Purpose of the fellowship
The purpose of the fellowship is to promote Rotarian fellowship, service, and world peace using all the tools available via social networks.
Qualifications for membership
To be eligible for membership, one must be a Rotarian or Rotaractor in good standing or the spouse of a Rotarian in good standing.
Verification of Membership Eligibility
From time to time, for the purpose of verifying that our ROSNF Members are eligible for membership in a Rotary Fellowship under Rotary International rules, the Board of ROSNF may provide to one or more staff members of Rotary International our membership roster, including name and Rotary Club, for the sole purpose of verifying that each ROSNF Member is eligible to be a member of a Rotary Fellowship.
Officers
The officers of the Fellowship include:
- Chairman
- Chairman-Elect
- Vice President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Sergeant-At-Arms
The new Chairman will appoint a board of directors including the officers and up to 10 additional members from at least 3 different continents to serve a one year term.
Election of Chairperson
Section 1. Nominations. Eligibility.
Any member of ROSNF who will have served least one full calendar year as a Director as of 30 June of the year in which that person would be nominated (to serve as Chair-Elect commencing the following 1 July and Chair a year later) and who has served as a Director within some portion of the previous three Rotary Years is eligible to be nominated as Chair–Elect. (By way of example, to be nominated on or about 15 April 2014, during the 2013-14 Rotary Year to serve as Chair during the 2015-16 Rotary Year, the candidate must have served as a Director during some portion of the 2011-2012 Rotary Year or later.)
Section 2. Nominations. Procedure.
On or about 1 May, but not later than 11 May, the Elections Chair shall announce to the membership of ROSNF that the list of eligible candidates for Chair-Elect is available on the rosnf.net website, providing a link to that page, and that the Nominations Period opens 24 hours from the time of that announcement and shall remain open for seven days.
The Elections Chair, if otherwise eligible as a candidate, shall relinquish eligibility and may not be nominated, and shall be listed among those eligible with the designation “ineligible, as Elections Chair.”
During that time, any member of ROSNF may nominate any eligible candidate by informing the Elections Chair of the name of the nominee and his or her own name as nominator. The Elections Chair shall not accept an anonymous nomination. The Elections Chair shall immediately inform the nominee of the fact of the nomination and the identity of the nominator.
Neither the nominee nor the Elections Chair shall reveal to anyone else either the fact of the nomination or the identity of the nominator, nor reveal the number of members having placed that nominee‘s name in nomination. The sole exception is that the nominee may choose to make private contact with the nominator to acknowledge the nomination. The Board shall have the authority, by majority vote excluding the nominee (if that nominee is a current Board Member), to declare ineligible in the current nominations year any nominee who breaches the confidentiality of the nominations process.
A nominee shall have until 48 hours after the close of the nominations period to accept the nomination. A nominee who does not inform the Elections Chair of acceptance of the nomination shall be deemed to have declined. All nominees who have accepted the nomination shall be declared candidates and stand for election.
If there are two or more candidates, the nominations process shall be declared completed and the Elections Chair shall proceed to the ballot process.
Section 2a. Nominations. Procedure when fewer than two candidates.
A) If only one nominee has accepted the nomination, the Board shall announce the identity of the candidate to the Membership and further announce that the nominations period is re-opened for a period of 72 hours from the time of posting of the announcement. The procedure shall otherwise be as stated in Section 1 of this Article.
If, at the conclusion of the 72-hour extra nominations period, no additional nominee(s) has/have accepted, the Elections Chair shall introduce a Motion to the Board (or shall be deemed to have introduced a Motion) to approve the sole candidate as Chair-Elect, and the Chair shall second the Motion (or be deemed to have seconded the Motion). After discussion, not to exceed 72 hours unless the Board votes to extend discussion, the Board shall vote on the Motion.
If the Motion fails, the Board will so announce to the Membership seven days later, and the nominations process will be re-opened from the beginning.
B) If no nominee has accepted the nomination, the nominations period shall be re-opened for seven days and the Board shall so announce to the Membership. This process shall continue for full seven-day periods until at least one nominee has accepted the nomination. If only one nominee has accepted, the Board shall proceed directly to the Motion process described in Section 2(A).
Section 3. Elections.
A) In any ROSNF election, the candidate receiving a majority of the votes cast shall be declared the winner.
B) The ballot period for the election for Chair-Elect shall be seven days from the time of announcement to the Membership that the ballot is available online.
C) If there are two candidates on the ballot, the candidate with the most votes at the end of the seven-day period shall be declared the winner. If at the end of the seven-day period the vote is tied, the Board shall extend the ballot period for an additional 72 hours, so announce to the Membership, and start the 72-hour period at the time of posting of that announcement. This procedure shall continue until, at the end of one such 72-hour extra period, one candidate has a majority of the votes cast.
D) If there are three or more candidates on the ballot, the candidate with a majority of votes cast (more than 50%) shall be declared the winner. If no candidate has received a majority of the votes, the two candidates with the highest vote totals shall advance to a run-off election, which will be conducted in accordance with Section 3(C). If two or more candidates are tied with the second-highest vote total, both or all such candidates shall advance, with the candidate who received the highest vote total, to a run-off, which would be conducted in accordance with this Section 3(D). If a run-off is required, the Board will so announce to the Membership, and the seven-day ballot period shall commence upon posting of that announcement.
Dues
There is no charge for membership. However, members may be asked to voluntarily contribute to projects and events as required to cover all costs.
Communication
Members will primarily communicate and collaborate with each other via via official ROSNF group facilities on various social networks, including rosnf.net.
An electronic newsletter will be sent to all members at least annually.
To retain membership in the fellowship, members must agree to receive key communications such as the newsletter and notice of elections by remaining members on rosnf.net.
Annual Report
The new officers will send an annual report out each June to all members via group announcement, including goals and plans for the coming year.
Amendments
Any member may propose a change to these rules. The officers will review the proposed change, and submit a recommendation to the membership. A majority vote of the membership is necessary to change these rules.