House of Delegates Two Session Attendance Requirement
Delegates are encouraged to attend all HOD meetings and must meet a minimum attendance requirement to remain a delegate. Section 3.15 of the MMS Bylaws states that:
No delegate elected by a district shall be eligible to serve for a third consecutive Presidential Year who has not attended at least two sessions of the House of Delegates of the Massachusetts Medical Society in the two prior consecutive presidential years. In the event a delegate is elected to serve for a third consecutive presidential year, but fails to satisfy this attendance requirement, the individual shall not serve as elected, and the district shall fill the vacancy in accordance with Section 4.16. Exceptions for extenuating circumstances shall require the written consent of the delegate’s district president.
Which HOD Meetings Apply to the Criteria
The first HOD meeting of presidential year is Interim Meeting (November or December), and the second HOD meeting is Annual Meeting (April or May). Attendance is tracked for each meeting, for two years, and recorded.
The meetings that apply for the current two-year cycle are: Interim Meeting 2024 (November 18 and December 7, 2024), Annual Meeting 2025 (April 30 and May 17, 2025), Interim Meeting 2025 (November 10 and December 6, 2025) and Annual Meeting 2026 (April 29 and May 16, 2026).
Attendance records for the previous two presidential years are reviewed annually following the Annual Meeting. If a district-elected delegate did not attend at least two sessions during those two presidential year periods and
is re-elected for the next presidential year, the delegate and district leadership is notified.
Process for Requesting an Allowance/Exemption for Extenuating Circumstances
Understanding that certain matters are beyond personal control, delegates that did not meet the attendance requirement due to extenuating circumstances may contact their regional manager to contact the district president to request one year allowance/exemption
to remain a delegate. Please note: if an allowance is arranged, the delegate now has just one presidential year (two HOD meetings- 4 total sessions of the upcoming Interim Meeting (November or December) or the Annual Meeting (April or
May) to meet the attendance criteria (attendance at 2 sessions) in order to be eligible to remain a delegate.
Attendance Inquiries/Questions
If you have a question regarding this bylaw, please contact us at houseofdelegates@mms.org.
