Jon followup on my question

["Eve L. Maler" <eve.maler@east.sun.com>]

Apparently Jon is having technical trouble responding to my question, so he 
sent it to me and asked me to forward it:

To: workprocess@lists.oasis-open.org
In-reply-to: <5.0.2.1.2.20010215135231.00a38ec0@abnaki.east.sun.com>
	(eve.maler@east.sun.com)
Subject: Re: Delicate subject: changing the attendance requirements
Reply-to: jon.bosak@eng.sun.com

Tommie and Robin are right about this.  Article 14(j) of the OASIS
ByLaws says:

    The operation of TCs shall be governed by Robert's Rules of
    Order, as such rules may be revised from time to time, insofar
    as such rules are not inconsistent with or in conflict with
    these Bylaws, with the Articles of Incorporation of this
    corporation, or with provisions of law.

So TCs can't override the provisions of the bylaws, including the
requirements for maintaining membership in a TC.  However, I think
that there is an easy way around the problem: just hold periodic
membership maintenance phone conferences at times that are
convenient for most of the members of the TC.  The standing agenda
for these conferences can be (1) roll call, (2) brief discussion,
(3) adjournment.  That way you comply with the good-standing rules
of the process without imposing any real hardship on the members.
(Anyone who can't bother to phone in for half an hour every once
in a while shouldn't be on the TC anyway.)  You can invent real
business to conduct during the discussion period if you want; for
example, you could set aside 15 minutes for everyone to
synchronize their calendars and liaison meetings, and then you
could call the conferences "interim synchronization meetings."
But all you really have to do is take the roll.  If you held the
phone conferences at least twice as often as the face-to-face
meetings, no TC member would ever have to attend a face-to-face
meeting to maintain voting membership.

Jon

    Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2001 15:40:16 -0500
    From: "Eve L. Maler" <eve.maler@east.sun.com>
    Cc: Eve.Maler@east.sun.com

    My TC is huge (nearly 80 people), and a lot of the work is
    getting done at subcommittee meetings.  I'd like to find a way
    to ease the good-standing penalties on members who are very
    active on subgroups, and who occasionally can't make the
    whole-TC meetings because they're traveling or whatever.
    However, I don't want to endanger quorum at the whole-TC
    meetings.

    As I understand it, the TC can adopt a standing rule that
    overrides the OASIS rules (and RROR), though the requirements
    for passage of such motion are slightly higher than for regular
    motions; adopting a rule easing attendance requirements would
    fall into this category.  Do people think it's a good idea to
    mess with the attendance requirements at all?

    If so, what might be a suitably mild revision?  I'm thinking
    merely of a small revision to paragraph 6(a).  It currently
    reads:

       "A member shall be warned by mail from the chair of the TC
       upon failure to attend two out of every three successive
       meetings of the TC. Membership shall be terminated if the
       member fails to attend the next meeting following
       transmittal of the warning."

    It could read:

       "A member shall be warned by mail from the chair of the TC
       upon failure to attend two out of every three successive
       meetings of the TC. If the member has not attended two out
       of three meetings of the subcommittees on which the member
       sits, or if the member does not sit on any subcommittees,
       membership shall be terminated if the member fails to attend
       the next committee meeting following transmittal of the
       warning.  If the member sits on one or more subcommittees
       and has attended two out of three meetings of those
       subcommittees, membership shall be terminated if the member
       fails to attend one of the next two committee meetings
       following transmittal of the warning."

    What say you all?

	   Eve
--
Eve Maler                                          +1 781 442 3190
Sun Microsystems XML Technology Center    eve.maler @ east.sun.com