created: 10/09/97, last updated: 10/09/97,© 1997 ABRF
A ballot was held recently to initiate changes to the ABRF By-Laws, in response to suggestions by a number of ABRF participants and as a result of ongoing discussions related to ways of improving the status of ABRF members. The changes represent a philosophical shift in the definition of an ABRF member, essentially making individuals, rather than core laboratories, members of ABRF. The underlying reasons for this shift in philosophy are outlined in the message from the executive board on page 1.
Prior to this ballot the By-Laws defined an ABRF member as a core laboratory, with each such laboratory designating a Voting Representative. Additional individuals in that laboratory were eligible to become associates, but did not have voting rights and were not eligible to participate in research committee studies. The first group of items on the ballot were related to having individuals, rather than laboratories, as voting members, and to bringing the By-Laws into conformance with this new definition of a member. Of the 205 voting members that responded to the ballot, 199 approved of this change.
The result of this overwhelming approval was anticipated to be a substantial increase in the number of voting members, which had the potential for being a hindrance to obtaining a quorum for transacting business since many individuals may choose not to participate in such business decisions. Hence, two additional items were placed on the ballot to address this issue. The first was to reduce the size of the quorum required for conducting business transactions from 40% of the voting members to 50 people or 10% of the total membership, whichever is less. In the case of election of executive board members, those who received the highest votes would be elected, provided 50 members voted. This change was approved by 182 of the ballot respondents. This brings our quorum requirements in line with those of other professional societies of our size.
The second of these items was proposed to ensure that mere apathy could not prevent changes to the By-Laws. However, because such changes have long-term effects, it was proposed that greater member approval would be required for By-Laws amendments than for election of board members or other business items. Hence, 175 of those voting in this ballot approved this change, which would require 25% of the voting members to return ballots for a By-Laws change to take effect. In addition, the amendment would only be adopted if 60% of those voting approved of the change. Prior to the ballot, the By-Laws required that 51% of the eligible voting members must approve a change to the By-Laws in order for it to take effect.
The final item on the ballot corrected the erroneous use of the word "stockholder" in the By-Laws. All of those voting approved changing this term to "member", making the wording of the particular sentence appropriate to our organization.
The overall implications of the overwhelming approval of these By-Laws changes are a fundamental change in who is eligible to become a member of ABRF and who is eligible to join the association as an associate. Thus, any individual who works in a resource or research laboratory is now qualified to join the Association as a member. Employees of vendors or manufacturers of instrumentation, reagents, and supplies are not eligible to join as members. However, associate membership is available to these individuals and is primarily intended for those who do not work in laboratories.
The change in definition of a voting member of ABRF is accompanied by a change in membership dues. There will no longer be a two-tiered system. Rather the membership dues for both associates and members will be $75.00 per year, effective for 1998 dues. This represents a small increase in dues for those that were previously associates, and a substantial savings for voting members. The financial consequences of this proposal for our member laboratories is that smaller labs (those with 4 or fewer members/associates) will pay lower fees next year, while larger labs (more than 4 associates/members) will pay higher fees if they wish all their current associates to become members. Thus, laboratories with 4 members/associates can rejoin in 1998 as 4 members without paying more in total membership fees; laboratories with fewer members/associates will pay less in membership dues in 1998 than they did in 1997; and larger laboratories will incur relatively small increases (e.g. a lab of 10 that paid $600 this year will pay $750 next year). This fee structure should permit many current ABRF associates to become full voting members.
Ballot Results
|
Proposal |
Yes |
No |
|
Make individuals, rather than laboratories, members |
199 |
6 |
|
Lower the number required for a quorum |
184 |
21 |
|
Decrease the number of votes needed to change the By-Laws |
173 |
32 |
|
Change "stockholder" to "member" |
205 |
0 |
Number voting = 205; 105 "yes" votes were required for a proposal to pass.
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