The officers have been working on updating the Forestry guild’s governing document (currently referred to as the “charter”, but one of the proposed changes is related to that!) and submit the following changes for discussion and voting. As a note, those eligible to vote are guild members ranked Underforester and above, but everyone is encouraged to contribute to the discussion!
The current governing document is linked here (as a PDF), with relevant text highlighted.
The document with the proposed changes can be found here (also as a PDF), with corresponding highlighting (I recommend opening both documents side by side on a computer and going back and forth to look at the changes).
To supplement the text of the proposed changes, the officers have also put together the following list of changes with rationales for each change. This list categorizes the proposed changes as “substantive” (if they substantially alter aspects of how the guild operates), “reflect current protocol” (if they bring the outlined protocols into agreement with how the guild has actually come to operate), or “clarifying” (if they do not actually alter the outlined protocols or practices, but add detail or address points of prior confusion). Note: the occasional typo, redundancy, or formatting discrepancy has also been fixed; these have not been highlighted (but can certainly be discussed if folks think it’s needed!).
Proposed changes and rationales
Note: Page numbers reference the current text of the document; they may be slightly off on the document including the proposed changes.
Substantive changes
These changes would substantially alter aspects of how the guild operates
Removal of masterwork agreement from Underforester requirements (page 3, fuchsia) – Novices/soon-to-be-Underforesters may not have settled on a focus within the guild, so it seems a bit early to be asking about masterwork projects. This requirement has been altered as part of the requirements for promotion to the rank of Forester (see “Forester rank Masterwork proposal requirement” below).
Forester rank A&S content expectation (page 3, green) – Members of forester rank are expected to be active members and mentors within the guild. One way to do that is by sharing their knowledge or areas of interest through SCA websites and publications. This change asks foresters to contribute guild-relevant content (articles, photos, artwork, etc.) to either the guild website or newsletter, or to the kingdom A&S newsletter (whichever is more appropriate) at least once a year.
Forester rank garb requirement (page 3, blue) – Our current bylaws require foresters to possess a complete set of persona appropriate clothing, with the added requirement of “a green tunic/cote, hood or cloak”. These sorts of garments are not necessarily appropriate for all personas, and green is not necessarily an appropriate color for all personas (either due to custom/law or pigment availability). Changing the requirement to “clothing appropriate to their persona and suitable for use in wild spaces in woodland colors (shades of green, brown, or gray)” would also help make the bylaws less Euro-centric by allowing for a greater variety of garments, while still requiring woodland colors to present a unified “look” at formal guild occasions.
Forester rank knowledge requirement (page 3, yellow) – As not all members portray foresters, requiring all members to demonstrate an understanding of forest law (a term generally applied to European, and especially English practices in the medieval period) isn’t in keeping with the general theme of the Forester rank requirements, which are aimed at improving one’s impression and deepening persona skills. Changing this requirement to “knowledge of management of natural resources in their period and place of interest” wopuld preserve the “knowledge” element of the requirement, while making it more broadly applicable.
Forester rank Masterwork proposal requirement (page 3, fuchsia) – By moving the masterwork-related requirement from Underforester to Forester and asking for more detail, this requirement becomes about “what’s next”. This change would mean that part of demonstrating readiness to become a Forester is looking ahead to the rank of Master Forester. Note: if this change is adopted, a “proposal worksheet” will be created to provide guidance for fulfilling this requirement.
Master forester rank knowledge requirement (page 4, green) – If the change to the Forester-rank knowledge requirement (see “Forester rank knowledge requirement” above) is adopted, this becomes a bit superfluous, and is again very Euro-centric as-written.
Master forester rank teaching requirement (page 4, fuchsia) – When a member should start teaching “one class a year” in order to fulfill this requirement is unclear, and at the moment, there is no mechanism for tracking this. “An established history of teaching” is something that is (hopefully!) easier for a member seeking this rank to show, and also allows for members to grow into this role.
Limitation on house membership (page 5, yellow) – When members join a house, they then take on the role of prepare others to join that house – teaching relevant skills, serving as a mentor, and participating in the trials of future applicants. This is no small task! Limiting members to only one house would also hopefully encourage applicants to take the decision to join a house (and which house to join) very seriously.
Regional Warden responsibilities (page 7, green) – This list provides guidance for those serving as regional Wardens, and also (hopefully!) will increase activities on a local level.
High Preceptor position (page 7, blue) – The High Preceptor position has been around for several years and has evolved to cover the listed responsibilities; this change brings the bylaws into agreement with guild practices.
Protocol for organizing an official guild presence at an event (page 8, yellow) – This list of steps was put together to provide some structure and make who has various responsibilities clearer. In a few cases, a single member has signed up to represent the guild at an event, and then had an emergency and had to miss the event. These processes will make it less likely that the guild will go unrepresented in such cases (by requiring multiple members) and create a mechanism for lessons learned to be shared and built upon.
Changes that reflect current protocol
These changes would bring the outlined protocols into agreement with current guild practices
Name of document and badge (page 1, yellow) – As I understand it, “charter” best describes the scroll signed by TRM outlining the focus of the guild. This document describes the internal workings of the guild, so is more appropriately labeled “bylaws”. The badge has also been updated.
Statement about guild personas (page 1, green) – In practice, the guild has not required members to portray a forester, and this statement (taken from a “welcome” post on the guild Facebook group) allowing for members to portray a “forester, hunter, poacher, outlaw, a land or river traveler, or other wilderness user” makes that clear in our governing documents.
Processing of applications (page 1, blue) – In practice, the Chronicler (not the Warden) has handled applications, and for record-keeping purposes, we have used the date the email with the application was sent (as opposed to whenever afterwards the email account was checked). This change brings the bylaws into agreement with guild practices.
Addressing members (page 2, green) – In practice, the guild has used <RANK><NAME> (rather than “Brother/Sister”) to address members in formal occasions for quite some time. This change brings the bylaws into agreement with guild practices.
Titles for heads of houses (page 5, blue) – This change makes it clear that the heads of houses are equals, and also allows for folks who are not comfortable with binary titles to lead a house (following the same logic for the proposed “Addressing member” change above).
High Chronicler responsibilities (page 7, fuchsia) – The website and newsletter are currently the responsibility of the High Chronicler; this change brings the bylaws into agreement with guild practices.
Communication (page 10, green) – This adds the guild website to communication methods.
Clarifying changes
These changes would not actually alter the outlined protocols or practices, but provide clarification or address points of prior confusion
Removal of statement about loyalty to the Crown (page 2, yellow) – The text about Affiliate members being unable to “swear loyalty to the Crown of Atlantia” can (and has) been read to mean that our oath includes swearing fealty to the Crown of Atlantia. While those who take the oath swear to “regard the laws of Atlantia, so long as they are just”, it does not include pledging fealty. As a guild chartered in Atlantia, we do not feel that is appropriate to promote members of different kingdoms, so the change would have no practical effect on guild policy, but it would hopefully prevent future confusion.
Officers involved in promotion to Underforester (page 2, fuchsia) – The indicated text about demonstrating skills to officers felt both vague and redundant, so it has been removed, and more detail has been added to later text (see “Demo officers” below).
Attempt at garb Underforester requirement (page 2, blue) – Those seeking to become an Underforester have always needed an attempt at “forester garb”, but that was somewhat hidden in the description of the rank. It has been shifted to the list of requirements and “outdoors” has been added as a description of the garb (as not all members portray foresters).
Demo officers (page 3, yellow) – The bylaws do not specify which officers should observe skill demonstrations. This change specifies who can observe skills/who should be sought out for skill demonstrations.
Vote requirements (page 10, fuchsia) – Repeats the information under “Meetings” regarding the number of members required for a vote and the number of votes in favor of an action to pass.
Amendments list (page 10, blue) – This change would add a section for recording prior substantive amendments, making it easy to see how the bylaws have changed over time.