AAUW Atlantic Regional Conference – Virtual Branches

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Here’s the info from the “Swap Shop” discussion of Virtual Branches at the AAUW Atlantic Regional Conference in Richmond VA, Sept 28, 2024. Feel free to post in the Comments if you have specific questions or suggestions.

Other resources

Reading List

The first two were mentioned in the Nevada talk linked above. They are suggested as a way to start thinking differently about the branch model.

  • Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam, 2000. [Revised and updated version, 2020, includes a new chapter about the influence of social media and the Internet, covered in the other two books listed here.]
  • Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, Clay Shirky, 2008.
  • They Didn’t See Us Coming: The Hidden History of Feminism in the Nineties, Lisa Levenstein, 2020. [How some of the ideas of the other two books started emerging at the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women.]

It’s starting again ..

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The board is trying again to push dropping the degree requirement. My fondest hope is that they’ll understand the importance of an actual GOTV and persuasion campaign before the polls open next spring.

For the initial rollout, they used a Kim Churches webinar — check this out starting at about minute 30 (though the initial 30 mins have good info, too).

 

What’s next?

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AAUW is more than two years into the new regime. Better financial controls, clearer focus for the disparate departments, some long-time friends are gone, new folks seem to be picking up the pieces. The future of branches is still unclear.

I’m posting here after the new website was launched?but while the new CRM is still under development.

It looks as if 2020-2021 will my year to take a break from all AAUW positions. (I expect to be very busy with other things between July 1 and November.) I’m posting here because I just realized it’s been 19 years since my first rant about AAUW IT. That work at the 2001 Convention was followed by membership in the Technology Usability Advisory Group, chaired by AAUW board member Betty Bayless (may she rest in peace) to provide member input during the initial roll out of the MPP/MSD.

While the degree requirement for membership has been a major issue for me since 2005, the IT infrastructure can still grab my attention.

So, as I walk away until 2021, we’ll see where we land if/when I come back.

 

Key Links from/for the AAUW Convention

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In the last decade, I’ve attended AAUW conventions wearing three hats:

Advocate for dropping the degree requirement for AAUW membership:

Champion for “online” branches, especially statewide, virtual branches:

Tech maven encouraging websites, social media and more:

Backstory on AAUW Bylaws Change Proposal 3

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Proposal 3 of the Proposed Bylaws Amendments is, fundamentally an editorial change that moves

  • Article IV. Membership and Dues
    • Section 2. Basis of Membership
      • Paragraph a. Individual Members
        • Subparagraph 2. Appeals of Refusal of Admission to Membership

to its own Paragraph — Paragraph d (after the paragraphs b.College/University members and c. Other Organizational Members). See the original text of the 2016 AAUW Bylaws (p 3-4) and the 2017 Voter Guide (p E16).

There is also some light editing to have it refer to college/university members (who do not present “credentials”).

I hope this will be accepted by the membership as a logical improvement to the bylaws.

There is a backstory, though.

This grew from a question I asked about the College/University members — “If they are an accredited institution and they pay their dues, they are members, right?” I was told the answer was “no” — an institution that worked against the mission of AAUW could be refused membership based on the language of IV.2a(2):

Any potential Individual Member or College/University Member who claims qualification for membership in AAUW and that has been refused admission to membership may present credentials to the Board of Directors for review. The decision of the Board of Directors shall be final.

With that answer, it was obvious to me that the paragraph needed to stand on its own and to be wordsmithed lightly:

Any potential Individual Member or College/University Member who claims qualification for membership in AAUW and that has been refused admission to membership may present credentials appeal to the Board of Directors for review. The decision of the Board of Directors shall be final.

This also seemed to answer some of the questions posed in the debate in 2009 on dropping the degree requirement: What if high school students wanted to join? What if a member gave memberships to all her grandchildren? This clarifies that edge cases can be disapproved by the board, and may give some comfort to those who feel that open membership is dangerous in some way.

Notes:

  • Full disclosure — the original question was in the context of trying to make the individual member requirements match those for C/U members.
  • Looking at it now, I think that “Individual Member or College/University”?could also be deleted. But as far as I know, there are no other “Organizational Members” and they are more apt to be subject to board scrutiny anyway.

Archive (in case aauw.org changes): 2016 Bylaws | 2017 Voter Guide