New Attendance Reporting

With the changes in the Standard Rotary Club Constitution voted on by the 2019 Council on Legislation (COL), Clubs need to take a close look at the new Attendance section and its reporting implications.
 
Click on the Read More Button to see the full text from the revised Standard Rotary Club Constitution.
 
The complete revised Standard Rotary Club Constitution can be found in the ToolBox in the General Resources section. All clubs should review their Constitution and Bylaws to make adjusts to being them in line with the revised constitutional documents, that incorporate all the enactments adopted by the 2019 Council on Legislation (COL).
 
Please review this document also - 2019 Council on Legislation Essential Changes For Clubs and Districts. It is also in the ToolBox in the General Resources section.

Article 10 Attendance

Section 1 — General Provisions. Each member should attend this club’s regular meetings, or its satellite club’s regular meetings, and engage in this club’s service projects, events, and other activities. A member shall be counted as attending a regular meeting if the member:
  • is present in person, by telephone, or online for at least 60 percent of the meeting;
  • is present but called away unexpectedly and later presents to the board satisfactory evidence that leaving was reasonable;
  • participates in the regular online meeting or interactive activity posted on the club’s website within one week after its posting;or
  • makes up the absence in any of the following ways within the same year:
    1. Attends at least 60 percent of the regular meeting of another club,a provisional club, or a satellite of another club;
    2. Is present at the time and place of a regular meeting or satellite club meeting of another club for the purpose of attending, but that club is not meeting at that time or place;
    3. Attends and participates in a club service project or a club-sponsored community event or meeting authorized by the board;
    4. Attends a board meeting or, if authorized by the board, a meeting of a service committee to which the member is assigned;
    5. Participates through a club website in an online meeting or interactive activity;
    6. Attends a regular meeting of a Rotaract or Interact club, Rotary Community Corps, or Rotary Fellowship or of a provisional Rotaract or Interact club, Rotary Community Corps, or Rotary Fellowship; or
  1. Attends an RI convention, a council on legislation, an international assembly, a Rotary institute, any meeting convened with the approval of the RI board of directors or the RI president, a multi-zone conference, a meeting of an RI committee, a district conference, a district training assembly, any district meeting held at the direction of the RI board, any district committee meeting held by direction of the governor, or a regularly announced intercity meeting of clubs.
Section 2 — Extended Absence While Working at a Distance. If a member works on a distant assignment for an extended period of time, attendance at the meetings of a designated club at the site of the assignment replaces attendance at the regular
meetings of the member’s club, if the two clubs agree.
Section 3 — Absence Because of Other Rotary Activities. An absence does not require a make-up if, at the time of the meeting, the member is:
  • Traveling with reasonable directness to or from one of the meetings specified in sub-subsection(1)(c)(7);
 
  • Serving as an officer or member of an RI committee or as a Trustee;
  • Serving as the special representative of the governor in forming a new club;
  • On Rotary business in the employ of RI;
  • Directly and actively engaged in a district-sponsored, RI-sponsored, or TRF- sponsored service project in a remote area, where making up attendance is impossible; or
  • Engaged in Rotary business duly authorized by the board, which precludes attendance at the meeting.
Section 4 — RI Officers’ Absences. An absence shall be excused if the member is a current RI officer or a Rotarian partner of a current RI officer.
Section 5 — Excused Absences. A member’s absence shall be excused if:
  • The board approves it for reasons, conditions, and circumstances it considers good and sufficient. Such excused absences shall not last longer than 12 months. However, if a leave is taken for medical reasons, follows the birth or adoption of a child, or takes place during foster care of a child, the board may extend it beyond the original 12months.
  • The sum of the member’s age and years of membership in one or more clubs is85 years or more, the member has been a Rotarian for at least 20 years, the member has notified the club secretary in writing of a desire to be excused from attendance, and the board has approved.
Section 6 — Attendance Records. When a member whose absences are excused under subsection 5(a) of this article does not attend a club meeting, the member and the absence shall not be included in the attendance records. If a member whose absences are excused under section 4 or subsection 5(b) of this article attends a club meeting, the member and the attendance shall be included in this club’s membership and attendance figures.
Section 7 — Exceptions. The bylaws may include provisions not in accordance with article 10.