NAP Body of Knowledge: Your Template to Parliamentary Knowledge and Performance Cynthia R. Mayo, PRP, and Margie R. Booker, PRP

NAP Body of Knowledge:

Your Template to Parliamentary Knowledge and Performance

By Cynthia R. Mayo, PRP, and Margie R. Booker, PRP

To “provide parliamentary leadership to the world,” prompts leaders of associations, units, and the club to develop and implement training and developmental programs, using the NAP Body of Knowledge. It is a key document developed in the early 21st century that spells out what a parliamentarian should know, using domains to specify essential competencies. It is the key template for associations, units, and the club to design and implement engaging and interactive lessons to confirm that parliamentarians know and can demonstrate correct parliamentary procedure “to the world.” Each of the eight domains provides the competencies parliamentarians must know and can demonstrate where needed.

In addition to training, members are advised to use the NAP Body of Knowledge in their preparation for credentialing as a Registered Parliamentarian (RP) or a Professional Registered Parliamentarian (PRP). The new process to become a Registered Parliamentarian was developed based on the NAP Body of Knowledge. One might ask: What are the domains and how can associations, units, and the club prepare and implement engaging training and developmental programs to ensure that the mission of “educating leaders throughout the world in effective meeting management” is met? (2020 NAP Membership Manual, p. 2).

Eight domains set standards that members, leaders, and consultants should know and be able to meet. Subjects addressed in each domain are as follows: • Domain 1. Meetings, the Conduct of Meetings, Motions, and

Meetings-Related Procedures • Domain 2. Motions, Minutes and Other Records, Governing

Documents • Domain 3. Rules, Nominations, and Elections Serving as

Parliamentarian in Meetings and Conventions • Domain 4. Committees, Teaching • Domain 5. Officers and Boards,

Business and Ethics • Domain 6. Bylaws and Other

Governing Documents,

Governance • Domain 7. Consulting Skills • Domain 8. Nominations,

Elections, and Voting

Associations, units, and the club are encouraged to use the NAP Body of Knowledge to plan, design, and conduct engaging training and development programs that prepare new members for the membership test, and prepare members to become Registered Parliamentarians (RP) and Professional Registered Parliamentarians (PRP).

What comprises a viable training and development plan that associations,

units, and the club can use to assist in promoting parliamentary procedure?

Most units and the club have monthly meetings that include a parliamentary procedure topic as an educational component. Associations usually meet annually and conduct educational sessions dealing with parliamentary procedure. The recommended process is to design educational sessions using the eight domains. The recommended plan is designed for the aspiring NAP student, the aspiring Registered Parliamentarian (RP), and the Professional Registered Parliamentarian (PRP).

Recommended Plan for an Aspiring NAP Student Develop the educational sessions, using the following domains:

Time Allotted Develop Outcomes Name of Number of Knowledge/ Abbreviated Outcomes: Domain Educational Objectives Practical Refer to NAP Body of Number Session To Cover Application Knowledge for details.

# 1 Meetings 16

# 2 Motions 13

# 3 Rules 7 8 hours Members should know how to debate and vote on business in a meeting. 14 hours Members should have the knowledge and skills to use common motions during a meeting. 14 hours Members should know how to read and enforce the rules of the organization.

Recommended Plan for an Aspiring Registered Parliamentarian Develop the educational sessions, using the following domains:

Time Allotted Develop Outcomes Name of Number of Knowledge/ Abbreviated Outcomes: Domain Educational Objectives Practical Refer to NAP Body of Number Session To Cover Application Knowledge for details.

# 1 Conduct of 17 Meetings 18 hours Leaders should have the knowledge and skills to prepare an agenda and chair a meeting of an assembly or executive board.

# 1 Motions and 13 Meeting-Related Procedures 15 hours Consultant education is designed to prepare a parliamentarian to serve as a paid or unpaid consultant to client organizations of which he or she is not a member.

Recommended Plan for an Aspiring Registered Parliamentarian (cont.) Develop the educational sessions, using the following domains:

Time Allotted Develop Outcomes Name of Number of Knowledge/ Abbreviated Outcomes: Domain Educational Objectives Practical Refer to NAP Body of Number Session To Cover Application Knowledge for details.

# 2 Minutes and 7 other Records 7 hours Leaders should have the knowledge and skills to prepare and approve minutes.

# 2 Governing 8 Documents 16 hours A Consultant should be able to identify, write, review the types and contents of governing documents; determine how higher authority impacts documents, write, and manage scripts, and distinguish between governing documents and advise of conflicts.

# 3 Nominations 9 and Elections 12 hours Leaders should have the knowledge and skills to conduct nominations and elections for office.

# 3 Serving as 6 Parliamentarian in Meetings and Conventions

# 4 Committees 7

# 4 Teaching 3

# 5 Officers and Boards 9 8 hours A Consultant must help clients before, during, and after meetings, advise, train, write scripts, provide parliamentary advice during meetings, and meet with clients before and after meetings. 7 hours Leaders should discuss the relationship between a committee and the full membership and be able to lead a major committee. 4 hours A Consultant must design and present effective and appealing educational programs, apply basic adult learning theory, and measure participant knowledge and performance. 3 hours Leaders should know the relationship between individual officers, the board, and the membership, and the duties of each.

Recommended Plan for an Aspiring Registered Parliamentarian (cont.) Develop the educational sessions, using the following domains:

Time Allotted Develop Outcomes Name of Number of Knowledge/ Abbreviated Outcomes: Domain Educational Objectives Practical Refer to NAP Body of Number Session To Cover Application Knowledge for details.

# 5 Business and Ethics 4

# 6 Bylaws and 8 Other Governing Documents

# 6 Governance 4

# 7 Consulting Skills 5 4 hours A Consultant must comply with the Joint NAP/AIP Code of Ethics and local business legal requirements, develop a business plan, and prepare business documents for professional services and establish a method of setting fees. 10 hours A leader should know the form and function of bylaws and other governing documents and how to amend governing documents. 4 hours A Consultant must advise clients about the rights and responsibilities of a board, individual officers and board members, methods, appointment and instruction of committees, limitations on their authority, and types of governance structures. 6 hours A Consultant must advise clients and work effectively with staff regarding any parliamentary issue or concern.

# 8 Nominations, 3 Elections, and Voting 3 hours A Consultant must advise clients, write scripts, organize, and instruct tellers, and handle election challenges.

Cynthia R. Mayo, Ph.D., PRP, is the current District Two Director. She has been a member of NAP SINCE 1991, and has served the Virginia State Association of Parliamentarians (VSAP). Cynthia has served on several NAP committees, including the Leadership Development and Professional Development Committees. She has contributed several NP articles in the past years. Margie R. Booker, PRP, is the immediate past president of the Virginia State Association of Parliamentarians (VSAP). She has been a member of NAP since 2005. She has conducted workshops at NAP Conventions and the Virginia State Association of Parliamentarians. Margie is the current Vice-President of the Virginia Alpha Unit of Registered Parliamentarians (VAURP).

REFERENCES:

NAP Body of Knowledge RONR (12th ed.), §1-§63, pp. t4-t43 RONRIB (3rd ed.), Chapters 1-11