Conference Governing Council Meeting
By-Laws Committee Report
Over this past trimester, concerns have continued to surface relative to the lack of procedural guidelines and protocol in several areas of business. It is imperative that we as an organization, in service to our members, and to the students and clients for whom they serve, identify any weaknesses or omissions in our governance principles and internal controls. Once these have been identified, the next step is to determine to appropriate source to document any revisions.
The handbook is a valuable tool for officers, particularly for our emerging leaders. The content is very thorough, but there may be a few areas that require more specificity. For example: In regard to the responsibilities of the TCA President-Elect, it would be beneficial to offer more specific information about serving as Conference Chair, one of the TCA President-Elect’s responsibilities. It is my understanding that there is a comprehensive handbook being developed by the Conference Oversight Committee, which will serve as a valuable resource to one who is in service as TCA President-Elect and Conference Chair. Should this conference handbook stand as a separate entity, reference to this handbook would then be documented in the responsibilities section of the leadership service handbook. In some cases, revisions to the by-laws may be necessary sometime in the near future. However, at the present time, review of the by-laws in congruence with ACA by-laws would supersede adding any “procedures” to the by-laws.
GOALS:
Our goal for the next trimester follows: In adherence to the TCA Strategic Plan (2007), Promoting the Organization Structure, Management, and Resources section, Goal: Revenue sources for TCA will increase by 5% each year compared with the revenue from the 2006 conference, item F, we are charged to “revisit policies and procedures and report progress to the Governing Council at the Leadership Development Conference in July 2009.” The President has previously suggested that the issue of appointment of a committee be presented at the November 2008 Governing Council meeting. She has asked that there be representation from each Grand Division and a Past President.
Our 2nd major goal is to attend to improvement of governance procedural guidelines and protocol. I have proposed to President Turner that a committee be formed to review the current service handbook, under the direction of Executive Director Becky Murray and myself. This committee would be comprised of at least one representative from all Grand Divisions.
Respectfully Submitted,
Roosevelt Faulkner, Ed.D., LPC, BCPC
By-Laws Committee Chair