Catalog of Sample Policies for Pennsylvania's Conservation Districts

Board Attendance Policy
(Written by Carter McNamara, PhD)

Purpose
This policy is intended to support full contribution of all board members. All board members receive a copy of this official policy. The policy is reviewed once a year and maintained in each member's Board Manual. The policy has been reviewed and authorized by the board (see signature and date below).

Definition of a Board Attendance Problem
A board-attendance problem occurs if any of the following conditions exist in regard to a board member's attendance to board meetings:

1. The member has two un-notified absences in a row ("un-notified" means the member did not call ahead to a reasonable contact in the organization before the upcoming meeting to indicate they would be gone from the upcoming meeting).

2. The member has three notified absences in a row.

3. The member misses one-third of the total number of board meetings in a twelve-month period.

Suggested Response to a Board-Attendance Problem
If a board-attendance problem exists regarding a member, the Board Chair will promptly contact the member to discuss the problem. The member's response will promptly be shared by the Chair with the entire board at the next board meeting. In that meeting, the board will decide what actions to take regarding the board member's future membership on the board. If the board decides to terminate the board member's membership, termination will be conducted per this policy (or the process may specified in the organization's bylaws). The board will promptly initiate a process to begin recruiting a new board member.

(For example, the termination process might include that the Board Chair will call the member with the board-attendance problem and notify him or her of the board's decision to terminate the member's membership per the terms of the Board Attendance Policy. The Chair will request a letter of resignation from the member to be received within the next two weeks. The Chair will also request the member to return their board manual back to the agency by dropping it off at a specified location over the next two weeks. The board will vote regarding acceptance of the member's resignation letter in the next board meeting.)