Pursuant to USGenWeb bylaws Article XVI, Section 2, I'm submitting this and requesting that the proposed amendment be placed on the national web site by the webmaster, Pam Reid. (TIA, Pam) ******************************************************** By a 2/3 majority vote of her coordinators (and a unanimous vote of those responding), MDGenWeb wishes to co-sponsor the following proposed amendment to the bylaws: ======================================================== The proposal is as follows: Current Version: ARTICLE XIII. SPECIAL PROJECTS Section 1. Special projects shall be established by The USGenWeb Project to promote the gathering of information in specialized areas. A coordinator shall be appointed by the Advisory Board to organize the project and enlist volunteers. In addition, each special project shall have an Assistant Project Coordinator or other support team in place that can take charge in case the Project Coordinator becomes unavailable for a period of 30 days, unless there are extenuating circumstances. Special projects shall be repositories for public domain or research documents and shall provide an easily accessible website for online research by the genealogical community. A collection of links does not constitute a special project, although links to appropriate websites maintained by other individuals or organizations are encouraged. Section 2. The name of the special project shall be The USGenWeb ______ Project Section 3. The staff members of The USGenWeb Archives Project, The USGenWeb Project, and The USGenWeb Tombstone Project shall each elect one Special Project Representative to serve as a voting member of The USGenWeb Project Advisory Board. Section 4. Project Coordinators shall be elected to those positions by the project staff. Section 5. Project Coordinators are subject to possible removal by a 2/3 vote of the Advisory Board and a 2/3 vote of the project staff. A quorum of 75% of the project staff shall participate in order for the vote to be binding. Section 6. If a Project Coordinator is unable to perform his/her duties, the Assistant Project Coordinator, or other support team, shall serve until an election can take place among the project staff. In the case of special projects with more than one Assistant Project Coordinator, they shall choose one among themselves to serve in the interim. ** Proposed Version: Article XIII. THE ARCHIVES PROJECT Section 1. The USGenWeb Archives Project shall have a Coordinator and an Assistant Coordinator or other support team in place that can take charge in case the Coordinator becomes unavailable for a period of 30 days, unless there are extenuating circumstances. The USGenWeb Archives(Digital Library) shall be a repository for public domain or research documents and shall provide an easily accessible website for online research by the genealogical community. Section 2. The name of the project shall be The USGenWeb Archives Project. Section 3. The staff members of The USGenWeb Archives Project shall elect one Representative to serve as a voting member of The USGenWeb Project Advisory Board. Section 4. The Archives Project Coordinator shall be elected by the project staff. The Coordinator in place at the time this section of the Bylaws is amended shall be exempt from election procedures, unless he/she is removed, resigns or is unable to perform his/her duties. Section 5. The Archives Project Coordinator is subject to possible removal by a 2/3 vote of the Advisory Board and a 2/3 vote of the project staff. A quorum of 75% of the project staff shall participate in order for the vote to be binding. Section 6. If the Archives Project Coordinator is unable to perform his/her duties, the Assistant Coordinator, or other support team, shall serve until an election can take place among the project staff. In the case of more than one Assistant Coordinator, they shall choose among themselves to serve in the interim. ** Other Proposed Changes: Article II. Section 2. Change "The USGenWeb Project Archives" to "The USGenWeb Archives Project" Article V. Change "one (1) representative each from The USGenWeb Archives Project, The USGenWeb Census Project, and the USGenWeb Tombstone Project," to "one (1) representative from The USGenWeb Archives Project," Article VI. Section 9. Change "and Special Project Representative" to "and Archives Project Representative" Change "with the Special Projects" to "with the Archives Project" Article VIII. Section 1. Change "Eight(8) voting members of the Advisory Board shall constitute a quorum." to "Seven(7) voting members of the Advisory Board shall constitute a quorum." Article XII. Section 2. Change "The USGenWeb Project Archives" to "The USGenWeb Archives Project" ======================================================== MDGenWeb invites other state projects to join us in co-sponsoring this amendment, so that the USGenWeb Project's volunteers may have the opportunity to consider it in the upcoming elections. Carol Askey MDGenWeb State Coordinator askeycj@ix.netcom.com Shari Handley MDGenWeb Assistant State Coordinator shari@armada.net