Stoa Board Amendments, By-Laws, Debate Resolutions, Etc.

Processes and Important Calendar Dates

1.      In order to preserve the orderly operation of the tournament season; to promote a just system for instituting change; to insure transparency in the manner of doing business; to gain the wisdom of the broader membership as it bears on the progress of the organization; and to maintain the educational value of Stoa Speech and Debate, the process for amending the By-Laws, Rules, or other aspects of said organization will be conducted in a defined, scheduled manner.

2.      The calendar year for Stoa will begin August 1.  During August, Stoa will announce the results of the membership vote in July to include the adoption of rule changes, the election of new members to the Board of Directors, and the approval of new events.  Implementation of the results of these votes will begin in August.  The competitive year will begin no earlier than October 1 for any Stoa tournament. 

3.      The new Board of Directors will meet in September or early October to set the committee work agenda for the current season.  Any changes will be proposed for the subsequent (not current) season.

4.      Any petitions from the membership regarding proposed amendments to By-Laws, or to rules will be submitted by January 31.  The Board of Directors will determine which petitions represent minor changes and will thus be decided at the Board level, and which petitions represent major changes and will thus be submitted to the membership for a vote.

5.      Committee-approved petitions for major changes will be posted by March 1 for public comment.  The deadline for public comment will be March 31.

6.      Final committee work on all petitions will be conducted in April.  The Committee deadline for the submission of petitions to the Board in the form of “voting issues” will be April 30.

7.      The Board may approve parts or all of the voting issues submitted.  If a partial veto occurs, it must be referred back to the originating committee to adopt as amended, to further amend, or to delete in its entirety for the subsequent season.  The Board may add language to any amendment as deemed necessary.

8.      The Board will present the approved voting issues to the membership during the National Invitational Tournament of Champions. The membership will have the month of June to consider the proposed amendments.

9.      Stoa members will vote electronically to approve or disapprove the proposed amendments from July 1 to July 15.  Final results will be posted on the Stoa website as soon as possible thereafter, but no later than August. 1.

10.   Nominations for open seats on the Board of Directors will begin April 1 and close May 15.  Nominees will be posted on the Stoa website for members to review during the National Invitational Tournament of Champions. All members may vote electronically from July 1 to July 15.  Final results will be posted August 1.

11.   The Debate Resolution Subcommittees will submit their proposed resolutions for each of the debate events through the Debate Committee to the Board by January 15. The IE Committee will submit their proposed Wild Card events to the Board by January 15. After reviewing the selections for suitability, the Board will submit the resolutions to a vote of the Stoa membership on February 10.   Voting will end on February 20.  The new resolutions for the next season will be announced March 1.