Attendance

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Introduction

Attendance Rules

A Rotarian must attend or make up at least 50% of the regular weekly Club meetings in each half of the Rotary year. 

You must attend at least 30% of Christiana Rotary's weekly meetings in each half of the year.  This means that if the Club holds 26 regular weekly meetings in a half year, you must atend at least 8 of these meetings.

A Rotarian may not miss or fail to make up four consecutive meetings.

You must be present for at least 60% of a weekly meeting for it count towards the attendance requirement.  Our weekly meetings begin at  12:15 p.m., and so you would need to be present for at least 45 minutes.

If you are absent from a weekly meeting, it is incumbent upon you to "make up" that meeting.   Absences can be made up in the following ways:

      (1) attend a regular meeting of another club anywhere in the world

      (2) attend a regular meeting of an Interact club

      (3) attend a regular meeting of a Rotary Fellowship

     (4) attend a District Conference, an RI convention, or other approved District or RI meeting

     (5) attend and participate in a Club service project or a Club-sponsored community event or meeting authorized by the Club's board (service projects, community events, and meetings that qualify as make-ups are listed in the members area of this website)

     (6) attend a board meeting or, if authorized by the board, a meeting of a service committee to which the member is assigned (service committee meetings that qualify as make-ups are listed in the members area of this website)

     (7) participate through a Club website in an interactive activity requiring an average of 30 minutes of participation

Important Note:  Our Club will credit your account the price of a meal if your make-up is attendance at another Rotary Club meeting or an Interact Club meeting. You must ask the Club you visit for a make-up card, and turn that card over to our Club's secretary.  For all other make-ups, you must still pay our Club for the cost of lunch for the meeting you did not attend.

In order to receive attendance credit for the make up, please note that the make up  must take place within fourteen (14) days before or after the regular time for the missed meeting.  When a member is outside the USA for more than fourteen (14) days, the time restriction is not imposed so that the member may attend meetings in another country at any time during the travel period, and each such attendance shall count as a valid make-up for any regular meeting missed during the member's time abroad.

A make up is an opportunity to meet a new group of Rotarians, observe how other Clubs operate, share information about our Club, and make international contacts for our Club's projects.

For details about make-ups, click on the following link:

Excused Absences

A member's absence shall be excused under the following circumstances: 

(a) the absence complies with the conditions and under circumstances approved by the board. The board may excuse a member's absence for reasons which it considers to be good and sufficient. "Good and sufficient reason" shall include without limitation:

(b) the aggregate of the member's years of age and years of membership in one or more clubs is 85 years or more, and the member has notified the club secretary in writing of the member's desire to be excused from attendance and the board has approved;

(c) the member is a current officer of RI.

Leave of Absence

There may be circumstances when a member is temporarily unable to maintain the attendance requirement of 50%.  Examples include maternity or paternity, prolonged illness, temporary job reassignment, significant new responsibilities, the pressure of business, personal issues, or conflicting job assignments. A Rotarian seeking a leave of absence who expects to be able to return to active Club participation in the near future, should first contact our Club’s President and discuss the request. If the President feels the request is reasonable, the next step is for the member to submit a written request in the form of a letter addressed to the Board outlining the reasons for the leave. The granting of a leave of absence will be decided on a case-by-case basis, and so the more information that the member can provide helps the Board make an informed decision. Upon written request to the Board setting forth good and sufficient cause, a leave of absence may be granted waiving the 50% attendance rule for a specified length of time, not to exceed 3 months. Upon request, and for good cause, a leave of absence may be extended by the Board in 3 month increments.

A leave of absence operates to prevent a forfeiture of membership. At all times during the leave of absence, the member must be current in his or her dues. Unless the member attends a regular meeting of our Club or does a make-up, the member must be recorded as absent, except that an absence authorized by the Board is not computed in the attendance record of the Club.

A Rotarian who is granted a leave of absence will nevertheless be encouraged by the Board to attend weekly meetings and participate in Club projects and events whenever possible.

A Rotarian should be forward thinking and proactive when it comes to recognizing the need for, and contacting the President about a leave of absence. If a request for a leave of absence is made after the member is already in arrears of the attendance requirements, it becomes an excuse after the fact and makes it difficult for the Board to override the rules of attendance when all of our fellow Rotarians are being held to the same attendance requirements.

Consequences of Poor Attendance

In the event any active member of our Club has not attended at least 50% of the meetings on a semi-annual basis, or has been absent from four consecutive meetings, the member shall be notified in writing of such default. The notice shall recite the percentage of attendance of the member, or the dates of four successive absences from meetings.

The notice shall inform the member that the member's attendance in the next six months must be 50% or better or the member's membership will be terminated. Attendance of less than 50% during the next six month period will result in automatic termination of membership, subject to the extenuating circumstances described below.

Any member who anticipates that he or she will be unable to meet the required attendance in the next six months, may submit a written request to the Board of Directors to be excused from meeting the attendance requirements for "good and sufficient reason."

Termination vs. Resignation

To some individuals, the rules regarding attendance may seem rigid. Keep in mind, however, that when you joined Rotary, you made a commitment to the principle of regular attendance. For a Rotarian to miss four consecutive meetings, or disregard the other attendance requirements, is tantamount to the submission of one's resignation from the Club. When a Club terminates a member for non-attendance, it is simply an acceptance of a resignation - not a punitive action by the Club's officers.

Get In The Habit

Because it is  your responsibility, as a Rotarian, to attend weekly meetings, it is suggested that you make Thursday lunches "off limits" for other commitments.  All Rotarians know the consequences of non-attendance, so it clearly becomes a conscious decision by a Rotarian to withdraw from the Club when he or she fails to fulfill the attendance requirements.