Constitutional Column 2024: Issue 2 | Page 10

President ’ s Ex Officio Committee Membership
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Article xi

“ A committee , as understood in parliamentary law , is a body of one or more persons , elected or appointed by ( or by direction ) of an assembly or society , to consider , investigate , or take action on certain matters or subjects , or to do all of these things .”
- Robert ’ s Rules of Order

What ’ s a committee ?

Article XI is only one paragraph , detailing how committees are created .
As said in Robert ’ s Rules of Order , committees are small groups set to accomplish with some task , such as coming up with a good course of action . There are two kinds of committees :
Σ
standing committees , which exist continually to perform a task ;
Σ
special committees , which disband one their task has been completed .

Committees in the NJCL

According to Article XI , the NJCL can establish both standing and special committees whenever needed . The members of a committee are chosen by the NJCL President , unless the Board of Directors overrules that by a majority vote .

President ’ s Ex Officio Committee Membership

The President is an ex officio member of all committees .
Ex officio is Latin for “ from office ”, and it refers to someone who has some privilege ( e . g ., membership in committees ) by virtue of holding an office . In this case , the President gets membership in committees from their office , ex officio .
The president does not get ex officio membership in committees on disciplinary matters and committees solely for sponsors .