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Letter to ACNM Members Regarding Motion to Change the Name of the College

March 23, 2011

Dear ACNM Member,

As Chair of the ACNM Bylaws Committee, I am contacting you pursuant to Article XVII, Section C, of the ACNM Bylaws to notify you that the Committee has received a motion from ACNM Member Joyce E. Thompson to amend Article I, Section A of the ACNM Bylaws.

This motion reads as follows:

“I move that Article I, Section A. Name/Nonprofit Incorporation of the ACNM Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws (May 2008) be changed to read, “The name of the corporation shall be the American College of Midwives, Inc., hereinafter referred to as ACM or the College.”

Article XVII, Section C of the ACNM bylaws requires that ACNM implement the following procedures when a motion has been made to amend the name of the College:

1. Notice of the proposed name change amendment shall be sent to all members 60 days prior to the annual business meeting held at the ACNM Annual Meeting (this year’s first business meeting takes place May 24^th in San Antonio);
2. ACNM members attending the annual business meeting will vote on the proposed amendment;
3. If the motion is approved by majority vote of Active Members present and voting, a ballot shall be sent to all Active Members no later than 180 days following the annual business meeting;
4. In order for the amendment to be adopted, at least one-third of Active Members must return their ballots and two-thirds of the Active Members who returned ballots must support the amendment for it to be adopted.
5. If the amendment is adopted, it will take effect according to a schedule approved by the Board of Directors.

To view the ACNM bylaws in their entirety, go to http://www.midwife.org/Bylaws-Committee

ACNM is currently working with an organization specializing in association marketing and branding to conduct an impact analysis of a name change. This analysis will be provided to the membership prior to the annual business meeting.

ACNM is taking steps to significantly expand the time available for members to debate motions that come before the membership. These steps include additional time during the business meetings at the Annual Meeting, and an online motion discussion blog that will be open for 30 days prior to and following the Annual Meeting. Any motion received prior to the Annual Meeting will be posted to the blog for discussion and members will have the opportunity to sign up for an RSS feed to follow the discussions closely. Click here to access the Motion Discussion blog, or click here to learn about the ACNM Business Meeting.

Thank you in advance for your participation in this process.

Sincerely,

Lynne Himmelreich, CNM, MPH, FACNM
Chair, ACNM Bylaws Committee

updated April 20, 2011