2021 Spring Membership Meeting
Published April 20 2021

Good afternoon,

It’s hard to imagine, but we are quickly winding down to the end of our 2021 season! It’s been truly amazing watching each group’s progress this year as we work to keep the performing arts alive in our communities! Your hard work and commitment to your students is ever present and we all congratulate you on a job well done!

I’m pleased to announce that we have scheduled the Spring Membership Meeting for May 22, 2021 to be held in Columbia, SC. We are waiting on final confirmation from the venue, but we are excited to host this event LIVE and IN PERSON! Please note, social distancing and masking protocols will be strictly adhered to during the course of the meeting. As we continue our work to return to the floor in 2022, it’s most important that we come back together and address a few important issues on our agenda.

Rule & Bylaw Proposals

We are now accepting proposals from all current-year member groups and any member of the circuit administration in the following categories:

• By-Laws and Constitution
  • This category applies to governing rules contained in the By-Laws and Constitution of the organization.
  • Changes to the organization's by-laws and constitution require approval of 2/3 of the membership present at the time of the vote in order to be approved.
  • Proposals passed by the membership for changes to the by-laws and constitution do not require the approval of the Board of Directors to pass.
• Organization Administration, Rules & Circuit Championships
  • This is (typically) the largest grouping of proposals. This category encompasses all policies and procedures of the organization.
  • Changes to the organizations policies and procedures require approval of 51% of the membership present at the time of the vote.
  • Proposals passed by the membership in this category are then referred to the Board of Directors. 51% of the Board must vote to ratify the change in order for it to become policy.

The Proposal Deadline Has Passed

Proposal forms are due no later than May 7, 2021 at 5:00 PM. Proposal forms submitted past this deadline will be considered out of order and discarded.

Elections for Board Positions

Last Summer, we announced that the terms of four members of the Board of Directors expired in the Spring. As we were unable to host the Spring Membership Meeting last year, the Board of Directors appointed each of those members back into their vacant positions until such time that a meeting of the Membership was able to be held. As it has almost two years since our last membership meeting, this means that the terms for the other half of the Board of Directors will also be expiring this year. This puts us in conflict with our Bylaws, as they explicitly prevent elections of the full Board of Directors at the same time.

In order to adhere to the bylaws as closely as possible and in order to restore the normal election cycles, the Board of Directors will introduce a proposal at the Spring Meeting to amend the section of the bylaws governing the terms of directors. The proposal will essentially swap the “odd and even” designation of the election cycle. This will mean that the positions scheduled to be voted upon in odd numbered years will have their terms extended for an additional year. The full proposal will be released two weeks prior to the meeting along with all other rule proposals submitted since May 1, 2020.

As such, we will proceed forward with election of those directors that were scheduled to be voted upon in the Spring of 2020 for this meeting. We are now accepting nominations for the following seats on the Board of Directors for a two-year term:

Vice President (incumbent Clayton Parker)

Treasurer (incumbent Riley Pagett)

Secretary PR (incumbent Tracy Smith)

At-Large Representative (incumbent Jeff Bridges)

At our last Board Meeting, Brian Winn announced that he would not be able to serve an extended term in his chair and would need to end his term as normal in 2021. Brian has been an exceptional addition to the Board of Directors and has provided consistent support and guidance to the organization as we’ve grown through the years. I thank Brian for his service to the organization! As a result, the candidate with the second highest number of votes for the At-Large Representative position will be elected to a one-year term.

The Nomination Deadline Has Passed

Election Nomination forms are due no later than May 7, 2021 at 5:00 PM. Election nomination forms submitted past this deadline will be considered out of order and discarded.

For additional information concerning the Spring Membership Meeting, please visit the event page on the CWEA Website. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

Sincerely,

Cody Crawford
President, CWEA