AAFP Task Force Releases New Draft of Proposed Bylaws

The AAFP is continuing its work on revising the organization's Bylaws, and a new draft version of the Bylaws (Members Only) is now available from the AAFP Task Force on Bylaws Revision. The revised draft is available for member comment until Feb. 29.

AAFP Speaker John Meigs Jr., M.D., of Centreville, Ala., chair of the Task Force on Bylaws Revision, said this type of review is needed to ensure the AAFP's Bylaws remain relevant to the needs of the organization. "In the 64-year history of the AAFP, the organization had never undertaken a thorough review of its original Bylaws," said Meigs in a letter to members (Members Only). "It was time to have organizational Bylaws appropriate for the 21st century."

The task force was charged by the Board of Directors with updating and modernizing the Bylaws, as well as reducing them to the core foundational principles by which the AAFP is governed and operates. According to Meigs, the task force used the following objectives as a guide to update the Bylaws:

The task force released an initial draft of the Bylaws revision in December 2010. Based on member feedback on that draft, task force members revised it in time for distribution before the 2011 Congress of Delegates (COD) in Orlando, Fla. Feedback from a forum held during the COD led to further revisions of the draft Bylaws.

Members are encouraged to review the Bylaws and comment by Feb. 29. Comments will be considered, and a final proposal will be taken to the 2012 COD in Philadelphia for review and action.