Present
Bylaw VI Presidential Office and Official address
Section 1.
The Presidential Office shall be located and arranged in such
a place as may be determined by the President and approved
by the Executive Board within 45 days of taking office.
Section 2.
The official address should be at a place determined by the
Executive Board, recognising the need for continuity to maintain
effective communication.
Section 3.
The Executive Board shall be responsible for approving the
arrangements for delivery of Member Services to Affiliates,
Friends and Fellows, and that the contractual requirements
are fulfilled.
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Proposed
Bylaw VI Office and official address
Section 1.
The Office of BPW International and official address
shall be located and arranged in such a place as may be determined
by the Executive Board, recognising the need for continuity
to maintain effective services, knowledge management
and communication with members.
Section 2.
The office shall be located in a city that is easily
accessible for members and where knowledgeable, multi-lingual
staff is available.
Section 3.
The office shall deliver a full range of services
to members, friends and fellows and provide support for the
Executive Board, officers and representatives of BPW International.
The Board of Directors will set its budget and determine the
terms of a service level agreement based on a proposal by
the Executive Board.
Section 4.
The office will be responsible for maintaining archives
and records of BPW International; an archival policy will
be agreed by the Board of Directors.
Section 5.
The Executive Board shall be responsible for approving the
arrangements for delivery of member services within
the terms of the service level agreement. The Executive Secretary
will monitor compliance with the service level agreement.
Section 6.
The President’s paid personal assistant may
be located at a place separate to the office of BPW International.
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Proposed amendment will
take effect immediately after XXVI BPW International Congress.
RATIONALE
It is all important that there is an efficient,
experienced, knowledgeable and conveniently located Office
to support the Executive Board and other Representatives/officers
of BPW International and that there is good communication
with members at large and communication and co-ordination
between the different staff members.
At present experience and knowledge is lost
due to moving the office every three years; different locations
for different services etc. Moving all the secretarial staff
and bookkeeping to separate, different locations again is
counterproductive. A location for all services for an unrestricted
number of years – not coupled to the location of the
President or the triennium - is preferred in the interest
of sustainability and good governance for membership at large.
If the International President wants to
have a paid personal assistant, that is no problem but there
is no need to move and/ or separate all the offices/paid services
following each triennium.
It should be the Executive Secretary’s
job to supervise the Office (not the President’s). She
should be charged with regular travel to the office to ensure
its integrity, safe, correct and uninterrupted operation.
The large majority of the Presidents of
BPW federations and associated clubs in Europe are of the
opinion that:
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The Office of BPW International
should not be moving around. Continuity of staff and
services / service level is of the utmost importance |
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The office should really function
as the “nerve centre” of the Federation
and not only function as an administration address.
It should therefore be easily accessible by ways of
transport (flights included) but also e.g. entry with
visa . |
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The archives of BPW are a source
of information and history; it should be open to all
members (and kept in good order) – therefore it
should be located where the members are and can go;
archives older than 10 years should be given for safe-keeping,
research and dissemination purposes to an internationally
renowned institute as directed by the Board of Directors |
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Changes of accounting practices
because of change of country and therefore legislation
are undesirable and lead to loss of transparency and
control over the financial situation of BPW |
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The staff in the office should
be able to communicate with members and officers at
least in the official languages of BPW International
– so be multi lingual. We also feel it is important
that the office itself represents more cultures |
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The different tasks of the office
should be clear; services that are linked to “availability” |
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The cost of the office / services
constitute a large part of the budget and should therefore
be transparent (including donations in kind or money
from officers or members) and operate on a sensible
cost – service ratio.
The large majority of the Presidents of BPW federations
and associated clubs in Europe feel, that since the
majority of the members has been and is located in Europe,
and a change thereof is not expected in the foreseeable
future, the Office of BPWI should be located in Europe. |
| Implementation: |
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A proposal for Terms of Reference
for the Service Level Agreement should be drawn up by
the Executive and submitted to the Board of Directors |
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After approval by the Board, the
Executive will invite members to submit proposals based
on these terms |
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Proposed Budgets should be transparent,
show the real cost and – where applicable –
donations of time, materials and money or reduction
in tariffs separately to permit realistic comparisons
between the submitted proposals. |
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If and when a new constitutions
and a proceedings-manual “sees the light”,
the ideas in this rationale should be send to the provisory
committee and incorporated in a new procedure manual. |
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