Venturing Officers Ass'n

Venturers,

Here is the nomination form (MS Word Adobe pdf) for nominating Venturers for VOA Cabinet positions. It is attached as a word Document. If you want to email it back, please type along the underscore lines where indicated, and delete the line itself. If you want to print it that’s fine as well, but I need them back as soon as possible, since this was not available at the April Roundtable, we can extend the time frame to the end of May, instead of the due date of the May Roundtable.

The most important aspect of running is the willingness to get involved. Please don’t feel you don’t want to run because you don’t know what to do. We will work together to make it work. As long as a nominee is willing to be an active participant, it will work. We will also have this form on the Website as soon as possible.

Attn: All Venturer Advisors and Assoc. Advisors.

Obviously I do not have every Venturers email in my database. Please get this out to your Crews, as well as any Crew you are aware of that may not be aware. We need good Youth input to make the VOA Successful.

Thanks to all,

Yours in Venturing,

Steve Salvatore

VOA Advisor

The name of this organization shall be the Venturing Officers’ Association, also known as the VOA and shall be under the supervision of the Theodore Roosevelt Council, BSA and the Scout Executive.

A. To promote the Venturing, BSA program within the Theodore Roosevelt Council and ensure it maintains the highest quality of program possible.

B. To provide a forum for the youth leadership of the Venture Crews of Theodore Roosevelt Council and to provide a variety of program, support and training events for youth within the Council.

To the extent which they are applicable and not in conflict with these bylaws, the rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised shall govern meetings of the Association and all subsidiary bodies.

The Council Venturing Cabinet shall organize the planning and implementation of Venturing program events and training at the Council level and offer support for the planning and implementation of Venturing program events and training at the District and Unit levels.

The meetings of the Council Venturing Cabinet shall occur bimonthly at a regular time and place to be set by the Cabinet, alternating with the meetings of the Council Venturing Committee.

The Council Venturing Cabinet shall be composed of the Council Venturing President, the Council Venturing Vice-President for Administration, the Council Venturing Vice-President for Program, the Council Venturing Secretary and the Council Venturing treasurer. The Council Venturing Cabinet shall be advised by an Adult Advisor appointed by the Council Venturing Committee.

-shall serve as the spokesperson and representative of the Venturing Officers’ Association, the Council Venturing Cabinet, the Venturing General Assembly, and all Venturers within the Council.

-shall preside at all meetings of the Venturing Officers’ Association, Venturing General Assembly and the Council Venturing Cabinet and serve as the youth spokesperson at the Council Venturing Committee meetings.

-shall perform the duties of Council Venturing President should he/she be temporarily unable to perform them.

-shall immediately assume the office of Council Venturing President, should that office become vacant, until further election procedures are enacted.

-is responsible for the oversight and support of all program areas and the implementation of said programs at the Council level

-shall record all minutes at meetings of the Council Venturing Cabinet and General Assembly, work with Committees to promote Venturing events and submit regular articles of the Association for The Charger and website to be distributed to Venturers in the Council.

-shall be responsible for the collection and recordkeeping of fees, disbursements and reimbursements incurred with Venturing Programs at the Council level with the assistance of the Adult VOA Advisor.

The Venturing Officers’ Association shall be comprised of the Council Venturing Cabinet, the immediate past Council Venturing President, the Adult VOA Advisor, the Council Venturing Commissioner, the Council Staff Advisor and Crew Representatives as follows. Each Venture Crew in the Theodore Roosevelt Council shall have the right to send (2) two Crew Representatives to be members of the Association.

Any currently registered youth member in a Crew is eligible to be selected as a Crew Representative. If the youth ceases to be a registered youth member of the Crew, they are no longer eligible to serve as a Crew Representative from that Crew to the Association. No person may be a Crew Representative from more than one Crew at a time.

The duration and method of the selection of Crew Representatives is left to the discretion of the Crew, subject to the eligibility provisions above. The Crew Representatives may be, but are not required to be, officers of the Crew.

The Venturing General Assembly shall meet annually to elect the Council Venturing Cabinet and conduct any other business that needs to be addressed at that time.

The Venturing General Assembly shall be composed of the Council Venturing Cabinet and the Venturing Officers’ Association members including all Crew Representatives in attendance. Each Crew Representative in attendance shall be entitled to one vote. Voting members of the Venture Officers’ Association can have multiple positions, but can only vote once.

The Council Venturing Cabinet shall be elected by the General Assembly annually at the end of the year meeting in June. Notice of election must be submitted in writing to the Council website and The Charger at least 60 days prior to election.

Officers shall be elected to a (1) one year term (June to June) with no person serving more than two consecutive terms in the same position. Newly elected officers shall take office at the installation ceremony immediately following their election and shall continue to serve until the election of their successors, so long as they remain eligible to hold office.

Any youth member of any Crew in the Council shall be eligible to run for any office of the Association. Elected officers must be under the age of2l years of age during their entire term of office, must be registered within the Theodore Roosevelt Council and must have completed training at a Venture Leader Skills Course prior to taking office.

60 days prior to the election, a nominating committee shall be formed consisting of 5 members- (1) one from the Venturing Officers’ Cabinet, (2) two from the Venturing Officers’ Association and (2) two from the General Assembly. It will be the duty of the nominating Committee to disseminate a nomination ballot at the April Roundtable to all Crews for the purpose of nominations to be turned in at the May Roundtable. Upon acceptance of the nominations in May, the Nominating committee will contact the candidates for their intent to serve. In the event of only one candidate per office, a written slate of officers shall be prepared for the June Roundtable. However, in the event of more than one candidate per office, a written ballot shall be prepared for the June Roundtable. Nominations may still be taken from the floor at this meeting.

All elections shall be conducted by written ballot. A majority of votes cast shall be necessary to elect. Election of Officers shall begin with the election of Council Venturing President and proceed in order. Installation of officers shall be performed immediately following the election.

In the event of the vacancy in the office of Council Venturing President, the position shall be immediately filled by the Council Vice-President of Administration, until end of term. In the event of a vacancy in the office of Council Venturing Vice-President for Administration or Program, the office of Council Venturing Secretary or Council Venturing Treasurer, the Council Venturing President shall appoint an eligible individual to serve in that office for the unexpired portion of the term of office

Notice of intent to remove an officer must be given at the previous meeting of the body that will hold the removal vote or be mailed to all members of that body at least 2 weeks prior to the meeting at which the removal vote will occur.

The Council Venturing President, Council Venturing Vice-President for Administration, Council Venturing Vice-President for Program, and Council Venturing Secretary and Treasurer may be removed from office by a % vote at a meeting of the Council Venturing Cabinet.

Prior to any removal vote, but after the reasons for the removal have been given, the officer to be removed shall have the opportunity to publicly respond.

Proposed amendments to these Bylaws must be distributed to all voting Crews in the Council at least 30 days prior to the beginning of the Venturing Officers’ Association meeting at the Venture Council Roundtable at which they will be considered.

The General Assembly may adopt proposed amendments by a 3/4 vote at the Venturing Officers’ Association meeting at the Venturing Council Roundtable.

Unless stated otherwise in the amendment, all amendments shall take effect immediately upon their adoption.