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The organization OSA has currently spread into thirteen regional Chapters, which operate as a social umbrella for different regions in USA and Canada. The chapters are local/regional Oriya groups consisting of OSA National members. The chapters arrange religious festivals, social get together, cultural events and participate in the cultural life of the local community as representatives of Oriya culture.
A particular chapter is delegated to host the convention of the year. The chapter chooses volunteers, leaders from its community to coordinate various tasks related to the convention. The chapters are administered by locally elected officials. The National Governing Body and the Presidents of the chapters form the OSA Executive Council, which acts as a policy-making body.
Chapter Membership versus OSA National Membership
Chapter formation procedure is described in Article VII of OSA Constitution in following sections.
Section 1 To form a new chapter, a minimum of 15 families, with signatures of at least 20 members with continuous membership for at least the past two years, must submit a written request to the Board of Governors through the Executive Council. The decision of the Board shall be conveyed in writing. A sub-chapter may be formed by any group of reasonable size and this will require the written approval of only the Executive Council. However, only the President/Coordinator of a chapter approved by the Board can serve as a member of the Board. The President/Coordinator of a sub-chapter is not eligible for Board membership. (revised in 1992). Section 2 A petition to form a chapter must be made to the Secretary of OSA for approval by the Executive Committee at least two months prior to the targeted date of its establishment. Section 3 The President of a chapter or an elected representative shall become a member of the OSA Board of Gevernors for a term of two years. The President/Coordinator of a Chapter is eligible to continue on the Board for a second two-year term if reelected by the chapter, but no more than two consecutive two-year terms. A notification to that effect shall be submitted to the Secretary of OSA on or before the June 30th of the OSA election year. Section 4 The President of a chapter shall provide a membership list of the chapter to the Secretary of OSA at the beginning of each fiscal year and he/she will collect the OSA membership dues from the members of his/her chapter. Section 5 Any donation and membership dues collected by a chapter in the name of OSA shall be deposited with the Secretary-Treasurer of the OSA. A chapter shall, however, be free to raise it’s own membership fees and other donations for local activities. Section 6 Local chapters raising funds in the name of OSA and using the OSA Federal Identification Number shall follow the OSA rules and be accountable for the IRS audit. A copy of the annual financial report shall be submitted to the Secretary-Treasurer of OSA at the end of each fiscal year.
A Chapter President is a member of the OSA Board of Governors (BOG). Accordingly, the Chapter President participates in policy and decision making process of the organization. This is described in Article V of OSA constituion.
(a)OSA will have a Board of Governors (hereafter referred to as Board) to serve as the custodian of the Society. The Board will be responsible for making policy decisions to be implemented by the Executive Council (as defined below). The membership of the Board will consist of:
(b) The President of OSA shall serve as the
chairperson of the Board and the Secretary as the Secretary of the
Board.
Under the same article under Section 7: Powers and functions of the Treasurer, it is stated that any amount over $500 on a single non-budgeted item must be approved by a majority of the Governing Board. The approval from the Governing Board will be sought through e-mail. In case of no response within two weeks from a Board member, it will be assumed that the particular member has approved the request. The same rule will apply for donations by various OSA members to charitable/educational/developmental organizations in Orissa.
When OSA was formed in 1969, four decades back and the chapters were formed within a few years of its existence, chapter formation procedure was very simple. There were no written rules, policy, agreement, signature and document requirement for the chapters. No endorsement of the President was recorded. Even if we are so many years of existence and many things are changed, chapters still operate by following their predecessors and sometimes many chapter presidents just do what they feel like doing. There are no documents to guide the chapter leaders. As we are growing in numbers and strength, we cannot sustain unless we keep ourselves within limits and within the boundary of rules and regulations.
The current administration has formed a Chapter Relations Committee. The members are past chapter presidents Jogesh Panda and Leena Mishra and a current president Nilamadhab Nanda who will soon become a past president. A formal chapter document is written and is subjected to review. Please review and pass on your comments to the members of Chapter Relations Committee. According to the current schedule, the reviews would be obtained by 31st October. The first draft will be ready by December 15 and sent for second stage review by January 1, 2010. The final comments should be received by January 31, 2010 and the final draft will be ready by February 1, 2010.
Chapter Membership versus OSA Membership
There are many confusions over chapter membership versus OSA National membership. While OSA National has its own fee structure and various membership categories, several chapters do have their own membership structure such as annual and life membership. OSA National membership is the eligibility of a person to be a chapter member. Although the same word "membership" creates confusion at times and thus there was a suggestion to use the word "chapter activity fee" instead of "chapter membership fee", it should be fine to use "chapter membership fee". It is up-to the chapters to decide how much and what type of membership fee they may charge. However, there should be some prudent way to distinguish a member of the chapter than a non-member. Only permanent members of OSA National and the respective chapter would be able to hold any positions in the chapter. However, the chapters may allow guests and decide on how they treat guests versus members for deciding event fee structure.
There are 12 chapters in USA and 1 chapter in Canada. To know more about a particular chapter, please follow the respective link. You can also get their contact information from the page on OSA Leadership.
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