Chapters Committee/Resolutions/Amendment of Rules November 2011 - January 2012

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The Chapters Committee resolves to submit to the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation the attached recommendation on a resolution to amend the Committee's Rules of Procedure.

Recommended resolution text

Whereas the Chapters Committee is a Board-created Committee empowered to choose how it contracts its ordinary business,
Whereas the Chapters Committee has for its own better management by resolution recommended a change in its Rules of Procedure, and
Whereas the change in Rules of Procedure necessitates transitory measures in membership terms,

Resolved, that the Rules of Procedure of the Chapters Committee in Annex 1, and the transitory measures of Annex 2 are approved,
(Further resolved, that the Chapters Committee may amend these Rules of Procedures by a resolution adopted by a majority of its members.)

Annex 1

I Membership

The Committee shall be comprised of at least five and not more than fifteen voting members, and an unspecified number of non-voting advisers. The default number of members will be ten.
A member or adviser may be removed by a 2/3 vote of the Committee.
A member or adviser may resign at any time by notifying the Committee of this intent in writing. The Board of Trustees, after consultation with the Committee, has the power to remove or appoint any further members and advisers if desired.
Advisers can be appointed through a majority vote by the Committee, at any time.
The Board of Trustees shall appoint at least one of its members as adviser to the Chapters Committee. This adviser or these advisers shall be known as 'board liaisons'.
A member or adviser will be appointed for a term with the duration of 2 years, a period which may be extended until the selection procedure is concluded.
There is no maximum number of terms a member or adviser is allowed to serve.
Selections for membership and advisory positions shall be conducted every 12 months.
A public call for candidates shall be sent out by the chair 60 days before the expiry of members' terms, and applications shall be accepted for a period of 30 days thereafter.
Applications, including those from sitting members seeking re-appointment, shall be administered by a member or adviser who neither is nor intends to be an applicant for election in the current election.
Information about candidates shall be posted to the ChapCom Wiki, and shall be considered confidential.
After the application period has closed, input will be sought from sitting members, advisers and board liaisons.
Any candidate may withdraw his candidacy in writing at any time prior to the beginning of voting.
The Committee shall decide on the method of selecting from the candidates.
If there is no clear consensus on the candidates to be selected or the procedure to be followed, members of the Committee (not seeking re-election) shall indicate their preference for each candidate by a "Yes" or "No" vote for each candidate, all those candidates who receive a majority of votes shall be deemed elected (after the formal resolution), providing that a majority of members have cast ballots for or against that person. Where such an election would result in having more than ten members on the Committee, those with the lowest proportion of "Yes" to "No" shall be eliminated until the total number of members on the Committee is fifteen of less.
The list of the selected candidates gathered in the previous rule shall be put up for a vote as a regular resolution and shall be approved with a 2/3 majority of the sitting members not seeking reelection voting in favour.
Appointments may be made any time with a resolution described in the previous rule. The term of the members and advisers so appointed shall be coterminous with the term of the last member elected through the regular procedure.

II General procedure

The Committee can choose how to conduct its ordinary business, either through regular meetings or through other means (wiki, mailing list). The term "meeting" refers both to virtual and physical meetings.
The Committee shall be presided over by a chairperson, appointed by resolution of the committee. A vice chairperson will also be appointed by resolution, to stand in the chairperson's stead as required. The chairperson's and the vice chairperson's term end with their voluntary resignation, the appointment of a successor by the Committee or their removal by the board.
If the Board decides to remove a chairperson or vice chairperson from its office, it is required to consult the Committee. After a chairperson or vice chairperson is removed by the Board, the Committee shall elect a successor at the earliest convenience.
The Committee will decide on the responsibilities of the chairperson and the vice chairperson. It may also create additional roles and assign them such responsibilities as desired.

III Resolutions and Motions

Actions effected by the Committee are usually to take the form of a resolution. Resolutions may be proposed by a member or adviser, or by an individual from outside the Committee with the support of a member or adviser.
A resolution will be considered adopted once a majority of members has voted in favour.
The usual manner of proposing a resolution is by notice on the Committee mailing list, referring to a draft of the resolution on the wiki.
Votes will usually be taken on the wiki or during a meeting.
If a vote on a resolution is to be taken during a meeting, the resolution has to be proposed at least seven days in advance of the meeting, unless two thirds of the Committee decide to waive this requirement ("emergency motions").
If a vote is to be taken on the wiki, after the notice of the proposed resolution, members have seven days to vote either in favour of or against, after which point they are considered to have abstained. The resolution will then be considered adopted or defeated if a majority of members has so voted; otherwise, the Committee will decide by consensus (or vote) to extend the period of voting, to let the motion lapse or to reconsider the motion at a later date.

Annex 2

The term of the following members expired on December 31, 2011: Lodewijk Gelauff, Delphine Ménard, Nathan Carter, Austin Hair and Vladimir Medeyko
The term of the following members expires on December 31, 2012: Jeromy-Yu Chan, Bence Damokos, Sebastian Moleski, Damian Finol and Ray Saintonge
The term of the currently appointed advisers expires on December 31, 2012.

Resolution passed with 7.75 votes in favor, 1.25 votes against, 0 abstentions, 1 votes not cast on 15 January 2012.