[Foundation-l] Provisional Volunteer Council - proposal sent to the Board

[effe iets anders]

Dear all,

 I am very glad that the proposal for establishing a provisional
volunteer council received such a lot support both on this list as in
private conversations.

 Since the request for candidates for the Provisional Volunteer
Council, I received quite some nominations. However, unfortunately I
have to admit that there were no (willing) candidates from some
important regions amongst these. As I have to work with the candidates
that were nominated, I was therefore unable to candidate someone from
these regions.

 I did try however, to get at least a few projects represented, and
also a more technical person (from the developers side of the
volunteer spectrum). Please find my final suggestion list below in the
proposal (attached again for reference - only one minor spelling and
layout changes).

 Please note that this is a *proposed* resolution, and not yet accepted.

 I know this list is not very long. And some area's are still missing
in representation. However, I trust this group wholehearely, and
suppose that they will make sure as a first thing to get at least one
or more projects better represented (such as Wikinews or Wikiversity
which have a very different character).

 If you have major concerns with respect to this list of candidates,
please send them to this list or communicate them to the Board (I am
not sure which route is the best for that though). I will make no
changes any more myself, but the Board is of course able to determine
the list as it likes.


 With kind regards,

 Lodewijk Gelauff


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Whereas the Board,

* recognizes the value of volunteers in Wikimedia projects and that
their work is the very reason of their success,
* values the volunteers' opinions and takes them into serious
consideration when discussing issues involving the volunteers,
* is of the opinion that these volunteers should have a strong say in
changes in the articles of incorporation and the bylaws of the
Wikimedia Foundation,
* considers a Volunteer Council a valuable intermediary between
volunteers and the Foundation, and as a good instrument to hear the
voice of the volunteers:

it is hereby resolved that:

1. The Board of Trustees hereby creates a Volunteer Council, to serve
as a valuable complement to the Staff, Advisory Board and Board of
Trustees.
2. Without restricting the generality of this provision the purposes
of the Volunteer Council shall include:

  1) Offering advice and support on issues relevant to the Wikimedia Volunteers,
  2) Recommanding the opening or closure of Wikimedia projects,
  3) Approving changes to the articles of incorporation or bylaws of
the Wikimedia Foundation and
  4) Assist in establishing a clear separation between the legal
responsibilities of the Wikimedia Foundation as an Internet Service
Provider and the community decisions for the Wikimedia Projects.

3. The members from the Volunteer Council must be volunteers within Wikimedia.
4. The Provisional Volunteer Council shall report to the Board no
later than September 1, 2008, which report shall include
recommendations regarding the number and composition of the Volunteer
Council, and how the members of the Council shall be chosen. Said
report shall also include recommendations regarding the distribution
of rights and responsibilities between the Board and Council, and any
changes in the by-laws that may be necessary to implement this.
5. Except where it pertains to its own procedures, no decision of the
Provisional Volunteer Council shall bind any person.
6. On receipt of the said report the Board shall take such steps as it
deems necessary to confirm and empower the Volunteer Council, and
provide for a transition of operations from the Provisional Volunteer
Council.
7. Members of the Volunteer Council will not be financially
compensated for their activity. On approval by the Board of Trustees
expenses of the Provisional Volunteer Council and Volunteer Council in
the fulfillment of their duties may be reimbursed.
8. The following people are hereby appointed as member of the
Provisional Volunteer Council:

 Michael Bimmler, Mbimmler (Main project: de.wikipedia)
 Yaroslav Blanter, Yaroslav Blanter (Main project: ru.wikipedia)
 Lise Broer, Durova (Main projects: en.wikipedia and commons.wikimedia )
 Jesse Plamondon-Willard, Pathoschild (Main projects: en.wikisource
and meta.wikimedia )
 Sydney Poore, FloNight (Main project: en.wikipedia)
 Milos Rancic, Millosh (Main project: sr.wikipedia)
 Ray Saintonge, Eclecticology (Main project: en.wikisource, en.wikipedia)
 Andrew Whitworth, Whiteknight (Main project: en.wikibooks)
 Michal Zlatkovsky, Timichal (Main project: cs.wikipedia)

9. The members of the Provisional Volunteer Council may on a 2/3 vote
of all its members add such additional members as they may deem
necessary and useful to their deliberations.