Saturday, December 11, 2010

A Question of Quorum

QUESTION
We have eleven members on our Board of Directors.  I know  that the Uniform Bylaws says a quorum for a meeting is a majority—how is that interpreted when there’s an odd number on the Board? 

ANSWER
You are correct that the quorum, or minimum number that must be  present to take action, for the Board of Directors is a majority.  This means that more than half of the members of the Board must be present—for an eleven member Board that means at least six members must be present in order to take action at a Board meeting.  Note that the same number would be required if there were ten members on the Board—because more than half of ten is also six.