3.5 Agenda Planning: UUA Governance Manual

The Board will follow an annual agenda which (a) advances and/or reevaluates the relevance of its Shared Vision (ENDS) and (b) continually improves Board performance through Board education and enriched input and deliberation.

1. Agenda planning will be completed during the first meeting of each fiscal year, and the agenda published with the minutes of that meeting. The agenda or work plan should look out at least 24 months.
    
2. Agenda planning will include:
    
   1. Consultations with selected groups in the member congregations, or other methods of gaining member congregations input.
       
   2. Governance education, and education related to Shared Vision (ENDS) determination, (e.g. presentations by futurists, demographers, advocacy groups, staff, etc.)
       
   3. A consent agenda to help the Board deal with routine items as expeditiously as possible.
       
3. The agenda is to be prepared by the Chief Governance Officer (Moderator). Suggestions for agenda items are solicited from Working Group conveners and committee chairs. Any Trustee may suggest items for the agenda. The tentative agenda will be sent to Trustees and posted on UUA.org at least two weeks prior to the meeting with all available supporting documents.
    
4. All monitoring events will be included on the agenda as reflected in the monitoring schedule in Appendix 3.A.
    
5. All recurring calendar events will be included on the agenda as reflected in the Recurring Events schedule shown in Appendix 3.B.
    
6. Individual meeting agendas will generally follow the format below:
    
   1. Welcoming and recognizing guests
       
   2. Chalice Lighting
       
   3. Approve agenda
       
   4. Consent Agenda
       
      1. Operational (President constructs).
          
      2. May include accepted Monitoring Reports.
          
   5. Linkage to Member congregations and Board Communications
       
      1. Member congregation communication
          
      2. Communication with the stakeholders and selected interested groups or constituencies in regard to Board’s Annual Agenda.
          
   6. Board Education
       
      1. President’s Report
          
      2. Moderator’s Report
          
      3. Financial Advisor’s Report.
          
      4. Special topics in accord with the annual agenda to assist the Board in its work and governing capacity.
          
   7. Policy Discussion, based and focused upon the annual plan of Board work.
       
   8. Assurance of Operational Performance
       
      1. Receipt of Monitoring Reports; Review of Trustee’s personal analysis of the reports; Discussion of interpretations; Challenges to interpretation; Vote on compliance.
          
      2. New Operational Worries (if submitted prior to the meeting)
          
      3. Next monitoring assignment
          
      4. Board self-assessment against Board means policies (according to the monitoring schedule)
          
   9. Executive Session (if circumstances require)
       
   10. Process Observations (AR/AO, governance)
        
   11. Announcements
        
   12. Adjournment