Executive Perspectives

by Mary Lou Whitehorne, 1st Vice President, RASC

Excerpted from the JRASC [February 2010, Volume 104, Number 1]

There is an old Chinese curse that goes something like this: “May you live in interesting times.” There is more than one way to interpret this, of course. But no matter how you look at it, the last couple of years have indeed been an “interesting time” on the RASC national executive committee. The executive committee has been busy juggling quite a few challenging issues, as we work to put the Society on a stronger footing to move into the future. One of the unfortunate drawbacks has been a necessary curtailing of other, more enjoyable activities in the RASC, like spending time communicating with our Centres and their members. There just aren’t enough hours in the day!

One thing we have noticed is the existence of a mis-perception among a number of our members about the “national RASC.” Sometimes we hear comments referring to “us” (members and Centres) and “them” (the national arm of our Society). So I must ask the question: who is the national RASC? The answer to this question is four-fold.

  1. National Office: This is the home of the day-to-day business of our Society. It is the RASC’s physical address where records are kept and where a lot of work gets done. It is the hub for all of our financial transactions with members, Centres, subscribers, customers, advertisers, printers, and everyone else with whom we do business. It is the nerve Centre for the production and distribution of publications, mailings, membership records, donations, and it’s the place where a lot of phone calls and e-mails land. Here is where our one-and-only full-time employee works – Jo Taylor, our Executive Secretary. She is assisted by a part-time membership and publications clerk. It is a busy place!
  2. National Executive Committee: This is a group of elected members of the Society. They can be from any RASC Centre, or be unattached members, and they can be from anywhere in Canada. They are all unpaid volunteers who have spent years working at the Centre and national levels for the good of the RASC. They do not work out of the national office. Most importantly, they are members of our Society and they almost always come from our Centres.
  3. National Council: National council is the governing body of the Society, and it carries out the functions, and assumes the responsibilities, of a corporate board of directors. National council is made up of the national executive committee, the chairs of our standing and special committees, plus the representatives from our 29 Centres. All of these people are volunteer members, and they come from the Centres. In fact, most of national council is comprised of Centre reps!
  4. National Volunteers: Did you know that over 50 people volunteer each year to produce the Observer’s Handbook, and the Journal has a volunteer staff of over 25? We also have a dozen national committees working on everything from the society’s observing certificate programs to developing and approving new Dark Sky Preserves in Canada.

The point I want to drive home here is that the national RASC is its members. It is no more and no less than RASC members. Almost everything that is done in this great Society is done by members, for members. So there really is no “us” or “them.” Truth be told, there is only “us.”

I will be the first to acknowledge that these are not readily self-evident truths. Our Society is large and has a long history. We have a complicated structure and operating system. All of it is described in our By-Laws and in various policy documents, available to members on the members-only section of our Web site (/rasc-member-area). But it’s not exactly light reading! For those who care about our Society, it is worth spending some time with these documents to gain a deeper understanding of where we came from, how we got where we are now, and how our organization functions.

We are deeply dependent on the generosity of our member volunteers, whether at the local or national level. The focus of effort, and the point of view, is different depending on whether you volunteer at the Centre (local) level or at the national level. For most of us, the action happens at the Centre level. From here, it’s pretty easy to see what’s going on, why it’s happening, and how it works. Unfortunately, from the Centre level, much of what goes on at the national level is less clear and generally harder to fathom.

This is where your Centre’s national council representative comes in. He or she is a member of national council. One of her or his chief responsibilities is to keep Centre members informed and up-to-date on the whys and wherefores of Society activity at the national level.

From the national perspective, everything is done for the benefit of the Society as a whole. That includes our 29 Centres, without whom there would be no RASC. The point-of-view is necessarily different because the RASC is a federally incorporated body that is a registered charity. We are held to a very high standard and we have to abide by the rules as dictated by Canadian law. National council, led by its national executive committee, works to ensure the Society does what it is supposed to do, and maintains its reputation, its integrity, its legitimacy, and its assets. National council is responsible for the financial well being of the entire Society, as well as for its future stability, growth and success.

I hope this helps clarify who and/or what the “national” RASC is. Simply put, it is us. I invite you to delve into our governing documents. There you will find a treasure trove of information about us, our history, objectives, what we do, how we do it, and why. Read and enjoy, for someday you may be national president during interesting times!

Quo ducit Urania!

Author: 
walter.macdonald2@gmail.com
Last modified: 
Friday, February 5, 2021 - 9:15am