Thanks for doing this Avri. Very well done. I have a few questions and comments that are integrated into your updated job description below. Note that I left minor editorial changes to be done later. Chuck Gomes "This message is intended for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. Any unauthorized use, distribution, or disclosure is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify sender immediately and destroy/delete the original transmission."
-----Original Message----- From: owner-council@gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council@gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Avri Doria Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 11:37 PM To: Council GNSO Subject: [council] Updated Job Description for discussion
Hi,
I integrated the suggestions made by Chuck and Philip and tried to smooth the text somewhat. I also added some ideas of my own - notably the section on the role of the Nomcom appointee. Changes are in {}.
a.
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GNSO Council Position: GNSO Council
Number of Seats: 1 Start of Term: Conclusion of Annual Meeting 2008 End of Term: Conclusion of Annual Meeting 2010
The Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) is a policy- development body responsible for developing and recommending to the ICANN Board substantive policies relating to generic top-level domains. The GNSO consists of various Constituencies representing defined groups of stakeholders and a GNSO Council, responsible for managing the policy development and administrative processes of the GNSO. The GNSO Constituencies choose the majority of the Council members; Nominating Committee chooses three Council members with staggered terms. The GNSO also includes a liaison from the ALAC and the Governmental Advisory Committee. Liaison activities from the ASO and ccNSO are under development.
GNSO Council Members receive no compensation for their services as GNSO Council Members. ICANN provides administrative and operational support necessary for the GNSO to carry out its responsibilities through the GNSO Secretariat. Most recently ICANN also provides staff support for policy development. As stated in the ICANN Bylaws, such support shall not include an obligation for ICANN to fund travel expenses incurred by GNSO participants for travel to any meeting of the GNSO or for any other purpose. However, ICANN has customarily furnished travel expenses for Nominating Committee appointed Council members to ICANN meetings. This custom is planned to continue, but is subject to the Bylaw statement. [Bylaws Article X, Section 4, see http://www.icann.org/general/bylaws.htm#X-4]
Nominating Committee will use the Criteria for Selection of ICANN Directors (see above) in choosing Selected Nominees for the GNSO Council. GNSO Council members are expected to support the ICANN mission and the implementation of ICANN's Core Values.
{Role of the Nomcom Appointee.
As discussed above the majority of the councillors are appointed by the constituencies and represent those constituencies in the council. Nomcom appointees, on the other hand, are not the representatives of any specific group, though they may choose to represent the interests of groups that are not currently represented in council. Most importantly nomcom appointees should be people chosen from outside ICANN who bring a fresh perspective into the council and who accept the responsibility to do their best to support ICANN in its mission and core values.}
CG: What is meant by "outside ICANN"? I think we should be more specific here so that we do not eliminate candidates who have been active in ICANN, a quality that seems desirable. I am not suggesting that candidates must have been active in ICANN, but I am suggesting that candidates who have been active not be eliminated.
{The} Nominating Committee will also take into account the following eligibility factors and additional considerations.
GNSO Council Eligibility Factors
No person who serves on the Nominating Committee in any capacity is eligible for selection by any means to any position on the Board or any other ICANN body having one or more membership positions that the Nominating Committee is responsible for filling, until the conclusion of an ICANN annual meeting that coincides with, or is after, the conclusion of that person's service on the Nominating Committee. [Bylaws, Article VII, Section 8, see http://www.icann.org/general/ bylaws.htm#VII-8] No more than one officer, director, or employee of any particular corporation or other organization (including its subsidiaries and affiliates) shall serve on the GNSO Council at any given time. [Bylaws, Article X, Section 3(5), see http://www.icann.org/general/ bylaws.htm#X-3.5] Additional Considerations
For the GNSO Council position, specific experience related to the scope of the GNSO's work with the Domain Name System would be advantageous.
The current composition of the GNSO Council is available here http:// gnso.icann.org/council/members.shtml
The Bylaws do not state a limit on the number of terms GNSO Council members may serve, although it is possible that term limites may be considered in future.
Time Commitment
The basic responsibilities of a GNSO Council member would spend at least 20 hours per month on Council related activities, with those chairing or participating in committees or task forces spending at up to 60 hours a month. Task force members and councilors are not compensated for either time or teleconference costs.
Additional GNSO criteria:
During the Nom Com meeting with GNSO Council at the ICANN meeting in Lisbon, the Council provided the following outline of qualities the NomCom should consider in GNSO candidates:
Baseline Criteria for anyone selected as a nomcom appointee: {* Demonstrated experience working effectively in collaborative environments involving diverse interests.} * ability to chair a multi-stakeholder group to reach consensus
CG: Although this is a desirable quality, I am not convinced that every Councilor must have chair qualities. It could be very useful to the Council to have certain areas of expertise (e.g., IDNs, Intergovernmental Knowledge) even if the person may not have chair qualities.
* basic of knowledge of DNS systems and industry structure - registries, registrars {- The goal is not to find technical DNS experts, but a minimal understanding of the DNS is needed to effectively function on the Council. for example something along the lines of "do you know what happens in the DNS when you send an email, or access a webpage". This requires not a precise technical description, but an understanding of the general process of name resolution.} * individual expertise that is not otherwise available on the Council {as represented in the variable criteria below}
{Variable Criteria that are useful to the GNSO: Part of the role of Nomcom appointees it fill in gaps in the skill set of the council. Some, but not all, of the skills that are highly useful in the process of GNSO council work are listed below. The gap skills will vary year by year. Knowledge of - International Law - Competition law - Anti-trust law - Public interest - Consumer rights - Human rights - Economics especially market analysis - Intergovernmental expertise - Understanding of the special needs of financial services businesses - IDN expertise} - setting up of dispute and objection processes - enforcement {procedures and processes} - application software development - e.g multi-lingual support - online{ collaborative work and} consensus building technologies - wiki's etc - statistics and survey analysis - project management and document control processes
CG: I suggest that each year we should identify specific skills from the above list that are of highest priority for us for the timeframe involved.
{Additionally consideration may be given to Nomcom appointees who can help with the geographical or gender balance on the council as needed.}
CG: I would suggest that we qualify this to say something like the following: "Additionally consideration may be given to Nomcom appointees who can help with the geographical or gender balance on the council as needed, as long as other needed skill sets are also demonstrated. (In other words, a condidate should not be nominated solely based on geographical or gener balance of the Council.)"