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Subject: Re: Possible interim process fix
Jon wrote:
| What follows is a possible interim procedure for creating new OASIS
| technical committees and for recertifying existing OASIS TCs by
| formally appointing their voting membership.
|
| See the accompanying message "The TRAC reconsidered" for my motivation
| in suggesting this strategy. Basically it's to minimize the work of
| moving the interim structure to our long-term structure.
|
| Note that this is a possible *interim* fix intended to sanction
| technical committees under what appear to be our current rules.
|
| The forms below are intended mostly as a demonstration of the concept.
| I don't think that this bears much discussion until we've decided
| whether this is the direction in which we want to go; see the
| questions at the bottom of "The TRAC reconsidered."
|
| Jon
|
| ========================================================================
|
| 1. We assume in every case the formation or prior existence of
| an OASIS mailing list created at the direction of the board,
| including a notification to the membership that a list has
| been formed. I think that we are safe in assuming that this
| has already occurred in the case of our existing committees.
Why an OASIS mailing list? (this is really a question about the
desired end state)
| 2. The list or committee chair draws up
|
| a. A charter that describes the work of the committee (an
| abstract, not in detail).
In the context of Robert's I'm uneasy about calling this a charter;
see pp10--11. Below you use "purpose", which I like better.
| b. A description of the committee's intended deliverables.
|
| c. A description of the committee's anticipated meeting and
| phone conference schedule for the calendar year 2000.
I don't find it possible to determine the phone schedule that
far in advance. It can be done in the abstract ("every two weeks").
| 3. The list or committee chair asks the mail list for
| nominations to voting membership. Prospective voting members
| are asked to certify their intention to participate at the
| level described.
I think this is not nomination in the sense of R, if only because
you don't want persons not already on the list to be nominated.
(And R has a lot of other stuff about nominations we don't want
to get saddled with for this immediate purpose). Let's call this
"volunteering". Requirements for attendance must be stated at
this point.
| a. In the case of new committees, the list chair waits a
| week or so after the mail list has been formed and whatever
| informal correspondence needed to set the expectations of
| the group has taken place and then posts the notice below.
| ===========================================================
| CALL FOR NOMINATIONS TO VOTING MEMBERSHIP: OASIS [name goes
| here] TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
Including "ADVISORY".
| The OASIS [name goes here] Technical Committee is being
| formed to [purpose of committee goes here].
| [name(s)] have/has agreed to serve as chair(s) of the
| proposed committee.
|
| The proposed deliverables of the TC are as follows:
|
| [description of deliverables goes here]
|
| In calendar year 2000, the TC is expected to meet at [host,
| location, date; host, location, date; ... or other language
| describing meeting plans].
|
| [OPTIONAL] The TC also intends to meet regularly by phone,
| [name of sponsoring company or other agency] having agreed
| to provide phone conference services for calendar year
| 2000.
I wouldn't want to require that phone service be set up a calendar
year at a time as a prerequisite.
| Upon startup, the TC will consist in effect of a set of
| voting members and a set of non-voting observers. The
The nonvoting observers are not part of the TC per R. At least
I don't find "observers" in the index.
| voting members will be those who have been appointed by the
| OASIS Board of Directors from among persons nominating
| themselves in response to this call. Note that voting
| members must be able to promise attendance at meetings in
| order to meet quorum requirements. Therefore, OASIS
| members wishing to track and comment upon the work of the
| TC in the mailing list but not to attend its meetings
| regularly should *not* apply for voting membership.
|
| Members of this list willing to commit to voting
| participation in the OASIS [name goes here] Technical
| Committee are hereby requested to respond to this list no
| later than [date] with the following statement:
|
| I understand that OASIS committees regularly meet in
| person or by phone as determined by the committee or by
| the OASIS Board of Directors and that participation in
| the [name goes here] TC will require me to attend most
| of its meetings. Based on the estimated meeting
| schedule given above, I certify that I have the means
| and the interest to attend such meetings and that I
| intend to do so.
|
| I understand that the TC cannot transact business in the
| absence of a quorum or take action by mail ballot
| without the active participation of its members and that
| therefore failure to attend meetings and vote in mail
| ballots will result in my removal from the committee. I
| promise to submit a letter of resignation to the chair
| or chairs of the committee if in the future I find
| myself unable to participate actively in its work.
We must have absolutely rigid rules about how many meetings you
can miss before being booted.
| [member signature block goes here]
| ===========================================================
|
| b. In the case of existing committees, the chair posts a
| notice with an explanatory preface like the one shown here.
Actually, you don't need this point, because all existing groups
will be "new committees" wrt process.
| ===========================================================
| To members of the [name goes here] committee:
|
| The OASIS Board of Directors recently appointed a Process
| Advisory Committee (PAC) to advise the board regarding
| procedures to be followed in OASIS technical committees
| under the current OASIS bylaws and to develop suggestions
| for changes to the bylaws that will enhance the scalability
| of the OASIS process.
I think the membership should already know this because it should
already have been announced.
| According to PAC analysis so far, our current bylaws, if
| strictly applied, require the voting membership of
| committees to be approved by the Board of Directors.
| However, the appointment of specific members has the
| procedural implication that a majority of those voting
| members have to be present in meetings and phone
| conferences for the committee to conduct formal business,
| and it takes a majority of the voting membership in email
| to officially decide anything. So it's necessary to
| distinguish the members of this list who can actually
| commit to attending meetings and phone conferences from
| members who wish only to track the progress of the
| committee and participate in mail dicussions.
|
| The board is therefore requesting all current OASIS
| technical committees to formally nominate voting members
| who can commit to attending committee meetings and respond
| to votes put to them by the chair. It also wants to use
| this occasion to get our estimated deliverables and meeting
| schedule for the coming year.
|
| [chairs of existing technical committees are permitted at
| this point to insert a paragraph expressing their opinion
| that this is all a lot of silly nonsense, but what can one
| do, &c.]
I protest. We should use one approved form, and it shouldn't refer
to nonexistent committees that were never appointed.
| I've prepared a description of our committee and a formal
| call for nominations to voting membership below. Please
| review the charter and meeting information and then decide
| whether you want to nominate yourself to serve as a voting
| member of the committee.
|
| Please note that the current composition of this mail list
| will not change on approval of voting members. The primary
| difference is that a subset of the list will now be able to
| pass formal resolutions on behalf of the group in
| accordance with current OASIS bylaws.
Not on behalf of the larger group, on behalf of themselves. The
rest aren't members of the committee.
| Best regards,
|
| [name of list chair]
|
| CALL FOR NOMINATIONS TO VOTING MEMBERSHIP: OASIS [name goes
| here] TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
|
| The OASIS [name goes here] Technical Committee is being
| recertified to [clause describing the work goes here].
|
| The chair(s) of the TC is/are [name(s) go(es) here].
|
| The proposed deliverables of the TC are as follows:
|
| [description of deliverables goes here]
|
| In calendar year 2000, the TC is expected to meet at [host,
| location, date; host, location, date; ... or other language
| describing meeting plans].
|
| [OPTIONAL] The TC also intends to meet regularly by phone,
| [name of sponsoring company or other agency] having agreed
| to provide phone conference services for calendar year
| 2000.
|
| Upon recertification, the voting members of the TC will be
| those who have been appointed by the OASIS Board of
| Directors from among persons nominating themselves in
| response to this call. Note that voting members must be
| able to promise attendance at meetings in order to meet
| quorum requirements. Therefore, OASIS members wishing to
| track and comment upon the work of the TC in the mailing
| list but not to attend its meetings regularly should *not*
| apply for voting membership.
again the language needs fixing.
| Members of this list willing to commit to voting
| participation in the OASIS [name goes here] Technical
| Committee are hereby requested to respond to this list no
| later than [date] with the following statement:
|
| I understand that OASIS committees regularly meet in
| person or by phone as determined by the committee or by
| the OASIS Board of Directors and that participation in
| the [name goes here] TC will require me to attend most
| of its meetings. Based on the estimated meeting
| schedule given above, I certify that I have the means
| and the interest to attend such meetings and that I
| intend to do so.
|
| I understand that the TC cannot transact business in the
| absence of a quorum or take action by mail ballot
| without the active participation of its members and that
| therefore failure to attend meetings and vote in mail
| ballots will result in my removal from the committee. I
| promise to submit a letter of resignation to the chair
| or chairs of the committee if in the future I find
| myself unable to participate actively in its work.
Before we go further, what is our procedure for booting the sloths
if they don't submit a letter of resignation?
| [member signature block goes here]
| ===========================================================
|
| 4. When the time specified in the call for participation is
| up, the chair gathers together the names that have been
| submitted and sends an appropriate message to the board.
|
| ==============================================================
| FORM FOR REQUESTING THE CREATION OR RECERTIFICATION OF AN
| OASIS TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
|
| To the OASIS Board of Directors, greetings.
|
| Background
|
| [In the case of a new committee:]
again, all we'll have is new committees.
| Members of the [name of mail list] have proposed to form
| an OASIS technical committee chartered to [purpose of
| committee goes here].
|
| The proposed deliverables of the TC are as follows:
|
| [description of deliverables goes here]
|
| [In the case of an existing committee:]
|
| Members of the [name of committee] have recently
| reviewed their charter, which is to [purpose of
| committee goes here].
|
| The planned deliverables of the TC are as follows:
|
| [description of deliverables goes here]
|
| [Then continue:]
|
| In calendar year 2000, the TC is expected to meet at [host,
| location, date; host, location, date; ... or other language
| describing meeting plans]
|
| [OPTIONAL] The TC also intends to meet regularly by phone,
| [name of sponsoring company or other agency] having agreed
| to provide phone conference services for calendar year
| 2000.
|
| The following OASIS members and employees of OASIS member
| organizations have nominated themselves to serve as voting
| members of the TC and have accepted the proposed charter,
| deliverables, and meeting schedule.
|
| [name, contact info]
| [name, contact info]
| [name, contact info]...[include name of chair]...
|
| The [proposed] chair of the TC is [name of chair or
| proposed chair goes here].
|
| [If a new committee:]
|
| As chair of the [list name goes here] list, I hereby
| request that the Board of Directors create the OASIS
| [name goes here] Technical Committee and empower it to
| fulfill its proposed charter, including the power to
| form such subcommittees as are provided by parliamentary
| authority.
|
| [signature block of list chair goes here]
|
| [If an existing committee:]
|
| As chair of the [name goes here] TC, I hereby request
| that the Board of Directors recertify the TC and empower
| it to fulfill its proposed charter, including the power
| to form such subcommittees as are provided by
| parliamentary authority.
"recertify" has no meaning here.
| [signature block of TC chair goes here]
| ==============================================================
|
| 5. The board then considers a resolution creating the new
| committee or recertifying the existing one.
|
| ==============================================================
| FORM OF RESOLUTION FOR CREATION OR RECERTIFICATION OF AN OASIS
| TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
|
| Resolution of the Board
|
| [If a new committee:]
|
| Be it resolved, that the OASIS [name of TC] be created
| with [name] as its chair and that the OASIS members
| listed in the message copied below be appointed its
| voting members.
|
| [If an existing committee:]
|
| Be it resolved, that the OASIS [name of TC] be
| recertified with [name] as its chair and that the OASIS
| members listed in the message copied below be appointed
| its voting members.
|
| [Then continue:]
|
| Be it further resolved, that the [name of TC] be empowered
| to fulfill its charter stated below, including the power to
| form such subcommittees as are provided by parliamentary
| authority.
|
| Record of Vote on the Resolution of the Board
|
| Date: [date goes here]
| Voting to approve the resolution: [names go here]
| Voting against the resolution: [names go here]
| Abstaining: [names go here]
|
| Certified by [name of Secretary of OASIS] for the Board of
| Directors.
|
| [Copy of request from list or committee chair, including
| background statement and list of nominees, is copied in here.]
| ==============================================================
regards, Terry
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