LSH Bylaws

Bylaws

Name : Lincoln Secular Humanists

Mission : To defend the separation of government and religion, fight intolerance, educate the public about the importance of secular society and encourage scientific inquiry and discussion.

Policies :

1. Declaration

We are a non-sectarian, non-partisan, and non-profit community.

2. Autonomy

Although we affiliate with like-minded activists and organizations we shall remain an independent organization.

3. Membership

Guests interested in membership must sign a form agreeing to our bylaws and our mission statement. Prospective members should contribute to LSH in some way, either time or donation, and have attended at least 2 meetings.

4. Voting/Organizational Meetings

All votes and organizational meetings will take place online, through email, except in special circumstances. An agenda and proposals will be sent out to all core members (those who have signed the document stating agreement with the LSH mission statement and bylaws) at the start of the meeting. One week (7, 24 hour days) will be given to discuss issues/proposals and for voting. Online meetings will be announced to all core members one week in advance. Anything to be included on the agenda must be given to the Group Coordinator 24 hours before the start of the meeting. A quorum of 3 core members must be met for a vote to be considered valid. Proposals will require a 2/3 vote of support by members to be enacted. Voting for officers will take place every 12 months, on the first Saturday of October.

5. Meeting Rules

To promote clarity and productivity in the business meetings we will loosely follow Robert’s Rules of organization.

6. Meeting Coordination

Volunteer core members will take turns coordinating the business meetings based on a rotating schedule.

7. Discrimination

The promotion of hatred or discrimination of people based on race/ethnicity, nationality, class, sex, religious belief, sexuality, gender identity, or disabilities will not be tolerated within the group and will be cause for expulsion after a verbal warning.

8. Officer Recall

Recall of an officer will require a 2/3 vote of support by core members. At least 3 core members must be in support of the recall.

9. Civility

All members and guests will communicate and interact with each other in a courteous and professional manner. Members or guests who engage in personal attacks, excessive vulgarity, obscene gestures, or shouting will receive one verbal warning. Continued infractions will result in disciplinary actions, up to and including suspension or permanent expulsion from the group, decided by a vote at a later date. The accused offender may attend the meeting on proposed disciplinary action, and argue a defense, but must abstain from the final vote. Incidents which involve violence of any kind, threats, serious personal attacks which include derogatory epithets, harassment (including sexual harassment), or endangerment of any member of the group will result in immediate expulsion with the possibility of a later meeting for the accused offender to argue a case (whether or not a meeting will be given to the accused offender will be decided by a vote of all members except the offender).

10. Group Representation

All prepared material which is intended to represent the group must be posted and members must be alerted 48 hours before release. Personal statements should be prefaced by a disclaimer that the views being expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of LSH. Changes to the material may be requested by other group members if the material contains inaccuracies, errors (grammatical or otherwise), misrepresentations, or violations of the LSH bylaws e.g. partisan endorsement, discrimination, etc. – matters of contention must be settled by group vote. If 48 hours are not available all statements must be prefaced by our standard disclaimer.

Officers : Group Coordinator, Projects Coordinator, Secretary, Treasurer, Web Administrator

Duties of Officers :

Group Coordinator – Communication with other organizations and overall coordination, leadership of the group.

Projects Coordinator – In charge of all projects and events – planning, communicating with venues, helping group coordinator with duties and leadership of the group.

Secretary – Take notes, ensure communication between all members, sends out meeting minutes, prepares agenda for business meetings.

Treasurer – Handle all financial and legal aspects of the group.

Web Administrator – Leadership of the web design committee,
communicating progress to the group coordinator and the rest of the group.

*Bylaws were last amended by Brian on 1/05/10