"Get Involved" Governance Structure-Draft
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Be Involved Governance Structure- Draft
Contents |
Definitions
BC-CCN: British Columbia Campus Climate Network
Member:
Ex-officio
1) Objectives of the program
Name:
The name of this program is Be Involved. In the following governance terms such as "campaign", "program" and "project" referred to the Be Involved. Be Involved campaign will:
• Educate students about the science and solutions for climate change in B.C.
• Inspire youth to “make carbon smart lifestyle choices” that reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
• Engage youth in creating larger climate solutions, particularly in participatory planning
processes to move our campus communities beyond climate-neutral.
• Support youth groups to implement initiatives that will change behaviour and help
create climate solutions.
Timeline:
The governance applies for the Phase 1 of the campaign, running from June 2008 to December 2008.
Outcome of the Phase 1:
1. Program design and evaluation for a province wide launch in January 2008.
2. Full program launch on three B.C. campuses and preparation for a rolling launch across the province.
3. Develop a communications strategy and online platform for the campaign.
4. Train student leaders in a diverse set of skills.
5. Develop partnerships for campaign implementation.
2) Planning Committee
The Be Involved project will be governed by a Planning Committee, which will be responsible for coordinating Phase 1 of the project
a) Planning Committee Membership
The Planning Committee will include 8 to 11 people with representatives of the current three partner organizations (Sierra Youth Coalition, UBC Sustainability Office, and Common Energy), representatives from campuses of the BC Campus Climate Network and ex-officio staff positions. The intention is to create a committee that is both inclusive and effective. Membership will include the following people:
3-4 partner organization (SYC, CE, UBC-SO) 2 students at large 1 BC-CCN communication rep 2 staff members (ex-officio)
The Planning Committee can add new members to the Committee as they see fit from new partner organizations.
Membership Selection:
The current Governance Working Group will seek nomination among the partner organizations to fill the planning committee
Any member may be revoked of his or her membership if two-thirds of the current planning committee members vote in favor of the revocation.
b) Planning Committee Member Responsibilities
The members of the Planning Committee are collectively responsible for:
Establish and maintain feedback loops between the Planning Committee and the various organizations, campuses, and groups that the members represent. Accordingly, between meetings, communicate decisions and questions to the networks they are representing for feedback; Coordinate and execute or delegate the work required to successfully achieve the goals of the Be Involved project. Accordingly, the members of the Planning Committee will be expected to establish a portfolio of Working Group involvement (see below). Elaborate and/or make amendments to the budget in the order to achieve the program goals. Approve hiring and firing of staff, according the recommendation of the hiring working group
c) Planning Committee Decision Making
The members of the Planning Committee have the right to participate in the consensus-based decision-making of the Planning Committee.
The Planning Committee will meet as a whole at least once per calendar month, with additional meetings of the whole scheduled on an as needed basis The Committee will report to the BC Campus Climate Network on their monthly Network calls, will ask questions of the Network for feedback in the program design, and will report to funders.
The Committee will develop systems to make decisions by email if a decision is required of it within that two-week period. Members will be expected to take on a leadership role in committee working groups. Quorum for meeting will be 50% plus one of the membership
3) Planning Committee Working Groups
The Planning Committee will form Working Groups to develop and implement particular aspects of the project.
The Working Groups will have at least one member of the Planning Committee and will seek out addition members from within the BCCCN, and other networks. Working Groups will meet on an as needed basis. Quorum on Working Groups will be 50% plus 1 These Working Groups will be the primary bodies for engaging large direct participation in the governance system of the Be Involved project. Once the Planning Committee identifies the need for a working group, terms of reference will be drafted by the Planning committee. The terms of reference of each working group should be similar and have the same responsibility and authorities laid out in it. Working Groups will report directly, and make recommendations, to the Planning Committee. The Planning Committee has final decision-making authority.
a) Initial Working Groups
There are two Working Groups that have already been identified as being necessary: a Hiring Group, and an Administrative Group. i) Administrative Group
Administrative Group responsibility:
The Administrative group is responsible for:
allocation of funds pre-approved with the budget accounting of the campaign funds signing contracts pre-approved by the planning committee collect and distributes and archive minutes from committee and group meetings
Administrative group membership:
The administrative group membership consists of:
1 or 2 staff, 1-3 representative from the 3 project partners (Sierra Youth Coalition, Common Energy, UBC Sustainability Office) representative of the BCCCN
Members will be recruiting and appointed by the planning committee. The Planning Committee will seek out nominations from the Campus Climate Network and other organizations.
Quorum on Working Groups will be 50% plus 1
ii) Hiring Group
Hiring Group responsibility:
The Hiring group is responsible for:
Developing policy regarding hiring/firing of staff The final decisions for hiring and firing staff is make by the planning committee Advertise staff position and conduct interview.
Hiring group membership:
The hiring group membership consists of:
1 or 2 staff, 1-3 representative from the 3 project partners (Sierra Youth Coalition, Common Energy, UBC Sustainability Office) 1-2 representative of the BCCCN
Members will be recruiting and appointed by the planning committee. The Planning Committee will seek out nominations from the Campus Climate Network and other organizations.
4) Advisory Panel
We recognize the importance of mentorship and connecting with people who have experience in implementing large-scale campaigns. Through the Advisory Panel, working groups will seek input and ideas from recognized leaders in various fields, like behaviour change, social marketing and strategic communications.
Advisors will be selected based on their knowledge and availability, and willingness to volunteer for the project.
5) Finance
The planning committee shall take the following measures to ensure responsible handling of funds:
1. Nominate a finance working group or person to elaborate a detail budget according the program objectives and desired outcomes;
2. Approve budget at the each phase or financial year;
3. Nominate a finance working group or person to prepare annual and/or phase financial report;
4. Once completed, financial report will be presented to the different project partners and funders
2. Expenditures above $1000 outside previously approved in the budget must be approved by the planning committee. 7) Planning committee review: The terms of reference of the planning committee will be up for review at completion of the first year of the project.
8) Amendments
Amendments to the governance document may be brought forth by any member of the Planning Committee. The decision making process would follow the guidelines of all major decisions, and would have to seek feedback from the BCCCN. of involvement.
FEEDBACK
Andrew Bateman Hey, looks pretty good. Could use a final edit for grammar, but I don't have time right now. A couple things:
First: The structure, as laid out, seems open to abuse. Giving the committee the ability to control its own membership leaves the committee open to becoming a clique without any real checks (not saying this would be the case, but the governance structure doesn't deal with the possibility). It would be more appropriate if ultimate control of committee membership lay with a larger group (e.g. the BCCCN).
Second: 'In the following governance document, terms such as "campaign", "program" and "project" referred to the Be Involved.' -Pick one term to be clear.
Cheers, Andrew
Jamie Biggar to BCcampusclimat. show details 7:25 PM (2 hours ago)
Reply
Hello everyone,
Bateman - I think you raise some good points and I just wanted to add in some specific ideas that could address both those specifics and the more general spirit of things.
First, on the easiest point, what do people think of using program to describe it as that does not have the baggage of campaign and seems like a bigger thing than a project?
Second, on not forming a clique:
We are all developing the Campus Climate Network together and Be Involved is a program of the BC Campus Climate Network. We are designing a governance structure to implement that program as it is so large as to require more structure than we have currently created with the Campus Climate Network. So, the program governance needs to be flexible and effective enough to make this program a success - and it needs to be open and accountable.
An absolutely essential component of the program's success will be a broad sense of ownership over the program by everyone in the Network. We want and need everybody to look at Be Involved and say: I'm a part of that, it is valuable to me, and I am proud of it.
How is it accountable?
1. Summits: The open summits in late May, late August, the fall, and next spring will all set the direction for the program as it evolves. From those summits the program governance structure and staff will work to develop and realize the ideas and direction of the Network.
2. Reporting: The Planning Committee will report to the monthly BC Campus Climate Network calls with updates and a request for feedback. The Planning Committee will also actively solicit feedback from people in between its meetings as the program is developed and implemented. The Planning Committee includes an Internal Communications rep that will be explicitly charged with the responsibility of seeking out feedback from within the BC Campus Climate Network and keeping lines of communication open.
3. Intervention: The Network needs a way to fix major mistakes in the program governance structure. For that reason, if there is a problem in it someone can ask for the Network's ad-hoc Governance Working Group to form to resolve the problem - possibly by reporting recommendations to the Network meeting for a broader decision. This will be particularly important if conflict arises within the program governance structure, or if it is failing to successfully implement the program and new leadership is required.
4. Sunset Clause: The program governance structure is for the first phase of the project. It should be up for review at the end of the first phase and it should be updated to reflect the lessons learned and the changing needs of the BC Campus Climate Network and the program.
What is the reason behind its composition?
Organizations: The Planning committee includes members from Common Energy, the Sierra Youth Coalition, and the UBC Sustainability Office. The purpose of this is not to concentrate power in those organizations. The purpose is to reflect the fact that each one of those organizations has taken on more risk and more responsibility in making this program a success. As a result, they need to be present in the decision-making for the program.
Inclusion: The Planning Committee will also include members of the BC Campus Climate Network that are not part of any of those organizations. The goal is to include a broader set of perspectives in the decision making and expand the core group of people that have been developing the project. At the moment, the Network's Governance Working Group is charged with the responsibility of selecting these representatives for the Planning Committee and will do so based on interest from a call out to the Network.
Expansion: One of the things that we are going to need to figure out as we are developing the program over the coming months is how new organizations become partners and what that looks like in our program governance structure. For example, there needs to be a place where every organization that is working on the ground to implement the program can come together and talk about what they are learning and what they need from the program. The system needs to facilitate the emergence of new leaders in the group to places where they can effect change and help make things work.
At the moment, the authority for expansion is vested with the Planning Committee for the program. This could be put forward as a proposal to the Network when the time comes.
What do folks think? And what are some specific elements of the document that could be changed to, as Bateman put it in a phone call - "formalize the good intentions" :)
Cheers, Jamie
Spencer:
I have very few concerns with the governance document itself. From my untrained but careful eye, this seems to be a workable structure for the campaign.
I only wonder about the amending procedure for the governance doc itself. What precisely does "[seeking] feedback from the BCCCN" entail"?
I assume that the previous clause means that any changes require unanimous consent from each member of the committee. I wonder if this might be too stringent an amending formula for our governance framework. One can imagine a single committee member obstructing changes to a governance structure that proved to be unworkable.
This is my only concern.
Cheers, Spencer
Maggie: Overall it looks good - I'm wondering if at least for phase 1 we would want a rep from each of the trial campuss on the steering committee - that way we can make sure concerns and feedback from on-the-ground can be fed right back into the planning process.
