On Thu, May 29, 2014 at 1:58 PM, Bence Damokos <bdamokos(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Sam,
If all the steps could happen at the same time, and decisions were made by
a single person, then the process could indeed be done in 30 minutes under
ideal circumstances (a person being 24/7 online, and all information being
available at the time of application).
However, currently there are a number of checks and procedural safeguards
in place that add to the process and utilize the knowledge and wisdom of
the whole AffCom.
After taking into account such practicalities as limited and
non-overlapping volunteer schedules (i.e. non-work time, non offline time
across different time zones) of both the applying group and the group
processing the application, a few weeks seem to be the ideal we can aim for
at this point without giving up guarantees of due diligence.
As a breakdown of this idealised process, see:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/meta/9/97/User_group_process.svg
Best regards,
Bence
P.S.: I myself have argued for the 30 minute recognition process many
times, but at the same time understand that the movement relies on the
"Affcom seal of approval" to mean something, which in turn requires a bit
deeper due diligence somewhere along the line.
Is it necessary for the full committee to weigh in on user group decisions?
If you have a relatively straightforward rubric for assessment, couldn't it
be completed by a single member of the committee? Given the low weight of
consequences anticipated by user groups, you could either permit an
individual member to issue a decision on behalf of the group or ask them to
distribute the completed rubric for up/down votes by the body.