On March 1, 2017, ISWA’s Board met to discuss amending the constitution to address issues that have arisen in the past six months. The minutes of the meeting are available here, and the full text of the constitution is here.

The proposed changes are listed below. To facilitate discussion of these changes, we have created a forum for ISWA members, which can be found here. The forum will be open for discussion until March 20.

The following changes have been proposed:

Section 4:

• In Clause (a), remove the sentence “The immediate past President shall be offered the option to serve as one of the Members-at-Large.”
• In Clause (a), remove the sentence “Changes to the structure of the Board…of members.”
• In Clause (a), amend the sentence beginning with “Casual vacancies” to read “Casual vacancies arise if a Board member resigns, cannot carry out assigned duties as decided by the Board, or fails to attend three consecutive Board meetings. Such vacancies shall be filled…”.
• In Clause (b), remove the sentence “The Board in office during the time…the new Board is elected.”
• Amend Clause (c) to read “regular” and “extraordinary” meetings rather than “non-emergency” and “emergency” meetings.

Section 8:

• Amend Clause (a) to read: “The President shall preside at all meetings of the Board, setting their agendas, and shall represent the organization on all external matters, unless others are so designated by the President or the Board. The President shall also preside at the General Assembly of members. As executive in charge of the affairs of the organization, the President shall enforce the Constitution, serve as ex officio member of all Committees, and guide the Association in accomplishing its mission, including setting the organization’s overall goals and agenda.”
• Amend Clause (c) to replace “generally oversee the administration of the Association” with “shall oversee the daily administrative tasks of the Association.”
• Remove Clause (e).
• Add a new clause (which will be 8e) as follows:: “Decisions which may fundamentally alter the Association’s operation or expose the Association or individual Board members to personal legal or financial liability or risk shall require unanimous approval by the Board. These may include any decision in which an Officer, including the President, may have to sign their name; such actions cannot be done against the Officer’s will.”

Section 9:

• Add a new clause (9b, making the existing text Clause (a)), as follows: “The most recent serving President may be offered the Board-appointed position of Immediate Past President (IPP) in an advisory role in which he or she may attend but can not vote. The IPP serves at the pleasure of the current Board and has a maximum term that ends with the end of service of the current Board, or two years, whichever comes first. After this, that IPP may run for a Board position if they wish to serve on the Association Board.”

Section 11:

• Amend “at least three months” to read “no less than six weeks”.