Consent Calendar
A tool used to expedite meetings of the Board of Directors of The Augustan Society, Inc., and the councils of it's Sub-Groups is the Consent Calendar.
As the Assistant Secretary, Eagle Administrator, or Rose Administrator prepares each Agenda, they gather items that appear to be unworthy of discussion into a Consent Calendar, along with the recommended action for each. This will appear in the Agenda just before Reports, and the Board or Council will vote on all items with a single action.
Before a vote is called, however, the chair must ask if any member objects to the proposed action or has questions they need answered before voting. In such cases, the items in question are removed from the Consent Calendar and added at the end of New Business, to be dealt with at that time.
Requests to pull items from the Consent Calendar do not require a second, and are not debatable. Indeed, while it may be tempting to debate such items immediately, such is not in accordance with Robert's Rules or Society tradition. That said, the chair may entertain simple and brief questions to expedite the meeting, barring objections from the floor.
Typical items for a Consent Calendar might be:
- Confirming the minutes of the previous meeting;
- Noting or confirming appointments to offices;
- Ratifying actions recommended by one of the Review Committees; or
- Matters of obvious utility.
It is expected that the officers responsible for composing the Agendae will not use the Consent Calendar to "sneak things past" the Board or to discourage debate, as those are not legitimate uses of the process.
Should any member of the Board or Council object to the use of the Consent Calendar, they may pull all items at each meeting, though this is hardly a way to win friends and extend one's influence on the body.
