2010 COL results in needed changes to Rotary Club's Constitution and ByLaws

.  As a result of the 2010 Council On Legislation, the new standard Rotary club constitution and the new recommended club bylaws were posted on the Rotary web site in July.  All club presidents received a hard copy of the “Report of Action” from the COL, but this only contained the changes to these documents, but not the new documents themselves.   The new 2010 Manual of Procedure (in English) will be posted on the RI web site by the end of this week, and gratis hard copies of the new MOP (in English), which contain the standard Rotary Club constitution and recommended club bylaws, will be mailed to all clubs by the end of this month.  One club is holding a club assembly to deal with the needed changes to the club constitution as noted below:

Rotary International prescribes that all Rotary clubs shall adopt a Standard Rotary Club Constitution.  That constitution may be amended only by the council on legislation as established in the bylaws of Rotary International with the exception that the name and locality of the club may be amended as necessary but must be submitted to the board of directors of RI for its approval and shall become effective only when so approved. The significant changes to the constitution result from the 2010 Council on Legislation. Add an article defining the Five Avenues of Service. Add verbiage to Article 7 regarding granting membership to transferring or former Rotarians.  The updated procedure requires that the new club receive a certificate from the transferring member's previous club confirming  the prospective member's previous membership in that club and that no money is owed to another club by the proposed member. Recognize the immediate past president as a club officer. Defining that if a president-elect does not meet the requirements to be excused from participation in a presidents-elect training seminar (PETS)  that the current president shall continue to serve until an appropriate successor has been duly elected. The recommended additions and amendments to the club's bylaws also result primarily from the 2010 Council on Legislation. Recognize that the immediate past president is a club officer and define his/her duties. Add New Generations Service as a fifth Avenue of Service. Define that Leaves of Absence can be no longer than twelve months instead of for a specified length of time.