Preparing Resolutions for the Delegate Assembly
Preparing resolutions for the MLA Delegate Assembly is a complex process. This guide sets forth the steps of the process to help prevent oversights and omissions that can impede a resolution's progress.
Members should note at the outset, however, that a resolution is not the only—and may not be the best—way to accomplish a desired end. Motions and requests addressed directly to the Executive Council should be considered. The members of the Delegate Assembly Organizing Committee welcome the opportunity to advise members on how to go about bringing an issue to the attention of others in the organization.
Calendar of Dates and Deadlines
Year 1 | |
|---|---|
1 September | Deadline for receipt of resolutions and at least 10 supporting signatures (see Preparing the Content and Meeting Other Submission Requirements and Meeting the Submission Deadlines, below, for additional information) |
1 October | Deadline for receipt of at least 100 supporting signatures |
mid-September–mid-October | First membership comment period: Properly submitted resolutions will be posted at the Web site for comment by the membership on both the language and the substance of the resolutions. Current members may enter signed comments throughout the comment period. These comments are not subject to a word limit, nor is there a limit on the number of comments that an individual may post. Until 1 October, current members may also submit supporting signatures. |
last week of October | The Delegate Assembly Organizing Committee (DAOC) meets to review properly submitted resolutions that have garnered at least 100 signatures. The Executive Council meets to conduct the constitutionally required review of these same resolutions and to consult with the DAOC about them; in each case, the council will either forward the resolution to the Delegate Assembly or submit a report to the Delegate Assembly on the reasons for the council's decision not to forward the resolution to the assembly (see MLA constitution, art. 7.B.3). |
1–15 November | Period during which proposers can revise resolutions reviewed by the DAOC and forwarded to the Delegate Assembly by the Executive Council and modify or supplement the material they have submitted to provide evidence in support of their resolutions’ claims (see the subsection Between 1 September and 15 November in the section Monitoring the Resolution's Progress) |
mid-November–mid-December | Second membership comment period: Resolutions that have been placed on the Delegate Assembly's agenda will be posted at the Web site for comment by the membership. At this stage, comments should focus on the substance of the resolution, since the wording of the resolution is final. Current members may enter signed comments throughout the comment period. These comments are not subject to a word limit, nor is there a limit on the number of comments that an individual may post. |
early December | Resolutions that are on the Delegate Assembly's agenda are sent to assembly members along with supporting material provided by the proposer(s). |
Year 2 | |
Day 2 of MLA convention, 10:15–11:30 a.m. | Open Hearing on Resolutions is held during the MLA convention; only MLA members may attend and speak. All resolutions on the assembly's agenda are discussed by attendees. |
Day 2 of MLA convention, 1:45 p.m. | The DAOC meets to formulate its recommendations on all resolutions that will be considered by the Delegate Assembly. |
Day 3 of MLA convention, 12:30 p.m. | Delegate Assembly meeting; each resolution, in turn, is introduced on the assembly floor for discussion and vote. Resolutions may not be amended on the assembly floor. Resolutions approved by the Delegate Assembly are forwarded to the membership for a ratification vote. |
mid-February–1 April | Ratification-vote balloting period. Eligible voters are those who were members on the date of the Delegate Assembly meeting and who are current members at the start of the balloting period, the date to be determined by the DAOC. |
1 April | Deadline for receipt of ratification ballots |
postratification | Any actions stipulated in ratified resolutions are carried out; resolutions ratified by the membership are posted at the MLA Web site (click here for Resolutions Ratified by the Membership). |
Preparing the Content and Meeting Other Submission Requirements
- The content of a resolution must be consistent with the purposes of the MLA, as set forth in article 2 of the constitution.
- The content of a resolution is limited to "matters of public and institutional policy affecting the study and teaching of the humanities and the status of the language and literature professions represented by the association. Such matters may include proposed or enacted legislation, regulations, or other governmental and institutional policies; conditions of employment and publication; additional matters that affect the association, its members in their professional capacities, or the dignity of members' work; or issues of shared concern to the members. It is understood that resolutions are not intended to limit the conduct of MLA members acting in their individual capacities but are statements that reflect the views of the organization, as voted on by the membership" (MLA constitution, art. 9.C.10).
- The resolution may not contain erroneous, tortious, or possibly libelous statements.
- The resolution, if adopted, must not pose a threat to the association's operation as a tax-exempt organization.
- The entire text of the resolution is limited to 200 words.
- The resolution must be accompanied by "material that provides evidence in support of the resolution['s] claims" (MLA constitution, art. 11.C.4.b). The main criteria here are, of course, the relevance and strength of the support, but it is a good idea to keep in mind both the amount of material that members of the DAOC and members of the assembly may reasonably be expected to read and the association's cost in making the supporting material available to assembly members. In recent years, the DAOC has limited to twenty-four single-sided pages the amount of supporting material that delegates are asked to consider. Proposers of resolutions who choose to submit more voluminous documentation to the DAOC should therefore be prepared to respond quickly to the DAOC's likely request for a selection of documents that will be transmitted to delegates.
- The resolution must be accompanied by the signatures of at least ten current members of the association upon submission on or before 1 September. The remainder of the required 100 signatures must be received on or before 1 October. See Meeting the Submission Deadlines, below, for additional information.
Following Conventional Form
- A resolution consists of a resolved clause or clauses that set forth the resolution's objectives. It may also contain a preamble that sets forth the reason or reasons for the resolved clause or clauses. A preamble is, in essence, free debate; that is, it puts before the voting body some of the arguments in support of the resolution in advance of the meeting, during which debate is strictly limited. However, a preamble has some disadvantages. It may work against adoption if members agree with the resolved clauses but do not agree with the preamble or find the content of the preamble overstated or poorly expressed. Also, of course, a preamble uses some of the 200-word limit imposed on MLA resolutions and may therefore interfere with the careful and complete statement of the resolved clauses.
- Writers of resolutions should avoid references to unknowable future events and activities since a resolution should not commit the association to a particular course of action in the absence of clear knowledge of a situation. By the same token, writers of resolutions should state facts, not opinions.
- The MLA conventionally uses the following form for a resolution without a preamble.
- The MLA conventionally uses the following form for a resolution with a preamble.
- "Be it resolved that" should be followed by verbs in the subjunctive form.
Meeting the Submission Deadlines
- The text of the resolution plus materials that provide evidence in support of the resolution's claims plus at least 10 original signatures or e-mailed statements of support must reach the association office by 1 September. To be valid, e-mailed documents or statements of support must be sent from the address that is recorded in the sender's MLA membership record.
- The remainder of the required 100 supporting signatures must be received on or before 1 October. They may be submitted in any of the following ways:
- by mailing an original signature or a collection of original signatures to the association office so that the mailing arrives on or before 1 October;
- by e-mailing an individual statement of support from the address that is recorded in the sender's MLA membership record;
- by using the form at the MLA Web site that has been created for the collection of resolution signatures.
Monitoring the Resolution's Progress
Between 1 September and 15 November
- Resolutions that have met the 1 September submission requirements will be posted at the MLA Web site for comment by the membership. Comments may bear on both the language and the substance of the resolutions.
- The collection of signatures continues through 1 October.
- During its late October meeting, the DAOC determines whether
- all submission requirements (those having to do with deadlines, word limit, and supporting signatures) were met;
- each resolution is in compliance with the content requirements set forth in the MLA constitution (see items 1 and 2 under Preparing the Content, above); and
- the materials that provide evidence in support of each resolution's claims are both relevant and sufficient.
- The DAOC will contact the proposer of any resolution with suggestions for revision that, in the judgment of the committee, increase the measure's chances of adoption. These suggested revisions may bear on the resolution's language or the resolution's supporting materials or both; they may originate in the committee or in the membership comments deposited at the Web site. The proposer of the resolution has until 15 November to submit revisions. Whether to make the suggested revisions is totally at the discretion of the proposer.
- During its late October meeting the Executive Council reviews all submitted resolutions in accordance with article 7.B.3 of the MLA constitution. Because the Executive Council has fiduciary responsibility for the association, its primary concern in considering resolutions is to ensure that the measures do not have the potential to damage the MLA financially or legally. Thus, the council directs its attention chiefly to the criteria set forth in numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4, under Preparing the Content, above. The council's review leads to decisions on which of the submitted resolutions can be forwarded to the Delegate Assembly. Resolutions that are not forwarded to the assembly are the object of a report from the council to the assembly.
- The proposers of resolutions respond to the DAOC's suggestions for revisions by 15 November.
Between 15 November and the Delegate Assembly Meeting
- The second membership comment period is held for resolutions that have been forwarded to the Delegate Assembly.
- A hearing exclusively for the consideration of resolutions is held during the MLA convention on the day before the Delegate Assembly meets. The hearing lasts for an hour and a quarter (10:15 to 11:30 a.m.), the time being divided among the proposed resolutions. It is a good idea for proposers to attend the hearing to briefly set forth the arguments in favor and to hear the responses of other members to the resolution.
- The DAOC holds a closed meeting to consider the comments made on each resolution during the open hearing and to determine its recommendation to the Delegate Assembly. The MLA constitution ( art. 11.C.6) requires the DAOC to present each resolution to the assembly with a recommendation that the resolution be adopted or that it not be adopted.
During the Delegate Assembly Meeting
- The Executive Council's report on any resolutions not forwarded to the Delegate Assembly is taken up under the heading Reports.
- The resolutions that have been placed on the assembly's agenda are taken up under the heading New Business. Each resolution is presented by a member of the DAOC, who also states the committee's recommendation regarding the adoption of the resolution. The floor is then opened for debate of the resolution. Resolutions cannot be amended on the assembly floor.
- Both delegates and MLA members who attend the meeting as observers may speak during the debate. The proposer should be at a microphone ready to speak as soon as the measure is put before the assembly. Since each member may speak to the measure only twice for the time specified in the assembly's rules, the proposer's statement should be carefully planned so that the most persuasive points are made first and all points are succinctly expressed. The proposer's second speech should be reserved for the end of the debate period so that it can be used to respond to opponents' arguments.
- The resolution is put to a vote. A majority vote is required for passage.
After the Delegate Assembly Meeting
- Resolutions adopted by the Delegate Assembly are sent to the membership for a ratification vote. As noted above, eligible voters are those who were members on the date of the Delegate Assembly meeting and who are current members at the start of the balloting period, the date to be determined by the DAOC.
- Ratification of a resolution is by a majority vote in which the number of those voting in favor of ratification equals at least ten percent of the association's voting membership. If the membership ratifies the resolution, the association publicizes that fact and implements any action that may have been called for by the measure.
At the Next Meeting of the Delegate Assembly
The executive director, in his or her report to the Delegate Assembly, announces any action taken as a result of the ratification of a resolution by the membership.
At the Next or a Subsequent Meeting of the Delegate Assembly
Any member may submit a motion by 1 September to initiate a process to rescind or amend a previously ratified resolution.