Sakai Foundation Board of Directors Conference Call

July 4, 2008

This document contains minutes from the Sakai Foundation Board of Directors meeting held on July 4, 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: John Norman, Josh Baron, Lois Brooks, Chris Coppola, Clay Fenlason, Mara Hancock, Jutta Treviranus, Joseph Hardin, Michael Korcuska (ex-officio), Mary Miles (staff)

Board members absent: Lance Speelmon

Topic: Sakai Board Q&A Session
There may no longer be a need for the Sakai Board Q & A session to be scheduled as a separate session at the conferences. This started when the board functioned in a different role. Now, with an Executive Director in place, it may be more beneficial to combine with the Foundation Update and have the board members present during that presentation, followed by questions and answers. The explanation of the role of the Board would be provided by Michael at the beginning of the session. They may also be more substantial topics to report on during that time, such as working group updates.

Action: The Foundation Update and Board Q & A will be combined into one session at all future conferences. The Board may consider a conference call at the 6-month point if the community is interested in updates at that point.

Topic: Foundation Support for Seeding OpenEdPractices.org and Generating Marketing Collateral
The suggestion was made to fund someone to collect practices in terms of the use of Sakai (both classroom and collaboration), then seed the repository and use the content to generate more case studies. The board felt that this should be tried as a community before looking to the Foundation for funding. The Teaching & Learning group will be asked to define some specific ideas and then recruit assistance. The question was raised as to why this is not in Sakai. Josh Baron will raise the issue on the T&L call. This was initially focused on the application process for the award winners, which received 25 applicants this year. This was such a success that it is now planned as a yearly function.

Action: That board agreed that this should look to community resources for this project. Josh will talk to the group about branding it more formally as a Sakai activity such as Sakai OpenEd Practices, stressing that it is more about Sakai Open Education Practices and not so much about the Sakai product.

Topic: Workgroups
Several workgroups were discussed that would focus on various areas that would then provide input into a Foundation and Community Roadmap that would result in a Strategic Plan. The strategic plan would contain goals and milestones for the Foundation. In order to do this, much community input should be sought, with the Foundation serving in the role of facilitator and coordinator. One step along the path would be a SWOT analysis. There are faculty members at Marist who currently do this, and they have been contacted for assistance. Other institutions also need to be contacted to see if there are similar forces in other locations.

To strengthen ties with other organizations, Michael is now participating in monthly calls with Executive Directors of other open source groups. Formalization of these ties should come out of the Strategic Plan.

After discussion, the following working groups were identified, board members selected to participate, and a lead established for each group. These workgroups will develop some documentation that will be brought back to the full board for discussion and adoption.

• Strategic Plan
  Members: Chris Coppola, Josh Baron, Mara Hancock.
  Lead: Chris Coppola
• Open Source Relations
  Members: Joseph Hardin, Jutta Treviranus, Mara Hancock, Michael Korcuska
  Lead: Not determined
• Business Model
  Members: Chris Coppola, Michael Korcuska
  Lead: Michael Korcuska
• Adoption
  Members: Lois Brooks, Josh Baron
  Lead: Co-chairs
• Grants
  Members: Jutta Trevarinus, Michael Korcuska
  Lead: Jutta Trevarinus
• Board Composition
  Members: Michael Korcuska, Clay Fenlason
  Lead: Michael Korcuska
• Community Participation/Contribution
  Members: Clay Fenlason, John Norman
  Lead: Clay Fenlason

The expected outcome will be a report on progress, a time line and a plan for future deliverables to include background and context, objectives, plan for community involvement, and a timeline for completion.

The first outcome should be completed by the end of July.

Topic: Summary of Roadmap Discussion from Manager's Meeting
Participants include Manager's from Michigan, Indiana, Berkeley, Cambridge, UC Davis, Yale, Stanford, and Unicon. The group met during the Paris conference and made substantial progress, with plans for continuing conversation. The goal now is to prepare documentation that can be distributed to a broader group and eventually publish a roadmap. While significant progress has been made, there are not enough resources to deliver everything that is needed. Further reports will be made on progress as work continues.

Action: By the next Board meeting, Michael will be asked to present an operating plan, including what the optimal organization would look like. This should be presented from a competency perspective: which competencies do we perform using staff, and which do we perform using outside resources.

With no further business before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 12:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Miles