Standing Rules

Standing rules are related to the details of the administration of the Association rather than to parliamentary procedure and can be adopted or changed upon the same conditions as any ordinary act of the Association.

1. A standing rule can be adopted by a majority vote of the members present at any in-person business meeting without previous notice. In the case of a virtual or hybrid business session, in order to allow those members who are attending from different time zones to vote, a standing rule can be adopted, without previous notice, by a majority electronic vote of the registered attendees after a virtual business meeting: the voting period will end 24 hours after the end of the business meeting in which the motion was raised and moved. Although such a rule remains in effect until rescinded or amended, it does not bind future sessions if a majority of the members present desires to suspend it temporarily for the duration of a particular session.
2. The membership year begins April 1 and ends March 31. Dues received between those dates are for the membership year in which they are received. The Membership Coordinator will be responsible for sending out an electronic membership renewal notice, at minimum, in March.
3. A summary of the minutes of the preceding conference shall be distributed to the membership with the fall issue of ASDAL Action.
4. The Executive Committee shall appoint a member who is knowledgeable in parliamentary procedure to serve as a parliamentarian for the duration of the conference.
5. At the end of a President’s term of office, the official correspondence and documents collected during that individual’s term as President and President-elect shall be given to the Secretary for the archives. The past President may keep copies of such documents as desired. The correspondence and documents of other officers and of committee chairpersons shall also be deposited with the Secretary at the end of that person’s term. The past officer and chairperson may also keep copies of these documents and should give copies to the new officer or chairperson as may be necessary for the continued functioning of the committee.
6. The annual conference is customarily held on the campus of the Seventh-day Adventist college located closest to the site of the annual conference of the American Library Association, and will usually precede the ALA Conference. The President-elect is responsible for organizing the conference as stipulated in the Bylaws (Article IV, Section 4). The President-elect may choose an on-site coordinator to assist with local arrangements. The President-elect and/or on-site coordinator may appoint such individuals and committees as necessary to plan and implement the conference. The annual conference is to be financially independent of ASDAL, although a loan of “start-up” funds may be made by the Treasurer to the President-elect or on-site coordinator. The conference planners shall draw up a budget and collect registration fees sufficient for the operation of the conference. Any unexpended conference funds shall be sent to the Treasurer to be added to the contingency fund, which may be used for special needs of future conferences (featured speakers, etc.). Early in the conference, the conference treasurer shall provide a registration list to those in attendance.
7. Unless stated otherwise in the Bylaws, the maximum term of membership on standing and section working committees is three years. Committee members may be re-elected to one or more additional terms. These terms shall be rotated so that no more than two new committee members shall be elected at a particular annual conference. The Nominating Committee shall customarily nominate at least two individuals for each committee vacancy. The election of new committee members shall take place at the same time as the annual election of officers, and shall be by secret ballot. In years when two vacancies on a committee are being filled, four nominations shall customarily be made. Each member may vote for two nominees, and the two individuals with the high vote count shall be the new members. When new standing committees are created, committee members shall be elected following nominations from the floor of at least twice the number of committee members needed. An approval ballot shall be taken, with those receiving the highest number of votes to serve the longest terms.
8. Chairpersons of committees shall customarily be elected at the annual conference by the members of the committee and shall serve as chairperson until the term of committee membership is over, until a resignation from the committee or chairperson of the committee is given to the President, or until the Executive Committee declares the committee chair to be vacant. If fewer than half of the committee members are present at the annual conference, if a chairperson is not elected at the conference, or if a vacancy occurs in a committee chair, the President shall appoint a chairperson after consultation with the Executive Committee and the members of the committee.
9. If a committee member or chairperson is unable to perform committee duties, a letter of resignation should be submitted. A member should resign by writing to the chairperson, who shall notify the President, and a chairperson should resign by writing directly to the President. Failure to fulfill the duties of committee membership or of chairperson, failure to respond to the requests of the chairperson or a conflict of interest constitute cause for removal. Such removal requires a 5/6 vote of the Executive Committee after the President has received a formal letter stating the reasons for such removal. The President shall first poll the other committee members. If the President finds sufficient grounds for removal, the President shall conduct a vote of the Executive Committee. The chairperson of a committee may be removed by the same process if two members of the committee have sent a formal letter giving the reasons for removal to the President.
10. It is the responsibility of the President to ensure that all committees are functioning. A committee member who has not renewed his/her membership by the time of the annual conference will lose committee membership at that time, and another individual elected to fill the remainder of the term. Committee members should refrain from voting on an issue before a committee if there is a conflict of interest, although it is not necessary to resign from the committee if the conflict is temporary or involves only one issue and the member abstains from voting on that issue.
11. Ad hoc committees shall be established, elected and their size determined in a business session. They shall customarily serve for one year until the next annual conference, and shall never serve for more than three years. If the need for such a committee still exists at the end of the third year, the business session shall either elect a new committee or establish a standing committee.
12. At the opening session of the annual conference, an ad hoc Resolutions Committee of three members shall be elected following the nomination of at least six nominees and using approval balloting for election. Resolutions shall be presented for approval at the final business session.
13. It is customary to honor members who have retired during the previous year at the banquet during the annual conference. If the person is not present, a resolution shall be made by the Resolutions Committee and sent to the retiree by the Secretary.
14. It is customary for the outgoing President to be honored with a small gift at the banquet during the annual conference. It is the responsibility of the Treasurer to see that this is done.
15. Installation of officers shall be the final order of business of the annual conference.
16. The Treasurer shall provide each member with an official receipt upon payment of dues.
17. The President shall distribute a preliminary business agenda to the membership in the spring issue of ASDAL Action. A revised agenda shall be provided at the annual business session.
18. The conference on-site coordinator shall arrange for quality recordings of all conference sessions. This includes any pre-session meetings, the opening sessions, formal presentations and the business sessions. These recordings shall be given to the Secretary for the archives and for distribution to members who wish to purchase copies.
19. The membership/mailing list is not generally used for commercial purposes outside the SDA denomination. Exceptions must be approved by the Executive Committee. The list (or mailing labels) may be provided by the Treasurer at cost to Seventh-day Adventist any organization or institution listed in the SDA Yearbook upon request. Members wishing to have their names withheld from such lists will be given an opportunity to so state on the membership application form. The membership/mailing list may not be circulated by a requesting institution or group.
20. Funds remaining at the end of the fiscal year and after the annual conference which are not needed for regular business will be transferred to the contingency fund. Use of this fund is authorized by the Executive Committee.
21. Association letterhead is to be used only for official Association business. It may be used only by members of the Executive Committee, committee chairpersons, the Overseas Library and Publicity coordinators or by permission of the President.
22. The full minutes of the annual conference are to be approved by the Executive Committee prior to the following conference. The abridged minutes of the annual conference as distributed in ASDAL Action are to be approved by the membership in business session.
23. Customarily the D. Glenn Hilts Scholarship shall be awarded each year. Completed application packets must be received by the Treasurer by May 1. The name of the recipient will be announced at the annual conference.
24. The President shall write an annual letter to each SDA union and conference education superintendent making known the list of ASDAL conference dates and locations for as far in advance as has been decided by the site planning committee. The President shall also send such a letter to the Journal of Adventist Education and the NAD union papers. The letters to the union education superintendents should encourage that at least one school librarian be sponsored to the annual ASDAL conference each year.
25. If so desired, the School Library Section shall have either a pre- or post-session to the annual ASDAL conference (opposite the Adventist Resources Section meeting) on an adjacent day if possible.
26. The fiscal year of the Association shall run from June 1 through May 31.
27. The ballots must be received by the President on or before May 31.
28. When a member requires an official letter of invitation to an association meeting in order to obtain a visa, the letter shall be issued by the Treasurer or a person designated by the President. The request for a letter of invitation requires two original, signed letters on official letterhead, one from the member and one from an officer of the member’s sponsoring institution. When a meeting is to be held outside the United States, the Treasurer will arrange with the on-site coordinator for a letter of invitation.