This workspace has been created for use by the At-Large Duties and Metrics Drafting Team (DMDT) to prepare draft text on the revision of the ALAC Rules of Procedure. The expectation is that from this drafting a new set of Rules of Procedure (RoPs) or Operating Principals (OPs) for ALAC will be created, adopted/endorsed and in use from end 2012.
The purpose of this workspace is to offer a space where the revised rules are worked on in pre-consensus mode during and between formal meetings of the Drafting Team.
Current draft in WORD FORMAT and PDF.
Redline version in WORD FORMAT and PDF.
These formats include better formatting and specific sections highlighted.
Older versions can be found under TOOLS/ATTACHMENTS
RoP-Section-B-Draft-v17
Section B: Responsibilities
1. ALAC Member Requirements and Responsibilities:
1.1. Agree to abide by these Rules of Procedure and other requirements as may be agreed to by the ALAC from time to time.
1.2. Serve on behalf of the ALAC and the At-Large Community by acting for the good of the entire Community.
1.3. Submit a Statement of Interest (SoI) in a format agreed to by the ALAC, and to keep that SoI up to date.
1.4. Attend all ALAC meetings, and to the extent that such participation from time to time may not be possible, provide advance notice of the planned absence where practical.
1.5. Prepare for and actively participate in all ALAC discussions, including face-to-face meetings, teleconferences, e-mail lists, wikis and other means of interaction as agreed to by the ALAC.
1.6. Take part in all ALAC consensus decisions and votes except for those which require attendance at a meeting where the ALAC Member is not present.
1.7. Play a leadership role in representing the interests of Internet users within ICANN.
1.8. Actively participate in ALAC Work Teams (WT), and preferably in WTs sponsored by other ICANN bodies as well. Unless otherwise specified, such participation is as an individual and not formally representing the ALAC. Preferably, the ALAC Member will also take a leadership position within one or more of the WTs in which they participate.
1.9. Should a situation arise where a person can no longer reasonably (currently and ongoing) carry out the obligations of a role, that person is obliged to either resign or otherwise ensure that the ALAC and At-Large is well-served.
1.10. Responsibilities of ALAC Members are more fully discussed in the Adjunct Document Position Description for ALAC Members, Liaisons and Appointees.
2. ALAC Chair Requirements and Responsibilities
2.1. The Chair must be an ALAC Member.
2.2. A person nominated to be Chair does not need to be in the ALAC at the time of nomination but must have an expectation of being in the ALAC after the next Annual General Meeting (AGM).
2.3. Should the person elected Chair not be an ALAC Member after the AGM, a new election will be conducted.
2.4. A chair is elected for one year term. At the end of the term, the appointment may be renewed for one additional year subject to the provisions of section 6.2. The first priority for the ALAC is to select the best person to be Chair regardless of their ability to serve for a second term.
2.5. All actions attributed to the Chair in these RoP may be delegated by the Chair to any other ALAC Member.
2.6. When the Chair delegates the running of a meeting to another ALAC Member, all rights and responsibilities with respect to managing the meeting are investing in the acting meeting chair, with the exception of those rights and responsibilities explicitly given to the ALAC Chair.
2.7. It is expected that a Chair will delegate specific responsibilities (sometimes referred to as “portfolios”) to other ALAC Leadership Team Members (ALTM), other ALAC Members and/or Liaisons based on skills, interests and workload.
2.8. All such delegations are subject to the agreement of the delegate and should be a matter of public record.
2.9. The duties of Chair include:
2.9.1. Presides over ALAC meetings.
2.9.2. Determines the procedures to be followed where standard operating procedures do not cover a specific situation,
2.9.3. Upholds the RoP, Bylaws and other norms applicable to the ALAC.
2.9.4. Determines meeting agendas in advance in conjunction with the ALTM and Staff.
2.9.5. Be the prime liaison with Staff.
2.9.6. Represents the ALAC and At-Large in meetings and in written communication where there is no specific appointment. This responsibility notwithstanding, the Chair is obliged to consult with the ALAC Members, the ALT and the ALAC and/or other segments of At-Large as appropriate.
2.9.7. Ensures that timelines and deadlines for the work of the Committee are set and met.
2.9.8. Facilitates and encourages participation of all ALAC Members in At-Large Community activities and takes appropriate actions when the participation and contributions of ALAC Members and appointees, as specified in sections 1, 3, 4 and 5, are unsatisfactory or do not meet expectations.
2.10. As a member of the ALAC Leadership Team (ALT), the Chair is subject to the same obligations as all ALT Members.
2.11. The ALAC Chair is empowered, at his/her sole discretion, to:
2.11.1. suspend or restrict a person's right to post to any At-Large electronic communications tools, including but not limited to e-mail and wiki, if the Chair determines that the person has violated the Code of Conduct. If the Chair takes such action, he/she will say so and explain why. When determining the duration of the suspension or other action, the Chair is required to take into account the overall nature of the actions of the individual are an aberration or represents a pattern of abuse.
2.11.2. cause electronic postings to be deleted if their presence harms or prejudices any person or organization or if they are unrelated to ICANN activities.
2.11.3. exclude for a specified period of time, an individual from any ALAC-related and At-Large-related activities if that person’s actions violate the Code of Conduct or are deemed to be disruptive.
2.12. As per Section 7.9, all actions of the ALAC Chair are subject to referral to the ICANN ombudsman.
2.13. Should the Chair be incapable of carrying out the duties and obligations of the office, including that of delegating responsibilities to another ALAC Member, another ALAC Member will be deemed to be the Chair until such time as the original Chair can resume their duties or the ALAC can select a replacement. The replacement chair will be, in order of precedence:
2.13.1. The Vice Chair, if there is only one and the Vice Chair is willing to serve as Chair.
2.13.2. One of the Vice-Chairs, by mutual agreement of the Vice-Chairs, or barring such agreement, by random selection of those willing to serve as Chair with the random selection carried out by Staff
2.13.3. Any other ALT Member by mutual agreement of the ALT Members, or barring such agreement, by random selection of those willing to serve with the random selection carried out by Staff
3. ALAC Leadership Team Requirements and Responsibilities
3.1. Members of the ALAC Leadership Team (ALT) support and collaborate with the Chair in the overall administration and management of the ALAC.
3.2. All ALT Members must be ALAC Members.
3.3. A person nominated to for an ALT position does not need to be in the ALAC at the time of nomination but must have an expectation of being in the ALAC after the next AGM.
3.4. Should a person selected as an ALT Member is not an ALAC member after the AGM, a new selection will be conducted.
3.5. ALT Members are expected to participate in all ALT meetings, both face-to-face and teleconferences, and to the extent that such participation from time to time may not be possible, provide advance notice of the planned absence where practical.
3.6. ALT Members agree to be available to meet the time commitments associated with their position as agreed to be the ALAC. <<Capture for adjunct document – Chair: 20-25 hours per week. More in a bad week, perhaps 1/2 in very good week. on call, available and able to attend meetings 24/7. often to do 7-9 hours straight, per day.>>
3.7. ALAC Members occupying the role of Vice-Chair agree to take on a heavier workload then the untitled ALT Members.
4. ALAC Liaison Requirements and Responsibilities
4.1. The ALAC may from time to time appoint Liaisons to formally represent the ALAC to various bodies within or outside of ALAC from now on named the Target Group (TG).
4.2. Liaisons need not be ALAC Members but they will normally be current or past ALAC members, or otherwise familiar with ALAC/At-Large and the TG to whom they will Liaison.
4.3. Liaisons are responsible for communicating ALAC positions to the TG, and for reporting on TG activities, meetings and actions that may be of interest to the ALAC, to the extent that confidentiality rules of the TG allow.
4.4. Liaisons shall generally have the same responsibilities as ALAC Members, with the following exceptions
4.4.1. Liaisons do not participate in ALAC consensus decisions or votes unless they are ALAC Members.
4.4.2. Liaisons may be relieved of the responsibility to attend all ALAC meetings by decision of the ALAC.
4.4.3. Liaisons have no requirements to participate in ALAC and other WGs other than those related to the TG unless they are ALAC Members. That notwithstanding, Liaisons are encouraged and expected to be active participants in the activities of the TG.
4.5. Liaisons have an obligation to ensure that it is clear whether they are speaking on behalf of themselves, the org that sent them (if any) or the ALAC. Moreover, Liaisons must, to the best of their ability, fairly represent positions of the ALAC where they exist.
4.6. When representing the ALAC, Liaisons have an obligation to solicit ALAC and At-Large views on the matter where practical and possible. Liaisons should be picked knowing that in many instances such consultation may not be possible or practical and thus the ALAC needs to select people who understand the philosophies of ALA and At-Large.
4.7. Liaisons shall accept, while acting in their capacity on behalf of the ALAC, to put the collective views of the ALAC in front of their own, to the extent that such views are known.
4.7.1. When the personal views are in conflict with ALAC views, the Liaison must make clear which position is which.
4.7.2. To the extent that such ALAC views are not known, personal views should not be misrepresented as ALAC views.
4.8. Liaisons may serve in this capacity to only one TG at a time.
4.9. Liaisons appointments are from the period of the end of one AGM to the end of the following AGM unless otherwise specified by the ALAC at the time of the appointment.
4.10. Any appointment where the TG has internal participation qualifications is conditional on acceptance by the TG.
4.11. To the extent possible and practical, the TG should make their requirements known ahead of time.
5. ALAC Non-Liaison Appointee Requirements and Responsibilities
5.1. The ALAC may from time to time appoint individuals to represent the interests of the ALAC and the At-Large Community, to act on behalf of the ALAC or to meet other specific obligations, to various bodies within or outside of ICANN.
5.2. Non-Liaison Appointees do not need to be ALAC Members but must have sufficient knowledge of ALAC/At-Large and other the group or subject related to their appointment so as to be able to properly represent the ALAC/At-Large.
5.3. Except as agreed to by the ALAC, the responsibilities and obligations of Non-Liaison Appointees are the generally same as those of Liaisons.
6. Terms
6.1. All appointments begin at the conclusion of one AGM and continue until the conclusion of the following AGM, unless the ALAC specifically identifies a different time-frame.
6.2. If the Chair is still a member of the ALAC in the year following his or her appointment, and is willing to continue in that role, the Chair is deemed to automatically be renewed for a second year without any explicit action of the ALAC.
6.3. Should the Chair not be eligible to serve the automatically renewable second year, or chooses not to do so, the ALAC will select a new Chair as per the normal Chair selection process.
6.4. If any person leaves an appointed position prior to the normal end of their term, the person appointed as a replacement will serve only for the remainder of the incumbent’s term.
7. Performance and Metrics
Preamble:
- The ALAC can function effectively only if all ALAC Members and appointees meet the obligations of their positions.
- The ability of the ALAC to represent the interest of Internet users depends on strong participation from all ICANN regions.
- The ALAC and At-Large receive very significant funding from ICANN, both for travel and other activities, and the ALAC’s must be able to justify such expense.
- Satisfactory performance is a complex concept including both objective and subjective issues and must factor in the personal contributions made by At-Large volunteers.
7.1. All ALAC Members must make regular and significant contributions to the ALAC, At-Large and ICANN.
7.2. A variety of metrics will be maintained related to quantifiable performance aspects to ensure that all ALAC Members and appointees are aware of their performance, and to support the Chair in the responsibility of monitoring such performance. Such metrics will include, but are not limited to:
7.2.1. Meeting attendance including sending prior notice if attendance not possible. For meetings held during an ICANN meeting, attendance will be based on individual ALAC sessions.
7.2.2. Participation in the decisions and votes of the ALAC
7.2.3. Participation and roles played on ALAC working groups as well as those of other bodies within ICANN.
7.3. The metrics for all Members and appointees will be publicly available.
7.4. The ALAC is empowered to set thresholds which the Chair or RALOs could use to monitor performance.
7.5. The ALAC has the right to withdraw the appointment of ALAC appointees.
7.6. The Chair is empowered to initiate or take action as agreed to by the ALAC. Any such actions must, to the extent possible, be done with due sensitivity and consideration to cultural differences throughout the globally diverse At-Large Community.
7.7. Such actions shall include but not be limited to:
7.7.1. Discussion of issue with the ALAC Member or appointee.
7.7.2. Use of the ICANN Ombudsman for mediation.
7.7.3. Discussion with the RALO leadership if the ALAC Member is a RALO appointee
7.7.4. Withdrawal of travel funding, in conjunction with the appropriate ICANN budget manager(s).
7.7.5. Although resignations are far preferable to the ALAC taking formal action, should the situation warrant it, the ALAC may vote to remove an ALAC Member.
7.7.5.1. The ALAC Member must be given an opportunity to explain to the ALAC why he/she should not be removed.
7.7.5.2. Should such a vote be necessary, it will be carried out with a secret ballot of all ALAC Members except the one in question.
7.7.5.3. For a vote of removal to be successful, at least 2/3 of the ALAC Members eligible to vote must vote for removal.
7.8. Actions taken do not need to be done in sequence and none of those listed above are mandatory unless specified as so by the ALAC.
7.9. All actions of the ALAC, ALAC Members, or the ALAC Chair are always subject to referral to the ICANN ombudsman.
7.10. The ALAC is empowered to publish an Adjunct Document: Metrics and Remedial Actions for ALAC Members, Liaisons and Appointees to describe in fuller detail the metrics referenced in Section 7.5 – 7.7, and actions referenced in Sections 7.10 – 7.12.
Adjunct Documents
- Position Description for ALAC Members, Liaisons and Appointees
- Metrics and Remedial Actions for ALAC Members, Liaisons and Appointees
Definitions – used or defined:
- Statement of Interest (SoI): Not sure if acronym is needed since is not used much.
- ALAC Member
- Adjunct Document:
- Annual General Meeting (AGM)
- Rules of Procedure (RoP)
- ALAC Leadership Team (ALT): The group of ALAC members including the ALAC Chair, normally with one per ICANN region, that supports and collaborates with the Chair in the overall administration and management of the ALAC.
- ALAC Leadership Team Member (ALT Member)
- Liaison: A person formally appointed by the ALAC to represent the ALAC, to a TG that defines such a Liaison position.
- Non- Liaison Appointee: A person appointed by to the ALAC to serve on or with some TG.
- Target Group (TG): An organization within or outside of ICANN to which the ALAC appoints someone, often to represent or act of behalf of the ALAC.
19 Comments
Alan Greenberg
Record of outcomes of 24 July 2012 Meeting and the in-person meeting in Prague.
Red: Issues to be looked at in following meetings. Underlined once addressed.
Blue: Decisions at meeting of 04 September 2012
Executive Committee:
Tijani Ben Jemaa
Executive Committee
Forth bullet point:
The other four ExCom members will be nominated by the Old ALAC but if there is contention, will be selected by the incoming ALAC (the New ALAC). <<Exact timing and process still to be determined.>>
Sixth bullet point
A person nominated to be Chair need not be on the Old ALAC but must have an expectation of being on the New ALAC (that is they must either already be seated on the ALAC, have been confirmed by the NomCom or a RALO as sitting on the new ALAC, or having a reasonable expectation of being named to the New ALAC by a RALO.
I think all the ExCom members need not to be on the old ALAC and must be on the new one.
To ensure this, their selection should be done during the last ICANN meeting of the calendar year. Since the NomCom appointees are announced far before this meeting, and the RALOs’ selection is also done before the so-called meeting, the list of the new ALAC is well known before the AGM.
Seventh bullet point
One or two of the ExCom members other than the Chair will hold the designation Vice-Chair. A person willing to be a Vice-Chair is volunteering to take on a larger role that one of the untitled ExCom members. <<The number of Vice-Chairs needs more discussion.>>
I think that we need to be very precise.
Ninth and tenth bullet points
There is significant discomfort with the name "Executive Committee". "Executive" sound elitist and some people feel that there should not be a committee of a committee.
Possible alternatives:
No elitist meaning in Executive. Executive is the work horse.
Yes, it’s not logical to have an executive committee of an advisory committee.
We can call it:
I think the simpler the name is the best is
Alan Greenberg
My comments on Tijani's thoughts can be found at http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/alac-dmdt/2012-September/000025.html.
Alan Greenberg
Record of outcomes of 16 August 2012 Meeting
Red: Issues to be looked at in following meetings. Underlined once addressed.
Blue: Decisions at meeting of 04 September 2012
Green: Decisions of meeting of 20 September 2012
Purple: Decisions of meeting of 01 October 2012
Definitions:
ALAC Officer: There are five ALAC Officers, one from each if the ICANN Regions. One of the Officers is the person who has been elected ALAC Chair and one or two are designated as Vice-Chairs. <<Note: the term "Officer" may be changed prior to RoP finalization.>>
Membership requirements and prohibitions:
Pre-requisites and co-requisites:
All Officers and Appointees:
All ALAC Members:
Tijani Ben Jemaa
Definitions
Eighth bullet point
Work Group (WG): Except in the section X (the section describing WGs), the term WG shall mean Work Group, committee, drafting team or any other designation associated with a group of people working together.
Because it’s confusing to use WG to designate other thing that a Working Group, I think it’s better to call working groups, committees, sub-committees, drafting teams, etc. “ALAC related Groups (ARG)” or “ALAC related teams (ART)”
Alan Greenberg
My comments on Tijani's thoughts can be found at http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/alac-dmdt/2012-September/000025.html.
Eduardo Diaz
I have checked the SOI template that we are currently using for ALAC and found it to be OK. In fact, it resembles very closely the one being used by the GNSO. Question #8 and #9 are key to the SOI and should be monitored for I believe these are the ones that can indicate a possible conflict of interest. My concern is who is going to monitor these regularly. Maybe it will be advisable to have every ALAC member sign a document that assures no conflict of interest with the ALAC processes. Also, the ALAC chair should start the very first face-to-face meeting at an ICANN meeting by asking if anyone believes that there is in a conflict of interest with the ALAC.
If the new ROPs (to be determined or accepted) requires all members to update their SOI once every three months there should be an automatic mechanism to advice every member to do so.
-ed
Alan Greenberg
Thanks Eduardo,
Once we have a specific requirement in our RoP saying that any potential conflict needs to be declared (and we have already identified that need), I don't think we need to have anyone sign anything. The declaration should be sufficient.
I agree with the "start of meeting" concept, but again, do not think we need to focus on the existence of a conflict but rather on the need to keep the SoI up to date and ask if there have been any changes.
Eduardo Diaz
I agree with your comments.
-ed
Holly Raiche
There is a lot of overlap between the Def and Structure and this. That's not a problem because a lot of what is here fills out details that the DSDT team left out. IOnce all the details from each team are worked out, we do need to go back to the outline to agree on an approach. Should we have everything about one structure (the ALAC, The ExCom etc all in one place - its structure, role, selection of members, metrics etc under one heading, or should we have the structure as it is now - by heading - that is all structures first (with membership and role), then selection, then metrics.
Alan Greenberg
Record of outcomes of 04 September 2012 Meeting
Red: Issues to be looked at in following meetings. Underlined once addressed.
Blue: Decisions at meeting of 20 September 2012
Terms:
Obligations:
All Officers and Appointees:
Chair Responsibilities:
Request from Cheryl to find a replacement for "He/She" (and presumably "(s)he". "They" is a replacement often used, but some object to the use of a plural pronoun in place of a singular one.
We will use sentence structure that avoids the issue where possible, and deal with exceptions if necessary. Note that "they" does not address the problems in translations into languages where that pronoun is gender-sensitive (such as French). S/he and (s)he are also not applicable in languages where one pronoun is not a subset of the other.
Tijani Ben Jemaa
Terms
2nd, 3rd and 5th bullet points
As for the Chair term, I find it very complicated to make it 2 years while all ALAC members, including the chair, are not always there for 2 years. If we really need it to be specified in the RoP that the Chair term is 2 years, we need to describe all the possible cases with the decided on solutions for each case (for exemple, if we want Mr/Ms X to serve as chair, and he/she is at his/her second year of his/her second term; shall we choose another one while we believe he/she is the best???? Why we prevent ourselves from the service of a very good chair because he can’t serve for 2 years?
I think that the best is to let it open. The term of a chair is for one year extendable to a second year if the ALAC so desire, and if his/her situation in ALAC permit it. It is always the decision of ALAC. Think also of the case we choose a chair, and we realize mid-way that we made a big mistake: in this case, I prefer to manage the situation for one year better then have him/her for 2 years despite of his/her performance.
6th bullet point
If a vacancy is filled mid-year, the term begins upon finalization of the selection. At the discretion of the ALAC, the term could run until the following AGM, or that period plus one/two additional years based on standard term for that office.
I do think that the term of a substitute should begin upon the finalization of his/her selection, and run until the following AGM. If ALAC wants him/her to continue for a new term, and his/her situation in ALAC permit it, he/she should follow the normal path for a new selection.
All officers and appointees’ obligations
2nd bullet point
Shall accept to serve on behalf of the ALAC and the At-Large Community by acting for the good of the entire Community, working to bridge differences and build consensus, but also recognizing difference and enabling different opinions to be shared. [I have largely included the fragment starting with “working to” verbatim from the current document. I freely admit I am not sure what it means.]
The meaning of the statement is very clear for me:
Build consensus doesn’t mean prevent the minority to express itself.
Alan Greenberg
My comments on Tijani's thoughts can be found at http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/alac-dmdt/2012-September/000025.html.
Alan Greenberg
Record of outcomes of 20 September 2012 Meeting
Metrics
Other comments
Remediation
Holly Raiche
Additional metrics could be whether the 'member' is also a member of a working group/committee (whatever term we use) and their attendance/participation in that working group/committee, and whether they have drafted documents (letters to the board, comments for ALAC responding to a PDP) for the ALAC
Alan Greenberg
Record of meeting of 01 October 2012
Metrics
Remediation
Holly Raiche
Two things. First, taken from Alan's notes is:
In earlier text in the DSDT sendbox (I think) ALAC is said to be composed of 2 members nominated from each region and five nominated by NOMCOM. Is that what what meant by the above action item.
If further words are needed, then I am asking whether they should go in the definitions or glossary section (I did both - and Eduardo commented on them - but I can't find where they are now.) In the definitions section (from memory) all that we did was spell out what ALAC stands for. My question is, therefore, should a further explanation, as set out above, be set out in the glossary - along the lines of: ALAC consists of XXX,
Alan Greenberg
New version now in Wiki.
Holly Raiche
A few minor points:
The acronym ALTM is used once only (2.7) and at all other times, the term ALT Member is used (and defined). suggest altering Clause 2.7 accordingly
Clauses 7.1-7.2 and 7.4 are not metrics. Could they be changed to descriptive text?
In clause 7.10, suggest that when saying 'such actions' refer to actions under 7.8 -7.9.
On reading the latest version, I don't think we need a glossary. A definitions section (at front or back) with the terms Alan has identified, is enough. (however, the final document should be reviewed before finalising the definitions section.