Summary of changes in the By-laws Approved by the KRPS Membership on November 6, 2005 .

1 .   Board size.      Total board membership is reduced from 21 to 16.    This is accomplished by eliminating interest sections from the voting membership of the board and by eliminating one NRPA representative.

Rationale:    Associations and non profits in many types of businesses have come to realize that large boards are cumbersome to manage and do not necessarily accomplish the goal of involving the groups represented .   Smaller boards allow   members to be more engaged and usually result in better attendance and decisions that the board fully supports.    The needs of the various interests in the society will be   served by in other ways such as through policies and programs.

In recent years the interest sections have had limited activity—typically a brief meeting at the annual conference.

2.   Districts and staggered terms .

      One district is added to the board to make the districts more accessible to the members.    The by-laws state that the board will determine the alignment of districts.    This is so adjustments can be made as population shifts in the state.

The 2005 board has proposed an initial alignment of the six districts and a map of that alignment will be available to the members.   The Two year Terms of the district chairs will be staggered.    The three year terms of the at-large members will also be staggered.

Rationale :    An additional district was added to partially compensate for the loss of the interest sections and also to have districts that are more evenly divided in number of members.   Currently the districts vary widely in size with one district having more than 4 times the number of the smallest district.   

3. Certification of president

It is the intent of the society to make sure that its chief officer was well qualified in the recreation   profession .   The proposed language in the by-laws makes the qualifications language more flexible.

Rationale:    We have some strong leaders in the Society who are not certified as CPRP and the board did not want the by-laws to prohibit them from becoming leaders.   The proposed change requires experience in recreation as well as evidence of Professional qualifications or a willingness to stand for the certification exam by the time that the Office of Presidency is assumed.

4.   Election.

  The proposed amendment says that KRPS election will be conducted at the annual conference instead of by mail and allows absentee ballots if a member requests.   

Rationale:      It is believed that this will result in greater and better informed participation in the Society's elections

5.    Executive committee

       The proposal allows the executive committee to make decisions in an emergency.    The committee must be unanimous that an emergency exists.

They may also make binding decisions when specifically directed to do so by the board.     The size of the executive committee is reduced in accordance with the reduced size of the board.  

6.    Proxy votes.

      Proxy votes will not be allowed under the new structure.  

With a smaller board, there should be less need for proxies.

7.    Trails

       The promotion of trails and greenways is added to the mission of the society

    Rationale:   Trails are linear parks, but this is not so much envisioned at the time the original by-laws were drafted.   New language may make it easier to recruit trails organizations as members of KRPS .

8.   Other minor and editorial changes are made in the proposal.