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Bylaws & Policies

Bylaws

• Download our Bylaws (as amended in June 1998 and 2002) using Acrobat Reader

The free Acrobat Reader software (available for Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX platforms), allows you to view the application as it appears in printed material.

Policies

Overnight Trip Reimbursement Policy

(Paraphrased from the recently adopted policy)

TCs shall be reimbursed for normal trip expenses associated with organizing a trip if these are included in the expense report, which must be submitted to the treasurer for reimbursement of trip expenses. In addition, TCs may receive a subsidy up to but not exceeding the cost of the trip subject to the following:

• Only overnight trips are eligible. 

• There must be at least 9 people participating, including TC(s). 

• Subsidies are to be budgeted into the cost of the trip for participants. No club funds will be used for these subsidies. 

• For overnight trips with 8-19 paid participants, a subsidy will not exceed $35/night or the cost of trip for TC(s), whichever is less. 

• For overnight trips with 20 or more paid participants, the subsidy will be equal to one free trip. 

• For trips with more than one TC, the TCs receive a subsidy equal to one free trip for every 20 paid participants. 

• The subsidy/free trip is provided from the funds collected after all trip expenses are paid. If the extra funds add up to less than the subsidies described above, the subsidy will equal the extra funds remaining.

• If TCs anticipate excess funds, they may purchase additional small items for the trip  participants (e.g., power bars). If TCs anticipate substantial excess funds, they should reimburse participants in cash during the trip.   Excess funds remaining after expense reimbursements and subsidies will be retained by Mosaic.

• All TCs must submit a check for the same amount as participants; any subsidy/free trip will be returned in the form of a reimbursement. 

• If there is more than one TC and the above only covers a portion of the total TC trip costs, the TCs determine amongst themselves how the subsidy is to be allocated. 

• Trips that are co-sponsored by Mosaic will follow these same rules. 

Keep in mind that any activity requiring an advanced deposit must be approved in advance by the board of directors. The board reviews proposals to ensure that the proposed finances are reasonable, and that the organizer is suitably prepared to handle the trip logistics.

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Inline Skating and Bicycling Safety Policy

• Biking:

  • Helmets are required for all rides.

• Inline skating:

  • Safety helmets and wrist guards are required for all inline skating events.

   

  • Knee pads and elbow pads are recommended.

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• TCs should refuse to allow anyone lacking the above-required equipment to participate.

• TCs should not give maps or cue sheets to anyone lacking the above-required safety equipment.

• Although TCs cannot prevent anyone from following the group on public roads, they should still make it clear to those without the required safety equipment -- as well as to the group's recognized participants -- that those without the equipment are not considered to be part of the group

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• The overriding statement here is that individual TCs have maximum control of the listing of their trips on the Mosaic website. For all events except for board meeting announcements, the default web listing is to include the same information in the newsletter listing, except for the TC’s last name and phone number. At the request of the TC, any relevant information may be added to or removed from the default listing on the web. Relevant hotlinks (e.g. to the website of an event’s venue) are permitted on the website

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• Any Mosaic member in good standing may submit an event listing at any time.  All approved events will be publicized electronically; events meeting a newsletter deadline will also go into that newsletter. The Program Director will continue to encourage all TCs to submit events in time for the newsletter deadline.  Events will be first reviewed by the Program Director, and then submitted to at least the President, Vice President, and (if applicable) the appropriate activity chair  for review. If no concerns are raised within 48 hours, the event is approved.

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• The primary purpose of the email will be to publicize club activities as well as for any changes and additions to the calendar. Emails will be addressed so as not to reveal the email addresses of any recipients. Any member who no longer wishes to receive the emails can opt-out at any time. Only a club email address should be used to send to the list.

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Free Membership for Active Trip Coordinators 

This clarifies the long-standing policy of granting free 1-year membership renewal to active TCs, as a reward for their volunteer efforts. Any active Mosaic member who leads at least four (4) events during the preceding year of their membership (not calendar year) is eligible for a renewal of their membership free of charge. Each free membership will be of the same type (individual, family, etc.) as the member held in the previous year. There is no limit to the number of free memberships a member may receive, as long as they continue to qualify each year. Qualification for a free annual membership will be determined from the shared records of both the membership and program directors.

The following guidelines shall be used to determine eligibility:

• Only events properly listed in the Shofar may count towards a free membership.
• One event credit shall be given for each event listed in the Shofar
• If an event has two or more TCs, each will receive the full credit they would be entitled to if they were the sole TC. This is only to encourage apprenticeship among TCs, it is expected that this provision will not be abused.
• For all events, the liability form must be returned to the membership director to receive credit for the event.
• If an event is cancelled due to weather, full credit will be given if the membership director is informed of the situation. If an event is cancelled for any other reason, credit will be given at the discretion of the program director.
• Service on the Board of Directors or as an activity coordinator counts as one event credit, as long as it extends to the end of that person’s term of service.
• Extra event credits may not be carried over past a member's renewal date to count towards a future free membership

Download your Trip Sign In and Liability Form in Acrobat Reader. If you are unable, please contact the the Program Director.

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As part of its normal operation, Mosaic Outdoor Mountain Club of Massachusetts (MOMC-MA) may request and/or collect assorted information about its members and participants in its activities. This information may include but is not limited to:

• Name
• Address
• Telephone Number
• E-mail address
• Age
• Photographic likeness

Members and participants have the right to expect MOMC-MA to respect the private nature of some of this information.

As a matter of policy, it is the intention of MOMC-MA to use this information only for MOMC-MA club business. We do not intend to share this information with individuals or organizations for other purposes. In particular we do not make our mailing list available to anyone for commercial purposes of any kind.

We from time to time make reference to portions of the above information in our club publications. In order to protect member privacy such use is limited in the following ways:

• Individual names and photographs may be included in the Mosaic newsletter or electronic publications delivered directly to members. However, contact information (address, telephone number, and e-mail address) will not be listed without the consent of the individual in question unless that information has been obtained from an otherwise public source (e.g. we would print event contact information if that information was listed on promotional material already made public).
• Individual first names and/or initials and photographs may be included in web publications. Full names and contact information will not be listed without the explicit consent of the individual in question.
• From time to time names and contact information may be provided to MOMC-MA officials including board members, activity coordinators and event coordinators for the purpose of conducting club business.
• Participant lists including contact information may be distributed to event participants to facilitate carpooling or otherwise foster communication between participants. Activity participants will be given the option to opt-out of listings in any generally distributed participant list.
• It is not currently the practice of MOMC-MA to publish a membership directory. Should the organization choose to produce such a directory members would be given the option to opt-out in advance of any such publication.
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• Any time MOMC-MA distributes participant lists, directories or other documents including sensitive information to its members such documents will be clearly marked with their intended purpose, and will clearly include the restriction "Not to be used for commercial purposes nor any non-club related purpose . Please respect the privacy of our members".
• MOMC-MA may contact its members from time to time via various mechanisms including but not limited to telephone, US Mail and E-mail for the purpose of conducting club business or distributing information deemed by its board of directors to be of general interest to the membership.
• Members not wishing to be contacted by telephone or e-mail may request that the corresponding information be removed from their listing in the membership database.  Members choosing to limit contact in this way may not receive all information made available by the organization.
• Members physically unable to communicate over a particular medium should contact the organization's Membership Chair to arrange for special accommodations.

Cautions related to information in electronic form

• E-mail is NOT secure. Assume that strangers may read any unencrypted message you send.
• Information stored on company computers is generally considered company property even if you think it is private.
• Information may remain on backup media for years even after you delete it from a company system.
• Information stored on your personal computer may be irretrievably lost in the case of a disk failure. Make sure you have a mechanism for backing up any critical information (and then store the backups in a secure place).

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Last updated 20 September 2003

The free Acrobat Reader software (available for Macintosh, Windows, and UNIX platforms), allows you to view the application as it appears in printed material.