On State Names and By-laws

Here is the latest from the society

​AUTOMATIC AMENDMENT PROCEDURE for SO Bylaw Updates (hard copy)
 
Some state organization bylaws do not have a provision for automatically updating the SO bylaws and standing rules to bring them into conformity with the DKG Constitution and International Standing Rules. Therefore, at their state conventions members  go through the tedious process of proposing and voting on each conforming amendment separately.
 
Here is a way to streamline the process of making all of the amendments necessary to bring the state organization’s governing documents into compliance with the Constitution and International Standing Rules.
 
If the convention adopts an amendment to the state organization’s bylaws that states, "Changes in the Bylaws and Standing Rules of __(insert your SO name here)___  necessitated by amendments to the DKG Constitution and/or International Standing Rules shall be made by the __(insert the name of the authorized board or committee here)___ and then reported to  members ___(indicate how, when and where___, " the state organization will not have to approve each change individually.
 
Note that the amendment needs to state who has the authority to make the conforming amendments and to indicate when and how members are to be informed of the changes.
 
If such an amendment is proposed and adopted at a 2019 SO convention, it will take effect immediately.  Therefore, if it is adopted before any conforming amendments are proposed, the members will not have to consider those conforming amendments. They can simply be made by the authorized board or committee and reported to the members in the prescribed manner.
 
Helen Popovich, Ph.D., PRP
International Parliamentarian
January 15, 2019

Guidelines Regarding State Organization Names (hard copy):
The Constitution states: "Each state organization of the Society shall be designated by a geographic area or by a country name. Each chapter shall be named by the state organization."
 
​Robert's states: "If the bylaws authorize certain things specifically, other things of the same class are thereby prohibited" [RONR (11th ed.), p. 589, ll. 33-34]. This means that if the DKG Constitution specifically authorizes a geographic area name, any other name such as a Greek letter name is prohibited. Also, if the Constitution specifically authorizes each state organization to name its chapters, the state organization is prohibited from naming other things of the same class, such as its own state organization.
 
In addition, at the 2018 convention the members amended Article I, Section B of the Constitution by striking the Greek letter or combination of Greek letters by which the state organization was designated and inserting the geographic area by which it was to be designated. Since the members voted to strike the Greek letter or combination of Greek letters that designate a state organization's name, the Greek letter(s) must be struck from the designated name. 
 
Therefore, in accordance with the Constitution, the name of your state organization is “the __Name of Your State, Geographic Area, or Country_  State Organization.”
 
You can, however, add the parenthetical phrase "(formerly known as __Greek letter(s)__  State)," since such a phrase does not suggest that "Greek Letter(s)" is a part of the official name. It merely provides historical information.
 
Helen Popovich, Ph.D., PRP
International Parliamentarian
11/13/18
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