AAUW WI By-Laws

Lois Helland
State By-Laws VP
HELLANLA@uwec.edu

State By-Laws April 2008

Hi! My name is Lois Helland and I am the State Bylaws Coordinator. I am the official archivist and have current bylaws from each branch on file. You can access the AAUW-WI Bylaws here on our state website by using the left column and linking either to Documents or News. The ongoing Association reorganization to combine the Educational Foundation and the Legal Advocacy Fund will become official at the Association Convention in 2009. At that point, I will contact each branch to let you know what changes you will need to make on your branch bylaws to reflect the changes at the Association. Thank you for the good work you do for women and girls through your membership in AAUW.

Caroline Pickens
AAUW Bylaws Committee Chair
August 1, 2008
By-Laws Draft

After receiving a number of requests, we have posted the Explanatory Notes and the draft proposed AAUW Bylaws on the AAUW website in the Member Center under "Strategic Process." Any feedback from members is welcome and will be considered by the Bylaws Committee.

Wherever you are able to do so, please encourage everyone to review the draft proposed Bylaws with an open mind and willingness to envision AAUW's future as a viable and vital organization. It is easy for all of us to consider only our own AAUW experience, but we need to think broadly of our organization as one that embraces multi generations, different approaches and levels of participation, and varied experiences.

There have been concerns about the short timeline for responses from some of those who have received the Bylaws through dissemination by the Review Group. While any and all feedback is very helpful, it was not the intention (or possibility) to have every member review and respond. Our immediate goal was to reach a large group of member leaders (the Review Group, which includes the past national presidents, the national committees, regional directors, 2006-2010 state presidents, state bylaws chairs, the former Strategic Process task force, and the former Intermediate Structure task force)-a group large enough to give us a clear picture of acceptance or concern about the various Bylaws proposals. While not ideal, we were able to give the Review Group six weeks to provide feedback. If additional members are able to review and respond by the August 30 deadline, that is absolutely okay and their feedback will add to our data. Members may be unaware that the timeline for the final version of the proposed Bylaws is impacted by meeting AAUW/EF Board meeting deadlines in late September and by the December deadline for Publications, three months before the Spring AAUW Outlook is mailed to the members (which in turn must be received by the members three months before Convention). So while it seems that St. Louis is a long way off, we actually don't have that much time before the final, carefully edited Bylaws have to be submitted. If you have the opportunity to help members understand the time constraints, thank you for doing so.

As mentioned before, if you have personal concerns or comments, please feel free to contact me at pickens_slim@hotmail.com. Thanks again for all your time and effort in this important process.

Please note:
From July 22-August 30, Bylaws feedback will be accepted on the website. Feedback will be reviewed and a final draft will be considered at the next Association board meeting Oct. 4-5.

After the final draft is prepared in October, the proposed bylaws will go to print in Outlook, etc., in time for voting at the National Convention in St. Louis in June.

We encourage all AAUW members to comment on the new Bylaws. Starting July 22 there will be a Bylaws feedback form in the AAUW website Member Center at http://www.aauw.org/login.cfm Use your member ID to enter the Member Center. When the Member Center opens, go to "Forms" on the left-hand side. Click the "Forms" link to open the "Bylaws Feedback Form," then follow the instructions on the form.