Outings Governance Policy Rev A

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Angeles Chapter Outings Program Governance

Mission and Organization

Preamble

In 1914, the same year that John Muir--founder of the Sierra Club--passed away, forty members of the recently formed Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club ascended Mt. San Gorgonio for the first time as a group. In doing so, the Angeles Chapter began its long tradition of exploring, enjoying, and protecting the mountains and the wilderness through the efforts of its many dedicated members and volunteers.

As the Angeles Chapter grew in size and diversity, it created several recreational sections and committees, even before establishing its own regional groups. Many of these Chapter entities continue to sponsor a wide variety of outings in the ongoing effort to promote the Sierra Club's stated mission "to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth."

The Angeles Chapter's broad, diverse, and extensive outings program has enhanced the Sierra Club's goals of conservation, education, and recreation and has proven to be an effective way to disseminate the Chapter's and the Sierra Club's message to the general public.

With several thousand outings sponsored each year by the Angeles Chapter's many outings entities, the Outings Management Committee (OMC) has been created to provide aid and guidance for those entities within the Chapter and their active volunteers in order more effectively to promote the stated goals of the Chapter and the Sierra Club.

Outings Management Committee

Role of the OMC

The Outings Management Committee shall be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Angeles Chapter's outings program to promote the outings, conservation, and outreach missions of the Sierra Club and to manage and minimize risk. The responsibility of the OMC shall include all Angeles Chapter outdoor-related activities, including rated outings, non-rated events, and conducted events sponsored by any Angeles Chapter entity such as groups, sections, committees, task forces, huts, and Inner City Outings groups. The OMC shall be a standing committee of the Angeles Chapter, reporting to the Executive Committee (ExCom), subject to its authority, and appointed with power to recommend policies, establish guidelines, and form subcommittees in order to carry out its charge.

OMC Members

The OMC shall be composed of five outings representatives elected at the Chapter Outings Assembly, the OMC Chair, the Safety Committee Chair, the Leadership Training Committee Chair, an ICO Group representative, and the Wilderness Training Committee Chair. At the last regularly scheduled meeting of the year, the OMC shall designate a chapter member that it recommends for appointment by the Chapter ExCom as OMC Chair in the succeeding year. In case of a permanent vacancy among the outings representatives to the OMC, the OMC Chair may designate another chapter member if approved by a majority of the OMC. The OMC shall recommend appointments for the Safety Committee Chair and the Leadership Training Committee Chair, following suggestions from the chairs and members of those committees, and shall convey the results of the WTC elections to the Angeles Chapter ExCom Chair. All members of the OMC shall assume office following their appointment by the Angeles Chapter ExCom Chair and ratification by the Chapter's ExCom.

Non-Voting Members and Special Chairs and Subcommittees

The Angeles Chapter ExCom Chair, the regional representative of the Sierra Club's Local Outings Support Committee (LOSC), a liaison from the Angeles Chapter's Conservation Committee, or their designated alternates shall be non-voting members of the OMC, chosen by their respective committees. The OMC Chair may designate special chairs and subcommittees deemed necessary by the OMC for administration of the Angeles Chapter outings program, including, but not limited to, an ombudsman to help resolve complaints and address participants' issues, a bus transportation chair to maintain a list of charter bus companies that are approved to provide service to the Sierra Club and to coordinate bus-related issues, a land management coordinator to represent the Angeles Chapter to public land managers, and a webmaster to create and maintain an OMC website.

OMC Officers

The OMC Chair shall chair the Chapter Outings Assembly and the OMC meetings, shall represent the Chapter as the Chapter Outings Chair, and shall be a non-voting member of the Angeles Chapter Executive Committee, unless already a member of the ExCom. A vice chair, secretary, and treasurer shall be chosen from among the OMC members; the vice chair must be chosen from among the voting members of OMC.

Outings Entities and OMC Subcommittees

The OMC shall provide support and guidance and shall delegate authority to the outings chairs of the Angeles Chapter's entities to operate outings programs for their respective entities. The excoms or management committees of outings entities shall have responsibility for the outdoor activities that they sponsor and for selection of their outings chairs in accordance with their bylaws and/or policies and procedures. The OMC shall provide support and guidance and shall delegate authority to subcommittees for specialized tasks, including, but not limited to, the Leadership Training Committee (LTC) to provide training for Chapter outings leaders and provisional leaders, the Safety Committee to certify outings leaders and to supervise safety and risk management of the Angeles Chapter's outings program as specified in the "Angeles Chapter Safety Policy," and the Wilderness Training Committee (WTC) to provide training in wilderness travel as specified in the "WTC Policies and Procedures."

OMC Meetings

The OMC shall meet at least three times a year, with additional meetings to be scheduled as needed. The quorum shall be a majority of the voting members and must be present in order to conduct business. All Sierra Club members are welcome to attend OMC meetings except when the OMC goes into closed session, which it may do to consider personnel or litigation issues. All votes shall be taken in open session.

Outings Policies

In accordance with national Sierra Club and Angeles Chapter standards, the OMC shall develop, maintain, and publish policies for Angeles Chapter outdoor activities and shall monitor Angeles Chapter entity policies and activities for compliance with those policies. The OMC shall determine the requirements for scheduling, planning, approving, publishing, publicizing, and conducting the Angeles Chapter outings program and shall coordinate those requirements within the Angeles Chapter. The adoption of a policy by the OMC shall be an ordinary item of business not requiring any special procedures; however, the following are recognized as desirable practices:

Proposed policies that are recognized as potentially controversial should be published or circulated to interested parties and comments invited before formal adoption; and
Policies that have been adopted should be communicated (e.g., via the Angeles Outings Chair listserv) and otherwise made readily accessible to affected parties (e.g., by posting to the OMC page of the Chapter web site).

The Angeles Chapter ExCom and/or national governing bodies within the Sierra Club may adopt policies which supersede policies adopted by the OMC or may require that their approval be secured before an OMC-adopted policy becomes effective.

The "Rules of Conduct" and other outings policies known to have been in effect on 1 January 2010 shall remain in effect until amended or repealed by the OMC.

An entity (group, activity section, committee, task force, etc.) that sponsors outings may adopt policies for the conduct of its own outings so long as those policies do not conflict with policies adopted by the OMC or a higher authority.

The Safety Committee and Leadership Training Committee may adopt policies regulating their internal procedures without need of OMC action if such policies do not conflict with policies adopted by the OMC or a higher authority. Policies that go beyond the internal operations of these committees and purport generally to regulate the manner in which outings are conducted require OMC approval.

If the OMC Chair and Safety Committee Chair jointly concur that an extremely urgent matter requires immediate action, they may promulgate a temporary policy, which shall remain in effect until the next regular meeting of the OMC. If the OMC does not affirmatively adopt such policy at that next regular meeting, the temporary policy shall cease to be in effect, and the OMC Chair and Safety Committee Chair shall not have the power to promulgate another temporary policy that is substantially similar.

Paperwork

The OMC shall be the custodian of necessary chapter outings records, as specified by relevant national Sierra Club, Angeles Chapter, and OMC policies, including, but not limited to, the roster of certified Chapter outings leaders, minutes of OMC meetings, and current Chapter outings policies. The OMC shall create a review process for the activities of the OMC subcommittees and other Angeles Chapter outings entities and shall encourage each Angeles Chapter outings entity to develop its own internal review process. The OMC may coordinate the submission of applications for restricted outings for national approval.

Annual Activities

The OMC shall organize and conduct the annual Chapter Outings Assembly (COA).

The OMC shall report to the ExCom at least annually on the state of the Angeles Chapter's outings program, with copies of the report sent to all outings entities.

Areas of Advocacy

The OMC shall encourage the education of Chapter members and the public and their enlistment in furthering the purposes of the Sierra Club. The OMC shall encourage the recruitment, training, certification, and retention of diverse Chapter outings leaders through its subcommittees and the outings entities. The OMC shall encourage the inclusion of under-represented constituencies in the outings program at all levels. The OMC shall encourage the creation of new outings programs in those Angeles Chapter entities in which such programs do not currently exist. The OMC shall foster communications on outings-related issues between and among Angeles Chapter entities, outings chairs, Chapter outings leaders, participants, other chapter committees, Angeles Chapter management, and national Sierra Club outings management, using all appropriate media and channels.

Chapter Outings Assembly (COA)

Role of the COA

The outings community of the Angeles Chapter shall assemble annually to celebrate achievements; to set goals; to foster chapter-wide communication, cooperation and cohesion; to review Chapter and national outings policies and propose changes; and to designate outings representatives to serve on the Outings Management Committee, the Safety Committee, and the Leadership Training Committee.

Conduct of the COA

Each Angeles Chapter entity that is part of the outings program may send its outings chair or an alternate to be its Chapter Outings Assembly delegate; alternates can be any voting member of the entity's excom or management committee. In addition to the COA delegates, all Chapter outings leaders, outings participants, and OMC members are invited to attend and participate, but only the outings entity delegates may vote in any COA proceeding. In addition to electing outings representatives, the COA may pass whatever resolutions it chooses. The COA shall be chaired by the OMC Chair. The COA may choose a chair pro tem, a secretary, and other officers as necessary from among its members. It may establish rules and appoint subcommittees to carry out its mission. The quorum of the COA shall be a majority of COA delegates registered in attendance. The OMC Secretary or an OMC-designated surrogate shall certify credentials and register delegates. Expenses related to the COA will be paid for by the OMC Treasurer from the OMC budget. The OMC may solicit contributions to offset such expenses. The COA shall normally convene on a Saturday in October or November. Additional meetings may be called by the OMC Chair or at the request of ten or more entity outings chairs with at least 30 days notice to all outings chairs via a post at the Angeles Outings Chair listserv.

COA Nominating Committee

The Nominating Committee (NomCom) shall have no fewer than three members. The NomCom shall be appointed by the OMC and composed of OMC members and Chapter outing chairs who are also certified outing leaders. NomCom members shall be chosen no later than July 1 and shall include at least one Chapter outings leader with an O rating. The NomCom shall choose a chair from among its members. The NomCom shall nominate five or more Chapter members to serve as the outings representatives on the OMC. The NomCom shall also nominate one or more Chapter members to serve as the outings representative to the Safety Committee and one or more Chapter members to serve as the outings representative to the LTC, none of whom shall be currently serving on the committee to which they are nominated as regular members (i.e., current outings representatives may be nominated to continue in that capacity). In selecting candidates the NomCom shall seek broad and competent representation of the variety of outings, Chapter outings leaders, and outing-sponsoring entities that exist within the Angeles Chapter. None of the above nominees shall be members of the NomCom selecting them. Candidates must be Angeles Chapter members but need not be outings chairs or certified outings leaders. The NomCom shall present its slate to the OMC secretary at least 30 days prior to the COA to allow distribution to COA delegates prior to the Assembly.

Selection of Outings Representatives

At the Chapter Outings Assembly the chair shall read the slate of chapter members proposed by the COA NomCom and shall call for additional nominations from the floor before the voting for the outings representatives commences. Voting shall be by secret ballot. Each COA delegate may vote for up to five Chapter members to serve as outings representatives to the OMC, one Chapter member to serve as the outings representative to the Safety Committee, and one Chapter member to serve as the outings representative to the LTC. Ties shall be broken by lot. Excessive votes on a ballot for a committee shall invalidate that ballot only with respect to that committee. A statement of canvass shall show the vote totals for each candidate and include the number of ballots disqualified. A list of the five Chapter members receiving the most votes to serve on the OMC and the Chapter members receiving the most votes to serve on the Safety Committee and the LTC shall be conveyed by the OMC Chair to the Angeles Chapter ExCom Chair for appointment as the outings representatives to those committees in the succeeding year.

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This page updated 1/5/2011