Description of Duties category: Current Members

Congress Officers—Description of Duties

Speaker (Elected)

• Presides over planning and congress meetings
• Assists in preparation of congress agendas
• Appoints an elections chairperson
• Sends letters of removal to delegates who miss two consecutive congress meetings in a row

Deputy Speaker (Elected)

• Presides over congress meetings in absence of speaker
• Assists speaker as requested

Secretary (Elected)

• Takes minutes of congress meetings and submits them to CSI for distribution at next meeting
• Assists with correspondence as required

Elections Chairperson (Appointed)

• Appoints members to election committee
• Presides over elections at fall meeting
• Presides over nominations of board candidates at summer congress meeting
• Presides over election of board members and reports results at the annual meeting
• Presides over election of board officers at their orientation

Responsibilities category: Current Members

Responsibilities of Congress

• Congress delegates represent the co-op membership. They provide a link between the co-op members and the board of directors in order to maintain effective control of the Co-op.
• Delegates encourage members of their building to attend the board meetings via conference phone in their community rooms.
• Delegates who attend board meetings report on the highlights of board business and answer questions at the general meetings.
• At congress meetings, delegates discuss issues that involve the entire co-op such as changes to the CSI Support bylaws and other issues of importance to the co-op (strategies for nominating candidates for the board; recommendations for improving the annual meeting; how to increase the number of members who vote for the board of directors). They make recommendations on some of these issues to the board.
• Delegates report on congress activities at building meetings.
• Congress delegates seek out candidates for the board among building membership—people who are active in the building; work on committees and take offices.
• Congress delegates elect nominees for the board of directors at their summer meeting.
• Delegates help building members to become familiar with board candidates in such ways as planning rallies or inviting candidates to speak to their membership.
• Delegates are in charge of planning and promoting the annual meeting and selling tickets.
• Delegates publish an annual newsletter called the Co-op Connector. Each building needs a reporter for the Connector and should be ready to submit an article for their building when called upon in the fall by the editors. This is the only publication that is 100% designed, written and edited by members only.
• Congress delegates are also responsible for some corporate task forces and special projects.

Goals category: Current Members

The Goals of Congress

1. To make more co-op members active participants in the business of the co-op
2. To make the co-op more representative and democratic
3. To review and evaluate policies and actions of the board of directors, to nominate board members and to supervise the elections

Definition of Congress category: Current Members

Definition of Congress

Excerpt from CSI Support & Development Services bylaws:

ARTICLE IV, Section 1: The purpose of the Congress of the Corporation shall be to provide, as a representative body of the membership, a link between the membership and the Board of Directors in order to maintain effective control of the Corporation by the membership.