Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nora]

The KOTESOL Annual Business Meeting is coming up, and there are a slate of amendments to be considered. Just my two cents on the issues.

1. Change Constitution Amendment Majority from 3/4 of members present at ABM to 2/3 of votes cast at an ABM where not less than 30 members are present.

I'm FOR this proposal.

2. Change Bylaws Amendment rules to include non-ABM votes, and reducing majority from 2/3 of members present at ABM to more than 60% of votes at an ABM where not less than 30 members are present.

I'm FOR this proposal as well.

3. Change Constitution and Bylaws to redesignate student memberships as non-voting members.

I am FOR this proposal. For those that are unaware of the situation, two members on the national council were accused of signing up their students to vote for them. In my opinion, a person in a position of power should NOT be in ANY situation where even the APPEARANCE of impropriety is present. The fact that these two people won the election and that one chapter has over 200 student members does not sit well with me.

4. Change Bylaws to limit impeachment votes to Chapter presidents.

I am FOR this proposal. The council is made up of elected and appointed positions. The President has the ability to appoint five or six people, effectively giving themselves half a dozen votes. In a situation of wrong doing, a President cannot be impeached because they have such weight. As such, limiting the voting to only ELECTED chapter Presidents, any shenanigans can be dealt with much more effectively.

5. Change Bylaws to extend due date for post-event International Conference reports.

I have no position on this issue. 30 days seems like enough, but another two weeks does not seem unreasonable.

6. Change Bylaws to add additional provisions for Chapter dissolution.

I am FOR this.

7. Change Constitution to reduce presidential term to single year.

I am FOR this. Dr. Mijae Lee, the current President, said she supported this when she ran last year, and I am happy to see that it is on the ballot this year. If a person does a good job, let them stand for re-election. If they don't, let us vote them out.

8. Change Bylaws to require candidates for President to have Council experience.

I am AGAINST this. Any candidate who has been a member for two years should be able to stand for election. Do we really want more incestuous cronyism and nepotism? Are we really concerned that an inexperienced fool is going to win the election (well, MORE inexperienced OR foolish than we already have)?

9. Change Bylaws to limit votes of non-elected council members.

I am FOR this. In a representative organization like KOTESOL, appointed people should not be voting. If they want a vote, they should be elected. If that means that more positions become electable vs. appointable, so be it.

10. Change Bylaws to limit votes of Council member Substitutes.

I am FOR this in principle, but AGAINST it in practice. We should not be littering the constitution with amendments for a specific set of people who are causing a problem for others, which is what this appears to me to be.

11. Change Bylaws to enforce actions of the Annual Business Meeting.

I am FOR this. What good is an ABM if the Council ignores the will of the organization?

12. Change Bylaws to specify the duration of Council decisions.

I am neutral on this. According to Roberts Rules, decisions are generally permanent, unless a deadline is specified. I feel this is acceptable. However, apparently people in KOTESOL have short memories, so it's easier to just cut it off within a year. Or maybe they have long memories but are short sighted and pass things that are useless? Either way, following proper procedure would eliminate the need for this one.

13. Change Bylaws to allow for the transaction of Council business by way of email communication.

I am AGAINST this. Roberts Rules specifies that email meetings NOT take place and has no procedure for them. IF a group wants to do it, then this is the way to do it. However, there is NO procedure lined up for this. How can members participate in an online email exchange? It's undemocratic, it allows people no opportunity to see what's happened until after the fact.

I hope that everyone who is in KOTESOL will consider their vote carefully. If you're not in KOTESOL, it could use some good people to help out (don't burn me on that one ).

Hope to see some people at the International Conference next week![/b]

[schwa]

In my opinion, its regrettable that KOTESOL seems to get caught up in so much procedural wrangling rather than focusing more on core values like simply helping teachers upgrade their skills.

There are good people involved & their conferences can be beneficial, but petty infighting at the organizational level is surely off-putting to new teachers wondering what they might gain from joining.

[transmogrifier]

[dairyairy]

[PatrickGHBusan]

[quote="transmogrifier"]

[Son Deureo!]

I'm with schwa. All of those proposals sound like internal matters for KOTESOL members to handle. Why are you airing this over here?

[hogwonguy1979]

[nora]

I agree with everything said.

One, on a national level, things are total garbage. The international conference is always well done and a huge part of that is because besides the chair of the conference committee, everyone else is a volunteer. None of that political arguing, posturing, and fighting. Everything else is, for the most part, a waste of time.

On the LOCAL, chapter level, there are a lot of good things being done. The different presentations are usually useful and informative (there are a few lemons every now and again), the chapter mini conferences are a great way to network and see new ideas.

Schwa, I completely agree with you. Never have I seen so many people fight over something that matters so little. A few good folks, a few rotten folks, and everyone in the middle is confused. It's not a pretty sight.

Son Deureo - why did I post it here? Next week, after the international conference, someone will post a thread about "how was the conference," so I know that there are a lot of folks on here who will go. I posted it because every member gets a vote, and I hope people are aware of it and give it SOME consideration rather than simply voting yes/no on everything, or just ignoring it all together. Call me a cockeyed optimist?

[withnail]

Nora...you are a cockeyed optimist.

[liveinkorea316]

[Landros]

I think there should be KOTESOL presidential debates online and we could make them into songs.

http://youtu.be/6ti2S7Py25w

and the VPs too http://youtu.be/ksXRFRCUatc

[newb]

Organization created and run by buncha smucks will fail eventually. ATEK "was" one of them.

[liveinkorea316]

[newb]