[sakai-pmc] PMC chair/vice-chair tenure and election bylaws changes voting results

[Anthony Whyte]

Sam Ottenhoff's proposal to amend our governance rules abolishing rotating chairs and extending the tenure of the chair and vice chair positions to one year has been adopted by a vote of 11 to 1.

For=Berg, Botimer, Buckett, Bush, Jones, Kirschner, May, Ottenhoff, Severance, Swinsburg, Zeckoski
Against=Leveque
Recused=Theriault, Whyte
Did not vote=Horwitz

Both Seth Theriault and I will continue to serve as PMC vice chair and chair, respectively, until 30 June 2014.  Prior to the June conference I will ask for candidate nominations to both positions.  If a position is contested by more than one candidate an election will be scheduled prior to the end of the current incumbent's term as is our practice.

I will update Confluence with the rules change no later than Wednesday, 15 Jan 2014.  If a desire exists to further amend the rules please draft a proposal to that effect and post on the PMC public list for discussion.

Cheers,

Anthony

anthony whyte | its and mlibrary | university of michigan | arwhyte at umich.edu | 517-980-0228


Begin forwarded message:

> From: Anthony Whyte <arwhyte at umich.edu>
> Date: January 8, 2014 11:51:58 AM EST
> To: sakai-pmc at collab.sakaiproject.org
> Subject: VOTE: PMC chair/vice-chair tenure and election bylaws changes
> 
> On 19 December 2013 Sam Ottenhoff proposed that we revise the PMC chair's term of election.  A number of amendments regarding the position of vice-chair were offered by other PMC members and the proposal below incorporates the suggested changes to the original proposal.
> 
> Overview
> The six month rotating chair rule inherited from TCC practice specifies too short a time period between elections to ensure effective continuity in office for members elected to serve a committee now responsible for oversight of the Sakai project within a broader Apereo community. The rule results in the PMC chair and vice-chair rotating too often and results in too much time spent on elections. The frequency of rotations between chairs also complicates communications between the PMC and other bodies (Foundation director, conference planning, licensing, etc) and contributes to a perception of instability within the committee.
> 
> Proposal 
> The PMC will extend the term of office to one year for both the chair and vice-chair per Apache PMC protocol and eliminate the practice of automatic succession of the vice-chair to the chair upon completion of the chair's term in office. 
> 
> Specifically, the following sections of the bylaws will be amended as follows:
> 
> Section 1.2 PMC chair
> 
> Strike the following language:
> 
> Rotating position. Elected by simple majority vote of membership unless replaced by vice-chair according to order of succession described below.
> Term: 6 months
> 
> Replace with:
> 
> Elected by a simple majority vote of the membership. The chair shall hold office for a period of one year or until his or her successor is elected and qualified or until his or her earlier resignation or removal.  If the chair resigns or is removed the vice-chair will succeed to the chair and serve out the remainder of the former chair's term.  If an election results in a tie between candidates for the position of chair, successive run-off elections will be held until a candidate is elected by a simple majority vote of the membership.
> 
> Section 1.3 PMC vice chair
> 
> Strike the following language:
> 
> Rotating position. Elected by a simple majority vote of membership every 6 months. Succeeds current PMC chair when the chair's term expires.
> Term: 6 months
> 
> Replace with:
> 
> Elected by a simple majority vote of the membership. The vice chair shall hold office for a period of one year or until his or her successor is elected and qualified or until his or her earlier resignation or removal.  If the vice-chair resigns, is removed or replaces a chair who has resigned or been removed a special election will be held to elect a vice chair to serve out the remainder of the term.  If an election results in a tie between candidates for the position of vice chair, successive run-off elections will be held until a candidate is elected by a simple majority vote of the the membership.
> 
> Section 3.0 Elections
> 
> Strike the following language:
> The method for breaking a tie is still subject to debate. Suggestions include:
> In a future PMC election if there is a tie, a run off election will be held among the tied candidates following the same election procedures. 
> If members are still tied after the election, a virtual coin toss will be held when only two tied candidates are left.
> The coin toss method may change, but currently it will be via http://cointossr.com/ between the chair and vice chair. The candidate who is represented by heads and tails is arranged prior to the toss when the chair sends the link to the vice chair.
> 
> In addition, the existing 6 month tenures of the current chair and vice-chair's tenure will be extended until 30 June 2014 in order to both simplify the transition to a new election model and establish a July to June period of tenure for both positions.  
> 
> Polls open
> 
> Voting is now open and will conclude no later than Monday, 13 January 2014, 11:59:59 UTC
> 
> As earlier noted, both the current chair and vice-chair will recuse themselves from this vote.
> 
> 
> anthony whyte | its and mlibrary | university of michigan | arwhyte at umich.edu | 517-980-0228
> 
> 

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