[Fwd: [chairs] Simplified TC attendance rules]

[Duane Nickull <dnickull@adobe.com>]

FYI - many of you had asked me about this in private.  Here are the new 
rules.

D

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[chairs] Simplified TC attendance rules
Date: 	Wed, 10 Aug 2005 20:36:23 -0700
From: 	James Bryce Clark <jamie.clark@oasis-open.org>
To: 	chairs@lists.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