------------------------------------------------------- Revising eligible voters of Chair election and Chair's term ver.3.0 ------------------------------------------------------- Proposer: Izumi Okutani izumi@nic.ad.jp 1. Problem statement -------------------- It has been over ten years since the SIG Guidelines document was developed. The environment has changed since then, and it is now time for the document to be reviewed and updated, to adapt to the changing environment in the APNIC community, as the up-to-date document. - Regardless of the changes in the environment, what is to remain consistent is that, the SIG accommodates its members discussions and consensus, based on bottom-up inclusive spirit. - With increasing new participants in the community, which is a welcoming change, unwritten agreed principles among long time participants must be clearly described to help new participants who join the community. - More official support from APNIC for Chair/Co-Chair(s) position, such as described in the guidelines for Travel Support since May 2016[*], provides more opportunities for community members to serve as the Chair/Co-Chair. At the same time, it is important to set clear expectations for the new Chairs and Co-Chairs on what roles and responsibilities they have for the position to meet the community's expectations, and to maintain accountability of the APNIC community as a whole, visible both within and from the outside. [*] https://www.apnic.net/community/participate/sigs/sig-guidelines/sig-chair-travel-policy Below are the key issues the proposal seeks to address. - Adjusting parts of the document which are no consistent with the practice - The current SIG Guidelines mostly describe administrative procedures for the SIG, without description about how the Chair/Co-Chair serve the SIG members, and accommodate discussions by its participants On eligible voters in SIG Chair/Co-Chair election, whether to allow remote participants to vote, which was one of the proposed points in version 1.0, there was no clear consensus at APNIC42. Therefore, this element of the proposal is not included in ver. 2.0. The author suggests to have a separate discussions, not in a form of the proposal, to first see what direction can be supported by the community. Base on these discussions, a follow up proposal about voting by remote participants on SIG Chair/Co-Chair election may be considered, if the need for the proposal is supported by the community. 2. Objective of policy change ----------------------------- To maintaining SIG Guidelines to be up to date, adjusting to the current environment of the APNIC, to be more useful for the community members. Although there were constructive discussions at APNIC42, there was no consensus on the proposal as a whole, and it was agreed to have continued discussions. The updated proposal seeks to continue this work of revising the SIG Guidelines, to clearly describes essential elements about the SIG. 3. Situation in other regions ----------------------------- Please refer following page made by Adam Gosling Comparison of RIR SIG/WG Chair Election Processes https://www.apnic.net/sig-guidelines/chair-elections/other-rirs 4. Proposed policy solution --------------------------- 1. SIG Chair/Co-Chair's term of service Add the following point to SIG Chair/Co-Chair's term of service: - If a current Chair/Co-Chair resigned or was removed before the end of the term, the successor takes over the remaining term of the position, and not the regular term (Currently two years). Rationale: - To maintain the election of the Chair and the Co-Chair to be staggered as currently described, for smooth transition and continuity of the SIG, even if the Chair/Co-Chair resigns or is removed before the end of the regular term. The following points about SIG Chair/Co-Chair's term of service, in the current guidelines remain unchanged: - Elections occur yearly. Chair elections and Co-Chair elections occur in alternate years - If Chair election and Co-Chair election takes place in the same year, Co-Chair's term of service is one year 2. Clarify Chair/Co-Chair's role/responsibilities Add the following description as Chair/Co-Chair's role/responsibilities: - Chair/Co-Chair is responsible in facilitating discussions at the SIG, with respect to bottom up and inclusive spirit, so that SIG participants are comfortable to express their opinions. The Chair/Co-Chair is to accommodate all newly expressed opinions, relevant to the discussions topic at the SIG to be heard. - Before making consensus decision at the SIG, SIG Chairs and/or Co-Chairs must explain to the participants, what the question is or decision is to be made, then open up the floor for the participants to express their opinions. - SIG Chairs and Co-Chairs have to consider all opinions expressed in a balanced manner, before making the consensus decision. - The consensus decision by the Chairs and Co-Chairs must be shared with the SIG participants. When reporting the AGM about consensus decision at the SIG, it must be consistent with what was shared with the SIG participants. - In the description "If SIG members do not think that the Chair or Co-Chair is sufficiently performing their duties" in "Section 2.6.1. Removing a Chair or Co-Chair", refer to specific examples of what is meant by their duties, such as the following sections in the document. 2.3. SIG Chair and Co-Chair roles 　　　　　　2.4. Chair　responsibilities 　　　　　　2.5. Co-Chair responsibilities Rationale: To clearly describe expected role/responsibilities of Chair/Co-Chair and examples of the conditions of removal. Regarding role/responsibilities of Chair/Co-Chair, the current description in the document focuses only on administrative procedures to be followed by Chair/Co-Chair. They do not cover how Chair/Co-Chair is to respect to bottom up and inclusive spirit, accommodate discussions in the community, and take adequate steps towards consensus decision and reporting. The current condition of removal remains very much open to the subject to interpretation on what is meant by "If SIG members do not think that the Chair or Co-Chair is sufficiently performing their duties" in "Section 2.6.1. Removing a Chair or Co-Chair". These ambiguities are not helpful to new participants to the SIG and new Chair/Co-Chair. 3. Allow the SIG members to be able to open up the second Co-Chair position, based on consensus In addition to the Chair's discretion as currently described in Section 2.6 of the SIG guidelines document, add an option for the SIG participants to to make a decision whether to open up a second Co-Chair's position, based on consensus at the SIG. When a second Co-Chair position is added, the second Co-Chair is to be chosen by the election process as described in 2.6. Electing a Chair or Co-Chair; regardless of whether addition of the position is decided by Chair's discretion (as current condition described in the document) or by consensus decision of the SIG participants to add the second Co-Chair position. Rationale: Under the current SIG Guidelines, it is only by the discretion of the Chair, to decide whether to open up a position of a second Co-Chair, and whether to hold its election. There may be a situation where a substantial number of SIG participants see the need for a second Co-Chair position to be added, to facilitate the SIG discussions more effectively. This is to be added as an "or" condition, and the Chair remains to be able to make a decision whether to add a second Co-Chair position, as described in the current document. 5. Advantages / Disadvantages ----------------------------- Advantages: Clarify ambiguous part about the SIG guidelines, especially for the new participants/new Chair/Co-Chair. Disadvantages: None observed. 6. Impact on resource holders ----------------------------- No direct impact 7. References ------------- Chair Election Procedure Review by Adam Gosling https://www.apnic.net/community/participate/sigs/chair-elections Comparison of RIR SIG/WG Chair Election Processes https://www.apnic.net/sig-guidelines/chair-elections/other-rirs APNIC SIG Guidelines https://www.apnic.net/community/participate/sigs/sig-guidelin