In one of his first tasks as president of the Gases and Welding Distributors Assn., Britt Lovin updated the by-laws and standing rules of the organization to “more accurately reflect GAWDA’s current governance structure and strategic goals.” The proposed changes have been approved by GAWDA’s Board of Directors.

“One of the goals of the task force was to simplify the by-laws and to make the provisions broad enough to enable flexible interpretation by the Board and to be longer term without the need for future revisions,” said Lovin. “The standing rules are viewed as a more detailed description of the Board’s current interpretation of the by-laws and more likely to be changed in the short-term.”

Other significant changes include the composition of the Board of Directors, which under the proposed revision, regional directors and committee chairs would no longer have voting posts on the Board, but would report to the Board twice a year on their respective activities. The new Board of Directors would be comprised of the president, president elect, first vice president, immediate past president, second past president, five vice presidents (not linked to a geographic region), and one supplier vice president - for a total of 11 members.

The most significant change to the standing rules involves clarification of the roles and responsibilities of the committees.

For more information, visit GAWDA online.