March 2013
PRESIDENT’S LETTER by Alison Wallis, CP-T, PRP
“We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” —T.S. Eliot
Table of Contents Table of Contents
1
President’s Letter
1
Coming Events
2
AIP Officers
2
Bylaw Amendments
3
Teacher Certification
3
East Coast Practicum
3
New AIP Study Manual
3
Specialist, Eli Mina
4
Specalist, Rob James
5-6
Editor’s Insert
6
Survey, Karen Watson
7
New Members
8
Silent Gavel
8
Contributors
8
New Credentials
8
Practicum Pictures
9-10
Survey, Jim Lohr
11
Practicum Location
12
For individuals and organizations, exploration of the world, outside and inside, is essential for survival and growth. As explorers, we should look toward the horizon, always questioning how and why things are done. The year 1958, although more than half a century ago, was a modern era. That is the year the American Institute of Parliamentarians was founded, and also the year the first successful satellite, Explorer, was launched into orbit. Long before the skies were filled with thousands of satellites, Explorer brought the space age into reality. Similarly, long before “action plans” were a ubiquitous business habit, AIP had an eight-point action plan. Adopted by the AIP board in 1958, founder Robert English’s action plan was to undertake the following specific actions: 1. Issue a Directory of American Parliamentarians to be distributed to organizations needing parliamen tary service and to the Parliamentarians listed. 2. Provide a Bibliography of Parliamentary Procedure to be distributed to principal libraries as well as to the Parliamentary Journal individuals and organiza tions who receive the Directory. 3. Promote the organization of classes in Parliamen tary Procedure in schools and in other organizations. 4. Encourage the informal teaching of Parliamentary Procedure by the wider use of Parliamentarians, by TV programs, by sound films, and by discussion groups. 5. Serve as a clearing house for parliamentary problems. 6. Maintain a Parliamentary Procedure Library including three departments: Circulating, Reference, and Sales.
7. Publish quarterly a Parliamentary Journal as the official AIP organ. 8. Develop a representative membership including legislators, attorneys, educators, business men, labor leaders, professional parliamentarians, etc. Today, AIP continues to have an up-to-date action plan (the current plan is viewable on the member portion of the website), modified to changing times as an unending process. While we will continue to modify the action plan, to us as explorers, it is instructive to review AIP’s original action plan to see how the plan has led us forward and to see if we are upholding the values it set forth, asking ourselves if the founders were recognize the organization. Our fundamental values should remain constant, while our strategies should evolve to changing needs. Looking at the original action plan, we can see areas where we have achieved the original vision. AIP has an online directory of credentialed parliamentarians, viewable by those all searching for a parliamentarian. Members can turn to the website for a full listing, plus a printed directory will soon be available for purchase. Using traditional and modern technology, AIP, individual members, and AIP chapters are conducting thousands of hours of parliamentary teaching. We maintain a quality and comprehensive bookstore. The Parliamentary Journal is in continuous production and is unsurpassed in content. Our membership is diverse (geographically, professionally, occupationally, demographically) and influential. The commonality is that members are unified by a desire to use parliamentary procedure for democratic goals. It’s been many years since 1958 and Explorer has left the sky. AIP however continues to fulfill its mission and to promote democratic use of parliamentary procedure around our world. Let us vow to continue the good work of our founders that has served us so well.
Bob English’s AIP: The Action Program, M. Eugene Bierbaum, CPP-T, PRP, Parliamentary Journal, Vol. XLIX, No. 4, p. 131.
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March 2013
AIP Communicator