Board Conduct         Facilities        Library        Pooja Heaven         Prayer Hall

GUIDELINES OF CONDUCT FOR IACCT BOARD MEMBERS  (MS-Word file link)

1. All active IACCT Board Members shall conduct in compliance with the Charter and the Bylaws of the Indo American Cultural Center & Temple.
    

2. All matters of policy, procedures, and maintenance & capital improvements in excess of the approved committee budgets shall be first approved by the Board before implementation.
    

3. All issues brought in front of the Board shall be openly discussed before arriving at any decisions.  This shall be the responsibility of the Chairman of the Board.
    

4. Each member of the Board willing to participate during the Board discussions should be given equal time.  This shall be the responsibility of the Chairman of the Board.
    

5. All Board decisions shall be based upon the majority opinion arrived at by polling the votes of the Board members during the Board meetings.
    

6. Once a decision is arrived at by the Board, it shall be binding on all Board members.  Board members shall have the right to maintain their own views on a personal basis.  However, they shall represent & support the Board decisions openly & consistently to the community at-large.  Any personal views shall be clearly stated to be personal and not advanced as part of IACCT communication or a criticism of the Board decision.
    

7. When asked to represent any position on issues related with IACCT, Board members shall clearly state the Board position as accurately as possible, without mixing them with their own views.  If uncertain about the details of the issues, they shall remind the questioner that Board meetings are open to all members and invite the person to the next Board meeting to get the answers.
    

8. All Board members shall strive to attend at least 80% of the Board meetings during the year.

IACCT  FACILITIES  RESERVATIONS  GUIDELINES (MS-Word file link)

FACILITIES THAT CAN BE USED

1.      Prayer Hall:  The main prayer hall including the sanctum area housing the deities.  Only events that maintain the sanctity of this area can be held in this hall.

2.      Community Hall:  The entire room in the building adjacent to the main building.  It does not include the library area.

3.      Dining Hall:  The lower level below the prayer hall.  The use of this facility does not include the use of the kitchen for cooking nor for warming of food.

4.      Kitchen:  This includes the area bordered by the serving counters and includes the use of any of the following equipment:  cooking stoves and oven, refrigerator, freezer (kept in the furnace room), sinks, cooking utensils, chafing dishes, and serving utensils.  It does not include the use of any consumable supplies such as grocery items, spices, cooking oil, and paper and plastic items.

DEFINITIONS

Religious Programs:  These programs are for religious purposes and held for any of the following reasons:

•  worshipping of images or idols of gods and goddesses

• for teaching of religion

• for spiritual enhancement.

IACCT Sponsored Programs:  These programs are approved by the IACCT Board and are organized by its designee/s.  These programs are widely publicized in some manner to disseminate information about the program to as large an audience as possible.  They are open to all the members of the community. 

TYPES OF PROGRAMS

A.     IACCT Sponsored Activities

1. Religious Programs:  These programs are for religious purposes and are typically approved by the Board at the start of the year for the entire year.  Examples are satsangs, poojas, havan, family prayer, and religious festivals.

2. Meetings:  These are meetings to conduct IACCT related work.  Examples are Board of Directors meetings, general body meeting, and IACCT sub-committee meetings.

3. Cultural Programs:  Cultural programs such as veena recital, tabla recital, recitals by visiting artists, classic dance recital, etc.

4. Educational Programs:  In these programs, several members of the community participate in session/s conducted to enhance their knowledge in religion, language, skills, etc. to help them lead a better life and help their spiritual upliftment.  There is no fee to participants.

 B.     Group-Oriented Activities

5. Club or Social Meetings:  Groups of at least 10 members (new groups may initially have fewer members) meet with specific themes approved by the Board such as:

• Investment club

• Cooking club

• Discussion groups to discuss a specific subject

• Seniors club

• Clubs to help provide a specific service

• Clubs to help improve one self in a specific area

• Meditation or yoga classes.

6. Group-Sponsored Religious Programs:  These programs are for religious purposes only and are organized/conducted by an individual or a specific religious group such as Swadhyay group, Swaminarayan group, groups following a specific saint/preacher, etc. and may include bhajans and prayers. 

7. Privately Organized Educational programs:  These programs are organized privately for the members of the community to enhance their knowledge in a specific field.  There is no fee charged by the organizers to the participants.

 C.  Private Activities

8. Religious Meditation by one or more Persons:  This allows one or more individuals to meditate in front of the Deities.  This reservation may not be for exclusive use by an individual or a group during a time block.  Should the need arise, others may also use the facilities at the same time.

9. privately Organized Programs:  These programs are organized to celebrate specific events of individuals such as

•  AnniversarieS

• Weddings

• Birthday parties

• Mundan or thread ceremony

• Any special type of pooja.

• Invitations are sent privately to a select group decided upon by the organizer.

D.  Commercial Activities

10. Commercial Educational Classes:  Tutoring classes held by a member of IACCT  for which a fee is charged such as dance classes, sewing classes, cooking classes, etc. 

11. Commercial events:  These are events organized by people outside the local community for which either an entrance/participation fee is charged or where items are displayed for sale.  Examples are display of saris, jewelry, etc. for  attracting customers, etc.  Note: Religious books, CD’s, cassettes, etc. sold during religious events by guest speakers are not considered commercial events.

APPLICABLE CHARGES:

KEY:    NA – Not Applicable,           NF – No Fee,          RF – Reduced Fee,          FF – Full Fee

• Sanctity of Prayer Hall must be maintained at all times.

• All money collected during Aarati for all religious programs must be deposited in the IACCT donation box.

NOTE:  If funds are collected for non-IACCT purposes for religious, charitable, and spiritual  causes, this should be explicitly communicated and the funds collected separately.

 FEE SCHEDULE PER USE  (TYPICALLY ONE 24-HOUR PERIOD)

** Does not include a cleaning fee (one fee for the Dining Hall and the Kitchen) or supplies which will be added if IACCT is to arrange for these items.

 FACILITITY SCHEDULING:

All IACCT sponsored activities can be scheduled up to one year in advance and all other activities can be scheduled up to 3 months in advance.  However, program type 8 can be booked only one week in advance.  For activities where a fee is applicable, once this fee has been paid, that activity cannot be preempted for another activity.  The Chairman of the Facilities Management Committee shall be responsible for collection of applicable fees.

ENFORCEMENT OF THESE GUIDELINES

The Chairman of the Facilities Management Committee or his/her designee will make reservations of the facilities and keep track of them to avoid conflicts.  However, should any scheduling conflicts arise, these will be referred to a standing committee of the Board of Directors to resolve the conflict.  The decision of this Board-appointed Committee will be considered final.

THESE POLICIES AND GUIDELINES WERE REVISED AND APPROVED BY THE IACCT BOARD IN ITS MEETING ON APRIL 28, 2002.