GovCom minutes 2022-03-09

GovCom meeting minutes, 9th March 2022 4-5:30pm

Housekeeping

Present

Monisha Shah, Rod Ward, Lucy Crampton-Reid, Katie Crampton (minuting).

Apologies

Rosie Chapman, Lorna Campbell

Declarations of interest relating to matters on the agenda

None.

Minutes of last GovCom meeting for approval

Approved.

Matters arising that are not covered elsewhere

None.

Oral update on trustee recruitment

Both members of the committee in attendance at the meeting are also on the interview panel for the legal trustee role. At the time of the meeting two interviews had taken place with a further call scheduled for the following day. A recommendation to the board will be made following this interview.

EDIT by LCR following the meeting: The interview panel, which consisted of Monisha, Rod and Caroline, was unanimous in recommending Mark Cruickshank for the role. Mark is the Managing Legal Counsel for Outsourcing, Technology & IP in the Legal, Governance & Regulatory Affairs Department at The Royal Bank of Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, he has over 16 years experience in IP and copyright, including time within a bespoke legal firm as well as in house. His expression of interest in the role is available to view here.  

Proposal for a new board committee for Community

There was a discussion about the proposal to form a new board subcommittee focused on volunteer engagement, outlined in this paper. LCR reminded GovCom that the current board committees are ARC and GovCom, with additional (and less formal) Advisory Boards focused on Partnerships, Technology and Development. Monisha sees the role of the new advisory sub-committee of the Board to consider the specifc and general issues relating to the volunteer community and to advise the Board of the priorities, impact and effectiveness of the charity in engaging with its community. Action for the proposal to be taken to the board, with GovCom’s recommendation that the new subcommittee should be established. As a separate Action it was noted that LCR should have a discussion with DAJ about whether or not the Technology Advisory Board is needed.

Planning for the 2022 AGM

LCR and MS presented the proposal to separate out the AGM and the Community Day in 2022. The former would be held online (as previously agreed) while the latter might be held in person as part of wider Wikimania events happening from 11 - 14 August 2022 (Note: Dates added after the meeting following their confirmation by the Wikimania organising committee). There was a discussion of the possible risks and benefits of this approach. Action for plans for the 2022 AGM to be discussed at the full board meeting.

Plans to introduce a Board Portal

As suggested at the February away day, LCR is exploring options for a Board Portal. This would include papers for quarterly meetings as well as supporting documents such as our Articles of Association, the terms of reference for boards and committees, induction materials and any training resources. Whether or not we move forward with this will depend on pricing and LCR will update the board in due course.

AOB

None.

Date of the next meeting

Wednesday 8th June (4 - 5.30pm)