National Parliamentarian (Vol. 77, No. 4)

NP

National Parliamentarian Volume 77, No. 4 | Summer 2016

NAP

The road to service.

See You There

August 26-28, 2016 Omni Interlocken Resort Broomfield, CO Located in the ideal vacationland­—Colorado Look for details and registration information on the NAP website.

www.parliamentarians.org

NP

National Parliamentarian Volume 77, No. 4 | Summer 2016

Contents 2015-2017 NAP Officers President Mary L. Randolph, PRP Vice-President James N. Jones, PRP Secretary Teresa Stone, PRP Treasurer Wanda M. Sims, PRP Directors-at-Large Darlene Allen, PRP Ann Rempel, PRP Alison Wallis, PRP District Director Representatives Kevin Connelly, PRP Joyce Brown-Watkins, PRP Parliamentarian Roger Hanshaw, PRP Executive Director Cynthia Launchbaugh

From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Letter to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 President’s Message Journey with NAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Features Meet Mrs. Motley – Still Active After All These Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 History of NAP – Part III NAP and the Mace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Public Library Celebrates Parliamentarian Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Using Flashcards to Teach Parliamentary Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 My Search for Robert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 National Association of Parliamentarians® 2013-2015 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Departments Test Yourself Questions & Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 NAP Connections Call for Amendments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Washington State Association of Parliamentarians (WSAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

NAP’s Vision: To provide parliamentary leadership to the world

In Memoriam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 New Registered Parliamentarians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 New Professional Registered Parliamentarians . . . . . . 36 Ordering Materials from NAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 www.parliamentarians.org

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National Parliamentarian

®

Official publication of the National Association of Parliamentarians® 213 S. Main Street • Independence, MO 64050-3808 816.833.3892 • 888.627.2929 hq@nap2.org • www.parliamentarians.org

Editor Martha Womack Haun, PhD, PRP mhaun@uh.edu

Assistant Editor Dana Dickson, RP

Parliamentary Research Committee Jonathan Jacobs, PRP Steve Britton, PRP George Mervosh, III, PRP Roger Hanshaw, PRP

Parliamentary Review Committee Betty Tunstall, PRP Dennis Clark, PRP Beverly Przybylski, PRP

NATIONAL PARLIAMENTARIAN®

(Registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, ISSN 8755-7592) Published quarterly by the National Association of Parliamentarians ©2016 All rights to reproduce or reprint any portion of this publication are reserved, except by written permission of the editor. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those endorsed by NAP.

Subscription and change-of-address requests should be directed to NAP at the above address.

Annual subscription: $30 • Single copy: $8

NP Submission Guidelines National Parliamentarian generally publishes only original works that have not been published elsewhere. Articles will be edited to conform to The Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.) and may be edited for content and length. Article text should be submitted in Microsoft Word or rich text format and transmitted via e-mail. Illustrations, photographic prints and high-resolution photos are welcome.

Materials submitted will not be returned unless special arrangements are made in advance with the editor.

Contributors must include a completed “Assign and Transfer Copyright” form with their submission, granting NAP the copyright or permission to publish.

Submission Deadlines Volume 78, No. 1 (Fall 2016) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . August 1, 2016 Volume 78, No. 2 (Winter 2017) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . November 1, 2016 Volume 78, No. 3 (Spring 2017) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . February 1, 2017 2

National Parliamentarian • Summer 2016

From the Editor

What a year! It seems only a few weeks ago that we were in the 2015 annual session making plans and stretching our parliamentary imaginations! Now we are days from meeting in Broomfield for an awesome NTC! After reviewing that program, I want to clone myself so I don’t miss anything!

The evolution of this issue of the NP has been fun! I love the history of the mace and I’m eager for you to meet our oldest NAP member, Mrs. Florence Motley.

What a role model! Kalamazoo, MI shows us how to celebrate Parliamentary Month!

And, besides our usual parliamentary exercises, we have a article on flashcards with enough uses to qualify for Family Feud!

As always, thanks to our opinions committee for some real brain teasers.

Finally, be sure to note the call for amendments…It’s that time (to give notice) again!

See you in Broomfield!

Martha Womack Haun, PhD, PRP, Editor

Dear editor,

Letter to the

Editor

Having attended recent conventions, I found myself puzzled about a grammatical issue: Is the correct term “bylaw amendments” or “bylaws amendments”? Several speakers were using the terms “bylaws amendment” and “bylaws amendments,” and it just did not feel right.

With this in mind, I went ahead and checked our Parliamentary Authority, Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, 11th ed. I found no reference to “bylaws amendments.” On the other hand, I found three references to “bylaw amendments” (page 592 lines 25 and 29, and index page 676). I also found references to the singular form “bylaw amendment” on several pages.

In light of the above, I urge my NAP colleagues to use the grammatically correct forms of “bylaw amendment” and “bylaw amendments,” and avoid the use of the incorrect (although common) use of “bylaws amendment” and “bylaws amendments.”

Eli Mina, PRP Vancouver, B.C., Canada www.parliamentarians.org

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President’s Message

Journey with NAP As you receive this issue of the National Parliamentarian, The National Association of Parliamentarians (NAP) is on the doorstep of the National Training Conference (NTC) at the Omni Hotel in Broomfield, Colorado, near Denver. What a great time to see “seasoned” friends, meet new ones and spend a couple of intensive—but fun—days recharging your parliamentary batteries.

The Leadership Conference and the Training Conference workshops will build on your parliamentary skills at every stage of learning— beginning, intermediate and advanced. There will also be a presentation on the future of NAP’s credentialing program, and round table discussions for members to provide input into the future direction of the Association.

When I was elected this past September, I pledged to serve NAP and its members with all my abilities and all my heart. This commitment, embodied in five letters—R.I.S.E.S.—is something I take very seriously as your President, and symbolizes the future I envision for NAP.

R = Respect our heritage I = Integrity of leadership S = Service to members E = Excellence in education S = Stewardship of your finances 4

National Parliamentarian • Summer 2016

Mac Anderson, founder of Simple Truths and Success Stories Inc, put it this way, “The road to service is traveled with integrity, compassion, and understanding.” This month I am going to talk about the “S”— SERVICE—to members and to the NAP. NAP exists to be of service to its members, in order that members can be of service to their organizational clients. We need each other to build and grow as an entity and as professionals.

The emphasis this biennium is on NAP as a volunteer Association and the leadership truly recognizes that the future is yours to define. It can become anything we have the desire to create. The Board of Directors manages the Association under your direction and we continually need your feedback. NAP growth is based on the willingness of the individual members to be of service at the unit level, the association level, and the national level. All three are interdependent on each other. At every level, if a member becomes inactive or unwilling to serve, it is losing a part of the whole.

The NAP Board of Directors is working to service NAP on your behalf to make it a growing, thriving Association. The Board spent the weekend of April 8-9, 2016, at the Omni Interlocken Hotel (site of the upcoming training conference) considering various strategies to make NAP the “go to” Association for meeting management expertise.

While maintaining full commitment to the members of NAP, many new ideas and approaches were expressed. At this same time, as a volunteer membership Association, the Board recognizes the uniqueness, limitations, as well as the potential, of this type of organizational structure.

During the strategizing session, it became more and more apparent that member outreach needed to occur in new and innovative ways to provide the resources and assistance you need to grow as professionals.

In addition to providing for current member needs, NAP must attract new members. You are the key to meeting this objective. Are friends, co-workers or organizations asking you how to solve problems they are having in their meetings? In their management areas? Have you invited those individuals to learn about parliamentary procedure and meeting management at your unit meetings?

Many of you have commented that NAP needs to expand its mission by changing up the conversation to beyond the parliamentary procedure www.parliamentarians.org

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focus to more general meeting effectiveness and management training.

Parliamentary procedure training will always be the cornerstone of NAP, but as meetings become more informal, it may be time to widen our view of what service organizations need. Though some will continue to function formally, many are developing a more relaxed style. NAP can be the answer on how to blend the use of parliamentary tools, into these meetings without challenging their more informal culture.

Some say that volunteer organizations are no longer relevant in today’s society. Let’s prove this assumption wrong! You, the members and your elected leadership, can raise NAP into a new era of innovation and profitability. Neither group can do it alone, but together we are a powerful force. We must each make the commitment to volunteer our time and talents in service to make NAP the best it has ever been and extremely relevant! Start by taking that extra effort to reach out to potential new members and educate the public and business world about the value of meeting management and parliamentary procedure.

These core values are not NAP’s alone, they are critical to our democratic society as well.

You are invited to attend a breakout session at the NAP NTC and provide input into NAP’s future and the services NAP and you can provide to each other in the future. However, you do not have to wait until August. In what ways are you willing to volunteer? Do you have a special interest in a specific area of meeting management? What are your talents, interests or abilities that you can add to NAP’s resource bank?

Are there missing elements in either the parliamentary or meeting management areas that NAP can start developing criteria or training for now? Please send a list or summary of your own needs, your unit, or association needs to HQ, and together we will formulate a resolution plan.

The National Association of Parliamentarians is worth members’ time, effort and service—for together we are a strong democratic force in the world.

See you at the NTC in August!

Mary Randolph, PRP, NAP President 6

National Parliamentarian • Summer 2016

Meet Mrs. Motley Still Active After All These Years

by Kevin R. Connelly, PRP

At the age of 104 years, Mrs. Florence Motley is arguably the most senior member of the National Association of Parliamentarians.

Mercifully for all, NAP does not keep such records, at least not at a public level!

Although her physical limitations make it difficult to attend meetings anymore, she still remains active mentally, and keeps up with all the NAP literature and state activities.

About a year ago, I was in a meeting of NAP’s Evergreen Research Unit in Tacoma, Washington, when one of the members stated that Mrs. Motley, who had been unable to make the meetings lately due to physical disabilities, needed to pay her unit dues. Almost immediately, several members offered to pay her dues. Being new to the unit, I asked who she was, and if she was still even an NAP member, as I had been a member in Washington for 15 years and had never heard of her.

I was met with a roomful of disturbed looks for even suggesting such a thing! Of course she was a member, how could I not have known about Mrs. Motley?! Obviously, I was

missing something about this mystery woman who commanded such respect and deference that people wanted to pay her dues and nearly ran me out of the meeting for questioning her membership in NAP. Rather intrigued by this time, I simply had to find out more about Mrs. Florence Motley. I went home and checked my NAP directory to confirm that indeed, she was a member of NAP. I stood corrected! But that directory told so little about her. It was only at the next unit meeting that I started to get a glimpse of this fascinating woman. It was announced that Mrs. Motley was celebrating her 103rd birthday shortly and members were invited to attend the celebration.

103 years old! I guess she was indeed a longtime member! A little more research brought out the fact that she has been an NAP member since 1977 www.parliamentarians.org

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Mrs. Motley (right) with President Randolph (left) and Director Connelly (center) at her 104th birthday party.

and a member of the unit for most of that time. I simply had to meet this lady and chew her ear about her parliamentary and life experiences.

Later that year the unit made a point of inviting her to our officer installation dinner, and we were thrilled when she said that she would attend. Despite the intent of the dinner being the formal installation of unit officers by then NAP Vice President Mary Randolph, it was Mrs. Motley who stole the show. Everybody wanted to ask her questions about her history in NAP, and she thanked all of us for including her in our celebration and making her feel at home once again with “her group.” I left that dinner with such a warm feeling, but still with little knowledge of the life of Mrs. Florence Motley.

As a District Director, I got a list of all renewing members of NAP in the district each year. The first thing that I checked on it was whether Mrs. Motley had once again renewed her membership this year. I was delighted to see that she had. At the next unit meeting, her dues were once again 8

National Parliamentarian • Summer 2016

paid. She remained a full-fledged member of NAP and the unit! Now NAP President Randolph and I made a commitment to interview her about her experiences and find out more about her. And the opportunity arose soon afterward—Mrs. Motley’s 104th birthday celebration was coming up, so we both made a point of being there for it.

And what a celebration it was!

About fifty guests showed up at her residence at this “annual event.”

Guest after guest stood up to praise and to congratulate her and offer her birthday wishes. There were letters of congratulations from the mayor of Tacoma, Washington, and United States Senator Maria Cantwell.

Among all the festivities, President Randolph and I were able to sit down briefly with her and learn more about the life and times of Mrs. Motley.

Florence Motley was born in Selmer, Tennessee, on March 28, 1912, just a few short weeks before the Titanic set out on its maiden and only voyage! But it was not until the late 1970’s, when she herself was in her

sixties that she became involved with NAP and her unit in Tacoma. She first moved to Alaska in 1969 while her son was in the military service and she was needed to take care of her two granddaughters. Afterward, in 1970, she moved to Washington with them, and then into her own place.

Along with her close friend Helen Stafford, Mrs. Motley became heavily involved in her church, the Allen A.M.E. Church. Ms. Stafford and another church member, Eliza McKay, became her mentors. With them, Mrs. Motley, ever the “joiner,” as she puts it, became not only a member of the church, but also of various other religious and social organizations in the Seattle and Tacoma areas. She was (and still is to various extent), active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, the Helen B. Stafford Club, and the local and national Colored Women’s clubs.

But it was at the Allen A.M.E. Church where she came into contact with Mr. Robert B. Sherron, who not only was an active member of the church, but also an active member in the National Association of Parliamentarians, and who would later become the president

of the Washington State Association of Parliamentarians. Another parliamentarian invited her to join a parliamentary study group, and Mr. Sherron, as Mrs. Motley described him, “always the pusher,” encouraged her to join. They all would meet under Mr. Sherron’s tutorage, and prepare to take the NAP membership exam.

Once they all successfully completed Mr. Sherron’s “course” and then passed the NAP exam, they formed the core of what was the Evergreen Research Unit of NAP. Florence Motley officially became a member of the National Association of Parliamentarians on June 30, 1977, and has remained a member ever since. She has used her acquired knowledge of parliamentary law in all her various organizations, both at a business level and at a social level. Up until recent years, she was regularly attended the meetings of the Evergreen Research Unit. To this day, she still keeps in contact with its members and keeps up with all of its activities and with those of NAP. She remains the unit’s most adored and respected member. We hope that the future sees many more years of her participation as an NAP member.

Kevin R. Connelly, PRP, has been a member of the National Association of Parliamentarians since 2000, and a Professional Registered Parliamentarian in the Seattle area since 2002. He has served various national organizations, including several national professional associations as a convention parliamentarian. At the local level, he has served many nonprofit organizations and condominium/ homeowners associations.

He is a past president of the Washington State Association of Parliamentarians, and currently is the NAP District 7 Director Representative to the NAP Board of Directors. www.parliamentarians.org

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by Dennis G. Clark, PRP

This is the third in a series of articles on our parliamentary roots and legacy by Dennis Clark.

T

NAP Standing Rule No. 17 (under Publications) states: The official emblem of NAP shall be a mace. The official design of the mace and the design for official pins and any other emblems shall be approved by the NAP Board of Directors and obtained only through NAP Headquarters.

he National Association of

Parliamentarians filed for a

trademark (actually a word mark) for NAP including the Mace symbol on November 25, 1977. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted the mark on November 28, 1978—with trademark registration number 1,107,625. The date of first use of the mark was November 1943.

How did the mace come to be the symbol of our Association? NAP 10

National Parliamentarian • Summer 2016

President Mrs. Millard Dietz (1941-43) from Kansas City, Missouri appointed a Special Committee chaired by Mrs. F.O. Cunningham (also Kansas City) to ascertain the wishes of the membership on the choice and purchase of an International Emblem.

Mrs. Cunningham reported in the September 1942 issue of the NP that orders were being taken for a miniature silver Mace for active members and one in gold for

Learn more about the history of the mace registered members, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors and then ratification by the membership.

Mrs. Cunningham reported further in the February ’43 issue of the NP that after the 1943 biennial convention held in Houston in November the national insignia of NAP would be the Mace—assuming that the members adopted it as such. About 30 members had already placed orders for the pin in advance of that anticipated action.

She noted: “The Mace is symbolic of authority in the National Congress or your Country. It is a wonderful emblem for our National Association and suggests for us the motto—‘In Union there is Strength.’ Union means cooperation toward the paramount interests of the Association.” In her biennial report to the Association, printed in the November 1943 issue of the NP (hence the date of first use of the trademark), Mrs. Dietz noted, “The notice in the National Parliamentarian (Sept. ’43 issue) brought such gratifying response that the Board felt justified in adopting the Mace as our Emblem, subject to the ratification of the Convention.

The idea has worked out splendidly.”

It turns out that the 1943 biennial convention was not held in Houston after all due to the war effort (as noted in the article about Leone C. Newby in the previous issue of the NP).

The minutes of the biennial convention held in Kansas City, Missouri in October 1943 reflect that

The most encompassing article was published in the 2nd issue of Parliamentary Pickles (which thereafter became The National Parliamentarian) in May 1938. It was written by Mrs. John Johnson, NAP’s 5th President.

The article was later reprinted in the September 1946 issue of the NP. These articles may be found on the NP History DVD (available at the NAP store) which contains all issues of the NP from January 1938 until the 4th quarter of 2010.

the Chair (Mrs. Dietz) stated that unofficial action by the Executive Board had been taken on the adoption of the “Mace” as the insignia of the organization. Mrs. Orb Stoner of Missouri moved that “the action be ratified.” The motion was carried by unanimous vote of the assembly.

In accordance with instructions of the Board, the Executive Secretary (Dr. Kathryn Allen) ordered that a die be made in accord with a design that had been adopted by the Board and at the price submitted by the Green Jewelry Co. of Kansas City, Missouri.

That company, founded in 1885, is still in business today, now located in Lenexa, Kansas. Mr. Bill Schutte, the owner of that company, was nice enough to find that same die and forward a picture of it to me. Dr. Allen ordered 34 gold pins for Registered members to be sold at $3.00 each and 13 silver pins for other members. Six pins encrusted with a diamond were www.parliamentarians.org

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also ordered to be given to the past NAP presidents at a cost of $54.00.

The story of the mace may be traced to the antiquity of many civilizations where it was used as a weapon. Today we use mace in the spray form—back then it was used to bludgeon folks. In the ancient Roman Republic, the mace was used more as a symbol of the power and jurisdiction of the magistrates and then, when the Romans conquered Britain, it would become the symbol of the power first of the King and then later of the House of Commons. In the United States, the mace is as old as the U.S. Government itself having been provided for in a resolution adopted by the House of Representatives during the First Congress in 1789. In 1812 the King of England (George III) decided he wanted to retake his one time colony which he lost as a result of the American Revolution. During this war the British Army ransacked the U.S. Capitol at Washington and burned the Capitol Building on August 24, 1814 and with it the first Mace. This action was perhaps in retaliation of the U.S. Army having attacked and defeated the British Army at the Battle of York and burning the City of York, Canada (now Toronto) which was at that time still part of the British Empire. In this action the American commander, General Zebulon Pike, was killed when the retreating British forces blew up the fort’s powder magazine.

However, the American Army did 12

National Parliamentarian • Summer 2016

capture the Mace of the Upper Canadian Parliament and brought it back to the United States.

It was Zebulon Pike, incidentally, for whom Pike’s Peak in Colorado is named. Pike was ordered by President Thomas Jefferson to command an expedition into the Louisiana Territory to find the head waters of the Arkansas and Red Rivers.

In November 1806 his expedition sighted what would be named Pike’s Peak. They were not able to reach the summit however, due to heavy snowfall. [Be sure and visit Pike’s Peak this summer while at the NTC; there should be no snow yet; so, you should be able to reach the summit.]

The United States did not return the Canadian Mace until 1934 when the U.S. Daughters of 1812 sought to build a monument in Toronto to the memory of General Pike and others who were killed in the action of the Battle of York. President Franklin Roosevelt sent this message to the Congress prior to that event: To the Congress: During the War of 1812 the Mace of the Parliament of Upper Canada, or Ontario, was taken by United States Forces at the time of the battle of York, April 27, 1813. That Mace, which had been the symbol of legislative authority at York (now Toronto) since 1792, has been preserved in the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. On July 4,

1934, there is to be unveiled in Toronto a memorial tablet erected by the United States Daughters of 1812 to the memory of General Pike and others of the United States Forces who were killed in action. The suggestion has been made that it would be a gracious act for the United States to return this historic Mace to Canada at the time of the unveiling of the tablet.

The Mace is a token of representative government, established at York nearly a century and a half ago.

It symbolizes the orderly rule of such government in Canada, continuing from that day to this. Since the agreement of 1817, the two countries have by common accord maintained no hostile armaments on either side of their boundary; and every passing year cements the peace and friendship between the peoples of Canada and the United States.

I heartily recommend to the favorable consideration of the Congress the enactment of a joint resolution authorizing the return of the Mace to the Canadian Government.

The Congress concurred and the Canadian Mace was returned to the Canadian Government in time for the ceremony in Toronto.

Beginning in the August 1951 issue of the NP the cover of the publication displayed a drawing of the Mace along with a call to the biennial convention.

This practice continued in each odd

numbered year and in August 1956, and subsequent even numbered years, the cover displayed the Mace and the call to the Board of Directors meeting (there was no NTC back then). In February 1962 until November 1967, the NP cover consisted solely of drawing of the Mace and the words—Official Emblem of the National Association of Parliamentarians with the exception of those issues announcing calls to convention or the board of directors meetings.

The cover of the February 1957 NP cover contains a picture of NAP President Mrs. Roy Rowntree of Houston, Texas, standing before the Mace in the House chamber with her Congressman, Hon. Albert Thomas also of Houston, pointing to it. Representative Thomas served his Texas district for 28 years having first been elected in 1936. As Chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee he was able to swing many important federal projects to the Houston area including NASA’s Manned Space Craft Center (later renamed the Lyndon Johnson Space Center). On November 21, 1963, www.parliamentarians.org

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a dinner was given in his honor at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.

It was attended by President John F. Kennedy who had come to Texas to mend political fences prior to the 1964 presidential election. Someone likely would have told the President that the Coliseum stood on the exact site that the 1928 Democratic Convention was held (in a hall since torn down). It was that convention which nominated the first Roman Catholic candidate for President, the Gov. of New York, Alfred (Al) Smith.

John Kennedy, of course, was the first elected President of the Roman Catholic faith. This speech would be Kennedy’s last major address of his life. In the closing lines of his speech, the President said, “Behind the Speaker’s desk in the House of Representatives, there are words from a great speech by a great citizen of my State, Senator Daniel Webster. It says, ‘Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its industry, develop its resources, and see whether we also in our time and generation may not perform something worthy to be remembered.’ Albert Thomas didn’t need to read those words. He has performed something worthy to be remembered.”

With that, the President and his party left Houston and flew to Fort Worth that night and then on to Dallas and destiny. The words of Daniel Webster which JFK spoke of in his speech honoring Rep. Thomas 14

National Parliamentarian • Summer 2016

are directly behind where the Mace stands in the House Chamber. In the iconic photograph of Vice President Lyndon Johnson, standing next to the widowed first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, as he takes the oath of office aboard Air Force One, you see Congressman Thomas, having traveled with the President’s party to Dallas, wearing his signature bow tie standing just to the left of Mrs. Johnson.

November 22, 1963 was the 95th birthday of a man living in Uvalde, Texas (about 85 miles southwest of San Antonio) who many back then knew as “Cactus Jack.” His real name was John Nance Garner. He had been a member of the House of Representatives since 1903 before being elected Speaker of the House in 1931. In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt tapped Speaker Garner to be his vice presidential running mate and, of course, they were elected. Garner served two terms as Vice President.

He was only the second person to hold the Speaker’s gavel and the gavel of the Senate as Vice President (the other being Schuyler Colfax under President Grant). Speaking of gavels—John Nance Garner possessed a very large collection of gavels (over 160)—some say the largest known collection. Those gavels are now

housed in Garner’s old home—now a museum in Uvalde, Texas. In 1957 NAP President, Mrs. Roy Rowntree and NAP Secretary, Mrs. Hiram Salisbury, visited Mr. Garner at his home in Uvalde. The August, 1957 issue of the NP contains a story (with photos) about their visit with the Vice President and his collection of gavels.

Around noon on November 22, 1963, the former Vice President’s birthday party was interrupted by a phone call. It would be John Kennedy’s last telephone call which he made to Mr. Garner expressing his birthday wishes. Despite having supported his friend Lyndon Johnson for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960, Mr. Garner’s last words to the President were, “I love you Mr. President.”

The NAP past president’s pin given to the author in 1987 and now owned by Kay Crews, PRP.

Dennis Clark, PRP, became a member of NAP in 1974 and was credentialed in 1976. He is a twice past president of the Texas State Association of Parliamentarians (1987-88 and 2014-15). He is a retired teacher and paralegal and works full time as a professional parliamentarian, writer, and speaker. www.parliamentarians.org

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Public Library Celebrates Parliamentary Month The Lincoln Township Public Library, Stevensville, MI, celebrated Parliamentary Month in April 2016, with an informative display coordinated by the Kalamazoo Parliamentary Law Unit (KPLU) of Kalamazoo, MI. Kalamazoo Parliamentary Law Unit members provided many items related to parliamentarian procedure.

The display included a framed copy of the National Association of Parlimentarians (NAP) Proclamation declaring April Parliamentary Month, current and vintage Robert’s Rules of Order books, Spotlights on officers duties, NAP magazines, and other reference materials.

KPLU hopes the display will stimulate interest in Parliamentary Procedure among library patrons.

For more information contact:

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National Parliamentarian • Summer 2016

Kalamazoo Parliamentary Law Unit c/o Betty Weston 1170 Panama Street Portage, MI 49002

Using Flashcards to Teach Parliamentary Procedure

by Shane D. Dunbar, MEd, PRP, PAP

Flashcards with a multiple-choice question on one side and an answer on the other side have been available for decades.

They can be used for preparing for the National Association of Parliamentarians Registration Examination and Career and Technical Student Organization competitive events.

Self Study Students quiz themselves by looking at the question side and answering it; then checking their answer by looking at the other side of the card. Make a pile of incorrectly answered cards to study later.

One-on-One Testing One student presents the question side of the card and another student answers. Make a pile of incorrectly answered cards to study later.

One-on-Two Testing One student presents the card and two students answer by holding up a card with an “A”, “B”, “C”, or “D” written on it. This can be a contest!

Walk Around Test The teacher places cards on tables and students write the answers to the questions on a piece of paper. The students walk from one card to another when the teacher signals.

Making a Written Test The teacher can copy several cards on pieces of paper, print copies, and then administer the test.

Using a Projector for Testing and Discussion The teacher can project cards on a screen to the class one at a time.

Team Competition Divide the class into teams. Project a flashcard on a screen. Then have the team show the answer after consulting with one another by holding up a card with an “A”, “B”, “C”, or “D” written on it. Use a student scorekeeper to determine the winning team.

Shane D. Dunbar, MEd, PRP, PAP, has conducted over 540 parliamentary procedure workshops nationwide. He has over 15 copyrights dealing with parliamentary procedure instructional materials (including 1600 FlashCards) that can be reviewed on www.northwest.net/parli-pro. www.parliamentarians.org

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My Search for Robert

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by James J. Connors

My first exposure to parliamentary procedure was in my high school vocational agriculture classes in 1976.

As a young member of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter, I regularly attended monthly chapter meetings and quickly learned about main motions, amendments, and voice votes. The first parliamentary procedure book I ever read was Robert’s Rules of Order (Robert 1977) which was a reprint of the 1883 edition.

It was my first introduction to a person who would become a part of my personal and professional career for decades to come. It was during my high school years that I came to learn my first lessons about Henry M. Robert. Questions swirled around my studies including how did Robert come to know so much about parliamentary procedure? How did Robert become known as the foremost authority on parliamentary procedure in the United States? and Why did he make some of those motions so dang blasted hard to understand?

As I matured and entered college, I continued to use and learn more about parliamentary procedure. Once I found Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, I came to appreciate the complexity of the subject and the hours upon hours of scholarly 18

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thought that Robert must have put into his work. In his history of parliamentary procedure, Darwin Patnode wrote, “The history of American parliamentary procedure during the period 1876-1949 is largely the history of Henry M. Robert’s influence (Patnode 2006, 53). When called upon to chair a meeting at the local Baptist church, Robert found himself ill prepared for the task. In recalling the event, Robert wrote, ‘My embarrassment was supreme.

I plunged in, trusting to Providence that the assembly would behave itself. But with the plunge went the determination that I would never attend another meeting until I knew of something of…parliamentary law’ ” (Adamski 2005, 8).

After that fiasco, Robert vowed to learn more about presiding and parliamentary procedure. The two existing books on the subject at that time were written by Thomas Jefferson and Luther Cushing. While most Americans know Thomas Jefferson as a statesman, author of the Declaration of Independence, and 3rd President of the United States, few know that he wrote the first manual of parliamentary procedure published in the USA (Jefferson 1843). Even fewer people know of the works of

Few would argue that Henry M. Robert was a genius when it came to parliamentary procedure. While parliamentary procedure was his passion, engineering and the military were his vocations.

Luther S. Cushing and his Cushing’s Manual (Cushing 1847). So Robert set out to write his own manuscript on parliamentary procedure. As a result, any American who has ever been a member of a community, social, or professional organization has probably heard of Henry Robert.

What made Robert different? What has caused his rules of order to stand the test of time? Why does Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised prevail over the numerous other books and manuals on parliamentary procedure?

I believe it was the knowledge, skills, leadership, and perseverance of the man. In describing the author, Patnode stated, “The author of such a work would have to possess an especially orderly mind, an understanding of function more than a feeling for beauty of style, and sufficient emotional conviction to set forth his beliefs and preferences as rules of order. In short, the author would have to be a creator, not just a compiler…” (Patnode 2006, 53).

Here was a man born in 1837, 24 years before the Civil War broke out. His formal education included graduating fourth in his class from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1857. His military career found him stationed in the Puget Sound region of the Pacific Northwest, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.

In his many posts and community activities, Robert realized he would be called upon to lead groups and organizations. Smedley wrote, “Since a working knowledge of parliamentary procedure appeared to be a necessary part of an officer’s equipment, he made up his mind that he would acquire that knowledge. This decision started the train of events which culminated in the recognition of Henry Martyn Robert as America’s highest authority on parliamentary law” (Smedley 1955, 23).

Robert published his Pocket Manual on Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies in 1876. The www.parliamentarians.org

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demand for this manual was so great Robert quickly added a second part: Organizations and Conduct of Business to create Robert’s Rules of Order. Most authors would have been happy with the success and demand for this book.

However, Robert was not like most authors. He continued to study and refine his rules. Like a master craftsman who is never quite satisfied with his latest work, Robert continued his studies of parliamentary procedure.

He published revisions in 1893 and 1915. He also published two additional books on parliamentary procedure: Parliamentary Practice (Robert 1921) and his definitive work on the subject, Parliamentary Law (Robert 1923).

Few would argue that Henry M. Robert was a genius when it came to parliamentary procedure. While parliamentary procedure was his passion, engineering and the military were his vocations.

Anyone who has ever visited Galveston, Texas will probably remember the sea wall that helped protect the city for the past century after the devastating hurricane of 1900. Yet few people know that it was Robert who helped design and build the seawall. A stone monument and Texas historical marker both recognize the role Robert played in building this structure which protects the city to this day. Robert brought his engineer’s logic to the study of parliamentary procedure.

In his biography of Robert, Smedley wrote, “The casual student 20

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of parliamentary law who becomes confused…should be able to sympathize with the man who faced the whole dizzy mass of procedure and undertook to untangle it and rearrange it in an orderly and comprehensible fashion. It was a task of herculean proportions. It called for a mind of an engineer, a logician, a mathematician, a philosopher, and an idealist, together with the patience of a plodding pilgrim, to construct the convenient system with which we are familiar” (Smedley 1955, 32).

My quest to understand Henry Robert would ultimately lead me to the man himself. Unless you are a parliamentary nerd like myself, you may not know that Brigadier General Henry M. Robert is buried in the most hallowed ground in the country— Arlington National Cemetery. He rests on a quiet hillside not far from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and near Walter Reed, the famous military doctor for whom Walter Reed Army Medical Center is named. Robert lies among the thousands of military heroes, who like himself, helped build this great country. His simple grave lies in Section 3, Grave 3945, just north of Miles Drive.

A common party question is to ask a person who they would most like to have dinner with. Most people answer Jesus, the President of the United States, a movie star, etc. My answer to that question would puzzle most people. I would most like to sit down and have a good discussion with

Brigadier General Henry M. Robert.

Every time anyone ever picks up a copy of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, or uses parliamentary procedure during a meeting, unbeknownst to them, they are paying homage to one of the unsung heroes of America. Smedley summed up the life of Henry Robert when he wrote, “So far as the American people in general are concerned, General Robert might be classed as one of the ‘forgotten men.’ We have used his Rules and have known his name…

but we have not identified the man nor thought of him as a person. We have been very stingy in the building of monuments or placing of tablets in his honor…But if we have failed in the erection of monuments, he has not been left without an appropriate memorial. His own work is a finer and more useful reminder than anything which we could construct of bronze or marble” (Smedley 1955, 74-75).

I wholeheartedly agree. Every time I pick up Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, I find Henry M. Robert.

References Adamski, Barbara. K. (2005). Robert rules: The great accomplishments of a remarkable man.

Toastmasters 71(3): 8-12.

Cushing, Luther S. (1847). Manual of parliamentary procedure practice: Rules of proceeding and debate in deliberative assemblies (7th ed.). Boston: Taggard and Thompson.

Jefferson, Thomas. (1843). A manual of parliamentary practice. Philadelphia: Hogan and Thompson.

Patnode, Darwin. (2006). A history of parliamentary procedure (4th ed.). West Conshohocken, PA: Infinity Publishing Co. Robert, Henry M. (1921). Parliamentary practice. New York The Century Company.

Robert, Henry M. (1923). Parliamentary law. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company.

Robert, Henry M. (1977). Robert’s rules of order. New York: Jove Publications, Inc. Robert, Henry M. (2011). Robert’s rules of order newly revised (11th ed.). Philadelphia: Da Capo Press.

Smedley, Ralph C. (1955). The great peacemaker. Los Angeles: Borden Publishing Company.

James Connors, PhD, RP, became a member of NAP in 1995 and was credentialed in 2015. He is past president of the Wirenius Unit of Parliamentarians in Columbus, OH. He served as Superintendent of the National FFA Parliamentary Procedure Career Development Event from 2001-2014. He is currently a Professor and Head of the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education at the University of Idaho. www.parliamentarians.org

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National Association of Parliamentarians®

2013-2015 History NAP began the new biennium with the vision statement, To provide parliamentary leadership to the world, and the mission statement, NAP is dedicated to educating leaders throughout the world in effective meeting management through the use of parliamentary procedure.

The installation banquet was held at the Hilton Portland and Executive Tower in Portland, Oregon, on September 9, 2013.

Connie M. Deford, PRP, installed the following officers for the 2013-2015 biennium: President Ann Guiberson, PRP; Vice-President Mary L. Randolph, PRP; Secretary Ann L. Rempel, PRP; Treasurer Evan A. Lemoine, PRP; and Directorsat-Large Steve Glanstein, PRP; James N. Jones, PRP; and James H. Stewart, PRP. Also installed were district directors for the 2013-2015 biennium: District One, William E. Starkey, PRP; District Two, Darlene T. Allen, PRP; District Three, Nancy Dauster, PRP; District Four, Joyce Brown-Watkins, PRP; District Five, Denise Irminger, PRP; District Six, Daniel Ivey-Soto, PRP; District Seven, Alice Bartelt, PRP; and District Eight, John H. Hohlbauch, PRP. The district directors elected District Five Director Denise Irminger, PRP, and District Six Director Daniel Ivey-Soto, PRP, to serve on the NAP Board of Directors during the biennium.

The president chose “Create the Future” as the theme for the biennium.

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Advisers The president made the following appointments not requiring board approval: • Parliamentarian – Dr. Leonard Young • Technology – Greg Goodwiller • Website – Paul McClintock • Legal – Jim Slaughter • Partnerships – Maurice S. Henderson Standing Committees With board approval, the president appointed the following standing committees: • Bylaws – Chairman Weldon Merritt, Rochester Baker, Ella Carlson, Edward L. Frazier, and Barbara J. Rosi (Ann Rempel served as board liaison to the committee) • Communications – Chairman Sheryl C. Womble, Lorenzo Cuesta, Deborah Laury, Julie Kay Pioch, and Leigh Wintz (Jim Stewart served as board liaison to the committee) • Educational Resources – Chairman Dennis Clark, Nylanne Scheidegger, Janice Strand and Donna Thompson (James N. Jones served as board liaison to the committee) • Online Course Subcommittee – Chairman Kay Crews, Rebecca Rutz

• University of Wisconsin Course – Rollie Cox • Webinar Subcommittee – Chairman Kevin Wendt, Kirk Overbey • Membership and Registration Examiners – Chairman Larry Martin, Rachel Glanstein, David Mezzera, Gladys Reid, Mary Remson, and Michael Wagner-Diggs (Steve Glanstein served as board liaison to the committee) • Professional Development – Chairman Lyle Kleman, Carol Austin, Marcella Morrison, Dr. William Puette, and Ruth Ryan (Mary Randolph served as board liaison to the committee) • Youth – Chairman Dr. Corwyn D. Hopke, Gloria Cofer, Julie Palm, Angela J. Reynolds, and Brandon H. Walters (Evan Lemonine served as board liaison to the committee) National Parliamentarian Staff With board approval, the president appointed: • National Parliamentarian Editor Timothy Wynn, Assistant Editor Carol Henselder • NP Review Committee Chairman Dr. John H. Rempel, Jonathan Jacobs, Sharon Reed • Parliamentary Research Team – Editor Josh Martin, Assistant Editor Ann Homer, Consultant Ronald R. Stinson, Parliamentarian Dr. Leonard Young www.parliamentarians.org

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• NAP e-Newsletter Editor Deborah Underwood • Leadership Conference Coordinator Nancy Sylvester, Assistant Coordinator Emma Faulk Special Committees With board approval, the president appointed the following special committees: • Edit and Review – Chairman Laura LeGrand, Shirley J. Brodbeck, Lori Finck, TennieBee M. Hall, Judy Edwards, Lynna Gene Cook • Financial Stability – Chairman Evan A. Lemoine, Rob James, Nancy H. Watkins • International Services – Chairman Karen Watson, Don Freese, Susan Glanstein, Daniel R. Ross, Kim See-Teo Ethics Committee The president’s nominees for the ethics committee were elected by the board as follows: • Chairman Jeanette N. Williams • Members Thomas (Burke) Balch, K. Ann McCartney (Lucy Anderson, elected to the committee in 2011, also served on the ethics committee during the 2013-2015 biennium.)

Other Committees • Membership Extension and Retention – Chairman Sandra Olson, appointed by the president 24

National Parliamentarian • Summer 2016

with board approval; members were the district directors • Special Committee on Education and Credentialing (originally called a task force when appointed during the previous biennium) – Chairman Dr. M. Eugene Bierbaum, Wanda Davis, Ann Guiberson, James N. Jones, Ann L. Rempel, Dr. Daniel Seabold, James H. Stewart Committees of the Board With board approval, the president appointed the following committees of the board: • Budget and Finance – Chairman Evan A. Lemoine, members Steve Glanstein, Ann Guiberson • Minutes Approval – Chairman Jim Stewart, members Mary Randolph, Denise Irminger • Personnel – Chairman Ann Guiberson, members Jim Jones, Evan Lemoine • Policies and Procedures – Chairman Ann Rempel, members Daniel Ivey-Soto, Jim Jones, adviser Dr. Leonard Young, NAP Parliamentarian • Pricing – Chairman Evan A. Lemoine, members Denise Irminger, Mary Randolph Other Appointments • The board approved the president’s appointment of Leigh Wintz, chairman, Evan A. Lemoine, Kay Crews, Gail Knapp, and Ken Tinkler

as the special committee on accessibility of persons with disabilities.

• The board approved the president’s appointment of Michael WagnerDiggs, chairman, Marcella Morrison, and Gayla Stone as the special committee for credentials appeals for the professional courses held in Portland, Oregon.

• The board approved the president’s appointment of Mary Randolph to the board’s budget and finance committee.

• The board approved appointments by the president for the 2015 convention.

• The board approved the president’s appointments for the 2018 Training Conference: Lori Finck, coordinator; Joan Corbisiero, assistant coordinator; Evan Lemoine, workshop coordinator; and Rosemary Seghatoleslami, assistant workshop coordinator.

Resignations and Appointments of Replacements • The board accepted the resignation of Kim See-Teo, from the international services special committee.

• The board accepted the resignation of Corwyn Hopke as chairman of the youth committee and approved the appointment of Brandon H. Walters as the chairman.

The board also approved the appointment of Robert Schuck to the youth committee.

• The board accepted the resignation of Edward L. Frazier from the bylaws committee, and approved the appointment of Helen Popovich to the committee.

• The board accepted the resignation of Laura LeGrand from chairman of the edit and review committee and approved the appointment of Lynna Gene Cook as chairman of the committee.

• Rollie Cox retired from the University of Wisconsin and Kay Crews was appointed to serve as liaison to the University of Wisconsin for the NAP/UW Online Course.

• The board accepted the resignation of Judy Edwards from assistant convention coordinator for 2017 and approved the president’s appointment of Barbara Rosi to that position.

• M. Eugene Bierbaum, chairman, resigned from the special committee and on education and credentialing, and James Stewart was appointed chairman. The board approved the appointment of Sandra Olson, as vice-chairman, to the committee.

• The following changes occurred among the district directors: William Starkey resigned and Carol A. Henselder was elected District One Director; Nancy Dauster resigned and Greg Goodwiller was elected District Three Director; www.parliamentarians.org

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Alice Bartelt resigned and Kevin Connelly was elected District Seven Director.

Headquarters Staff • Michael Chamberlain, MBA, CAE, served as executive director until his resignation on December 31, 2014.

• Cyndy Launchbaugh served as interim executive director until she assumed the position of executive director on February 16, 2015.

• Stefanie Luttrell continued as a staff member throughout the biennium.

• Sarah Nieft served as bookkeeper.

Debbie Montavy, an NAP staff member for eighteen years, resigned on September 1, 2015.

NAP Educational Foundation • The following trustees served as officers of the NAP Educational Foundation (NAPEF): President Nancy Sylvester, Vice-President Sandra K. Olson, Secretary Dr. Leonard Young, and Treasurer Ronald R. Stinson. Gwendolyne Brown and Mary Randolph continued to serve as trustees.

The following trustees served as committee chairmen: Gwendolyne Brown, auction; Sandra K. Olson, membership; Ann Guiberson, public relations; and Mary Randolph, scholarship. Ann Guiberson, ex officio, served as a member of the board of trustees.

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National Parliamentarian • Summer 2016

• The foundation conducted its first Think Tank in February 2015 and published a report on the impact of multiple generations on parliamentary organizations.

• The foundation contributed funds to support the work of the special committee on education and credentialing, the publication of educational materials, the learning management system for online courses, the NTC and convention youth days, and interns at the convention.

2014 Training Conference • The NAP Training Conference was held from noon on August 8 to noon on August 10, 2014, in the Renaissance Hotel and Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. There were 210 registrations. W. Craig Henry served as the coordinator, Patricia Hudson as assistant coordinator, Colette C. Trohan as workshop coordinator, and E. Marie Wilson as assistant workshop coordinator.

• Thirty-eight members attended the 2014 Leadership Conference, led

by Coordinator Nancy Sylvester and Assistant Coordinator Emma Faulk, and a youth day was hosted by the NAP Youth Committee.

Committee Achievements • The communications committee continued the ongoing

communications with social media platforms, reviewed the NAP website, and submitted articles to Newsflash and the National Parliamentarian.

• Eight issues of the National Parliamentarian and twenty-two issues of the Newsflash were published during the biennium.

• During the biennium, the educational resources committee revised older educational materials published by NAP to reflect changes in RONR (11th ed.) and created new products, including motion script cards, Master the Meeting, scripts for the ranking motions, and Spotlight on Disciplinary Procedures. The committee held nine webinars on various parliamentary procedure topics.

• The membership extension and retention committee created peer awards and implemented a retention campaign, “Why I Belong.” The committee achieved a high retention rate in 2014.

• The membership and registration examiners committee processed 707 member applications and 177 registration examinations during the biennium, resulting in 688 new NAP members and 46 new Registered Parliamentarians.

The committee developed a new membership exam based on Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised in Brief, published a new

study guide, and updated the online membership exam. The registration exam was reorganized so that members would be able to take the exam in separate parts with a period of nine months required to complete the entire exam. A new study guide for the RP exam was also produced.

• The professional development committee revised the professional qualifying course and the professional renewal course.

The committee rewrote the professional course manual to create Professional Practices in Parliamentary Procedure. The committee enabled PRPs to renew the credential by successfully completing individual modules both in the classroom and online.

Through the use of webinars, more PRPs were trained as instructors for the two professional courses.

During the biennium, twenty-nine members successfully completed the NAP Professional Qualifying Course, and fifty-five members successfully completed the NAP Professional Renewal Course.

• The youth committee continued to work with the following NAP partnerships: Business Professionals of America (BPA), Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA), Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), www.parliamentarians.org

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and SkillsUSA. During the biennium, the committee began to establish a relationship with Future Farmers of America (FFA) by providing judges and participating in the design of FFA parliamentary contests. Interns representing the six student organizations at the NAP convention were: Eugene Otero, BPA; Vanessa Ting, FBLA; Raniel Mendoza, FCCLA; Julius Wade, HOSA; Elizabeth Alvarez, PBL; Karthik Krishnan, PBL; and Edgardo Correa, SkillsUSA. • The special committee on NAP Education and Credentialing, which was charged with assisting in the development and implementation of all the necessary steps to accomplish the objectives outlined in the education component of the new NAP Strategic Plan, held forums at the NTC and convention and surveyed NAP members to create a body of knowledge.

The board of directors adopted the body of knowledge, and the committee reported its recommendations at the 2015 Convention.

Other Actions • The board approved a plan to produce eight video episodes with Susan Leahy as host and DIA Films as producer.

• A new Learning Management System was implemented for the NAP online courses.

• Budgets and fees for the 2014 Training Conference and 2015 28

National Parliamentarian • Summer 2016

Biennial Convention were approved by the board of directors.

• A new letter of agreement between NAP and the NAP Educational Foundation was approved by the board of directors.

• NAP Operational Policies and Procedures were amended by the board and placed on the website.

• Members of the board of directors served as NAP representatives to associations as requested.

• The board authorized the executive director in conjunction with the president to negotiate an agreement with the Buffalo Hyatt Regency Hotel for the 2018 NTC. • In cooperation with the American Institute of Parliamentarian, the board amended the Joint Code of Ethics for Parliamentarians and the amended document was placed on the website.

Changes • Eleven PRPs were reclassified as Retired PRPs and three RPs were reclassified as Retired RPs. Two PRPs were reclassified as RPs, and no Retired PRPs were reclassified as an RP. • During the biennium, one new association and four new units were established. Eight units, and three youth groups, were dissolved.

The new association is the China Association of Parliamentarians.

Loss of Past President • NAP Past President Jimmy Stickeler died during the biennium.

Biennial Convention • The 40th Biennial Convention Committee, held September 4-7, 2015, in the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, provided an educational and welcoming atmosphere for convention attendees. Rosalie Stroman served as coordinator; Loretta Tillery as assistant coordinator, Wanda M. Sims as workshop coordinator; and Susan Eads Role as assistant workshop coordinator.

• Thirty-three members attended the 2015 Leadership Conference, which was led by Coordinator Nancy Sylvester and Assistant Coordinator Emma Faulk.

• The 40th biennial convention in Arlington, Virginia, was attended by 457 members, guests, and delegates. During the convention, a youth day was hosted by the NAP Youth Committee.

• In a ceremony held two days prior to the convention’s opening, a wreath was placed at the grave of General Henry Martyn Robert in Arlington National Cemetery with remarks being made by both Henry M. Robert III, PRP, and President Guiberson.

• The convention body honored Henry M. Robert III, PRP, by making him the Honorary President of NAP, and presented him with a certificate and a 24 karat gold gavel.

• The convention honored US House of Representatives Parliamentarian Thomas W. Wickham, Jr, by adoption of a resolution naming him as an honorary member of NAP. • The convention amended the bylaws to establish the Commission on Credentialing and a new standing committee, the International Services Committee.

• The following officers were elected for the 2015-2017 biennium: President Mary L. Randolph, PRP; Vice-President James N. Jones, PRP; Secretary Teresa Stone, PRP; Treasurer Wanda Sims, PRP; and Directors-at-Large Darlene Allen, PRP; Ann Rempel, PRP; and Alison Wallis, PRP. The following district directors were elected by the convention delegates to serve as the district representatives on the 2015-2017 NAP Board of Directors: Joyce Brown-Watkins, PRP, District Four, and Kevin Connelly, PRP, District Seven. Henry M. Robert III, PRP, installed the president in her office, and Dr. M. Eugene Bierbaum, PRP, conducted the installation of the other board members and district directors.

www.parliamentarians.org

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Test Yourself

&

Questions Answers The intent of this column is to provide general answers or advice (not formal, official opinions) about the questions asked. The answers are based on RONR (11th ed.), unless otherwise indicated, and do not take into account such governing authorities as statutes, bylaws, or adopted special rules of order.

Questions should be mailed to NP Q&A Editor, 213 South Main Street, Independence, MO 64050, or emailed to npeditor@nap2.org.

Q

Question 37: Our organization meets bi-monthly and uses RONR. Is it necessary or proper to adopt an agenda for each meeting?

Answer: The short answer is no, it’s unnecessary.

As applied to regular business meetings, it depends on how frequently the assembly meets as to whether it’s necessary for the assembly to adopt an agenda at each meeting.

If the assembly (usually) meets quarterly—or more frequently—it’s unnecessary to adopt an agenda for each meeting. This particular assembly meets bi-monthly.

RONR (11 ed.), p. 353, lines 10-15, provides for a “standard” order of business with six subdivisions: 1) Reading and Approval of Minutes; 2) Reports of Officers, Boards, and Standing Committees; 3) Reports of Special Committees; 4) Special Orders; 5) Unfinished Business and General Orders and 6) New Business.

Further, RONR states, In organizations that have adopted this book as <its> parliamentary authority and that have not adopted a special order of business, this series of headings is the prescribed order of business for regular meetings, unless the periods intervening between consecutive regular meetings are usually more than a quarterly time interval (see pp. 89-90). This standard order of business prescribes only the sequence of the headings, not the time to be allotted to each—which may vary with every meeting. Certain optional headings are also described following the detailed discussion of the regular headings below. (See pp. 360-363 for optional headings.)

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National Parliamentarian • Summer 2016

&

Test Yourself

Questions Answers

Q

continued

Question 38: Our organization meets quarterly over a three day period. The last meeting ran long and a complex question was pending.

A member moved to lay the question on the table, with no time specified for taking it up again and the motion was adopted. Should the motion have been ruled out of order and what happens to that motion now?

Answer: There are several elements to this question which need to be explored. Firstly, the fact that the motion was made with no time specified for taking it up, in and of itself, falls within the rules in RONR (11 ed.), p. 209, first bulleted point).

The second element to look at is—was there something more urgent that the assembly needed to take up so that the motion to Lay on the Table would have been the proper motion to make? RONR notes that the purpose of the motion to Lay on the Table is: “(To interrupt the pending business so as to permit doing something else immediately) The motion to Lay on the Table enables the assembly to lay the pending question aside temporarily when something else of immediate urgency has arisen or when something else needs to be addressed before consideration of the pending question is resumed… .” RONR (11th ed.), p. 209.

The facts in the question don’t state that there was something more urgent; rather, there is a strong implication the motion was made so that the “complex question” could be considered at the next meeting. If this is the case, and the evidence seems strong that it is, the motion was not proper and should have been ruled out of order and the presiding officer should have suggested other motions which may have been in order, such as Postpone Indefinitely, or perhaps Postpone.

So what happens to the motion that is now on the table? The facts state that the assembly meets quarterly; therefore, if the next meeting falls within the definition of a quarterly time interval, the motion will need to be Taken from the Table by the end of that session, or it dies, RONR (11 ed.), pp. 89-90.

If the next meeting takes place in more than a quarterly time interval, the motion is already dead and it may be renewed at the next meeting, RONR (11th ed.), p. 214.

www.parliamentarians.org

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Test Yourself

&

Questions Answers continued

Q

Question 39: A past president of our club was charged with multiple crimes that were quite disgusting; a grand jury presentment was released and printed in the local paper. It is well known in our community that he is a member of our club. I have two questions.

A. Our bylaws are silent on disciplinary actions and we have adopted RONR. May we take disciplinary action against the past president for just being charged?

B. If we can, do we need to have an investigating committee to draft charges? Can the meeting just draft the charges? We know what he is charged with because all that information is a matter of public record.

Answer A: The short answer is yes.

RONR (11th ed.) states that a member may be removed for “conduct tending to injure the good name of the organization” even if the bylaws are silent (p. 662, lines 11-15). Arguably a member being charged with “multiple crimes that were quite disgusting” is conduct that would injure the organization. It is the fitness for membership, in this case, not being an embarrassment to the society, that determines if the member should be subject to charges.

In this regard, it should be noted that this principle is nothing new. The Robert’s Rules of Order Revised (4th ed., 1915) noted that “A notorious pickpocket could not even be arrested, much less convicted by a civil court, simply on the ground of being commonly known as a pickpocket; while such evidence [being commonly known as a pickpocket] would convict and expel him any ordinary society,” (p. 304). It is not required that the nature of the charge be something criminal, or that the member be convicted of a crime in court. It is only that the situation constitutes conduct that would “injure” the organization.

Conversely, unless the bylaws (or some higher rule) state otherwise, the club may choose not to take any action either at this point, or even if the member is actually convicted. The research editor is, in fact, a member of two separate organizations that has members that are currently imprisoned for committing felonies.

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National Parliamentarian • Summer 2016

&

Test Yourself

Questions Answers continued

Answer B: RONR (11 ed.) establishes a process for removing members, which includes an investigation by committee (pp. 656-63). It notes specifically that “If a member introduces a resolution preferring charges unsupported by an investigating committees recommendation, the chair must rule the resolution out of order…” (p. 657, lines 33-36). Under the regular rules, a motion preferring charges would be out of order.

This rule could be suspended. The indicted member, has a right to due process, i.e. that the charges must be brought on a reasonable ground, that he has a right to be informed of the charge, have sufficient time to prepare his defense, to appear and present a defense. That indicted member does not have a “right” to be investigated by a committee. The motion “to suspend the rules and permit charges to be introduced,” would require a two-thirds vote.

A far easier method would be for the assembly to appoint a committee of the whole (or one of its alternate forms), with committee reporting back the proposed charges. Likewise, the assembly could appoint a committee of one to report back the charges at the same meeting. Either of these options would only require a majority vote.

Questions & Answers Research Team

Jonathan M. Jacobs, PRP, CPP

Steve Britton, PRP

Roger Hanshaw, PRP

George Mervosh, III, PRP

www.parliamentarians.org

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NAP Connections

Call for Amendments Pursuant to Article XVI, Section 1A2 of the NAP Bylaws, anyone (other than the Bylaws Committee) wishing to propose amendments to the NAP Bylaws must submit the proposed amendments to the Bylaws Committee no later than February 1 of the convention year (February 1, 2017 for amendments to be considered at the 2017 convention). As provided in Article XVI, Section 1A1, proposed amendments may be submitted by the Bylaws Committee, the NAP Board of Directors, a standing or special committee, a district conference, two associations or their boards of directors, three units, or at least ten NAP members-at-large.

When submitting amendments, please use proper RONR terminology and format, and include all applicable conforming amendments, the rationale, and identification of the submitter(s).

This will be the only notice for bylaw amendments published in the NP. Weldon L. Merritt, PRP NAP Bylaws Committee Chairman

Proposed amendments may be submitted any of three ways:

1 Preferably, by use of the

online form labeled “Submit an Amendment to the NAP Bylaws,” under Association/ Unit Resources on the Documents page of the NAP web site (also accessible at http://bit.ly/nap-bylawsamendments);

2 By e-mail to the Bylaws

Committee Chairman at weldonLmerritt@gmail.com; or

3 By postal mail to: Weldon L. Merritt, Chairman NAP Bylaws Committee 327 W. Brita Ave. Spokane, WA 99208

Washington State Association of Parliamentarians (WSAP)

The Washington State Association of Parliamentarians (WSAP) celebrated its 55th Annual Meeting in the Seattle, Washington area with a day of business where they revised their bylaws and held excellent educational workshops.

They concluded the evening banquet with an installation of new WSAP officers.

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National Parliamentarian • Summer 2016

Left to Right: John Berg, Vice President; John Strander, Treasurer; Mary Randolph, NAP President; Paul McClintock, President; Cathy Raye Hyland, Secretary

NAP Connections

New TSAP officers being installed. Left to right: Pam Meyercord, Treasurer; Kathy Blair, Secretary; George Nassar, III VP; Edward Moore, II VP; Martha Haun, I VP; Sheryl Womble, President; Carol Habgood, Immediate Past President; Margaret Wynn, Installing Officer and incoming parliamentarian.

Valoree Althoff, PRP, the new District Director for District 6, presents a workshop at the 2016 annual meeting of the New Mexico State Association of Parliamentarians.

The NAP Board of Directors recently met to discuss the associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strategic direction. www.parliamentarians.org

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NAP Connections

In Memoriam

NP commemorates the following members who have passed from our midst; may they rest in peace: Kendell Beck, Texas James Byers, Virginia Floyd Carter, California Rhonda Clark-Randle, RP, Texas Lillian Collins, South Carolina Diane Jablonski, Tennessee Jackie Miller, RP, Texas Valatrice Nordin, PRP-R, Minnesota

New Registered Parliamentarians

NP congratulates the following individuals for attaining the status of Registered Parliamentarian: Marilyn Carter, British Columbia Rhonda Clark-Randle, RP, Texas James Connor, Idaho Heather Ewasiuk, Manitoba Joshua Fairfield, Florida Fei He, China Louis Hodges, South Carolina Joshua Katz, New England Paisley Kaur, Washington Lane Keister, South Carolina Ann Kossachev, Virginia JuanLing Ma, China Molulela Monyake, Lesotho G. Kenneth Morgan, North Carolina Joan Price, Michigan Stuart Smith, Nevada Beverly Tatham, New York 36

National Parliamentarian â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2016

New Professional Registered ParliamentarianS

NP congratulates the following individual for attaining the status of Professional Registered Parliamentarian: Martha Beard, Tennessee Margie Booker, Virginia Steven Cook, District of Columbia Tyna Davis, Alabama LaVonne Ellis, Virginia Mary Grant, District of Columbia Adam Greenway, Kentucky Angela Jenkins, Alabama Valarie Jones, Virginia Ramona Marsalis-Hill, Alabama Marian Martin, Virginia Cora Salzburg, Virginia Wesley Waddle, Kentucky Shana Walker, Oklahoma Lee Wright, Alabama

NAP Connections

Orderi ng M ateri als from NAP

5

Categories of Materials Available Include:

Ways to Order: 1. By Mail: 213 South Main Street Independence, MO 64050-3808 2. By Phone: 888.627.2929

Robertâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Rules of Order Newly Revised 11th Edition Materials Other Parliamentary Manuals Electronic Resources Meeting Resources Leadership Spotlights

3. By Fax: 816.833.3893

4. By Email: HQ@nap2.org

5. On the Web: http://parliamentarians.org

Parliamentary Reference Cards Parliamentary Study Pathways to Proficiency References Parliamentary Supplies Teaching Resources

Resource descriptions and a complete order form are available at the NAP Online Store: http://parliamentarians.org/store/newstore.php

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Find us on facebook. www.facebook.com/parliamentarians

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National

Parliamentarian

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Official publication of the National Association of Parliamentarians® 213 S. Main Street Independence, MO 64050-3808 816.833.3892 • 888.627.2929 hq@nap2.org • www.parliamentarians.org 38

National Parliamentarian • Summer 2016