[Board] Suggested text for "Expectations for Board Membership"
Jeff McKenna
jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com
Wed Aug 13 08:55:45 PDT 2014
For the record, I am involved in a lot of offline talks lately inviting
others to join the Board, and when I am asked about commitment I simply
answer with two things:
- attend the Board meeting on IRC, once a month, usually around the
second Thursday of the month, for one hour
- be open and share your thoughts on foundation discussions on the
[Board] mailing list
Beyond that, as we are all volunteers, I don't think we can ask for more.
-jeff
On 2014-08-13 12:30 PM, Daniel Kastl wrote:
> I agree with Michael, that it's a good idea to write down the
> expectations, and I don't think the timing is a big issue.
> Because it's not a bad but a good thing for board members to know what
> the community expects from them.
>
> If OSGeo goes well, then it's very easy for the board to justify that
> they did a good job. But if troubles occur or there is a lot of work but
> not much visibility, then it's easy to blame the board. Having some
> expectations defined before is for each board members safety and to have
> some rough guideline.
>
> Daniel
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 13, 2014 at 5:14 PM, Jeff McKenna
> <jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com <mailto:jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com>>
> wrote:
>
> I must admit, when I first glanced at this initial message early in
> the morning my thoughts in my head were 'this is the wrong time, in
> the middle of the Board election, to start defining roles'. The
> time for this should have been before asking nominees.
>
> Regarding clarifications about the expectations of being a Board
> member, could those vocal in this thread (Cameron, Frank, Daniel,
> mpg) mind drafting a new page on these expectations, and the new
> Board in September can review it and edit accordingly?
>
> However my experience tells me that we must be very careful with
> expectations, within a volunteer organization.
>
> -jeff
>
>
>
>
>
> On 2014-08-13 11:48 AM, Michael P. Gerlek wrote:
>
> +1 to Cameron here from me too. He's trying to clarify the
> expectations of a board member, not setting any rules - these
> are good things to be thinking about as we all think about the
> next round of Board Members.
>
> .mpg
>
> On Aug 13, 2014, at 7:07 AM, Daniel Morissette
> <dmorissette at mapgears.com <mailto:dmorissette at mapgears.com>>
> wrote:
>
> I don't think Cameron is inventing or changing any rules, he
> is just proposing to collectively document what is and has
> always been expected from a board member for the posterity.
>
> FWIW I am also in favor of documenting our processes and
> expectations (in general) as much as possible to help future
> boards in their work, and I find that Cameron has
> exceptional patience to help with that documentation process
> (he managed to walk the membership to a consensus on the new
> charter member election process, something nobody managed to
> achieve before), so instead of shooting down his
> initiatives, I think that more charter members should help
> by contributing to them.
>
> All that being said, I do not have the time and energy to
> argue this point any more, so this will be my one and only
> email on this topic.
>
> Daniel
>
>
> On 14-08-13 8:54 AM, nicolas bozon wrote:
> Cameron,
> I agree that rules and documents must/should not change
> during
> elections, because this is confusing.
> I also think that all past, present and future board
> members must/should
> already know what they should do, and what is working or
> what is not.
> Let us the Board change the many needed rules after
> elections, so it can
> also benefit from upcoming new director's visions, and
> hopefully from
> Charter Member's and Committee's input too.
>
> Best,
>
> Nick
>
>
> 2014-08-13 14:29 GMT+02:00 Venkatesh Raghavan
> <raghavan at media.osaka-cu.ac.jp
> <mailto:raghavan at media.osaka-cu.ac.jp>
> <mailto:raghavan at media.osaka-__cu.ac.jp
> <mailto:raghavan at media.osaka-cu.ac.jp>>>:
>
> Board elections have already started and I have
> made my first
> nomination.
> Please don't try to invent new rules after the
> process has begun.
> Whatever
> changes needs to be made can be discussed and made
> by the upcoming
> new board.
>
> Venka
>
>
> On 2014/08/13 20:36, Cameron Shorter wrote:
> As we move into a board election, I think it
> would be beneficial
> to document what we consider should be expected
> of board members.
> I think that it would be helpful for potential
> board members when
> considering joining the board, and also
> something that board
> members can point toward if community members
> complain about lack
> of action from the board.
> Maybe think of it as a moral contract.
>
> If others think it is a good idea, I suggest we
> add to this page:
> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/__Board_of_Directors
> <http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Board_of_Directors>
>
> Are there other points which should go on this
> list?
>
> What is expected of a board member? Boring
> legal details are
> listed in section 3 of ourbylaws
>
> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/__foundation/incorporation/__bylaws.html
> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/foundation/incorporation/bylaws.html>>
> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/__foundation/incorporation/__bylaws.html
> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/foundation/incorporation/bylaws.html>>,
> but I think it would be helpful for us to
> extend this to practical
> guidelines. Something like:
>
> * The board's primary responsibility is to
> efficiently and
> effectively make decisions regarding the day to
> day running of
> OSGeo (bylaws
>
> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/__foundation/incorporation/__bylaws.html
> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/foundation/incorporation/bylaws.html>>
> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/__foundation/incorporation/__bylaws.html
> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/foundation/incorporation/bylaws.html>>
> section 3.1).
>
> * Board members should expect to spend 1 to 3
> hours per week on
> board activities.
>
> * Board members should sometimes contribute a
> little more, maybe
> negotiating with the community or external
> organisation, collating
> or developing ideas and writing them up, doing
> some extra research
> to back a decision, or helping with
> administrative work like
> taking minutes.
>
> * Board members should attempt to attend all
> board meetings, which
> happen at a frequency of ~ once per month,
> which take ~ one hour.
> (Selection of meeting timeslots are to be
> negotiated to try and
> suit all members.) If unable to attend, the
> board member should
> attempt to provide opinions on issues before
> hand, and vote on
> motions afterwards.
>
> * Board members should monitor and contribute
> toward discussions
> on the board email list, and aim to vote on
> motions within 2
> working days.
>
> * Board members are not paid for their service
> (bylaws
>
> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/__foundation/incorporation/__bylaws.html
> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/foundation/incorporation/bylaws.html>>
> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/__foundation/incorporation/__bylaws.html
> <http://www.osgeo.org/content/foundation/incorporation/bylaws.html>>
> section 3.4), but should not be out of pocket
> if working for the
> board. For instance, a board member should be
> refunded travel
> expenses if requested to travel on behalf of
> the board.
>
> * Ideally some board members should be prepared
> to speak on behalf
> of OSGeo at events.
>
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