Greetings!
Purpose and Eligible Participants. I am writing today to begin to complete the process of establishing a time for ASP General Membership Meetings during Winter Quarter 2012. Per the bylaws, the time for ASP membership meetings is set by the Executive Board, consisting of the officers of the club. The bylaws, as they currently stand, do not recognize the APA Representative offices, nor do the bylaws recognize the club's ability to establish such offices. The bylaws establish five offices; a majority vote of those participating are necessary to establish a time for the meeting.
Result Requirements. The bylaws require that meetings occur at least twice per month; as established previously, once every two weeks satisfies that requirement. Notice must be made at least 72 hours prior to the meeting. In order to ensure compliance with that requirement, the Board's vote will be concluded no later than Friday, January 6, at 9 AM. This will give us time to distribute the notice.
Inventory Participants. As you are all aware, I have been collecting input on when the meetings should occur this next quarter. I received input from the vice president, secretary, treasurer, Washington APA rep, IES rep, Cheney rep, Eric Cowell, Matt Parsons, and Dr. Winchell. I added my needs in as well.
- Inventory (Monday and Wednesday). The result is strong opposition to Monday and Wednesday meetings, with many expressions of inability to attend. One person established Wednesdays at noon as a preferred time for the meeting, and one established Monday afternoon as their preference. Since Dr. Winchell will be showing movies about starchitects and urban design as an extension of the Reflective Planning Theory class on Wednesdays during the noon hour (and the class actually ends right at noon), it was also deemed an ineligible time as a conflict with a core planning class.
- Inventory (Tuesday and Thursday noon). Tuesday and Thursday noon received the greatest amount of positive feedback (the remaining 13 of 15 expressions of preference were one or the other of these two times), but it was not universal. One officer and one general member said that, due to conflicting classes at the Cheney campus, they could not attend at these times.
- Inventory (Tuesday and Thursday evenings). Tuesday and Thursday evenings were the times that had the least conflict, though no one counted either as a preferred time. Several board members were concerned about a drop in attendance due to the poor timing after classes. No one said they absolutely could not come, but one officer did say it would harm his/her employment.
- Inventory (Fridays and Weekends). Very few expressions were made for Fridays and weekends. One person said that Friday at noon would be a conflict but that Friday evenings would be OK. There were no expressions, positive, negative or neutral, for weekend meetings.
Process. I am establishing the following process to ensure that everyone has a chance to participate and have meaningful input on the final decision. Since this is an executive board meeting, only board members will be permitted to make motions. I am asking board members at this time to forward nominations for meeting times (however, see below). Meeting time nominations will close on Wednesday, January 4 at 5 PM. While this is is a board decision, discussion by the membership is entirely appropriate and encouraged. Debate and nominations shall take place on the EWU ASP web site at http://ewuasp.blogspot.com.
Voting. To ensure vote security, votes will be emailed directly to me at my regular email address and made public when a decision is reached. This will not be a secret ballot. Voting will end on Friday, January 6 at 9 AM. Out of respect for the debate, officers, please do not forward your vote until after the nomination period is complete. This vote shall utilize Instant Runoff Voting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting) to determine a majority choice. For each of the nominated times, please indicate, in order, your preference, thusly:
#1: Top preference
#2: Second preference
...
#n: Lowest preference
Please consult the Wikipedia article (or any other resource) to understand how the vote will be tabulated. IRV simulates having an additional vote if no preference secures a majority on the first round, with the lowest ranking preferences being eliminated in later rounds.
Nominations. To expedite matters, I hereby nominate the following four meeting times for Winter Quarter 2012 in alternating weeks beginning on week one: 11:45 Tuesday, 4:45 Tuesday, 11:45 Thursday, 4:45 Thursday.
Open Door Policy. As always, please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions or comments. Thank you all for your positive participation in the decision making process!
