I've been offline for almost a week due to a work-related deadline I was trying to
meet. I do vote yes on the proposed Articles 3, 4, and Policies and Procedures. I guess
better late than never.
Barbara Stock
-------------- Original message --------------
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