[Eg-oversight-board] Proposal: reduce the size of the EOB

[McKinney, Elizabeth]

Kathy, Galen and all, 

I have spent some time combing through archived copies of the Rules of Governance. There is currently not a definition for Board member terms of service. Whether we go with 7 or 9 members, we also need to specify the term limit...2 or 3 years. Nine (9) members could easily rotate off every three years, which is what I remember being in one of our original drafts of the document. 

Elizabeth 


Elizabeth McKinney 
PINES Program Director 
Georgia Public Library Service 
A Unit of the University System of Georgia 
1800 Century Place, Suite 150 
Atlanta GA 30345 
404.235.7141 
emckinney at georgialibraries.org 
http://www.georgialibraries.org/ 





----- Original Message -----

From: "Kathy Lussier" <klussier at masslnc.org> 
To: eg-oversight-board at list.evergreen-ils.org 
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2014 9:45:18 AM 
Subject: Re: [Eg-oversight-board] Proposal: reduce the size of the EOB 

+1 from me to leaner Board. I had been thinking 9 might be a good number 
so that we would have an equal number of people up for reelection every 
year, but I don't feel strongly about that number. 

I lean towards gradually reducing the Board over two years. We have 
several Board members who have only been on the Board for a year. In my 
personal experience, I found that the first year was necessary to get up 
to speed with how the Board works and how I could make a contribution. 
I'm must concerned it's a very short period for them to serve before 
being put on a ballot again. 

Kathy 

Kathy Lussier 
Project Coordinator 
Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative 
(508) 343-0128 
klussier at masslnc.org 
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier 

On 1/16/2014 9:38 AM, Chauncey Montgomery wrote: 
> Galen, 
> What you have outlined seems reasonable. I agree with the smaller 
> group being more agile. There are several other boards I serve on (or 
> work with) and it seems that the smaller groups are more efficient and 
> also more engaged. 
> Chauncey 
> 
> 
> On 01/15/2014 08:09 PM, Galen Charlton wrote: 
>> Hi, 
>> 
>> As we have elections coming up during the Evergreen conference, I 
>> would like to float a proposal to reduce the size of the EOB to 
>> streamline decision-making and encourage broader ground-up 
>> participation in project activities. 
>> 
>> The EOB has certain direct functions that do not require that there be 
>> eleven members. For example, liaising with Conservancy on trademark 
>> matters does not require the direct involvement of many people. 
>> 
>> There are some activities where the board authorizes expenditure and 
>> receipt of funds held in trust for the project, and those of course 
>> must remain in its remit. However, both the conference committee and 
>> the merchandising committee take most of their membership from outside 
>> the board. Other groups, such as the developers, DIG, and the web 
>> team, have board members that participate, but to date those groups 
>> have not requested significant draws on project funds, nor have they 
>> required EOB supervision in order to perform their functions. 
>> 
>> Besides working with Conservancy on the oversight of project funds, 
>> where I see a major role for the board is as a (though not /the/) 
>> nexus for identifying and obtaining resources to further community 
>> goals. However, I believe that a smaller group would be able to serve 
>> that function more nimbly. 
>> 
>> I propose that the EOB be reduced to seven members via attrition. 
>> There are four EOB positions that are coming vacant; we could choose 
>> to amend the rules of governance to not fill them (although if we do 
>> it in fell swoop, we should give thought to having some of the 
>> remaining positions be made open for election so that the overall 
>> community does not end up waiting two years to elect new 
>> representatives). We could also take two years at this, reducing the 
>> board to 9 for the upcoming year and to 7 in 2015. 
>> 
>> I welcome feedback on this proposal. 
>> 
>> Regards, 
>> 
>> Galen 
>> 
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