Our Chapter guidelines define the basic rules and policies for the Chapter’s organization and activities. During the pandemic, we discovered that we had included requirements such as holding four general meetings each year that were not possible to follow under the circumstances in which we found ourselves. Revisions to the current guidelines require a vote of the membership which makes it difficult to address problems like this in a timely fashion.

Our Board approved a proposed revision to the current guidelines to address these and other issues found since our last major update in 2019. The most significant change in the revised guidelines moves authority to make updates to the Chapter’s guidelines from a vote of the membership
to our Chapter’s board. Other changes include:

• Updating the Chapter’s Fiscal Year. Our Chapter’s fiscal year is currently the calendar year. The Chapter is required to provide annual reports to the CNPS state office at the end of the state office’s fiscal year, which runs from April 1 through March 31. This change aligns our Chapter’s fiscal year with the state organization to simplify reporting.
• Updating the leadership term to run from June 1 of the election year through the following May 31. This change means that the leadership team in charge of the annual report to the state office is the same team that led the Chapter during the majority of the reporting period.
• Updating the definition of Chapter membership to remove references to categories that no longer exist (Family memberships) and other membership processes outside of Chapter control.
• Updating the composition of the Executive Committee. The Executive committee will include all officers (President, Vice President, Treasurer, Chapter Council Delegate, Past President and Recording Secretary).
• Merges the Nominating Committee’s responsibilities into the Leadership Development Committee
• Removes the requirement to hold a specific number of membership meetings each year. Changes the Chapter’s election format from an inperson election to an electronic one. Our Chapter has around 1,000 members at the moment. Switching to an electronic election allows broader membership participation.

The General Membership will vote on these revisions during our annual meeting on October 8. The guidelines will become effective immediately after ratification by the membership. That will extend the term of the current leadership team through May 31, 2023 and will move our next Chapter Officer election from November, 2022 to February, 2023. You may download the revised guidelines from our Chapter website. For more information please contact Radhika Thekkath at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..