Difference between revisions of "Vision Proposals"

Revision as of 13:25, 20 February 2015

Throughout the Centennial Vision for The Augustan Society, Inc., are a number of Proposals we believe the Augustan Society, Inc., should consider. These are:

Administration
1. The Society should consider linking the number of Directors to the size of the membership, with a maximum of 10% of the membership and a minimum of five.
2. The Society should discontinue the use of the Executive Committee, and perhaps consider removing the option from the By-Laws.
3. The Society should pursue conversion of the administration from the present "shared power" arrangement to having a strong Board overseeing largely clerical staff.
4. The Society should consider how important it is that each department be represented on the Board by a dedicated Director, and if this is felt important steps should be taken to ensure that this is the case, possibly by amending the By-Laws.

Staff

5. The Society should move to document all of the tasks and procedures employed to the degree that a reasonably competent person might be able to follow such procedures to good effect, notwithstanding that some tasks may require specialized knowledge or skills.
6. The Society should move to transfer all responsibilities presently held by Consuls that do not benefit from being performed at Headquarters to other volunteers.
7. The Society should remove the ban on the Consuls' organization of an Advisory Council to permit interested Officers and Members to debate matters of Society business with the end of developing improved processes and proposals for the Board.

Facilities

8. The Society must have a goal of obtaining (and retaining) a public Headquarters. To ensure that such a facility may be retained, we must create an Investment Fund sufficient that its revenue will cover the costs of rent, utilities, and taxes (if any).
9. The Society should adopt a policy that any lease or rental be guaranteed for a term of not less than five years with maximum rent defined, and that funds sufficient to secure the facility for said term be identified before a lease or rent is authorized.
10. The Society must have a goal of obtaining (and retaining) a public Headquarters that is owned by the Society. To ensure that such a facility may be retained, we must create an Investment Fund sufficient that its revenue will cover both the initial capital cost of acquisition and modification to our purposes, and the ongoing costs of utilities, repairs, and taxes (if any).

Chivalry

11. The Society should work toward the goal of maintaining and publishing the criteria by which the Society will judge Orders of Chivalry (and organizations of a chivalric nature) worthy of Society recognition or not.
12. The Society should work toward the goal of having a fully comprehensive and public listing of Orders of Chivalry (and organizations of a chivalric nature) which the Society has judged worthy of recognition.
13. The Society should work toward maintaining and keeping private a list of those Orders of Chivalry (and organizations of a chivalric nature) that we have examined and found unworthy, along with the disqualifying conditions, so as to speed reconsideration should those change, and so staff can answer either "yes", "no", or "we haven't yet considered them" as appropriate.
14. The Society should work to maintain and publish the standards by which they judge membership in recognized Orders of Chivalry (and organizations of a chivalric nature) worthy of recognition or not.
15. The Society should work to maintain and publish a listing of those chivalric memberships recognized, both for present Augustans and for others.
16. The Society should work to maintain and publish a list of those Orders of Chivalry which the Society recognizes, and which the Society accepts as having fought in the Holy Lands during the Crusades.
17. The Society should work to maintain and publish a list of those postnominals used in Society publications, recognized by the Society, granted by the Society, or likely to be of value to members. This list should include postnominals not recognized by the Society for historical purposes, and these should be so flagged.

Genealogy

18. The Society should work toward articulating and publishing the standards to be applied to the review and approval of lineages, including the question of when an in-depth survey might be needed.
19. The Society should work toward articulating and publishing the standards to be applied to the certification of lineages.
20. The Society should work toward publishing in a suitable form those lineages that have been approved or certified. Such to redact most data more recent than the latest release of US Census data.

Heraldry

21. The Society should clearly identify the Committee responsible for consultation on arms design and matriculation. While the Heraldry and Arms Registration Committees are likely candidates, the inclusion of Vice-Justiciars for various jurisdictions suggests the latter would be more appropriate.

History

22. The Society should make serious efforts to staff this Department, as an historical organization with no history activities is something of an oxymoron.

Nobility

23. The Society should work toward maintaining and publishing the standards by which to judge fontes honorum to determine if they should be recognized by the Society.
24. The Society should work toward maintaining and publishing a list of those fontes honorum that have been deliberately recognized by the Society.
25. The above task accomplished, the Society should work toward maintaining and publishing a list of all current fontes honorum worthy of recognition by the Society.
26. The Society should work toward maintaining and publishing the standards by which to judge if a claimed title of nobility is worthy of Society recognition, including such titles and postnominals as may attach thereunto.
27. The Society should work toward maintaining and publishing a list of those individuals whose titles of nobility have been recognized by the Society.
28. The Society should work toward maintaining and publishing the standards by which to judge if a claim to personal (untitled) nobility is worthy of Society recognition, including such postnominals as may attach thereunto.
29. The Society should work toward maintaining and publishing a list of those individuals whose personal (untitled) nobility have been recognized by the Society.
30. The Society should work toward maintaining and publishing the standards by which to judge if an individual possesses gentility worthy of Society recognition.
31. The Society should work toward maintaining and publishing a list of those individuals whose gentility has been recognized by the Society.

Communications

32. The Society should work toward publishing a members newsletter on a monthly schedule, presuming sufficient funding and material are available.
33. The Society should conduct a survey to test the level of interest in publishing the members newsletter electronically, and a decision made about the value of devoting the time needed to reformat (versus publishing as a PDF file).
34. The Society should work toward converting all former publications to electronic form; first as PDF files, then as text files with improved illustrations where possible.
35. The Society should work toward obtaining an email server that is tailored to the unique needs of the Society. This may be a commercial product, or a custom application running on a Society server.

Library

36. The Society should work to make the Library collection publicly accessible, preferably through a library facility open to the public on a regular schedule.
37. The Society should study if resumption of the mail loan program is feasible, and the fees appropriate to offset both expenses and losses.

Museum

38. The Society should work to eliminate the museum collection, as the operation of a legitimate museum that meets industry standards is viewed as beyond the Society's ability at this time, and as a museum (despite inclusion as part of the Society's Mission Statement) does not appear able to further the core goals of the organization.

Sub-Groups

39. The Society should work to name Deans for each of the Lineage Groups, and to encourage them to organize sufficiently that they may contribute to Society programs with more than their entry fees.
40. The Society should consider the creation of additional Lineage Groups in areas not presently served by another organization, and where there is sufficient member interest to suggest that the new group would be a productive part of the Society's programs.

• back to Centennial Vision
• back to Administration
• back to Main Page