Immediately following the International Assembly on January 25 through 29 the Rotary International Board of Directors met for their third meeting of the 2009-2010 year at One Rotary Center in Evanston.

Interact Age Requirements Lowered To Age 12 (Jr High Schools Now Eligible For Interact Clubs). The Board Also Recommended Other Actions To Strengthen Rotary’s Interact Program

Appointment Of A Committee To Recommend Changes To Our Vocational Service Model, Including The Adoption Of A Rotary Code Of Ethics.

Establishes a new “Club Builder Award”

Palestine will be open for extension of Rotary clubs and will be aligned in District 2450
A search committee has been designated to replace General Secretary Ed Futa, who announced his retirement effective June 30, 2011.

A new, streamlined, efficient, and lean Rotary International Committee structure has been adopted for 2010-2011 – RI will place an emphasis on web conferencing to reduce committee expenses

Additionally, the board recommended the following actions:

Report Of Committee To Review Meetings – An RI Committee has been functioning this past year to review the following organization-wide meetings: District Conferences, Rotary Institutes, and The Council on Legislation. The board agrees with the committee assessment that there is a need to re-evaluate the purpose and structure of both Rotary Institutes and District Conferences. The administration committee of the board will review the committee’s recommendations and recommend changes for the June 2010 meeting.

Regarding potential changes to the Council On Legislation (COL): The board authorized the appointment of a COL trainer, whose duties will be to plan and provide consistent training for all delegates to the COL; particularly the first-time attendees.

Long Term Strategy On International Offices – The board requests the general secretary to create a recommended long-term strategy for RI’s international offices, such strategy to include the recommended optimal service levels, office locations, their cost-effectiveness, options for purchase or rental of real estate, etc., for review by the Board at its November 2010 meeting.

Adopts A Three Year Regional Election Complaint Pilot Project – The board adopted a three year pilot project for clubs in zones 4, 5, and 6 for district level elections after 1 July 2010 which authorizes a zone-level election complaint panel to take action on behalf of the board. This panel will be appointed each year by the RI President and will be the first adjudicator of district election complaints.

Rotarian Action Groups (Rags) Pilot Project – The Board referred this matter to the RAGs Pilot Ad-Hoc Committee for reconsideration and report to the Board at its June 2010 meeting.