[Oabs] Committee feedback

[Kaiti Shelton]

I wonder if it would beneficial to devote a few minutes of February's
meeting to further clarifying some sort of attendance policy.  It
seems like ideas of when to come and when to miss are variable across
the group, and each of us has a different amount of experience with
other organizations like OABS and their policies.  In one group I'm
in, there are only 3 reasonable excuses for missing meetings unless
you seek prior approval from the exec board.  They are conflict with
work, class, or a performance, illness (meaning something that has
prevented you from going to class and such, because if you could get
up to go to school unless it got worse you should be able to deal with
it through an hour meeting as well), and family emergency.  If you
miss a meeting without getting approval from exec board or informing
them of these things prior to the meeting you need to pay $5 fees to
the treasurer.  Obviously this would not be realistic for us as people
would need to send money, and at this point absences would be too much
to ask Emily to keep up with as treasurer (and it's not really her job
to police anything other than dues), but I feel like we should come to
a common understanding.

I'm not trying to belittle anyone's explanations for missing, but not
coming to meetings because you forgot when we have the same schedule
every month, saying you're a little under the weather even though you
could mute yourself and still participate by listening and unmuting
yourself to speak when you want, etc, are very frustrating things to
hear for those who show up every month and want to get things done.
On the other hand of the spectrum we have those who do call in even
when they're sick, and those who call in while taking transportation
from point A to point B.  I wouldn't call these people necessarily
hard core about OABS, but they're probably just more used to keeping
up with an organization like this.  It can be very frustrating,
especially since if you've paid for dues you're counted against quorem
if you don't show up, for those who do come and want to have the
meetings.  The thing that puzzles me is that, I at least would think
that since we don't have to figure out transportation to the meetings
and we can all just call in from home or wherever we are, why do we
have such problems with attendance?  Is OABS low on the radar for some
reason?  Does this time really not work for people (although I only
received a handful of responses and it worked for everyone who took
the time to reply).  What is the problem from other's perspectives
here?  The sooner we can figure it out, the sooner we can work to fix
it.  Many of you have sent me surveys with very specific ideas about
what OABS should do to improve as a division, but none of those ideas
you will like to see happen will have a chance to be discussed on the
floor if you don't show up to bring them to the forefront.
On 1/18/15, brennenkinch at gmail.com <brennenkinch at gmail.com> wrote:
> I a am sorry i wasn't at the last meeting i was just getting over a cold and
> wasn't feeling well
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Jan 18, 2015, at 4:22 PM, Kaiti Shelton via Oabs <oabs at nfbnet.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I've said before that if there is a problem with OABS that I hoped the
>> individual(s) who felt it to be a problem would come to me.  I've
>> mentioned that I can only fix something if I know that it is
>> bothersome to someone, and I am holding that to myself as well as you.
>> Communication is the key to any organization's success, so I'm taking
>> this opportunity to do with you as I hope you all would do with me and
>> your committee leaders.
>>
>> There is a problem with attendance.  We've heard that time and time
>> again, especially since Emily and Aleeha have been vocal about it as
>> well in the past few months.  Both committees are struggling to
>> achieve quorem, and I mentioned in a previous email that our business
>> meeting on Thursday had to be canceled for the same reason.  Emily,
>> Macy, and I were the only ones there.  Elif tried to call in but
>> somehow could not get through, and Aleeha had an emergenc come up.
>>
>> The problem I see in this is that the board is not OABS.  The monthly
>> meetings are not meant to be conducted between the five of us, and
>> though we hold officer positions and some chair committees, we can't
>> do the work of OABS by ourselves.  For a long time everyone in OABS
>> was on the board because we barely had enough people to fill the
>> cabinet, but now the board makes up less than half of the division.
>> The board has its own time to meet separate from the monthly calls.
>>
>> According to our constitution, meetings can be conducted with just 25
>> percent of active members present.  While this would be perfectly fine
>> and normal if we had even 20 members, this means that having just 3 on
>> the call like we did is a judgement call, since one can't have part of
>> a person to constitute a proper 25 percent.  While I trust the board
>> to advise in decisions related to the division, it isn't right for the
>> board to have to make all the decisions without input from general
>> members on calls.  That would be akin to congress men and women never
>> taking the concerns of their constituents into account by never
>> inviting them to speak before senate committees, or discuss matters
>> with them.  I know Emily and Aleeha especially are offering several
>> opportunities for members to provide input on membership and
>> fundraising efforts, but they're just not getting any feedback to
>> assist them in their work.
>>
>> So, I'm asking you, and I hope that this email will not fall on deaf
>> ears as my last one has appeared to. What is difficult or challenging
>> about the committee meetings and the general set up of OABS as it
>> stands now?  Everyone said they could make the calls on Thursdays, so
>> I'm a little puzzled by the poor turn out not just at this past
>> meeting, but at committee meetings where Emily and Aleeha have also
>> checked with everyone involved for times that would work for everyone.
>> Any ideas on why this is happening would be very useful to Emily,
>> Aleeha, and I, and would give us the chance to rectify any problems
>> that are keeping these committees and general meetings from being
>> successful.
>>
>> One last piece of food for thought.  If you paid dues you are
>> considered an active member of this organization.  If you pay dues and
>> then don't show to meetings, you're counted against quorem.  If
>> multiple people pay dues and remain on the periphery of involvement,
>> it seriously damages the group's ability to do work because by not
>> showing to meetings you're striking a blow to our quorem.  The message
>> I'm trying to send is not one of a "get on one side of the fence," but
>> I just hope you will consider why you joined, and why you said you
>> wanted to be involved.  Everyone seemed so enthusiastic about OABS in
>> our meeting at convention in November, so I'm wondering where that
>> enthusiasm has gone.  Another way to look at it is that you paid for
>> membership, so shouldn't you get the most out of it by attending?
>>
>> I'm looking forward to any feedback you may be able to provide.
>> Emily, Aleeha, and I all want the committees and general meetings to
>> be successful, and with feedback we can address any problems which we
>> do not yet know of.
>> --
>> Kaiti Shelton
>> University of Dayton 2016.
>> Music Therapy, Psychology, Philosophy
>> President, Ohio Association of Blind Students
>> Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma
>>
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>


-- 
Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton 2016.
Music Therapy, Psychology, Philosophy
President, Ohio Association of Blind Students
Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma