ROTI Bylaws
Bylaws of the ROTI Fellowship
1. Purpose of this Fellowship
1.1 The purpose of the Fellowship of Rotarians on the Internet is to apply modern information technology; to explore the avenues of service and fellowship with Rotarians all over the world, to provide more Rotary information on the Internet and to assist all Rotary entities in getting their information on the internet.
2. Qualifications for Membership
2.1 Any Rotarian in good standing, spouse of such Rotarian, or any Rotaractor in good standing who has registered on the main ROTI Communication list register, and who is willing and able to receive periodic official announcements and ROTI publications, will be considered a “ROTI” member in good standing.
2.2 A Rotarian OR ROTARACTOR in good standing must be registered as a current member of a Rotary Club or Rotaract club, with all associated rights and responsibilities including commitment to the Ideals of Rotary.
3. Officers
3.1 The Officers of the Fellowship will be:
3.1.1 Chairman
3.1.2 Vice Chairman
3.1.3 Secretary
3.1.4 Treasurer
3.1.5 Sgt. at Arms
3.2 There will be a Board of Directors of the fellowship consisting of the Officers, plus 5 or more additional ROTI members.
4. Nominations and Elections
4.1 Qualifications for Nominees
4.1.1 Chairman
To be eligible to be nominated for the office of chairman of the RI Rotarians on the Internet Fellowship a person must have previously served on the fellowship board of directors or on a committee serving the fellowship. The Chairman must be a Rotarian.
4.2 Other Officers
4.2.1 The offices of Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and Sgt. at Arms will be restricted to Rotarians in good standing.
4.2.2 Board of Directors other than officers
The requirements for these offices is that they be current members of ROTI and agree to donate the time required to perform the jobs they undertake.
5. Nomination and Election of the Chairman
5.1 The current Chairman shall appoint a 4 member nominating committee by October 1 of the Election year, which is even numbered years. The committee shall consist of at least 2 members that are not current board members and who shall not themselves stand for election. The nominating Committee will be responsible for gathering nominations from the ROTI membership and contacting the nominees for their willingness to run for office. All nominees must signify acceptance of the nomination. All nominations shall be submitted to the chairman no later than October 15. No chairman may serve two consecutive terms.
5.2 Ballots will be e-mailed to all current members by December 1, and a simple majority vote of the votes received is necessary to be elected. Ballots will be mailed by and results counted by the current Election committee, appointed by the current chairman. Two weeks will be allowed to receive completed ballots. All ballots must come from the members registered e-mail address, one ballot from each address. The two-week period will start and end at midnight Evanston, Illinois time (US CST) which will be referred to as Paul Harris Time.
5.3 The Chairman will be elected on December 16, for a two year term to take office from the following July 1.
6. Assignment of Board of Directors
6.1 Following the election the Chairman, the Chairman-elect and one member of the fellowship designated by the chairman-elect shall comprise a committee for the purpose of proposing Board members.
6.2 The Chairman-elect shall present the list of proposed Board members to the membership prior to July 1.
6.3 The final assignment of directors’ duties shall be made by the Chairman-elect having regard to any response by the membership.6.4 The Board of Directors shall make all operating decisions in respect of the Fellowship
7. Resignation of Officers or Board Members
7.1 In the event of the Chairman tendering his/her resignation, the Vice-Chairman will take over for the remainder of the term. New appointments for all other officers, board members or committee chairs will be made by the Chairman.
8. Dues
8.1 ROTI (Rotarians on the Internet) will continue to be a free fellowship (no membership fee), open to all Rotarians around the world.
9. Monthly Report
9.1 In order to foster good communications between the board of directors and the ROTI membership, a designated member will observe board discussions and prepare a monthly report to be sent to the registered members via the Breadbasket. This report will include a calendar of events or activities, an overview of board DISCUSSIONS AND ACTIVITIES, and any other pertinent information.
10. Amendments
10.1 Any member may propose a change to these bylaws.
10.2 The Board of Directors will review the proposed change and submit a recommendation to the membership.
10.3 A majority vote of 2/3 of the votes received is necessary to change these bylaws.
11. Normal Operating Decisions
11.1 The ROTI Board as the elected governing body of the ROTI RI Fellowship will have the responsibility to make any operating decisions for the benefit of the fellowship, that not explicitly require a majority membership vote according to the by-laws.
12. Use of ROTI Name and or Logo on Web Sites
12.1 It is encouraged that the ROTI name and logo be displayed on all web sites done for or as a result of ROTI. All of these web sites must be within RI policy guidelines and placement of the ROTI logo is subject to approval by the ROTI Board of Directors.
12.2 Any concerns regarding sites not in accordance with RI or ROTI guidelines should be directed to the ROTI board for review.
12.3 In a case where a site is deemed not to conform to acceptable guidelines, ROTI as an RI Fellowship reserves the right to request removal of its name, logo, etc. from the site, based on a vote of the majority of the ROTI Board.
13. ROTI.ORG Domain
The “rotifellowship.org” domain is owned by ROTI. The site has been developed by member volunteers as a hub for Rotary information and website links around the world. It is expected that the webmasters of this site will organize and maintain links to worthy pages that conform to the guidelines below, or others developed from time to time.
13.1 Linking from ROTI.ORG pages
To be linked from the rotifellowship.org page, a web site must:
- conform to all R.I. and ROTI guidelines
- promote ROTI or one of the Four Avenues of Service
- be of general interest to all Rotarians globally
- be presented in good taste with no cultural offensiveness
- be subject to review and approval by the ROTI Board or a committee delegated for such purpose
- be hosted (or sponsored) by a Rotarian in good standing and maintained with accurate, up-to-date information
Requests for links on the ROTI.org pages must be made to the board of Directors and they will decide if the site should be linked and which page the link will be placed on. The current ROTI webmaster will take part in this process as well, but will not be able to handle requests such as this alone.
Generally, sites are hosted by Rotarians, sponsors or friends who donate the space and computer requirements. Because of ROTI’s limited resources it is anticipated that ROTI itself will not host web sites or provide webmaster services. However ROTI volunteers are often available (see WIZ program) to provide technical assistance to webmasters when needed.
13.2 Policy on ROTI Services
Since ROTI is a fellowship of Rotarians who volunteer their talents, the development and status of ROTI related web sites will be dependant on the volunteer offers from the membership to host and maintain them.
One of ROTI’s services is to provide links to as many regional and district sites as possible. These sites in turn are the focal point for services within those areas including links to clubs and specific local projects and fundraisers.
ROTI links to a site do not imply ROTI’s support or endorsement of the site.