• Be sure all branch members know about the AAUW NC meeting this fall. All are invited. Learn more.
• Get the new year started right be ensuring the branch officers are reported to AAUW and that your bylaws are up to date with the 2009 changes.
• Get ready for the 2011 changes at AAUW by reviewing the One Member/One Vote materials (in the AAUW member center - your member id required to login)
• Share what’s happening in your branch with the rest of the state. Send a sentence or two to editor@aauwnc.org for the next Tar Heel News.

More details: August 4 letter to branch presidents

Topics include:

• Reminder to report your branch officers
• Reminder to send in your state dues
• Check the information on the fall meeting and plan to attend
• Info to watch for as AAUW NC interviewers prepare to call all the branches

Karla and Lill want to know that the branch presidents have received this message and they’ve asked everyone to confirm receipt. If you know your branch president is away for an extended period, please do let Karla/Lill know that.

Click here to download July 2010 Letter to Branch Presidents

Registration: $15.

Registration form for AAUW NC Fall Meeting:

• Printable form (PDF)
• Online form (accepts online payment or you can print this and send a check)

Questions: Contact Lill Van Order or Karla Atkinson (contact info).

Location

Hampton Inn Greensboro-Airport
7803 National Service Road, Greensboro, North Carolina 27409
336-605-5500, Fax: 336-605-0686
Room Rate: $69 + tax Hot breakfast is included with the room.

Check in time: 3 pm/Check out time: 12 Noon
They are holding 10 rooms for Friday, September 24. You must identify AAUW North Carolina when making your reservation. Reservation deadline is 9/15/10.

Directions

From I-40: Take Exit 210 to Hwy 68 South; right on Thorndike Road for one block, then right onto National Service Road. The hotel is the last one on the left. Please note that none of the Blue Hotel Signs on the highway have the Hampton Inn listed. (When exiting I-40 — from either east or west — make sure that you are in the far right hand lane. This will position you for your entrance onto Hwy 68 south.)

Meals

Friday Night: Dinner will be “on your own,” though we are encouraging everyone to eat as a group together at the Moose Cafe, about five minutes from the Hampton Inn at the Piedmont/Triad Farmer’s Market. Close by restaurants for Friday night include FATZ, Ruby Tuesdays, and McAllisters.
At the Moose Cafe the meals start with sandwiches at about $3 and go to their meals that are $8.99. There are a couple of vegetarian choices on the menu. We might get them to do their shrimp on the grill.

Saturday Breakfast: Pastry, fruit and juice will be provided for those not staying at the hotel.
Saturday Lunch: Lunch is included with registration and will be catered (probably box lunch).

View Larger Map

A: Hampton Inn, B: Moose Cafe. See the larger map to get personalized directions or to zoom in on either location.

•  AAUW NC Contributions to AAUW: 2009

In particular, kudos to Brevard for the highest total contribution ($5780) and to Statesville for the highest per capita contribution ($49).

Reminder: AAUW changed its structure as of July 1. The AAUW Educational Foundation funds are now part of the AAUW funds, and, in particular the “Educational Opportunities Fund” includes the fellowships and grants program. Contributions to the Association before July 1 and undesignated contributions to AAUW after July 1 are both listed as “AAUW” in this report even though the former was to the 501(c)(4) and the latter is to the 501(c)(3).

FY2009 AAUW NC Financials

There was some discussion about additional changes, but the bylaws chair Elizabeth Laney recommends, and president Millie Hoffler-Foushee agrees that the single noticed change is what is appropriate to be voted on at the 2010 annual meeting of AAUW NC. This change has been approved by the AAUW governance committee.

The recommended change is to drop the delegate system, and go to a system where each member of AAUW NC has a vote at the annual meeting. For a meeting to have a quorum, a majority of the branches would need to be represented, as it is now.

• Wording of the proposed amendment
• Current AAUW NC Bylaws (as of October 2009 with AAUW required changes)

If there are questions, please contact Elizabeth Laney (see the state contacts page).

• Convention overview for branch presidents
• Convention registration form
  • note you may check into the hotel at 3:00, not 4:00 as on this form. Hotel rate is good through March 17.
  • DEADLINE: April 1
• Information on a proposed bylaws amendment
  • This longer article clarifies the information in the packet which had an inaccurate statement
• Branch delegation form
  • DEADLINE: April 1
• Information on tour of UNC Charlotte
  • DEADLINE: April 1
• Updated convention agenda
• Memorial service form
  • DEADLINE: April 1
• Hotel information
  • DEADLINE for AAUW rate: March 17

Members are encouraged to support their branch presidents in ensuring that the delegation and memorial service forms are returned promptly. All other deadlines apply to all convention attendees.

The version of the AAUW NC bylaws that complies with the changes voted at the 2009 AAUW ceonvention in St. Louis has been posted:

• AAUW NC 2009 Bylaws - v3

This version includes only the changes mandated by AAUW. If you’d like a redlined version to see the specific changes from the previous version, please contact info@aauwnc.org or call 866/525-2155 and leave voice mail with how to contact you.

Proposed amendment defining who may vote

You can find the current discussion of the delegate system in Article XII, Section 2, paragraph a (page 7) of the bylaws above. The executive committee has approved a proposal to replace that with language from the AAUW model state bylaws, Article XI, Section 4, Option 2:

Each voting member in good standing as of the official notice of the meeting may attend and be entitled to one vote at any annual or special meeting of members.

Rationale

The changes approved  by AAUW give the states much more flexibility in their structure and governance. However, only one change is under consideration for presentation to the convention at the AAUW NC convention in April in Charlotte: a change that drops the system of having credentialed delegates to the convention and replaces that with a system where every member in good standing has one vote at any AAUW NC meeting.

This change is modeled after the national change that says that every member of AAUW (not just those who attend convention, and not just those who are delegates) will have a vote on all matters that come before the membership. This implies a mail or electronic ballot that the AAUW NC executive committee deemed was not appropriate for our organization. They thus chose the middle ground — dropping the delegate system in favor of a broader based electorate, but keeping the tradition of all business being transacted in person at the annual meeting of the state.

For the past few conventions, there have been very few members who have attended who have not had a vote at the meeting. However, some branches that bring larger than average delegations do have to pick and choose which members may actually vote. On the other hand, a close vote is exceedingly rare, and there is little enforcement that only those with “credentials” speak up on a voice vote. Simplifying the credential system by using a list of all members as of a certain date saves work for both the convention organizing committee and the branch presidents who now need to appoint the delegates and report them to the state. Indeed, we hope the presidents use that time to convince more members to attend and see first hand the work of AAUW NC.

Related amendment on the definition of a quorum

This change, if approved, will have an effect on the definition of a quorum for a state meeting. As you can see in the document above (Article XII, Section 2, paragraph c), currently a quorum at an AAUW NC meeting is defined as:

If a majority of the branches are represented by their President or at least one (1) other branch delegate, the meeting shall have a quorum.

If we drop the  delegate system, the wording of this needs to be changed (say from “other branch delegate” to “other branch member”). The model bylaws, however, suggest changing this to

The quorum shall be ____ percent of the membership

and suggestions have been to fill that in with 5% (as in the national bylaws). [Recently 80-100 members have attended convention. AAUW NC membership has hovered around 1000 branch members.]

The executive committee (with guidance from the bylaws committee) has not yet announced proposed language for the quorum. It is likely, however, that it will include either a fraction of the branches, a percentage of the members, or both. If you have comments on this, please contact the Bylaws Chair, Elizabeth Laney (see the contacts page).

The executive committee will address this and propose specific language for the change to meet the requirement that all bylaws changes must be announced at least 30 days before the meeting.

What you really need to know:

• The 2010 annual meeting will use the delegate system outlined in the 2009 bylaws
• The 2010 annual meeting will consider a bylaws amendment to move towards giving every member at the meeting a vote (which would be effective at all future meetings). Exact language will be announced in late March and may be amended at the meeting.
• You can always find the bylaws, policies and other important documents on the Documents page of this web site.

• Pages 1-5,7-8 (all but the directory)
• Page 6, the directory of board members (in the member center, contact info@aauwnc.org for the login information)
• For public contact information for the AAUW NC board, see
  • Branch presidents
  • Elected and appointed officers

Highlights from the 2009 AAUW Summer Meeting:

• Introduction (page 1)
• Highlights of discussions (page 4, board meeting minutes)
• Pictures (pages 1, 4, 5)
• More web articles

Public Policy Information

• Is anyone listening (page 5, web article, summary)
• AAUW support for Judge Sotomayor (page 7, web update)

AAUW News

• New bylaws for AAUW approved in St. Louis (page 4, specifics on the new bylaws, more details on convention including handouts and videos)
• Hoffler-Foushee appointed to AAUW board (page 3, AAUW board directory)
• Leadership Corps recruits its first class (page 2, background, FAQ)
• 2009-2010 national dues remain at $49, but $46 is tax deductible (page 2, more details)
• New pilot dues collection process has launched (page 5, AAUW briefing, AAUW FAQ, AAUW NC notes)
• Applications for 2010-2011 fellowships and grants are now available (page 8, press release, more details)

AAUW NC News

• Directory (page 6)
• Fall Meeting registration (page 7, more)
• President’s Message (page 2)
• WAGE and $tart $mart workshops (page 3, more details)
• Vacancies in positions of secretary and newsletter designer (page 2)
• AAUW NC Financial Report for FY08 (page 7, web article)
• How AAUW NC is using Facebook and twitter (page 8, web article)

Branch News

• Carolina Authors’ Luncheon, Wilmington, Nov. 7 (page 2, Wilmington newsletters)
• Chapel Hill branch honors Rachel Carson (page 3)
• Tar Heel Branch reminds MALs that they are welcome to join the branch and connect to AAUW NC (page 4, info at branch site)

Dates

• AAUW NC Fall Leadership Meeting: October 9-10, Boone
• AAUW NC 2010 Convention: April 16-17, Charlotte
• Tar Heel News copy deadline: Nov. 9; target mail date Dec. 7

• page 3: Hoffler-Foushee was appointed to the position of AAUW Finance Vice President. She was not among the candidates elected to the board.
• page 4: In the picture, the person second from right is Betsy Miner, not Denny McGuire
• page 7: Our Membership VP’s name is spelled Sheila Bassoppo-Moyo
• page 7: The “Healthy Branch Culture” workshop will be led by Ann Wilkins and Barie Baker.

Please send additional corrections to editor@aauwnc.org

• Rates are $129.00 plus tax per night for a double room. One handicap accessible room is available. Call (800) 951-6048 to make your reservation and ask for the AAUW block of rooms.
• Reservations should be made by September 10. After that date, the rate will increase and there is no guarantee there will be rooms available. Check in time is 4 pm and check out is 11am.
• Detailed directions to the Broyhill Inn are on their website www.broyhillinn.com.

The main street in downtown Boone is King Street. From King, turn south on Depot Street, (down the hill), cross Howard Street, then go straight across Rivers Road. The street name changes to Bodenheimer Drive. Go ¾ mile on Bodenheimer to the Broyhill.

Registration fee for the meeting is $25.00. This includes coffee and pastry in the morning and luncheon. Please make your check payable to AAUW High Country and indicate your branch in the memo section of the check. Mail to Barbara McCaughey, 130 Chandy Street, Boone, NC, 28607. Deadline for registrations is October 1. Please let us know of any special needs.

Call (828) 264-7240 with any questions.

REMEMBER THE DEADLINE FOR HOTEL RESERVATIONS IS SEPTEMBER 10.