We Need Your Feedback
Council approved circulating a proposed addition to our Bylaws for you to review. For reference, you can see our current Bylaws here.
Please use our feedback form to give us your feedback by October 23, 2023.
We will consider your feedback and, as appropriate, may recommend adjustments to Council.
Proposed Addition
In Bylaw 4 – Council Members Ceasing to Hold Office, under Automatic termination, we are proposing to add item (e). This is how Automatic termination will read with the added item:
Automatic termination
(1) A Regulated Member of Council automatically ceases to be a Council member if:
(a) the member resigns in writing to the Chair or the Registrar;
(b) the member’s practice permit is suspended or the member is no longer a Regulated Member;
(c) the member is found guilty of unprofessional conduct under the Act or makes an admission of unprofessional conduct that is accepted by a hearing tribunal under the Act;
(d) if the member becomes an officer, director, executive member or similar position in a professional association, union or bargaining organization representing dental assistants; or
(e) the member is absent from three (3) Council meetings in any Council year.
About the Addition
The requirement for Council members to attend Council meetings has been in our policies for years. However, moving it to our Bylaws aligns it better with the Health Professions Act and makes it easier for us to enforce. It also demonstrates that attending and participating in Council meetings is important to being effective in the role.
Why are we making these changes?
In section 6, the Health Professions Act states:
A council manages and conducts the activities of the college, exercises the rights, powers and privileges and carries out the duties of the college in the name of and on behalf of the college and carries out the powers and duties of the council under this Act and the bylaws.
Our Council governs our College. To be effective, Council members must attend meetings and contribute effectively to oversight, policy development, and all other corporate responsibilities. Our communities, including the public, government, dental assistants and other stakeholders expect Council to be engaged meaningfully in governing the College. To do this, Council members need to participate fully in all Council responsibilities.
A scan of the bylaws of other Alberta colleges reveals it is common practice to have a bylaw supporting automatic termination from Council when a number of meetings are missed. Many colleges will terminate if three meetings are missed in a council year. Keeping our requirement at three meetings and moving it from our policies to our Bylaws is consistent with other colleges.
This requirement does not prevent anyone from applying for Council in the future when their personal circumstances align better with the commitment required to serve on Council.
Your Opinion Matters
Any changes to the Bylaws may impact the governance and operations of our College. Your input on this proposed addition to our Bylaws is important to us. We want to understand your point of view.
After Council considers feedback from stakeholders, makes any adjustments and approves the Bylaws, we will post them on our website. We will also let all dental assistants know by email.