How to Change/Create a Policy for the Tilsner Cooperative.



1. Any member of the Tilsner can assist with making policies for the Cooperative. Ideas on creating new policies, or modifying existing polices, can come out of conversations at Committee meetings, Board meetings, All-Cooperative meetings, meetings with the Management Agent, or anytime members are together talking about the Cooperative.


2. Once you have an idea for a new Tilsner policy, or for modifying an existing Tilsner policy, you should bring your policy idea to a Tilsner Committee for further discussion.


3. If you’re not sure which Committee to bring your policy idea to, you can ask a Board member, or a Chair of the Management/Legal Documents Committee.


4. Your policy idea will be discussed in the appropriate Committee. A majority vote of the Committee will be needed to approve your policy idea. Multiple Committee meetings may be required to discuss your policy idea. This is because all members should be given the chance to discuss the new policy idea, and to vote. Therefore an agenda will need to be posted for all Committee meetings at which your new policy idea will be discussed and voted upon.
4a. Make sure you thouroughly write up your new policy idea.
4b. Your proposed policy should also be brought to the Management and Legal Documents committee, for review and suggestions.


5. If your proposed policy idea is approved at the Committee level, it will go to the Board for review and discussion. Items that the Board is discussing should be posted in an agenda before the Board meeting, giving all interested members the opportunity to come to the Board meeting to participate.


6. The next step in this process is to bring your proposed policy to the All Co-op for final approval. Before this can be done, the proposed policy needs to be posted in the Cooperative, so all members can read the proposed policy, and sign up to discuss the proposed policy at the next All Co-op meeting. Please see the Tilsner “Policy For Making Policies” for complete details on this important step.


7. At the All Co-op, discussion on the policy idea is usually kept to a minimum. This is because most of the discussion on your policy idea should have occurred at the Committee level, with some input at the Board level. If agendas have been posted for the Committee meetings and Board meeting at which your policy idea was discussed, then all members have been given the opportunity to participate.


8. At the All Co-op meeting, a member should present the proposed policy. Brief discussion can be held. Then, the All Co-op will move to a vote. If a majority of the members present approve your policy idea, then the policy idea becomes official.


9. Please note, the steps listed above can take up to six months. Creating or changing policies is not a quick process!


10. The Cooperative policy documents will then be updated by the Management/Legal documents committee to include the approved policy information.