TCC Governance

Governance (Adopted 4 August 2010)

1.0 Roles and responsibilities

1.1 TCC member (active)

Nominations (or self-nominations) to become members of the TCC should be made privately and directly to the TCC Chair for off-line discussion. Discussion prior to voting and the voting itself is done off-list, among the TCC membership. New members are elected by super majority (e.g., 2/3 of active TCC membership). Announcement of new members is done on-list.

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

• Participate actively in Sakai collab list discussions and deliberations (http://collab.sakaiproject.org/mailman/listinfo)
• Participate actively in scheduled CLE calls in areas of release management, maintenance, QA, Accessibility, etc. - Full schedule of calls
• Contribute actively to Sakai CLE planning, design, development, testing, release, etc.
• Contribute actively to Sakai software maintenance (contribute patches, QA testing, etc.)
• Contribute actively to community documentation (https://confluence.sakaiproject.org/)

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

Responsibilities:

• Participate actively in TCC discussions and deliberations
• Contribute actively to Sakai CLE planning, design, development, testing, release, etc.
• Help maintain TCC documentation.

1.2 TCC chair

Rotating position. Elected by simple majority vote of membership unless replaced by vice-chair according to order of succession described below.
Term: 6 months
Eligibility: active TCC member

Responsibilities:

1. Propose schedule for upcoming releases, propose vote for acceptance and announcement of new releases, send email announcing new releases.
2. Organize meetings or online discussions when necessary; responsible for assembling agenda
3. Serve as meeting/discussions moderator
4. Manages and facilitates process of vetting and voting on proposals. Voting results should be summarized in confluence
5. Ensure that outstanding issues/proposals are not forgotten or ignored
6. Serve as the TCC's initial contact point with the outside world.
   • Provide regular, monthly updates to the list of accomplishments on TCC Home page
   • Schedule regular monthly teleconferences with Sakai Foundation Executive Director (Ian Dolphin)
   • Occasional attendance (via teleconference) at Sakai/JaSig board meetings
7. Serve as a sakai2-tcc list owner.
8. Provide summary reports of TCC proposals and decisions.
9. Oversee TCC documentation in Confluence.

1.3 TCC vice-chair

Rotating position. Elected by a simple majority vote of membership every 6 months. Succeeds current TCC chair when the chair's term expires.
Term: 6 months
Eligibility: active TCC member

Responsibilities:

1. Assists the chair in executing above duties, including substituting for chair when the chair is unavailable (i.e., vacations, sickness, etc.)
2. Serve as a sakai2-tcc list owner.

1.4 TCC member (emeritus)

TCC members who fail to participate actively in the work of the TCC over a 12 month period or who are unable to participate in TCC 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 TCC members. Status changes can be initiated by request of the TCC member concerned at any time.

1.5 Removal of TCC chair and vice-chair

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

A TCC 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 TCC 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 TCC 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

Nominations for Chair and 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 TCC member (e.g. not a candidate, such as current TCC chair) gathering the votes and reporting the results.

The method for breaking a tie is still subject to debate. Suggestions include:

• In a future TCC election if there is a tie, a run off election will be held among the tied candidates following the same election procedures. 
• If members are still tied after the election, a virtual coin toss will be held when only two tied candidates are left.
• The coin toss method may change, but currently it will be via http://cointossr.com/ between the chair and vice chair. The candidate who is represented by heads and tails is arranged prior to the toss when the chair sends the link to the vice chair.