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Bylaws Review Committee

Committee Charge

To review the AAAP Inc. Bylaws and supporting documents on a regular basis to ensure they accurately describe the current policies and practices and purpose of the organization. To compare subsidiary AAAP organizational documents to the AAAP Bylaws to eliminate any inconsistencies between documents, and to suggest corrections and improvements of the documents to the AAAP Board of Directors.

Committee Composition

The committee is made up of 3 AAAP members with one member serving as Chair. The committee term is three years for all committee members except for the Chair who will serve an additional year as Past Chair to provide continuity and history for the work of the committee. Three new committee members will be appointed by the President when the previous committee’s term expires. The committee will work closely with the AAAP Director of Member Services or some other AAAP staff member to get the most updated material for inclusion in the Policies and Procedures Manual.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

This committee reviews the Bylaws at least once every 3 years including during the fall of the first year of the committee’s term. The following timeline and procedure will be followed:

October-December: The committee meets and determines if a change is needed. If there are no changes needed: no further action needs to be taken. If a change is warranted, it is written as a proposed amendment and signed by the Bylaws Committee members.

January: Submit the proposed amendment to the business office prior to the January Board of Directors (BOD) meeting for finalization and inclusion in the information packet for the BOD. It will be on the agenda for discussion and vote by the BOD at the January meeting.

Prior to July*: If approved by the BOD, post the proposed amendment to the AAAP website with the recommendation of the BOD and alert the membership by email that a proposed amendment of the Bylaws has been posted.

July/August*: Discuss the proposed amendment of the Bylaws during the Annual Business meeting.

August*: The membership as defined in the Bylaws, Article III, Section 3-04, receives a ballot outlining the proposed amendment by providing the text of the old version and the proposed amendment. The amendment is approved by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the membership voting as defined in Article IX of the Bylaws.

September: The updated Bylaws are posted on the AAAP website, and the membership is notified by email that the updated Bylaws are posted on the AAAP website.

* Timeline Governed by Article IX of the Bylaws.
Article IX of the Bylaws stipulates that amendments can be proposed by the membership. Such a proposal will be submitted to the Bylaws Review Committee for guidance. The proposed amendment must be signed by at least three voting members in good standing as defined in Article IX which can include the members of the Bylaws Review Committee and is forwarded to the business office for discussion by the BOD following the basic timeline outlined above.

Policies and Procedures Manual

The committee will work closely with the AAAP Director of Member Services or some other AAAP staff member to get the most updated material for inclusion in the Policies and Procedures Manual. The committee will review the Manual at least once a year but because this is a “living document” reviews may be needed during the year on an ad-hoc basis. The following procedures will be followed:

September: The AAAP office will provide updated committee information (from committee annual reports) to the Bylaws Review Committee.

January-February: Review the Manual for potential changes or clarifications. If changes are deemed necessary, contact the specific persons involved in or responsible for the section(s) and coordinate with him/her the rewording. For example, if the section on the Editor of Avian Diseases needs adjustments, work with the Editor and Associate Editors.

March-April: Forward any changes to the BOD for approval, highlighting the proposed changes in yellow.

May: After approval by the BOD, post the updated document on the AAAP website.

Other responsibilities

A. Verify BOD approved changes.
B. If any changes in the Bylaws or the Manual are approved by the BOD, the committee will verify that the documents are updated.
C. Monitor that most recent versions are posted for membership.
D. The committee is responsible for monitoring where the documents are kept—such as on the AAAP website—and for making sure the most recent versions are displayed.