1. My Chapter………….. Chapter Bylaws or Chapter Policies and Procedures Manual

2. April 2014 The delegates at the State Convention in Charlotte voted to suspend the North Carolina Bylaws and to use the International Bylaws and the North Carolina Policies and Procedures Manual for the guiding document for North Carolina at the state level.

3. What does this mean? It means that at the state level, North Carolina will still have North Carolina Bylaws, but these are suspended. We will follow the International Bylaws and the North Carolina Policies and Procedures Manual which reflects the State Policies and Procedures Manual template.

4. Will N.C. sisters have input on the International Bylaws? Yes. Proposed Bylaws changes/amendments are sent out through the Kappan before each International Convention. Each chapter has the opportunity at chapter meetings to discuss how the chapter would like to vote on the proposed changes/amendments. The official chapter delegate to the International Convention will vote according to the chapter’s decision.

5. How will this affect North Carolina chapters? Each chapter in N.C. has Bylaws which are certified the year after each International Convention. In addition each chapter should have a Policies and Procedures Manual. During this biennium, each chapter will need to discuss whether or not it would like to suspend its Chapter Bylaws and follow its Chapter Policies and Procedures Manual.

6. Chapter Policies and Procedures Manual The Chapter Policies and Procedures Manual must be based on the Chapter Policies and Procedures Manual template which is located on the International website.

7. What is the process a chapter will follow? A chapter must have a Policies and Procedures Manual in place to even vote on suspending Chapter Bylaws.

8. This Biennium Chapters will be encouraged to take the time necessary to review or develop its chapter’s policies and procedures based on the Chapter Policies and Procedures Manual template located on the International website. This is a good opportunity to review the chapter’s policies and operating procedures and to reflect on changes which will promote chapter membership.

9. Is there a timeline for this process? Yes, there is. Foremost, it is important that chapters do not rush to complete the process. It is a process that will take some time. It will give our members the opportunity to make changes that will nurture the sisters in our chapter.

10. Steps in the Process 1. Chapters must first check their Chapter Bylaws to make sure there is a process in place to suspend the Chapter Bylaws. If there is not a process to do this, it must be added before anything else is done.

11. If your chapter’s bylaws were certified in 2012, you have this is place already.

12. From International Bylaws: ARTICLE XX — SUSPENSION OF BYLAWS Section 2. In the event that it becomes expedient to suspend the chapter bylaws, a three fourths (3/4) vote of a quorum of the chapter membership shall be required. This suspension shall not be applied to any voting, which requires balloting.

13. 2. Chapters that have Policies and Procedures Manuals in place should take the time this first year of the biennium to revisit their document, discuss each section, and revise, with approval, to meet the needs of the chapter members.

14. 3. Chapters that do not have Policies and Procedures Manuals may NOT vote to suspend Chapter Bylaws. Therefore this year of the biennium, these chapters will need to develop a P&P Manual based on the available template and chapter member input. Chapters will need to approve the manual with a ¾ vote of a quorum.

15. 4. By April 2015, a chapter should have discussed, revised or developed and approved its Chapter Policies and Procedures Manual with the chapter’s input.

16. 5. Each chapter member should have access to the Policies and Procedures Manual.

17. 6. Each chapter member should have access to the Chapter Bylaws.

18. 7. Once chapter members have discussed the pros and cons of suspending Chapter Bylaws and following the International Bylaws and Chapter Policies and Procedures Manual with at least a 30 day notice to chapter members, the vote will occur. A ¾ of a quorum must be present.

19. What then? If a chapter votes to “Not” suspend its Bylaws, the Chapter Bylaws chairman or Chapter President will submit the Chapter Bylaws to the NC Bylaws Chairman, Randy Carothers, for certification by October 15, 2015.

20. If the chapter votes “Yes” to suspend its Bylaws and follows the International Bylaws and the Chapter Policies and Procedures Manual, the Chapter Policies and Procedures Chairman or Chapter President will submit the Official Policies and Procedures page to the State Bylaws Chairman, Randy Carothers and mail an updated copy of the Chapter’s Policies and Procedures Manual to the State Policies and Procedures Chairman, Dora Lancaster.

21. Both the Official Policies and Procedures page and the updated Chapter Policies and Procedures Manual should be submitted by October 15, 2015.

22. Bylaws or P & P Manual? This is an important decision for your chapter. Please involve all of your Alpha Delta Kappa sisters in making the choice of the document that will guide your chapter in the future.

23. Questions? Let us help! Randy Carothers, Bylaws rcarothers@carolina.rr.com 704-482-9764 Dora Lancaster, Policies & Procedures dlancaster72@nc.rr.com 910-673-0166