Passing Bylaws during the PTK Regional Convention

By Chethana Prabodhanie

What is a business meeting? What are bylaws? These were two questions that I was eager to get answered ever since I heard them prior to attending the PTK Regional Convention. And of course, by attending the convention, I received the opportunity to not only discover the meaning of these words, but I also their significance as well. If put in to my own words, a business meeting is one where the meeting is commenced and adjourned in a formal manner and all the suggestions are proposed by one person and seconded by another. And the bylaws are the rules that are made in order to keep order and control within the PTK and its members.

During this New York Regional Convention of the Phi Theta Kappa, I witnessed a business meeting and the process of making amendments to the New York Regional Bylaws. The business meeting was held on March 4th, 2017. And the purpose of this meeting as described before was to pass the changes that were made to the bylaws of the New York Region PTK. Even though the meeting started in a rather smooth manner, after a while, it turned into a heated discussion between the advisory board and the regional officers. Adding to the liveliness of the meeting was the fire alarm that went off during the peak of the discussion. However, after this, the meeting was postponed to the next day once everyone agreed to identify the reason behind this situation. And fortunately, the next day, once the meeting recommenced, the amended bylaws of the NY Region PTK were passed without interruption and were agreed upon by everyone.

Even though this post might seem to be a summary about the action that took place during the Regional Convention, the reason as to why I chose to share this incident was because we learn many new things from events that we experience. And this meeting was one such learning opportunity that taught me how a business meeting functions. I also learned the importance of communication and building relationships since it was due to a lack of these components that lead to the problem that arose during the meeting. And I also learned that it is important to ask questions when in doubt just as how the fellow members present during the meeting asked. This meeting helped to learn the important role that bylaws play in the society and how it is up to the members of that community to safeguard these bylaws and ensure that everyone understands and abide by these laws.