engage in the following process to engage in discussions around the purposes of the UUMA.
- Read aloud Article I, Section 3
- Think of a hard day in ministry when something/one connected with the UUMA helped shift things.
- Think of a time that was fun, exciting, or relief connected with UUMA.
- A time in ministry when the UUMA wasn’t there, or you assumed it wasn’t or wouldn’t be.
- Things that are missing or no longer relevant in that section-discuss
Further meetings in November saw the committee engaged in similar processes, digging in to various documents, and contemplating a previous board’s work with the COIC.
Dec. 2022: The committee worked on initial drafts and designed a process by which to engage the membership, including identifying specific stakeholder groups to particularly be invited into conversation.
Jan. 2023: First draft completed and shared with Board of Trustees and during Chapter Leader Calls. Process was outlined and shared with the membership in the January weekly news.
Feb 2023: Created a second draft based on fantastic initial feedback and launched process to engage with membership. The process was advertised to membership through special Board Email and via social media.
March 2023: The committee met frequently in the months of February and March reviewing every piece of feedback and going through another six (6) drafts. Draft seven was shared for final approval at the March Board meeting.
April 2023: The board decided to give the membership one more opportunity to offer feedback and amendments to Draft 7. The committee published Draft 7 widely and set a date of April 15 as the final date to receive feedback so it could be incorporated into a final draft to be approved at the April board meeting and included in the May Annual Meeting materials, which it was.
May 2023: Final draft published in Annual Meeting materials