PAC: Revised proposal for Joint Committees

[Jon Bosak <bosak@boethius.eng.sun.com>]

To: workprocess@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: PAC: Revised proposal for Joint Committees

This is the second draft of the proposal for joint committees
(JCs), incorporating suggestions made during the PAC meeting of
2000.05.24.  I have kept the intro to the preceding draft in case
anyone missed it the first time around.

Introduction to the First Draft

   Here's the first draft of a description of joint committees.
   The design is based on the only structure I can think of that
   will not require the specification of yet another big chunk of
   procedure.  If this works, we will not only have succeeded in
   collapsing "coordination committees" and "joint subcommittees"
   into a single structure, we will have been able to do it with a
   maximum reuse of generic language applying to TCs.

   In the design I'm proposing here, a joint committee, once
   formed, operates almost exactly like a normal TC and can
   therefore use all the ordinary TC procedures, but the part of
   the JC that is visible to each of the TCs cooperating in the JC
   appears to them to be one of their own subcommittees, so
   everything attending that subcommittee and its doings falls
   under the traditional system and requires no further
   specification.  The dual aspect is a bit unusual, so I would
   ask reviewers of this draft to give it a couple of reads
   through before forming definite opinions.

   Jon

==================================================================

Explanatory Note

   A joint committee (JC) is a special kind of TC consisting
   entirely of liaison subcommittees appointed by other TCs.
   Within the JC, the members of these liaison subcommittees
   appear as individual members of the JC, and once they have
   become members of the JC, their appointment by a participating
   TC is of interest only in judging whether a TC is contributing
   to the work of the JC.

   A Motion to Connect is a version of the Motion to Commit that
   when passed by a TC creates a liaison subcommittee, the members
   of which are then qualified under the OASIS bylaws to become
   individual members of a particular JC.

   A JC is defined by its stated purpose and by the number and
   type of TCs cooperating in its work.  Changing these basic
   parameters requires the formal approval of all of the
   cooperating TCs.  A JC that falls out of compliance with its
   own description or no longer enjoys participation from all of
   its cooperating TCs ceases to exist.

   Like any TC, a JC has the power to appoint a liaison
   subcommittee to participate in some other JC, and some of the
   TCs cooperating in a JC can themselves be JCs.  Thus, JCs can
   form coordinative structures of arbitrary complexity.

Joint Committee Procedure

   For purposes of this section, the term "TC" shall be
   interpreted to include JCs as a proper subset.

   The formation of a JC shall begin with the preparation of a JC
   proposal.  A JC proposal must meet all of the criteria for a TC
   proposal, and it must in addition contain (a) the date and time
   of the first meeting of the JC, such date to be no less than 45
   days and no more than one year from the date of submission, (b)
   a list of all the TCs that will cooperate in the work of the
   JC, and (c) the name of at least one member from each of those
   TCs who is committed to the purpose and meeting schedule of the
   JC.  No individual named in the proposal shall be allowed to
   represent more than one TC in meeting this requirement.

   Within 14 days of its submission, OASIS shall convey the
   proposal to the chairs of all the TCs named in the proposal and
   shall in addition copy the proposal to the mailing lists of
   those TCs.  Each of the TCs shall then have until 30 days
   before the date set in the proposal for the first JC meeting to
   appoint a liaison subcommittee the members of which are thereby
   empowered to participate in the JC described in the proposal.
   The appointment of liaison subcommittees shall be governed by
   the same rules that apply to the appointment of ordinary TC
   subcommittees.

   Upon the appointment of liaison subcommittees by all of the TCs
   named in the proposal, OASIS shall create a mailing list for
   the new JC and shall announce its formation to the membership,
   but for informational purposes only and not as a call for
   participation.

   The voting members of a newly created JC shall be those OASIS
   members who (a) have been appointed to a liaison subcommittee
   created for this purpose by one of the TCs cooperating in the
   JC, (b) individually register their intention to attend the
   first meeting of the JC by sending mail no later than 14 days
   preceding the meeting to the chair of the JC, and (c) attend
   the first meeting of the JC.

   The first meeting of a JC shall not be called to order until at
   least one member from each liaison subcommittee proposed to
   participate in the JC is present at the meeting.  If this
   requirement is not met by the end of the time scheduled for the
   first meeting, then the JC shall cease to exist, and OASIS
   shall close its mailing list.  No person shall be counted as
   representing more than one TC for purposes of this requirement.

   Membership in a JC after its first meeting shall be governed by
   the same rules governing membership in a TC, with the added
   requirement that any prospective member of a JC must first be a
   member of a liaison subcommittee appointed for this purpose by
   one of the cooperating TCs.

   Except as provided in this section, all of the provisions for
   meetings, membership, termination of membership, and leaves of
   absence that apply to members of TCs shall apply equally to
   JCs, with the added requirement that warnings of termination of
   membership shall be copied to the chair(s) of TC(s)
   contributing a member to the JC as well as to the affected
   member.

   The membership of a person in a JC shall terminate if that
   person resigns from the JC, fails to meet the generic
   participation requirements of JCs and TCs, or ceases to be a
   member of any of the liaison subcommittees participating in the
   JC.

   If termination of membership in a JC causes a still existing
   TC's contribution of voting members to that JC to fall to zero,
   the chair of the JC shall, within 14 days following the
   termination of membership, notify OASIS and the chair of the
   formerly participating TC that the TC is in breach of its
   obligation to contribute to the work of the JC.  The TC shall
   have 90 days following this notice to appoint a new liaison
   subcommittee, whose members shall become prospective members of
   the JC.  If none of those prospective members fulfills the
   requirements for participation in the JC, the attempt to create
   a liaison subcommittee shall be declared a failure.

   If a still-existing TC in breach of its obligation to
   contribute to a JC fails to appoint a liaison subcommittee
   within the time stated, then OASIS shall end all activities and
   mailing lists of that JC until its successor, if any, can be
   organized according to the provisions for starting a JC.

   If one or more TCs participating in a JC cease to exist but
   more than one TC remains, the chair of the JC shall so inform
   OASIS, and the remaining TCs after notice from OASIS shall have
   30 days thereafter to adopt a joint resolution agreeing to
   carry on the work of the JC without requalifying its members.
   If they fail to adopt such a resolution, the JC ceases to
   exist.

   A TC shall have no obligation to abide by any decision arrived
   at in a JC to which it contributes membership.  The business of
   a JC to which a TC contributes membership shall be imparted to
   the TC through reports from the chair of its liaison
   subcommittee.  Such reports shall have the same force and shall
   be made, received, and acted upon in the same manner as reports
   from any other subcommittee of the TC.

   A TC shall be added to or removed from the set of TCs
   contributing to a JC only upon joint resolution of all of the
   participating TCs.

==================================================================

Note on Termination of membership

The proposal for joint committees above takes care of an issue
left over from CS 2, TC Membership:

   [It is assumed here that membership in subcommittees is covered
   by the traditional process set forth in Robert's that we
   inherit from the current bylaws.  We'll have to embroider on
   this in discussing Issue CT 6, coordination committees, and the
   whole subject of how TCs communicate with each other.  One
   important question will be whether loss of membership in a TC
   also ends membership in joint committees to which that TC is a
   party.  Resolution of this question is deferred until we
   consider the creation and operation of joint committees.]

In the design proposed above, the use of normal subcommittee rules
for the formation of a liaison subcommittee within a TC answers
the question posed in the note: since it's a requirement that
every member of a JC be a member of at least one liaison committee
of a TC cooperating in the JC, and since loss of membership in a
TC automatically ends membership in all of its subcommittees, a
person who is no longer a member of at least one TC cooperating in
the JC cannot be a member of the JC.

The basic principle working here is that no one not actively
involved in the work of a TC should be allowed to attempt to
coordinate the work of that TC with other TCs.