Having heard no discussion on the motion on the floor, I now ask for your votes.
The motion is for the proposed Articles 3, 4 and Policies and Procedures as posted on the
proposals page be presented to the CCs for a vote? For completeness, the proposals are
listed below:
Article 3: Membership
Membership in The GAGenWeb Project is granted to County Coordinators and/or Special
Project Coordinators. The State Coordinator (SC) shall appoint County and Special Project
Coordinators as described in the GAGenWeb Policies and Procedures.
Each County or Special Project shall have no more than two (2) Coordinators. A person may
be a Coordinator for no more than three (3) sites. A County or Special Project Coordinator
may appoint additional assistants if desired. A County or Special Project Coordinator may
be removed for cause as described in the GAGenWeb Policies and Procedures.
Each County or Special Project Coordinator shall have one vote in GAGenWeb elections,
regardless of the number of counties or special projects they coordinate. Assistants
appointed by a Coordinator are not considered members and thus shall not vote in GAGenWeb
elections.
Article 4: Officers and Support Team
An election for State Coordinator (SC) will be held in July in odd-numbered years. The
term shall be for two years, beginning August 1. Any member of The GAGenWeb Project who
has been a County Coordinator (CC) or Special Project Coordinator (SP) in The GAGenWeb
Project for at least one year, and is willing to act as State Coordinator as outlined in
the Bylaws of The USGenWeb Project and The GAGenWeb Project, is eligible to run for State
Coordinator.
After the election, the SC shall appoint an Assistant State Coordinator (ASC) whose term
shall run concurrently with the SC. The SC may also appoint additional technical
assistants as outlined in the Policies & Procedures (P&P) to assist with the state
website and other related duties. If such assistants are appointed, their terms shall also
run concurrently with the SC.
If the SC should leave the project for any reason during his or her term of office, the
ASC will act as the SC until a new SC can be elected to complete the term. If less than 4
months remain of the SC's term of office, the ASC will act as the SC for the remainder
of the term.
Regional Assistants will be elected by the CCs within each region to provide guidance and
support to the CCs in that region. This election will occur no later than two (2) months
after the SC election. The term of office shall be for two (2) years, beginning October 1.
Regional Assistants, together with any technical assistants appointed by the SC, shall be
known collectively as the GAGenWeb Support Team. Members of the Support Team will have no
governing power, but shall have responsibilities as outlined in the P&P.
Policies and Procedures (P&P)
1) Appointment of Coordinators
County and Special Project Coordinators shall be appointed by the State Coordinator (SC).
The position of Coordinator shall be granted to candidates who have a belief in the
GAGenWeb purpose statement; a willingness to maintain and improve a county or special
project website; agreement to abide by the GAGenWeb Bylaws and Policies and Procedures;
and a sincere desire to assist researchers.
Knowledge of building and maintaining web pages is not a prerequisite; if needed, new
coordinators may receive assistance in learning the process from members of the GAGenWeb
Support Team. New coordinators will be expected to become proficient in handling web pages
within three months after being appointed.
2) Removal of Coordinators
A county coordinator may be removed for failing to uphold his/her responsibilities. The
coordinator shall have a four-month probation period to comply with requirements, after
which, if the situation is not corrected, the coordinator will be dismissed and his/her
counties will be put up for adoption. The state coordinator has the authority to extend
the probation period to allow for mitigating circumstances.
In the instance of a probationary period, the SC will contact the CC three times: at the
beginning of the probationary period, stating the reason for the probation;again in the
middle of the period (at 2 months); andagain one week before the conclusion of the
probationary period. A copy of the SC's communications will be cc'ed to the
grievance committee [or chairperson of the grievance committee?]. 3) County Coordinator
(CC) Responsibilities Maintain county website as required in the site requirements listed
in the P&P, uploading data when appropriate and keeping links up to dateRespond to
communications from researchers, SC, ASC, RAAnswer roll callReport change of email address
to SC and/or RASubscribe to the GAGen-L or GAGen-D (digest mode) mailing listFollow
USGenWeb guidelines for CCs:
http://www.usgenweb.org/volunteers/CCguidelines.shtml 4)
State Coordinator (SC) Responsibilities Election
In the election year, the current SC will open nominations for the new SC for a period of
two weeks, beginning on or about June 1. At the close of nominations, candidates may post
campaign pages. The current SC shall find two non-GAGenWeb Project members who are members
of the USGenWeb Project who are willing to take responsibility for counting votes for the
election. These vote-counters will be added to the GAGEN-L list for the duration of the
election. Responsibilities Appointing local/county and special project coordinators.
Dismissing coordinators, if necessaryMonitoring all county websitesMaintaining the state
mailing list, GAGen-LSupervising the state web pageIssuing quarterly roll callMaintaining
national voters list, updating quarterlyInforming CCs of activities of the USGenWeb (for
example: voting issues)Responding to communication from CCs and researchersRecruiting
start-up help for new volunteersUSGenWeb guidelines for SCs:
http://www.usgenweb.org/volunteers!
/SCguidelines.shtml 5) Regional Assistant (RA) Responsibilities Election
After the SC election and appointment of ASC, the sitting SC will open nominations for
the RA positions for a period of two weeks. The election shall occur no later than 2
months after the SC election, in time for the RAs to begin their term on October 1. The SC
and ASC will be responsible for having the vote counted. ResponsibilitiesPersonal
Relationship: To stay in touch with the County Coordinators (CCs) in the Region on a
regular basis and to form relationships with the Coordinators that are conducive to trust
and sharing.Guidance: To serve as an adviser or source for a second viewpoint when a CC
has concerns or problems.Teaching: To assist/advise new CCs in the
"how-to's" of a USGenWeb County page. This might mean directing them to the
Tech Help Page at
http://www.rootsweb.com/~gagenweb/techSupport.htm and others who can
help in areas such as copyright.Support: To support the CC in the rare case of criticism
or complaints.Regional Ideas: To learn about the Region and !
provide the CCs with ideas. To be aware of what is going on in the counties in the Region
and to promote sharing of ideas. To promote a "team feeling" in the Region where
CCs pitch in to help answer questions.Helping Researchers: To take an interest in the
Region and participate on its County Lists, pointing researchers towards online and
offline sources and suggesting research ideas.Checking Sites: To assist the CCs in the
Region in complying with USGenWeb and GAGenWeb guidelines. To remind CCs to reload their
"front page" when changes and additions are made, and routinely on an occasional
basis.Appreciation: To make sure the CCs within the region know their contributions are
appreciated and that they are valued as individuals.Decision Making: To encourage CC's
to actively participate in all matters pertaining to the GAGenWeb and the USGenWeb
projects. 6) Site Requirements National logo, linked to USGenWeb main page (*logo
required by national)State logo, linked to The G!
AGenWeb Project main page (*link required by national)Queries (*requir
ed by national)Basic resources info (*required by national)Updated and links checked
quarterlyIndividual links to neighboring countiesLink to county mailing listLink to county
archivesBrief history of the countyLink to The GAGenWeb Project County Table The
following would be suggested, but not required. Surname registryConnect to "About
GenWeb"What's new/Recent updatesSearch engine Please vote YES to present the
proposals for a vote, NO to continue working on them. Voting opens immediately and
continues until Friday, September 16, 2005 at 6 am. Thanks, Jacki