[Ansteorra-announce] [Announcements] President's Report on 1/2003 Board meeting

[Meg Baron]

PRESIDENT'S REPORT ON THE FIRST QUARTER 2003
SCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

held January 25, 2003, in Tempe, Arizona (Kingdom of Atenveldt)

Greetings:

Following is a brief summary of the highlights of the Board's actions at its
most recent quarterly meeting. This is only the digest. The Society
Seneschal's report will contain more complete information.

Respectfully submitted,

Meg Baron
President, SCA Inc.

------------------------------------

Old Business

1. The Board adopted a change to Corpora IV.A.1., concerning the conduct of
Royal Lists. The section currently reads:
	"Royal Lists must be conducted at a tournament announced in the
Kingdom newsletter as being for that purpose."

The Board changed the section by adding a second sentence. The passage now
reads as follows:

"Royal Lists must be conducted at a tournament announced in the Kingdom
newsletter as being for that purpose. Crowns or Coronets who wish to conduct
a Royal List in a manner other than individual combat must obtain the prior
approval of the Board of Directors."

Background: Some time ago the Board put forth for comment the idea of
changing this passage to forbid Royal Lists to be conducted in any manner
other than individual combat. This was in response to a Royal List that was
run partially as a melee. Reactions to this proposal were almost exactly
split between those supporting it and those opposing it. Because there was
high opposition, the Board did not feel it could adopt the change, but
because there was so much support, it could not in good conscience leave
Corpora unchanged, either. This proposal was a compromise, and in essence
codifies the situation that was understood to be in effect before any change
was made. The majority of commentary favored the change.

2. The revised Exchequer's Officers' Handbook was approved.

3. The revised Siege Engines Handbook was approved.

4. The 2003 annual budget for the SCA, Inc., was approved, showing a
projected profit of $4,193.65.


New Business

1. A proposal to radically change the structure of membership and funding of
the SCA was presented to the board by Flieg Hollander (Duke Frederick of
Holland). The Board directed that a simplified version of the proposal be
placed before the membership for comment.  The question will concern the
members' feelings about the SCA going in this direction, leaving specifics
on implementation for the future, should such a proposal be agreed to in
principle.

2. Hugh Piper wrote to the Board to resign his awards. As none of these
awards are armigerous, the matter was referred back to the Principality and
Kingdom Heralds.

3. The Society Seneschal and Treasurer of the SCA Inc. presented a proposed
variance to Non-Member Surcharge implementation submitted by the Kingdom of
the West. The variance was not granted on the grounds that it was not fair
to the rest of the Kingdoms of the Known World.

4. The Society Seneschal and Treasurer of the SCA Inc. presented a proposed
variance to Non-Member Surcharge implementation submitted by the Kingdom of
Drachenwald. Because the situation in Drachenwald, with many countries and
currencies, is unique, and collecting the variance would often actually cost
more money in conversion fees than it would generate in revenue, this
variance was granted for the year 2003, subject to review at the end of that
time.

5. The Board was asked to consider a special exception to Corpora IV.C.2 for
King Andreas of the East Kingdom, a military reservist who was called to
active duty and therefore is unlikely to be able to attend the Coronation of
his successors. Because war is an extreme and unusual circumstance, and His
Majesty's service to our country is both important and beyond his control,
the Board voted to grant such a variance, which will enable His Majesty to
receive the title of Duke whether he is able to attend Coronation or not.

6. A variance to the standard waiver was granted for Estrella War 2003. The
waiver that will be in use adds some language requested by the site owners.

7. The Board proposed the idea of reducing the number of in-person meetings
it holds in order to save money in these times of budget difficulties. These
meetings would be replaced by conference calls as needed. Other
technological solutions were also discussed. The expressed feelings of the
vast majority of the populace present was that this was a bad idea, as it is
very important that the Board meet where the membership can attend the
meetings and meet their Board members and Society/Corporate officers face to
face. No changes will be made to the April meeting schedule. The idea will
be discussed further.


Officers' Reports - action items and policy decisions (note: officers not
mentioned here had no action items or policy decisions to present for Board
review)

Society Seneschal

The Society Seneschal asked that the Board begin advertising for her future
replacement, even though she still has over a year left in her term of
office. She would like the next Society Seneschal selected early enough to
provide an ample training period.

The Society Seneschal asked the Board, on behalf of several Kingdoms, to
look into the pros and cons of branches performing background checks on
individuals wanting to hold offices, particularly offices that deal with
children. The question was referred to the Legal Committee.

The Society Seneschal presented the Administrative Policies of the Pennsic
War, which were agreed to by the Seneschals of the East, the Middle, and
Æthelmearc, for the Board's approval. The Board approved this document, and
directed that it be a part of the Society Seneschal's policies (as all
policies approved by the Board must have a designated location).

Vice President of Corporate Operations

The Vice President of Corporate Operations announced that the fee for
"Additional Insured" certificates will increase from the current $40.00 to
$50.00 as of March 1, 2003. The cost for a late-ordered certificate will
remain at $100.00.

Electronic Projects Manager

The "Known World Mail" project and Online Memberships are expected to become
available in the first quarter of 2003.

Society Chronicler

The Society Chronicler presented a change to the Chronicler's Policies,
section C.4.a., Distribution Requirements, concerning electronic publication
of local newsletters (note that this policy does not apply to Kingdom
newsletters). Previous policy had prohibited electronic publication of
newsletters if there was a charge for a subscription to the paper copy of
the newsletter. This policy change eliminates that requirement, making it
simpler to publish electronically. The Board approved this policy change.
The revised policy reads as follows:

"Local chroniclers may use Electronic distribution for the newsletters. The
newsletters must be made available in hard copy to any and all members of
the local populace requesting it and for complimentary copies noted in
section C.4.b. Specific permission to publish electronically must be
received from each contributor and the electronic newsletter must also
adhere to the provisions found in the Electronic Publications Policies."

Society Webminister

The Society Webminister presented a change to his office's policies
regarding the reporting structure for Kingdom webministers. The change
eliminates references to the Society Electronic Publications Manager, a
position that no longer exists, and allows kingdoms greater flexibility in
how they structure this office. The Board approved this policy change.

The revised policy reads as follows:

"Kingdom Webministers will remain part of the Kingdom Chronicler's staff
unless otherwise designated by kingdom law. Warrants for the Kingdom
Webministers will be signed by the Crown and the appropriate Great Officer.
In accordance with Corpora VI.C.1., the office of Kingdom Webminister may be
elevated to the status of a Great Office of State by the Crown in accordance
with kingdom law and custom. Kingdom Webministers so elevated will no longer
be considered part of the corresponding kingdom officer's staff, and
warrants for these officers will be signed unilaterally by the Crown per
their kingdom law and custom."

Laurel King of Arms

Laurel requested that the Board begin advertising for someone to fill his
position. He intends to resign his office in January 2004.

Laurel was called upon in the course of this quarter to make a policy ruling
concerning the retroactive awarding of Grants of Arms to members of an Order
who no longer reside in the Kingdom. The Crown of the Outlands recently
granted arms to all current members of the Order of the White Scarf of the
Outlands with precedence dating to the original induction into the Order.
The question Laurel was called upon to answer concerned the status of those
members of the Order who have, in the course of time, relocated out of
Kingdom.

Laurel's ruling was as follows: "When the Crown changes an award's
precedence from an Award of Arms to a Grant of Arms and includes anyone that
currently has the award, they are actually awarding the higher rank to each
award recipient at that time. If the recipient is in the Kingdom, this is
the right of the Crown. The question is: if the holder of the award now
resides in another Kingdom, can the Crown still elevate the award holder?
This is addressed in Corpora in section IV.E.4., which states: "Royalty may
grant armigerous awards to subjects of other realms only if all the
following conditions apply: ... and the conferring royalty must obtain prior
written consent from the Crown of the realm of the recipient." Based on
this, the elevation to Grant of Arms does not apply to members of the Order
that do not currently reside in the Outlands if there was no prior consent."

The Board upheld this ruling.

Society Marshal

The Society Marshal presented a proposal requesting that the office of the
Society Equestrian Marshal be removed from the Marshallate (currently that
officer is a deputy to the Society Marshal). The Board returned this
proposal for further study and for consultation with the Kingdom Marshals
and Equestrian Marshals.

Society Chirurgeon General

The Society Chirurgeon had presented, during the course of the quarter, a
proposed policy concerning patient confidentiality. The policy was referred
to the Legal Committee for review. The policy decision was remanded pending
receipt of the Legal Committee's report.

The Chirurgeon General, who had been away for several months on active
military service, has returned and resumed the office. The Board thanked
Emergency Deputy Beth Hart-Carlock (Lady Eleanor Isabeau du Coeur) for her
excellent service during his absence, and praised the high quality of her
reporting.

Grand Council

The Grand Council proposed that the Non-Member Surcharge not be applied
outside North America. Since a variance for Drachenwald was approved which
will mean that the charge is levied only at certain large events, the Board
elected not to act on the Grand Council's proposal at this time.

Legal Committee

The Legal Committee had been asked whether publishing the Board meeting
minutes electronically would result in additional liability because the
names of those against whom disciplinary action has been taken are included
therein. The Committee advised that, since the minutes are already published
in paper format, and since they are a factual statement of actions taken
during the meeting, there is no additional liability involved in electronic
publication.

Personnel Changes

Director John Fulton had previously announced that this would be his final
meeting. However, due to personal circumstances, he found it necessary to
resign some weeks before the meeting, and so Director-Elect Fernando Vigil
was appointed, by a vote at a special meeting of the Board on the Friday
night before the quarterly meeting, to fill the position immediately instead
of at the close of the meeting. Chairman Moore had words of praise and
thanks to John for his work over the years, as did several other Directors
and officers.

The Ombudsman assignments previously held by John Fulton were passed to
Fernando Vigil. All other ombudsman assignments remain unchanged.

Hal Simon (Baron Edwin FitzLloyd of the Kingdom of Ansteorra), was named
Director-Elect. He will fill the seat currently occupied by Paul Foster at
the conclusion of the April 2003 quarterly meeting.

Andrew Smith (Duke Andrew of Riga) announced his resignation as Executive
Assistant to the Board, effective at the close of the July 2003 meeting.
With great regret, Chairman Moore accepted the resignation.

Quarterly Meeting Schedule

The Second Quarter 2003 meeting will be held April 26, 2003 in Milwaukee, WI
(Kingdom of the Middle).
The Third Quarter 2003 meeting will be held July 19, 2003 in the East
Kingdom or the Kingdom of Caid (exact location TBD).
The Fourth Quarter 2003 meeting will be held October 18, 2003 in the Kingdom
of Calontir (Kansas City, MO).
The First Quarter 2004 meeting is tentatively scheduled for the Kingdom of
Trimaris.
Comments are strongly encouraged and can be sent to:
SCA Inc.
Box 360789
Milpitas,  CA 95036

You may also email comments at sca.org or reply to this message.
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