Sakai Foundation Board of Directors Conference Call

August 7, 2008

This document contains minutes from the Sakai Foundation Board of Directors conference call held on August 7, 2008. Corrections, suggestions should be sent to John Norman and Mary Miles.

These minutes capture both the discussion and formal resolutions of the board. Simply because something was discussed does not mean that it is the agreed-upon position of the board. When the board makes a formal resolution to approve an item, it will be noted as such in the minutes. If there is no such notation, readers should assume that the minutes are simply the notes of the board discussions.

Board members present: Josh Baron, Chris Coppola, John Norman, Clay Fenlason, Lance Speelmon, Jutta Treviranus, Michael Korcuska (ex-officio), Mary Miles (staff)

Board members absent: Lois Brooks, Mara Hancock, Joseph Hardin

Topic: Review of Minutes
The minutes from both the June, 2008 conference call and July, 2008 face-to-face meeting were reviewed and approved with minor modifications. Finalized versions will be posted on Confluence.

Topic: Educause 2008 Board Meeting
Space has been reserved at the Peabody Hotel for a face-to-face meeting of the board. The board will be polled to determine if a quorum will be present. If a quorum is not available, a phone meeting will be scheduled for a later time.

A Community Source Reception has been scheduled at Educause with costs being split five ways. A Community Source Panel is also scheduled on Wednesday that will include representatives from DSpace, Fedora, Kuali, Ja-SIG, and Sakai. There will not be a Community Source booth this year, due to time constraints, but this option will be investigated for next year.

Topic: Approval of Commercial Affiliate
NetSpot Pty Ltd of Australia has applied as a commercial affiliate. Their application was approved.

Action: Mary will notify them of their acceptance as an SCA and invoice them for their yearly dues.

Topic: Campus Tech 2008 Conference
Josh Baron reported on his presentation at this conference. There was a high level of interest, with approximately 150 people attending. Many people commented that Sakai has matured and they were impressed with the progress. Josh will share the slides.

Action: Josh to put up his slides on the Advocacy wiki for review by others.

Topic: Executive Director Report
The Executive Director's financial update was reviewed and accepted. Michael reported that finances are on track. A full review of spending and budget comparisons will be provided at the September conference call. The 2009 budget proposal will be submitted in November or December.

Michael also reported on activity surrounding the July, 2009 Conference. Boston has been targeted and contract negotiations are currently in progress.

Action: Michael to contact James Dalziel to determine the dates of the LAMS conference in the UK next year.

Angela Henry has been hired to assist with QA efforts. Megan will make a decision on her status by the end of the month.

The Managers Meetings are proceeding. A project manager is being sought for the group.

The new website for Sakaiproject.org is scheduled to go live on August 22. A concern still remains regarding how to keep the content current. Michael asked for feedback on how to make that happen. Sakai has been relying on volunteer help thus far, but this may need to be a paid position in the Foundation. The Board felt that this fit within the overall staffing plan competencies that will be discussed at the next meeting and circulated prior to that.

The Foundation staffing plan is being rolled out to current staff this week, including a redefinition of roles of current staff. This fits with the discussion in Paris that there needs to be a competency-based version of what the staff is doing. There will be no real change to the QA role, except it will become full-time; there will be substantial changes to Peter's role; codification of what is already true in Anthony's role (sysadm for Sakai sites/developer support and release management). Michael is working with UM to reclassify Mary's position to reflect the conference organizing responsibilities. Reallocation of budget and staff time to roles might not exist today are not part of what is being discussed this week, but will happen in the fall. In the short-term, if support is needed in these areas, it will probably be through free-lance or contract employees. In the 2009 budget, there is a full-time position for a UX lead. This will be examined further.

Topic: Next meeting
The next scheduled Board Conference call will be September 18.

With no further business before the board, the call ended at 3:23 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Miles