Suggestions for bylaws and procedures

Suggested changes to the Bylaws and the Board procedures document ...

Bylaws

 * As the Bylaws explain in the sections for the Board and Council, “each elected [vacant] position shall be voted on as a separate matter with each Member entitled to vote receiving one vote for each such position”. This has long been interpreted to mean that each Member has equal voting rights rather than to specify a voting system in which the Member can only select one candidate rather than rank them. However, it's ambiguous and could be interpreted to mean that the ballot must allow the choice of only one candidate, thereby prohibiting ranked voting.  This should be clarified.


 * The sections on the Chair of the Board and the Chair of the Technical Council explain how this position is selected if no one "is able or willing to assume the chair". In both cases, the sentence ends with "or it may nominate a non-elected individual", but it's not clear which body "it" refers to.

Board procedures document
The Board procedures document has two sections -- "Members' Meetings" and Appendix A -- which overlap considerably with the conference protocol under development, Hosting a TEI Conference and Members Meeting, and Members Meeting Procedures. They should be consolidated eventually, either into the Board procedures document or into a conference protocol document hosted on the TEI-C website.

Specific recommended changes to the text of the Board procedures document:


 * The Bylaws use the term "annual meeting", but the Board procedures document uses the term "members' meeting". Change all references in the Bylaws or in the Board procedures document to reflect preferred usage.
 * The section "Elections of Board of Directors and Council" should mention that it is necessary to synch the TEI-MEMBERS subscription list with the membership database before using that list.
 * Item 1 in the the conference protocol under development is handled better in the Board procedures document and should be deleted in the conference protocol (although perhaps the link to the sample bid should be copied over, first).
 * Item 2.2 in the the conference protocol under development is in conflict with "Planning and Venue" section of the Board procedures document.
 * The Board procedures document said that reimbursements must be submitted within 1 month, but the reimbursement form itself and http://wiki.tei-c.org/index.php/TEI-Council-FAQ#What_funding_is_available_for_Council_Activities.3F both say "within 10 days".