LINKS TO MINUTES April 2010 Session	April 2010 Session Opened Minutes AB Vacancy - NWPL State Coordinator Representative Call for Grievance Committee volunteer mediators and arbitrators Motion 2009/10- 22A - Motion to Augment the Grievance Procedures Motion 2009/10-23 - Call the Question - Augmentation of the Grievance Motion: 2009/10-24 Move to Appoint unexpired seat of NWPL SC Rep Announcements: 1st Quarter EC Report Announcements: USGenWeb Project featured in Archives.com article Session Adjourned
SESSION OPEN	1 April 2010 By the NC
Approval of Minutes	April 15 The February 2010 minutes of the USGenWeb Project have been posted at http://usgenweb.org/business/AB-02-2010.shtml. Please take a look and see if you find any corrections that need to be made. The minutes will be stand approved on 18 April 2010 at 8:00 pm if no corrections are identified. Sherri Bradley National Coordinator April 18 Having heard no objection, the February minutes are approved as currently posted and are available at http://usgenweb.org/business/AB-02-2010.shtml. Sherri Bradley
AB Vacancy - NWPL State Coordinator Representative	April 1 With Gail Kilgore's resignation as the SC Representative from the NWPL Region, the NWPL seat on the Advisory Board is now empty. (The NWPL region is made up of the following states: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming.) According to the Project's bylaws, Section VI and Section IX of the Standard Rules, the following applies: When a vacancy occurs on the Advisory Board: USGenWeb Bylaws Article VI, Subsection H applies along with the following: The vacancy will be announced on the Board mailing list and the appropriate regional mailing list(s) within two days. Within five days the Advisory Board will call for volunteers for the position. Volunteers must meet the eligibility requirements for the position. Within fifteen days of the call, volunteers must submit their names to the National Coordinator and/or the Representative At Large. Within 30 days of the announced vacancy, the Advisory Board will elect, by 2/3 majority, a replacement from the pool of volunteers. USGenWeb Bylaws Article VI, Section I lists the qualifications that must be met by the nominees. In compliance with the above stated reference, the vacancy is formally posted here and a copy will be forwarded to the State-Coordinator's and USGenWeb-NW mailing lists. Interested volunteers should submit a completed Volunteer Form located at http://usgenweb.org/volform.shtml. Volunteer forms must be received by 8 pm EDT 18 September 2009. Sherri Bradley National Coordinator April 2 Correction to the date that applications from interested volunteers - the applications/volunteer interest forms are due 15 April 2010. Sherri Bradley National Coordinator April 10 Reposting as a reminder - applications are being accepted through 15 April 2010. Sherri Bradley
Call for Grievance Committee volunteer mediators and arbitrators	The Grievance Committee of USGENWEB hereby formally requests candidates for the position of Mediator/Arbitrator. Candidates should have past experience in their personal or professional lives that reflects the following attributes: (1) An even disposition (2) Reliability and timeliness (3) An ability to suspend judgment and distance themselves from their own views in order to hear other points of view (4) An ability and willingness to propose solutions that are fair, equitable and consistent with the policies and philosophy of the Project (5) Good basic communication [writing by e-mail] skills and an ability to compromise and get along with others. Interested individuals should send the following information to John Quigley Chair, Grievance Committee at jquigley2@gmail.com with the phrase "Mediator/Arbitrator Candidate" in the subject line. John will then forward the submitted material in confidence to the other Committee members for review and selection. The necessary information is: (1) Your name (2) Your e-mail address (3) Your current position(s) in the USGENWEB Project or an affiliated Special Project--you must be a Member (4) A brief statement of why you believe you would be qualified for this volunteer position. If selected, a Mediator will be asked to Mediate disputes, listen to evidence and arguments from the disputing parties, develop and propose solutions, and provide a logical rationale for their proposals. An Arbitrator will be asked to help arbitrate disputes, listen to evidence and arguments from the disputing parties, and make a judgment as to the side which wins the case. Training and guidance from the Grievance Committee members will be provided. The Committee will be reasonable in its requests and time expectations of appointed Mediators and Arbitrators. John Quigley CC Kinney County TX Chair, Grievance Committee
MOTION: 2009/10-22A Motion to Augment the Grievance Procedures	April 2 I know I saw several posts to different mail lists where the motion had been forwarded asking for input, but haven't seen any responses here. Is there any further discussion on this motion? Sherri Bradley National Coordinator I believe that several members had objected to this wording and a revision was released that was more widely accepted. Dale Grimm I do. the motion MUST state exact where the changes are to be. It can NOT be any other way. David Samuelsen April 3 Let the record show that motion 2009/10-22A has been withdrawn by Tina Vickery and the second has been withdrawn by Jeff Kemp. Sherri Bradley National Coordinator April 4 I forgot the link to the temporary page I put up (it's been modified to incorporate the changes). The temporary page is at http://usgenweb.org/temp/amended-standard-rules-4-4.htm If things need to be moved, please let us know. Sherri Bradley National Coordinator April 5 I have received a couple of comments from members of the NENC region, which I am sharing here, regarding the motion that was on the floor over the Grievance Committee procedures. These had been sent to me several days ago, I was waiting to see if there were any other comments, plus we didn't seem to be discussing this at the moment. Some things to consider. Alice NENC CC Rep --------------------------------------------- #1: Results of the grievance procedure should be based on the grievance itself, not what occurs during the procedure. This is not to say that there shouldn't be some kind of penalty for leaking information, but that should be considered separately. In any case, regarding this sentence: > If the confidentiality is breached by someone outside of the parties > involved, the parties involved should not be penalized, unless it is evident >that a party to the grievance is intentionally feeding information, after >the grievance process began, to the one that broke the confidentiality. The confidentiality could not possibly be breached by someone outside of the process without someone inside the process first breaching the process to the outsider. This sentence should be rewritten to reflect this necessity. -------------------------------------- #2 What isn't logical about the proposed grievance confidentiality issue ... everything. It does not compute. It is totally illogical. Only what happens during mediation and/or arbitration can be considered confidential, and that's already in the Procedures. Person A is guilty -- types up their grievance in great detail giving a minute-by-minute account of everything that transpired over a one month period including as evidence 99 emails between them and who the grievance is filed against. At 1:00 pm they post their grievance on every list and blog they know of. At 1:01 pm they file their grievance. At 1:02 pm they start talking about their grievance at great length on the list. They can't be accused of breaking confidentiality, because they posted all the details before they filed. Person B is innocent -- types up their grievance and it says only "My SC fired me because I was in the hospital for one month and couldn't perform the mandatory every-30-days site update." At 1:00 pm they file their grievance. At 1:01 pm still groggy from pain meds they intend to send a message to their wife saying, "My SC fired me because I was in the hospital for one month and couldn't perform the mandatory every-30-days site update," but it goes to the Discuss list accidently. At 1:02 pm their grievance is dismissed because they broke confidentiality. Results -- the guilty is innocent, and the innocent is guilty. Is that justice? This is a case of the more rules there are, the more chances the wrong-doers can get away with breaking them, and the innocent can be punished. This agenda item should be withdrawn. Alice Allen April 22 The question has been called on Motion 2009/10-23 by Tina Vickery and seconded by Jeff Kemp. As stated below by Tina, a 2/3 majority is required to pass, which would call for an immediate vote on the motion being discussed. Please signify your response to the Calling of the Question by either "agree" (which would indicate that your choice is that a vote on Motion 2009/10-23 would be taken immediately) or "disagree" (which would indicate that discussion should continue on Motion 2009/10-23). Sherri Bradley National Coordinator Additional communications and information on this issue can be seen here http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/BOARD/2010-04.
MOTION: 2009/10-23 - Call the Question Augmentation of the Grievance Procedures	April 19 Presented by Larry Flesher and seconded by Ann Allen Geoghegan and dated 19 April 2010, the motion reads: The grievance process begins when the grievance is filed with the Grievance Committee. Once received by the Grievance Committee Chair, a notice will be submitted to the Advisory Board and posted on the EXEC list that includes the names of all parties involved and a short (5-10 words max) description of the violation. This will serve as the Advisory Board's cue to cease and desist any involvement until and unless the grievance resolution is appealed. The grievance confidentiality begins when the grievance is filed with the Grievance Committee. The party filing the grievance must acknowledge AT THE TIME OF FILING that they understand and agree to abide by the confidentiality of the grievance process. All other parties must acknowledge AT THE TIME OF NOTIFICATION that a grievance has been filed that they understand and agree to abide by the confidentiality of the grievance process. Grievance confidentiality extends to all parties (including the mediators, arbitrators and GC members) from the time the grievance process begins. Failure by one of the parties to agree to abide by the confidentiality of the grievance process is grounds to automatically and immediately lose the grievance. The consequences for breaking the confidentiality of the grievance process will be: . If the grievance team determines one of the parties to the grievance has broken confidentiality, that party automatically and immediately loses the grievance with no option to re-file. . A general statement such as "I've filed a grievance and cannot discuss it" in answer to a question is not considered a breach. . If the confidentiality is breached by someone outside of the parties involved, the parties involved should not be penalized. . If the confidentiality is broken by the mediator, an arbitrator or the GC representative to the mediation/arbitration portion of the grievance, the grievance gets reassigned to give the parties involved another chance to get the issue resolved. . Consequences for breaching the confidentiality of the grievance process by someone outside of the grievance will be determined on a case-by-case basis by the Advisory Board that may include a disciplinary hearing and penalties applied based on the results of the findings. Specifically, the following modifications to the Standing Rules will be made: Section V of the Standing Rules, item E, number 1 will be modified to read: The grievance process begins when a complaint is made by any of the following: (Items a-c remain unchanged.) In addition, the following will be added as a separate item after the last paragraph of number 1. "The grievance confidentiality begins when the grievance is filed with the Grievance Committee and extends to all parties (including the mediators, arbitrators and GC members) from the time the grievance process begins. Item E, number 2 will be modified to read: The initial complaint should be brought to the Grievance Coordinator, and must include the following information: (Items a-f remain unchanged.) Item g will be added, which will state "An acknowledgement that the member understands that the confidentiality of the grievance process begins when the complaint is filed and that they agree to abide by the confidentiality of the grievance process." Item E, the first paragraph of subsection number 4 will be modified to read: "Upon receiving the initial complaint, the Grievance Coordinator will assign it a number, and appoint one of the permanent committee members to review the complaint to determine whether it meets the requirements outlined in subsection C of this Section. At the same time, the Grievance Committee Chair will send a notice to the Advisory Board and to be posted on the BOARD-EXEC mail list that includes the names of all parties involved and a short (5-10 word max) description of the violation. This will serve as the Advisory Board's cue to cease and desist any involvement until and unless the grievance resolution is appealed." The second paragraph of subsection 4 will be modified to read: "The review of the complaint will result in an "accept" or "reject" determination from the Committee Member assigned. The review at this level should assume that the facts stated in the complaint are true, and the determination of the viability of the grievance made based upon a review of the by-laws, policies, or procedures alleged to have been violated. The recommendation and the reasons therefore, shall be provided to the Grievance Committee as a whole, and voted upon." The fourth paragraph of subsection 4 will be modified to read: "If accepted as a viable grievance, the parties shall be so informed. The parties must acknowledge at the time of notification that a grievance has been filed and that they understand and agree to abide by the confidentiality of the grievance process. Failure to agree to abide by the confidentiality of the grievance process is grounds to automatically and immediately lose the grievance. A Committee Member, volunteer mediator and two volunteer arbitrators will be assigned. The parties to the grievance, the Committee Member, mediator, and arbitrators will then be subscribed to a private email list." The first paragraph of subsection 6 will be modified to read: " When the team is seated, the parties shall be so advised by the Mediator. Everyone will be reminded that the grievance confidentiality extends to all parties (including the mediators, arbitrators and GC members) from the time the grievance process begins and that failure to abide by the confidentiality of the grievance process is grounds to automatically and immediately lose the grievance. The parties shall have seventy-two (72) hours to submit to the Mediator a written statement of their position on the issues of the dispute. The mediator shall provide the position statements to the team members for their review." The current subsection 9 will be renumbered to subsection 10. The following subsection will be inserted between the current section 8 and the former subsection 9 (newly renumbered to section 10) and will be numbered as subsection 9: The consequences for breaking the confidentiality of the grievance process will be: . If the grievance team determines one of the parties to the grievance has broken the confidentiality, that party automatically and immediately loses the grievance with no option to re-file. . A general statement such as "I've filed a grievance and cannot discuss it" in answer to a question is not considered a breach. . If the confidentiality is breached by someone outside of the parties involved, the parties involved should not be penalized, unless it is evident that a party to the grievance is intentionally feeding information, after the grievance process began, to the one that broke the confidentiality. . If the confidentiality is broken by the mediator, an arbitrator or the GC representative in the mediation/arbitration portion of the grievance, the grievance gets reassigned to give the parties involved another chance to get the issue resolved. Consequences for the GC representative are referenced in Section V of the Standard Rules, Subsection A, under the "Qualifications" item. (Link to the section above.) b. Consequences for breaching the confidentiality of the grievance process by someone outside of the grievance will be determined on a case-by-case basis by the Advisory Board that may include a disciplinary hearing and penalties applied based on the results of the findings. . Consequences for breaching the confidentiality of the grievance process by someone outside of the grievance will be determined on a case-by-case basis by the Advisory Board that may include a disciplinary hearing and penalties applied based on the results of the findings. Discussion is now open. If you have no discussion, please indicate by stating "No Discussion". Sherri Bradley National Coordinator April 24 With more than one third of the AB members voting "Disagree", the motion to call the question fails. Discussion will continue on motion 2009/10-23. Sherri Bradley National Coordinator April 24 A motion to table motion 2009/10-23 has been made by David Samuelsen and seconded by Alice Allen. Those in favor of tabling motion 2009/10-23 temporarily, please respond with "agree". Those opposed, please respond with "disagree". Sherri Bradley National Coordinator April 25 With 12 members voting, the motion to table motion 2009/10-23 fails. Those voting to table the motion: Alice Allen, Colleen Pustola, Linda Lewis and W. David Samuelsen Those voting against tabling the motion: Ann Allen Geoghegan, Dale Grimm, Denise Wells, Jeff Kemp, Larry Flesher, Les Shockey, Pauli Smith and Tina Vickery Those not voting: Cyndie Enfinger Discussion will continue on motion 2009/10-23. Sherri Bradley National Coordinator April 27 In the interest of letting everyone see what's been suggested I've put up a mockup of the changes to the rules. Maybe this will allow us to see more clearly the suggested changes. The mockup is at http://kykinfolk.com/temp/amended-standard-rules-4-27.htm - does this help? Sherri April 29 It has been moved by Tina Vickery and Seconded by Les Shockey that further action on motion 2009/10-23 be postponed until the Naming of the NWPL SC Representative, the appointment of a permanent Secretary and the approval of the CC/SC Guidelines document agenda items have been dealt with. Those in favor of postponing action on motion 2009/10-23, as listed above, please respond with "agree". Those opposed, please respond with "disagree". Sherri Bradley National Coordinator April 30 With eleven members voting, this motion has passed. Those voting "agree": Alice Allen, Colleen Pustola, Cyndie Enfinger, Dale Grimm, Denise Wells, Jeff Kemp, Larry Flesher, Les Shockey, Linda Lewis, Pauli Smith, Tina Vickery Those voting "disagree": none Those not voting: Ann Allen Geoghegan, W. David Samuelsen Sherri Bradley National Coordinator Additional communications and information on this issue can be seen here http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/BOARD/2010-04
MOTION: 2009/10-24 Move to Appoint unexpired seat of NWPL SC Rep	April 30 Presented by Larry Flesher and seconded by Tina Vickery and dated 30 April 2010, motion 2009/10-24 reads: "I move to appoint Bill Oliver to fill the unexpired term as NWPL SC Representative." Is there any discussion on this motion? If not, please indicate by responding "no discussion". Sherri Bradley National Coordinator For the record, Bill Oliver was the only applicant that met the qualifications of having served as SC or ASC for the previous 12 months. These requirements are stated in Section VI.I of the USGenWeb Project bylaws, found at http://usgenweb.org/volunteers/bylaws.shtml.
1st Quarter EC Report	April 18 For the record - Are there any additions or corrections? If not, the report will stand as approved on 21 April 2010 @ 8:00 p.m. Sherri Bradley
Announcement: Correction to Standard Rules, Section V. B, Committee Business	April 28 For the record, it has just come to the attention of the Advisory Board that an inadvertent omission occurred when Standard Rule V. B., Committee Business, was updated after motion 2009/10-07 was passed. The first paragraph of Section B was deleted when the update was made to the second paragraph. (Motion 2009/10-07 only involved the only the second paragraph of section B.) I have corrected the omission and reinserted the first paragraph where it belongs and have requested that the Grievance Committee Procedures posted at http://gc.usgenweb.org/procedures.html also be corrected. Sherri Bradley National Coordinator April 28 It has just come to my attention that when the Standard Rules page was updated after motion 2009/10-07 was passed that there was an oversight that needs to be corrected. Motion 2009/10-07 modified the second paragraph of section B of the Standard Rules/Grievance Procedures. When the update was made to the page, the first paragraph of that section was deleted inadvertently. The original wording of that first paragraph needs to be re-added to the Standard Rules page and to the current motion being discussed. When the floor is available, I will move that the original wording be re-added to correct this situation. Larry Flesher SWSC SC Rep
Announcement: USGenWeb Project featured in Archives.com article	Volunteer Projects Help Family Historians. Congratulations to our National Coordinator, Sherri Bradley for writing this article where the USGenWeb Project is featured! http://experts.archives.com/ Tina Vickery
ADJOURNMENT	Sherri Bradley adjourned the April meeting on 3 May, 2010 and convened the May meeting.

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