Governance Rules

(adopted 4 August 2010, amended and updated thereafter - last updated 30 May 2023)

1.0 Roles and responsibilities

1.1 PMC member (active)

Nominations (or self-nominations) to become members of the PMC should be made privately and directly to the PMC Chair for off-line discussion. A call for nominations will be announced annually, but additional nominations may be made at any time during the year. Discussion prior to voting and the voting itself is done off-list, among the PMC membership. New members are elected by super majority (e.g., 2/3 of active PMC membership). Announcement of new members is done on-list.

Getting involved in the Sakai community does not require PMC membership. However, involvement in the Sakai community is required to be considered for PMC membership. Involvement includes:

• Participate actively in Sakai email list discussions and deliberations on public and private PMC lists

• Participate actively in scheduled calls in areas of release management, maintenance, QA, Accessibility, etc.

• Contribute actively to Sakai planning, design, development, testing, release, etc.

• Contribute actively to Sakai software maintenance (contribute patches, QA testing, etc.)

• Contribute actively to community documentation (https://sakaiproject.atlassian.net/wiki)

There is no set term ("merit never expires") for PMC members.
PMC Members possesses a binding vote on PMC decisions.

Responsibilities:

• Participate actively in PMC discussions and deliberations

• Contribute actively to Sakai planning, design, development, testing, release, etc.

• Help maintain PMC documentation.

1.2 PMC Chair

The Chair shall hold office for a period of one year. After a Chair’s annual term is finished, that person is eligible for re-election. If the Chair resigns or is removed during the term of office, the current Vice-Chair will succeed to the Chair and serve out the remainder of the former Chair's term. 

Eligibility: active PMC member

Responsibilities:

• Convenes PMC meetings.

• Serves as the primary contact for Apereo ED for governance matters.

• Serves as the primary contact for Apereo ED re: financial matters

1.3 PMC Vice-Chair

The Vice-Chair is elected by a simple majority vote of the membership. The Vice-Chair shall hold office for a period of one year or until his or her earlier resignation or removal.  If the Vice-Chair resigns, is removed or replaces a Chair who has resigned or been removed, a special election will be held to elect a new Vice-Chair to serve out the remainder of the term.  If an election results in a tie between candidates for the position of Vice-Chair, successive run-off elections will be held until a candidate is elected by a simple majority vote of the the membership.

Eligibility: active PMC member

Responsibilities:

• Serves as the primary substitute for the Chair, in case the Chair is unable to serve. 

• Assists the Chair with project responsibilities and tasks. 

• Serves as an additional contact for Apereo ED re: governance matters.

• Serves as an additional contact for Apereo ED re: financial matters.

1.4 PMC member (emeritus)

PMC members who fail to participate actively in the work of the PMC over a 12 month period or who are unable to participate in PMC work due to other responsibilities will be accorded "emeritus" (inactive) status and their binding vote will be suspended.

Changes in status from active to emeritus and from emeritus to active will be determined by a simple majority of active PMC members. Status changes can be initiated by request of the PMC member concerned at any time.

1.5 Removal of PMC Chair and Vice-Chair

A PMC member, whether active or emeritus, may resign at any time for any reason.

A PMC Chair or Vice-Chair can be removed at any time, with or without cause, by a vote of no confidence comprising a simple majority of active PMC members.

2.0 Voting

In general, voting is by lazy consensus:

-1 votes must be accompanied by a detailed explanation. A single -1 vote based on a material objection will block action. However, -1 blocking votes can be overridden by a 2/3 majority roll call vote of active PMC members.

Voting will be open for a period of 3 working days (Saturdays and Sundays excluded).

Proposals should contain the following text:

3.0 Elections

Elections will be held annually, with the PMC scheduling the dates for elections each year.

A call for nominations will be announced annually on-list. Nominations for Vice-Chair should be made publicly and can include self-nominations.

If there is only one candidate, the nominee is usually just declared elected.

If a vote is required, it is usually secret with an unbiased PMC member (e.g. not a candidate) gathering the votes and reporting the results.