This document is intended to guide Board of Trustees and the Executive committee in daily operation of H.A.R.I. These policies were formulated by Board of Trustee. IN CASE OF ANY CONFLICT AND OR DISPUTE, H.A.R.I. BYLAWS SHALL PREVAIL.
AMENDED 11-05-1994
The Board of Trustees has passed the following addendum to Policies and Practices:
AMENDED 09-08-2002
The Board of Trustees has passed the following addendum to Policies and Practices:
Guidelines for the Board in forming the Nominating Committee and subsequent steps to follow through completion of the election process
Introduction:
Article IV, Section 10 of HARI Bylaws covers the Nomination of Officers of the Executive Committee and Article V, Section 3 of HARI Bylaws addresses the Nomination of Trustees.
The above two Articles call for the appointment of a Nominating Committee by the Board of Trustees. Time frame for its formation, number of committee members, composition of the Nominating Committee and guidelines to be followed by the Nominating Committee are spelled out in the Bylaws as follows:
For the nomination of officers of the Executive Committee, Article IV, Section 10 states:
"Forty-five (45) days before the annual membership meeting, the Board of Trustees shall appoint a nominating committee consisting of five members which shall select a slate of officers/trustees to be presented to the members at the annual membership meeting. The nominating committee shall consist of a trustee, the President, and three members from general body. Nominating committee shall not nominate its own member/members. Additional written nominations may be submitted by members provided at least ten members sign such request for nomination and the request is received by the Secretary/Treasurer prior to the Officer's election meeting."
For the nomination of Trustees Article V, Section 3 states:
"At least forty- five (45) days before the annual membership meeting, H.A.R.I. Board of Trustees shall appoint a nominating committee consisting of five members which shall select a slate of trustees to be presented to the members at the annual membership meeting. Persons so nominated should have actively participated in H.A.R.I. activities. Due consideration should be given to represent surrounding communities. The nominating committee shall consist of a trustee, President, and three members from general body. Nominating committee shall not nominate its own member/members. Additional written nominations may be submitted by members provided at least ten members sign such request for nomination and the request is received by the Secretary/Treasurer prior to the trustee's election meeting."
The guidelines are similar for the selection of Officers of the Executive Committee and the Trustees with an additional requirement of active participation in H.A.R.I. activities and representation of the surrounding communities imposed for the selection of the trustees.
The above guidelines are not comprehensive enough and lack checks and balances in the process of selecting officers and trustees because presently there is no requirement that the selected candidates do receive pre-certification by the Board that they conform to the requirement of the bylaws. Therefore, in order to address these deficiencies certain amendments have been proposed to the Bylaws. However, even after the passage of these amendments by the general body, detailed guidelines would still be needed to guide the process and those guidelines are listed below.
The following guidelines were approved by the Board of Trustees at the September 8, 2002 Board meeting for the use of the Trustees and the Nominating Committee and will be included as an Appendix to the HARI Policies and Practices document after the amendments to the HARI Bylaws are approved by the general body on November 9, 2002.
Guidelines for the formation of the Nominating Committee (for use of the Board of Trustees) and subsequent steps to follow until completion of the election process
The following procedure outlines the steps that the Board of Trustees shall follow in the formation of the Nominating Committee and thereafter until the completion of the election process:
Guidelines for the Nominating Committee in finding a slate of Candidates for the Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees
For the Executive Committee
The following guidelines shall be used by the Nominating Committee members in selecting nominees for the positions shown below in the Executive Committee.
a. Senior Vice-President, b. Secretary, c. Treasurer, d. five vice-presidents
For the Board of Trustees
AMENDED 11-06- 2002
The Board of Trustees has passed the following addendum to Policies and Practices:
Guidelines for Administering HARI School and Procedures for Appointing School officials:
The following procedures will govern the election/selection of the HARI school officials beginning January 1, 2003. The Board of Trustees approved these procedures at the November 6, 2002 Board of Trustees meeting in anticipation of the Revised Bylaws receiving approval by the general body at the November 9, 2002 general body meeting (which did occur as expected) and also the Board approved to make these procedures part of the Policies and Practices document as Appendix C.
A. HARI School Committee
The school committee will consist of the President of the Executive Committee, school co-directors, namely, the Director and the Youth Forum Director, teachers, treasurer and one appointed trustee.
B. School Staff
The school staff will consist of the Director, the Youth Forum Director, the lunch coordinator, teachers and coordinators of the other (educational) programs such as Universal Healing Program, Stress Free Life Program etc.,
C. Terms of Office
1) The terms of office of the Director and the Youth Forum Director will be three years. These appointments can occur independent of each other and as and when these position/s become/s vacant. Normally, the co-directors cannot be reappointed for at least three (3) years after serving one (1) three year term unless this requirement is waived by the Board of Trustees upon receiving written recommendation of the School Committee in the better interest of HARI School. 2) The term of office of the school teachers and the lunch coordinator will be one school year; however, reappointment's for more terms can be permitted.
D. HARI school year
School year will run from September of the year until August of the following year for other programs or from September of the year until June of the following year for the school programs, with summer recess running for the rest of the year.
E. Remuneration
Except for the reimbursement of the actual expenses made on behalf of HARI school, no remuneration will be paid to volunteering school officials. Professional teachers may exempt from this policy.
F. Other Programs
Besides religion, language, music and fine arts classes, other programs of general interest such as Stress Free Life, Universal Healing and any other educational programs can be conducted in the temple under the umbrella of HARI school. Coordinators of such programs shall be accountable and answerable to the HARI School Director. All the rules of HARI School shall apply to all such programs, without exception.
G. Accounting
School co-directors will submit an income/expense statement quarterly to the President/Treasurer. For tracking purposes, treasurer will maintain a separate account-head for HARI School under the operating account.
About two (2) weeks before the annual general membership meeting (Diwali celebration day), the School Director will gather all necessary information from the Youth Forum Director and the coordinators of the other programs and submit it to the treasurer. This is necessary because the treasurer is required to present a financial statement during the general membership meeting. It is also necessary so that the outgoing treasurer can close the books before the end of his term in December.
Similar submission of accounts by the School Director will also occur in June of each year right after the graduation program
H. Tuition fee for special classes
Professional non-volunteer teachers who want to provide religious and cultural training to HARI devotees/children may be allowed to collect reasonable fee from the students directly upon obtaining approval from the School Director and the Executive Committee. In such instances, twenty percent (20%) of the fee so collected will be contributed to HARI for cleaning, upkeep and utility costs. Upon receiving a written request from the School Director, the Board of Trustees may waive this requirement where overall benefits outweigh the monetary gain to HARI.
I. Registration
All the students who wish to enroll in HARI school including those that wish to attend the other programs will register with the school during the month of September, annually, by completing the Registration Form and by paying the applicable registration fee. Students who join the school after the month of September will complete their registrations within 21 days of joining the school. The School Director may apply a uniform late-fee policy for non-complying students. Starting from September 2000, the school committee has adopted the following registration-fee policy.
The above new fees structure were approved by BOT on February 22, 2009. The school committee may change the registration fee starting from a new school year. However, the registration fee may not be eliminated in its entirety until it is approved by the Board of Trustees.
J. Reporting and approval Requirements
Coordinators of the other programs will be required to submit quarterly or semi-annual account statement to the School Director who in turn is responsible for the entire school budget. The school director will obtain approval and/or authorization of the school budget from the school committee and/or the Executive Committee. All the expenses of the other programs need to be pre-approved by the School Director. The treasurer is advised against making payments on behalf of school without the express approval of the school director.
K. Procedures for appointment of school officials
using the above procedures except that the appointment/s will be made for a duration of the remaining term of office of the Director/Co-director.
L. Duties and responsibilities of the HARI school director:
M. Duties and responsibilities of the HARI School Co-Director (Youth Forum Director):
AMENDED 02-06 2003
The Board of Trustees has passed the following addendum to Policies and Practices:
RENTAL OF TEMPLE FACILITY POLICY
HARI Temple's lower level hall is available for private use for a fixed duration, amount and subject to the terms and conditions that are described in this document.
All rentals are from 7:00 AM in the morning to 11:00 PM unless the President of the Executive Committee has approved extended hour use.
AMENDED 01-11- 2004
The Board of Trustees has passed the following addendum to Policies and Practices:
Extended Services
HARI shall provide the following extended services to its Devotees:
HARI Temple offers the following services to devotees:
Temple Hours:
Everyday 7:30 am to 12:30 pm, and 5:00 pm to 8:30 pm
HARI Temple Services: (no charge to devotees)
Daily Aarti: 8:00 am, 12:00 noon, and 7:00 pm
Daily morning puja: 9:00 am (Shubha Prabhatham)
Vishnu Sahasranama: Every Saturday 12:30 pm
Extended Services to devotees at HARI Temple:
Archana (in person or by mail) $10.00
Vahan (Car) Puja (in person) $21.00
Satyanarayana Puja:
Every Purnima at 7:30 pm $21.00 (sponsored by devotees)
Any day at 11:00 am $21.00 (pre-schedule with the Priest)
Other Ceremonies(Annaprashan, Aksharabhayanam, Namakaran, etc.)
Pre-schedule with Priest $51.00
Wedding / Engagements (does not include facility rental):
Members $151.00
Non-members $201.00
Note:
1) Timings are subject to change during festivals and special occasions.
2) Extended Services are provided only if they do not conflict with HARI scheduled programs.
Extended Services to Devotees at their Homes, beyond Temple Hours only:
Any Puja or Ceremony (Gruhpravesh, Groundbreaking, etc.):
Members: $101.00 Others: $151.00
Wedding / Engagements:
Members: $151.00 Others: $201.00
Funeral Services:
Members: $0.00 Others: $51.00
Note:
1) Devotees need to pre-schedule this with HARI President and the Priest.
2) Extended Services outside of the temple premises are provided only if they do not conflict with HARI scheduled programs.
3) All Extended Services are first come, first served basis.
AMENDED 10-31-2005
The Board of Trustees has passed the following addendum to Policies and Practices:
Guidelines to Sponsors of HARI facilitated Programs
HARI facilitated programs are those programs of religious nature that have been approved by the President of the Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees, to be held on HARI’s premises under the sponsorship of a private entity and limits HARI to provide only the use of its premises with no other commitment of HARI’s resources.
The President will assign one of HARI’s officers to coordinate with the sponsor to facilitate the smooth conduct of the program.
The following guidelines have been approved by the Board of Trustees and are provided for the use of the sponsor of the program:
AMENDED 01-28-2007
The Board of Trustees has passed the following addendum to Policies and Practices:
Rental of lower-level hall for non-profit organizations for more than once a month:
As recommended by the Rental Policy Review Committee, the BOT has approved the following guideline on Sunday, January 28, 2007 . This rental policy is applicable only to frequent (more than once a month) programs by non-profit organizations that promote Hindu religion and support the Mission of HARI: