Through February and March, the DSA National Convention Planning Committee will be recruiting new members to join various sub-committees we are forming to prepare for the upcoming 2019 Convention. We believe there is a lot of talent, skill and energy everywhere in DSA, and we hope members from across the country can put significant time into the convention planning process. The ideal candidate to join one of the sub-committees is someone who can spend several hours per week on convention planning, available to work with their committee from March-July, and can attend weekly planning calls.
Please apply by Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 11:59 pm Pacific.
For more details on the upcoming projects and sub-committees that need volunteers, check out our descriptions below. You can also review the National Convention Timeline to get a sense of when each committee will be at peak activity based on their work.
Elections
The Elections sub-committee is responsible for overseeing the At-Large Delegate election and for overseeing the process of accepting official NPC nominations. This work involves drafting questionnaires for candidates to complete and compiling information on the nominees in an accessible packet for voters in each election to review. Additionally, the Elections Committee will also be responsible for organizing digital NPC candidate town halls, likely held via zoom, in the lead up to the NPC election.
Resolutions & Amendments
The Resolutions & Amendments sub-committee is responsible for accepting and processing resolutions, constitutional changes, and bylaws changes for debate at the upcoming Convention, as well as amendments to any of these proposed items. The committee will review resolutions and constitutional/bylaws changes to ensure that they are in keeping with Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, DSA’s National Constitution and Bylaws, as well as all other Convention Rules established by the DSA National Political Committee. In addition to ensuring that all resolutions and constitutional/bylaws changes are in order, the committee also work with authors of related items to combine resolutions and amendments wherever possible if they are similar in scope. Applicants to this committee will ideally have experience with Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised, parliamentary procedure, and/or experience organizing conventions in their own chapter.
Rules
The Rules sub-committee is responsible for drafting all of the official Convention Rules that govern preconvention activities, floor debate, and certain aspects of convention finances, like the travel share system. The Rules Committee drafts rules that are formally adopted by the NPC, delivers a report on the Official Rules when the Convention commences, and works with the Resolutions & Amendments Committee, and the Official Convention Parliamentarians to make decision about any questions pertaining to the Rules or challenges to the Rules that occur during the Convention. Applicants to this committee will ideally have experience with Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised, parliamentary procedure, and/or organizing conventions in their own chapter.
Credentials
The Credentials sub-committee works with DSA staff to compile the official list of delegates to the National Convention and make recommendations on how to allocate subsidies. In the event of any credentials challenges during the National Convention, the Credentials sub-committee will work with the Rules sub-committee and the Convention Parliamentarians to make recommendations on how to respond to the challenges.
Program & Logistics
The Program and Logistics sub-committee will take input from the DSA Constitution, Bylaws, Convention Rules, and other committees to draft proposals on the Convention program. The committee’s recommendations will take into account venue logistics, timing around breaks/meals, activities besides floor debate, such as panel discussions, fundraising drives. Additionally, they will draft recommendations on how to distribute breakout group space and assist staff in creating a sign-up process for self-organized spaces.
Districts & Regions Proposal Drafting
The Districts & Regions sub-committee is a new body that we’re forming since there’s so much interest in DSA on forming state and regional bodies. This group will work with DSA chapter leaders, DSA staff, and the NPC to draft a resolution putting forward a regional structure for DSA. After the April NPC meeting, the NPC will distribute the committee’s recommendations to the membership and potentially submit the sub-committee’s proposal as a resolution for debate at the National Convention.