Simplified TC attendance rules

[James Bryce Clark <jamie.clark@oasis-open.org>]

    After the 15 April 2005 TC Process revisions were
posted, we received significant feedback from TC chairs and others that
the revised rules for TC attendance in Section 2.4 -- which govern when
voting rights are acquired and lost -- were not easy to administer. 
We try to make only infrequent changes to the TC Process, but our Board
of Directors took this feedback to heart and re-examined the rule. 
At  their last meeting, they directed the Board's TC Process
Committee to simplify the rule.  The new text is set out at the
bottom if this message.  Note:

     -- A TC member who fails to attend may lose
their *voting* rights as a result, but their *membership* does not expire
due to absences.  
    --  Most felt that the "2 out of 3" and
"3 out of 4" formulations we've discussed were easy to
misinterpret.  So we built the revised rule around "2
consecutive meetings":  members will lose voting rights by
missing 2 in a row, and regain them after attending 2 in a row. 
    -- A simple rule should be easier to administer. 
This is important because we rely on volunteer TC chairs and secretaries
to mind attendance.  Our next task will be to make the
database-driven TC rosters and attendance tracking functions more
user-friendly. 
    -- We did also consider, but declined, giving TC
chairs discretionary power to waive the attendance rules.  There
were a range of opinions here.  More focused on the risk of
inconsistent or inappropriate use of the waiver.  A person with a
planned absence still can employ the leave of absence rules.  

    The Board delegated the power to change this rule to
the TC Process Committee, so that we could amend immediately instead of
waiting another month.  We enacted this change on Tuesday, effective
immediately upon posting, and will post it to the [members] list and the
official TC Process page shortly after this announcement to you. 
Our thanks to the TC leaders and participants who flagged this issue for
us and suggested solutions.  The revised test of the rule
follows.   

REVISED TEXT:  

2.4 TC Membership and Participation
    TC membership is per person, not per organization, and
is not transferable from person to person. 

Observer
    An Eligible Person may become an Observer of a TC by
registering as an Observer using the electronic collaboration tools
provided by OASIS. If the Eligible Person is an employee or designee of
an OASIS member organization, the Primary Representative of that
organization must be notified that the person has requested to become an
Observer. The Observer is not a Member of the TC so has no attendance or
participation requirements to maintain this status, other than to remain
an Eligible Person. 

Member
    Any time after the first meeting, an Eligible Person
shall become a Member of an existing TC by registering as a Member using
the electronic collaboration tools provided by OASIS. If the Eligible
Person is an employee or designee of an OASIS member organization, the
Primary Representative of that organization must confirm to the Chair and
to the TC Administrator that the person may become a Member of the TC.
Upon receipt by the Chair of confirmation by the Primary Representative
the Member may begin participating, but shall not have voting rights. A
Member shall become eligible to vote in the TC when the requirements
below are met. 

Voting Member
    After the first Meeting of a TC, a Member shall gain
voting rights at the close of the second consecutive Meeting attended by
the Member or 60 days after the person becomes a Member, whichever comes
first. 
    A Voting Member must be active in a TC to maintain
voting rights. In TCs that hold Meetings, a Voting Member who is absent
from two consecutive Meetings (as recorded in the minutes) loses his or
her voting rights at the end of the second Meeting missed. If a TC has
adopted a standing rule to conduct business only by electronic ballot,
without Meetings, then a Voting Member who fails to cast a ballot in two
consecutive Specification Ballots loses his or her voting rights at the
close of the second ballot missed. 
    A Member who has lost his or her voting rights shall
regain them for a TC that holds Meetings by attending two consecutive
Meetings (as recorded in the minutes), thus regaining voting rights after
the end of the second Meeting attended.  A Member of a TC that does
not hold Meetings may regain voting rights by making a request to the
chair(s) to regain them, effective 60 days after the request.  
    Voting Members who lose their voting rights remain
Members of the TC. A warning may be sent to the Member by the Chair, but
the loss of voting rights is not dependent on the warning. 

END

Regards  Jamie

~   James Bryce Clark
~   Director, Standards Development, OASIS
~   jamie.clark@oasis-open.org