A foundation of any successful organization is effective two-way communication between leadership and the general membership. Recognizing this, the IMAC Board of Directors established a formal process to obtain input from the membership as a whole.

Transitioning IMAC to a web-based organization has given us powerful resources that facilitate the membership’s direct input into the affairs and future decisions, which affect IMAC and Scale Aerobatics. This process is called a REQUEST FOR ACTION (RFA).

Requests for Action (RFA) are designed specifically to allow all members in good standing to directly address the entire board of directors about any issue and receive a formal response from the board in a timely manner. A wide range of issues may be addressed through the RFA process. Likewise, there are many possible outcomes.

The following Q&A should provide valuable insight into the process.

What is a Request for Action (RFA)?

An RFA is a formal request directed to the entire IMAC Board of Directors that requests an action in one of three possible areas -

1. IMAC Policies & Processes
2. IMAC By-Laws
3. AMA Rules

What makes the process different for each of these categories?

There are procedures that are tied to timelines that are outside the control of IMAC (the AMA Rules cycle) and those that are presented to the membership just once a year (By-Law changes). Therefore, By-Law and Rules RFA's have submission deadlines. These deadlines will be established every year based on the AMA cycle and the targeted by-law voting period. IMAC Policy RFA's may be submitted at any time.

How do I submit an RFA?

First, you can download the form located on the IMAC website. The RFA form must be mailed to the IMAC Secretary and postmarked prior to the appropriate deadline. RFA's cannot be submitted by email or fax. The RFA must bear the signature of a minimum of three IMAC members in good standing - the sponsor and two co-sponsors. It is important that the RFA form be complete and legible.

 Since we are now "On-Line", why not allow RFAs to be submitted by email?

The primary reason is to reduce the number of questionable submissions. The reasoning is that someone making the effort to follow the submission procedures is presenting a "serious" proposal. Additionally, the printed form will contain the actual signatures of the sponsoring members and serve as an official record of the submission.

 What is the general consideration process of an RFA?

Upon receipt of an RFA by the Secretary and validation of the sponsoring signatures, the Board will receive official notification by the Secretary. The Secretary will also notify the sponsor via email the RFA has been received. The Board will then consider the RFA and have 45 days to provide an official response to the sponsoring members (via email) as to the status of the submission.

The following are the general categories for RFAs:

Policies Category

RFAs designated in this category concern IMAC policies and procedures directly under the control of the organization that DO NOT require modification of the organization's by-laws. The board may opt to follow the process leading to implementation of the requested action.

By-Law Category

RFAs designated in this category directly address By-Law issues. Our By-Laws require a 2/3rd majority vote to enact changes. The membership voting process will be provided via an on-line system and will take place at the time designated by the Board. RFA addressing By-Law changes are placed on the official voting ballot by majority vote of the board of directors.

Rules Category

RFA's designated in this category are focused on guiding the official submission from IMAC to the AMA as it concerns rule change requests. IMAC has no direct power over the AMA rules and serves as a collective voice of it's membership in making requests to the AMA. The Board may vote to add the RFA to the official requests. There is a submission deadline for all Rule RFA based on the AMA deadline for the official AMA Rules Cycle (2 yrs).

What can the board do with an RFA?

Upon receipt, the board has an initial majority vote to accept the RFA followed by four possible options:

• At the Board's direction, any RFA may be routed into a 30 day comment period to receive comments from the IMAC membership at large prior to taking the final board vote. During this phase, the membership will have an opportunity to read the proposal and post comments.
  
• Rule RFA's passing the initial vote will be routed to the IMAC Rules Committee.  The IMAC Rules Committee will make a determination as to the RFA and notify the Board.  The Board will then take a final vote.
  
• The Board may also return the RFA to the sponsors for clarification, rewording, cleanup, and modification if the sponsors are agreeable to making the suggested changes. Following this the sponsor may re-submit the RFA.
  
• The Board may "table" the RFA by majority vote. A "tabled" RFA locks consideration of the RFA on the topic under request for a period of one year. The RFA cannot be resubmitted for consideration for that period. The Board may, however, by majority vote, take the RFA off the table for further consideration.

Why do we have all these rules and procedures?

The primary purpose of the RFA process is to provide a managed and structured interaction between the membership and their elected representatives. By establishing the rules and procedures, this approach insures that each and every member of the organization has an equal opportunity to be heard by the entire IMAC Board and in their own words.