Call for 2017 Annual Business Meeting Motions

Motions to be considered at the 2017 PAEA Annual Business Meeting at the Education Forum in Denver are due in the national office by midnight Pacific Time, Monday, August 14.

PAEA volunteer groups, member programs, and the Board of Directors may submit motions. Please note that two PAEA position policies are scheduled to sunset this year if not reaffirmed by the membership. Any eligible individual or body may make a motion to place a policy on the business meeting agenda for debate and potential reaffirmation. The policies regarding “Competences of the PA Profession” and the “Cultural Competencies for PA Students” can be found in the PAEA Policies and Procedures Manual (page 75). The Board will be reviewing both policies.

Motion Review
The PAEA Governance Council will review all motions in advance of the business meeting to determine that motions are in order and that their intent is clear. If necessary, Governance Council members or designated staff will work with motion authors to revise a motion’s wording before it is published to the membership. It is not the Governance Council’s intent to judge the merits of a motion’s content, but to ensure compliance with the Association’s bylaws and policies (except for motions explicitly intended to amend the bylaws or change Association policy) and to help the authors convey their intentions as clearly as possible. The Governance Council may also work with individuals or groups whose motions are similar in nature.

When appropriate, motions will be forwarded to the Finance Council for evaluation of budgetary impact. If necessary, a statement concerning a motion’s financial or other implications will be appended to the motion. These procedures were adopted to provide more information to the membership on the implications of each motion and to allow for more focused debate on the floor of the business meeting. Motions will be published in September on the Networker blog and through other Association communications vehicles.

Guidelines
The following guidelines for submitting a motion may be helpful:

• The Motion Form 2017 form must be used, and the motion must be in the format indicated on the motion form, with a brief title, a rationale, and the language of the motion, beginning with “We/I move that … ”
• The motion should be stated in a positive manner whenever possible.
• The motion should be written clearly and succinctly.
• The motion should allow the Board of Directors as much latitude as possible in determining solutions to an identified problem. For example, rather than “The Board should establish a task force to …,” a motion might request that “The Board should develop a mechanism to … ”
• Considerable thought should be put into eliminating ambiguity in the motion’s language to preclude the need for objections and amendments. It may be helpful to run the draft motion past several colleagues and ask for their suggestions.
• In order for a motion to be automatically considered at the business meeting, it must be received at the PAEA national office by the August 14 deadline. Motions that are not received by this date are subject to a two-thirds majority vote on the floor of the business meeting in order to be considered. Further guidelines for late and emergency motions can be found in Bylaws article 9.01.

Complete business meeting “Standing Rules and Procedures” for submitting motions can be found in the PAEA Polices and Procedures Manual (page 8). Please complete one form, Motion Form 2017, for each motion you wish to submit. If you have any questions or have a signed motion form to submit, please email Ashley Smith at asmith@PAEAonline.org.