Club Policies

Rotary Club of Ann Arbor
Policies and Guidelines
"Policy on Policies"
(Approved by the Board on 5/19/09)

INTRODUCTION
The Rotary Club of Ann Arbor with over 300 active members is one of the largest clubs in the Rotary family and over 10% of the club’s membership turns over annually. As a result, it is a challenge to educate the membership in the many activities and “ways of doing business” that a club of this size involves.

The Club is led by a President who serves a one year term and is also a Club officer for the year preceding and the year after his or her presidency. The Club is governed by a Board whose non-officer Directors serve two year terms. However, the work of the club is mainly executed by its numerous committees, currently over 30 in number, under the overall supervision of the Board.

Because of the considerable extent of the Club’s activities and the regular cycling of the leadership, the Club is faced with the challenge of maintaining the institutional knowledge regarding governance. Although the Club’s incoming President is extensively trained in the overall aspects of Rotary via the District programs, the governance issues unique to The Rotary Club of Ann Arbor require a systematic way to highlight the prior leadership’s decisions and policies even beyond a full archive of extensive Board meeting minutes. As a result, the required task is to formalize a process to collect and publicize the policies necessary to operate the Club.

POLICY HIERARCHY AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS
The Rotary Club of Ann Arbor was chartered almost 100 years ago as part of what is now Rotary International, and as such the Club is currently part of Rotary District 6380. The overarching policies and other major requirements to be followed by the Club’s Board come from RI and the District. Next in rank come the Club’s Bylaws. All of the above are reasonably generic to any Rotary club. However, there are other governance decisions that are unique to The Rotary Club of Ann Arbor; and these are captured in the Club’s policies, which can be established by either the Board or by individual committees.

Board generated policies apply either to issues affecting the Club as a whole or to issues administered by a committee but governed by a Board approved policy. Committees may also establish policies to govern their operations but which will not require Board approval. The Board in its sole discretion will determine which existing or proposed policies require Board approval.

The Board will establish one or more policies regarding the Cub’s budgeting process to establish the Club’s annual revenue sources and planned expenditures, including individual committee budgets. In addition to the standing committees called for in the Club’s Bylaws, the Board may also charter new committees and modify or revoke the charters of existing committees. Furthermore, the Board may establish whatever other policies it deems required to address questions or issues of importance to the well being and orderly operation of the Club. The Board will endeavor to carry out its policy making function in a manner that will minimize the need for formal policies and maintain flexibility in the Club’s operations where practical.

POLICY ADMINISTRATION
The Club’s Secretary will maintain an index of all known Club policies as issued by either the Board or any of the Club’s committees. The index and copies of the policies will be available to the membership. It is the responsibility of each Board member to be familiar with and abide by each of the existing policies. Each Committee Chair is responsible for providing the Club Secretary a copy of any existing policy that applies to that committee’s activities. Each committee will abide by all Club policies that apply to its activities.

From time to time the Board and/or individual committees may wish to amend or revoke existing policies or create new policies. The Board will do so in the course of its regular meetings and will document any such changes by revising the index and publishing the new policy documents. When a committee wishes to revise an existing policy or initiate a new policy regarding its work, it shall notify the Club Secretary and provide the Board with a copy of the proposed document. After its next regular meeting, the Board shall inform the Committee Chair whether the Board approves the document without comment or whether the Board requires further specific information or wishes to open a full discussion of the issues raised therein. When a full Board review is undertaken, the Board shall endeavor to reach its conclusions in a timely manner.

Complete document can be downloaded in pdf format by clicking here.