New OASIS TC membership categories

["John M. Greacen" <john@greacen.net>]

I insert below the new TC membership definitions included in the new TC Process recently adopted by the OASIS Board.  Although there does not seem to be any practical consequence to the new distinction between Member and Observer – since both continue to receive all TC messages and can provide views on the TC list – the LegalXML Member Section Steering Committee in New Orleans determined to ask that you alert persons who are currently Observers on your TC of their eligibility to become Members.  That can be accomplished by a single message to all TC members.  We ask that you use your privileges as TC chair to change the status of any persons wishing to make the change, avoiding the need for them having to re-register for TC membership to become Members if they are currently Observers.  I suggest that you take the opportunity to inform TC members of the increased strictness of the interpretation of the TC participation rule – that persons are to be dropped from TC voting membership status automatically upon non attendance at 2 of 3 meetings or non voting on 2 of 3 KAVI votes.  Warnings are no longer a required part of that voting membership loss process.

Thanks for implementing the new process in your TC.

 

Observer

An Eligible Person may become an Observer of the 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 status. A Member shall become eligible to vote in the TC when the requirements below are met.

Voting Member

A Member shall gain voting rights immediately after a probationary period, which starts when the Member requests voting rights via the electronic collaborative tools, and lasts until the close of the third meeting or 60 days following the request, whichever comes first.

During the probationary period the Member must attend two of every three TC meetings but cannot cast ballots; if attendance requirements are not met, the Member shall not gain voting rights.

A Voting Member must be active in a TC to maintain voting rights. In TCs that hold meetings, the Voting Member must attend two of every three Meetings, with attendance recorded in the minutes. If a TC has adopted a standing rule to conduct business only by electronic ballot, without Meetings, then a Voting Member must participate in two of every three Specification Ballots with participation established when a vote is recorded.

Voting Members who do not participate in two of every three Meetings (or Specification Ballots as described above) shall lose their voting rights but remain as 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. A Member may relinquish his voting rights by sending a statement to that effect to the TC general email list.