Position Description For ALAC Members and ALAC Liaisons
1. Criteria
1.1 ALAC members and liaisons, along with the At-Large community of which it is a part, are charged with representing the interests of Internet end-users in ICANN’s processes. To that end, it is their responsibility to pass ICANN information to At-Large and to integrate At-large opinions into ALAC and ICANN deliberations. As a result, candidates for ALAC membership or a liaison post should have a demonstrated capacity to represent the views of others effectively, and generally refrain from advocating in support of personal opinions.
1.2 Nominees for membership in the At-Large Advisory Committee, as well as those seeking a position as an ALAC Liaison, should be accomplished persons of integrity, objectivity, sound judgment and intelligence who have:
- a) A commitment to ICANN's mission and its core values as expressed in the ICANN Bylaws;
- b) An understanding of the potential impact of ICANN decisions on the global Internet-using community, and the Internet end-user community in particular.
- c) An understanding of the Domain Name System (DNS) and the basics of IP addressing. This is not to say that candidates should be technical DNS experts, but a minimal understanding of the DNS is needed to effectively function on the ALAC. For example, candidates for the ALAC should know the answer to a question such as "Do you know what happens in the DNS when you send an email, or access a webpage?" This requires an understanding of the general process of name resolution.
- d) Demonstrated capacity for thoughtful group decision-making and sound judgment, and a track record of working to build consensus with a diverse set of interests working together on complex policy issues.
- e) The ability to effectively chair meetings and provide leadership and support for work teams or committees.
- f) A willingness to serve as a volunteer, without compensation other than the reimbursement of certain expenses.
- g) In accordance with the recent ALAC review recommendations as adopted by the ICANN Board, members of ALAC must have proficiency in written and spoken English to allow the committee to function effectively and to allow ALAC members to interact effectively within the overall ICANN environment.
2. Time Commitment
2.1 Membership in the At-Large Advisory Committee is a substantial commitment of one’s time as a volunteer. The basic responsibilities of an ALAC member involve a minimum of 20 hours per month on core Committee related activities. This workload is over and above the three ICANN meetings. However, participation in Working Groups, ALAC administrative activities and acting as a Liaison can very substantially increase this workload, and at least some such activities are required of all ALAC members. Expectations for Liaisons to other bodies can be found in the documentation for those bodies.
2.2 Many ALAC and ICANN meetings are conducted via teleconference. Due to participation of representatives of all ICANN regions, such calls will inevitably occur during working hours for some ALAC members, and during evening or early morning hours for others. Although attempts are made to lessen this impact, ALAC members should be reasonably flexible regarding scheduling of conference calls given reasonable advance notice.
2.3 Additionally, each ALAC member will typically lead, co-lead, or participate in one or more working groups on policy issues, which may involve an additional average 10 hours per month per working group in reading documents, drafting proposed responses, and attending teleconferences and participating in email and other electronic correspondence related to those working groups.
3. Working Practice
3.1 The ALAC has minimum participation requirements that all members are expected to meet, and members’ participation statistics are published for the At-Large community and the rest of ICANN to review. Expectations for participation include the following:
- a) Attend and actively participate in monthly ALAC teleconferences and other intersessional activities;
- b) Participate actively in policy issues and other working groups. Each ALAC member will typically help lead at least one working group composed of members of At-Large working on policy issues or administrative issues. A current listing of working group and the remit of each may be found at http://st.icann.org/working-groups.
- c) For ALAC members, vote regularly in ALAC ballots to adopt policy statements and other work of the ALAC, and the elections of officers and other positions. ALAC vote results are published and for non-personnel ballots publication includes a record of how each member voted.
- d) Attend ICANN's three face-to-face meetings each year, which generally run about 7 days with Committee members having extensive responsibilities on most days. It is understood that events may transpire to prevent attendance in person from time to time, in which case participation remotely via two-way telephonic links is strongly encouraged. There may occasionally be additional face-to-face interim meetings or regional meetings.
- e) Reading and commenting in ALAC and At-Large’s mailing lists and other communications media.
- f) For ALAC members, participation is expected in monthly RALO teleconferences and intersessional activities of the At-Large community in the region that they represent.
- g) ALAC Liaisons are expected to attend and participate in ALAC meetings, provide updates on their activities as liaisons, attend the meetings of the body they are a liaison to (the “receiving body”), participate effectively as an advocate for At-Large in the receiving body, and where necessary propose responses from the ALAC to the receiving body on policy or other questions.
- h) Liaisons and those leading working groups should regularly report on activities of the group to the ALAC and At-Large. At a minimum, such reports should highlight issues and activities that the ALAC/At-Large need to focus on.
- i) ALAC and Liaisons are encouraged to represent ALAC, At-Large and their positions in non-ICANN environments
