Dear friends and members,
The FUUSN Annual Meeting on June 3rd will vote on a proposal to amend the Society’s bylaws that deal with the endowment and the Board of Investment. On March 20th, the Board of Trustees voted in favor of the proposal, which was made jointly by the Board of Investment and the Financial Oversight Committee. Join us Sunday May 13 at noon, in the Chapel to discuss these proposed By-Law Changes
The proposal removes obsolete and ambiguous language in Articles V and VIII of the bylaws, and makes the following substantive changes:
· Requires the Board of Trustees to adopt an Endowment Spending Policy and an Endowment Loan Policy. [Note: the Board adopted such policies in December 2017. The proposed bylaw amendment would require that such policies are always in effect.]
· Authorize the creation of a “Board-Designated Endowment Fund” that could be used to set aside surplus operating revenue or unrestricted gift or bequest revenue. The money would be managed by the Board of Investment as part of the Society’s endowment, but could be spent in the future if the Board of Trustees so decided.
· Require the Financial Oversight Committee to make a written report to the Society at each Annual Meeting about the implementation of these policies.
A more detailed explanation of the proposed changes, and the actual language of the bylaw amendment, is attached to this email.
Urban Larson (chair of the BOI), Dan Brody (chair of the FOC), and Gordon Moriarty (chair of the Bylaws Committee), will be holding an informational meeting about the proposals in the Alliance Room at noon on Sunday, May 13th. Please come to the meeting to learn more, to ask questions, or to suggest possible amendments.
The chairs of the three committees believe that it would be unwise for the Annual Meeting to adopt any amendments to the proposal that are first suggested during the Annual Meeting. If a proposed amendment has enough support that a motion to table it fails, Dan or Urban plan to move to table the entire proposal until a future meeting. This will give us time to carefully consider the proposed amendments.
I you would like to suggest an amendment to the proposed package of bylaw changes, please come to the May 13th meeting, or contact Dan, Urban, or Gordon directly.
We’re sorry that the meeting conflicts with Mother’s Day and the Walk for Peace. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a Sunday this spring that was free of conflicts. If you can’t attend the meeting, feel free to contact Dan, Urban, or Gordon with any questions or comments.