Board Planning Committee Planning Committee

Meeting of 1995-04-13, Honeywell Room, RMOC HQ, 7:00 - 10:00 pm

Present:
Chris Hawley,
Julie Chahal,
Brett Delmage,
Richard Taylor

1.    Goals of this meeting:
      - define how to plan
      - define the mandate of the Board Planning Committee (BPC)
      - identify immediate tasks for BPC
      - define links to other FreeNet entities
      - define BPC membership

2.    Mandate

      There was a lengthy discussion of what the BPC should be and its
      relationship with the Board and other Committees. We worked from the
      two drafts that had previously been posted by Chris Hawley and Julie
      Chahal.

MOTION:
I move that the following Terms of Reference be adopted for the Board
Planning Committee:

Terms of Reference for a Board Planning Committee
-----------------------
The role of the Board as a whole is to manage the property and business of
FreeNet (Bylaw 7).  Planning is a big part of management and should not be
delegated.  The function of a planning committee is to facilitate the Board's
planning process by making recommendations and by clearly defining and 
presenting alternatives.  Specifically, to:

a.    Produce long-term strategies and plans to fulfil the Mission Statement:
      - recommend scope and priorities in whom we serve and in
      products/services,
      - define values, and
      - communicate mission and values to the membership.

b.    Provide guidance to other committees in the form of recommendations to
      the Board on:
      - overall directions and priorities,
      - reviewing committee plans for appropriateness, consistency, and fit.

c.    Propose means to monitor and report progress against plans and values.

d.    Identify and research issues that go beyond the scope of single
      committees:
      - define the issues (high level),
      - collect and present points of view, alternatives, consequences,
      - gather data,
      - present strategic alternatives for Board decision.

Moved by:	Chris Hawley
Seconded by:	Richard Taylor


3.    Where we are now

      We have:
      - a Mission Statement,
      - a first cut at values and priorities (from last summer's workshops),
      - some ideas for objectives,
      - Annual Reports containing "key challenges" and "other issues",
      - a Development Plan (from Development Committee),
      - a Volunteer Strategy (from the Volunteer Coordinators).

      We need:
      - a plan for the next year,
      - a coherent package of objectives and priorities,
      - a well organized presentation to the Board.

MOTION
I move that the Board Planning Committee be tasked with organizing and 
presenting a coherent set of objectives and priorities to the Board at the 
May 1995 meeting, based on the existing Mission Statement and draft material 
from last year's Board workshops, from the Annual Report and from Committee 
plans.

Moved by:	Chris Hawley
Seconded by:	Richard Taylor

4.    Suggested membership

      There was some discussion of who should be on the Board Planning
      Committee. In order to make the BPC effective, it should be fairly
      small, however in order to investigate and present alternatives, there
      should be enough people to represent different ideas and to form
      sub-groups for detailed analysis. The BPC should be primarily an arm of
      the Board, but should also draw on the talents and ideas of active and
      interested members. The Executive Director will have an important role
      to play in identifying issues and in communicating with the other
      Committees. The BPC should be chaired by a member of the Board.

MOTION
I move that the Board Planning Committee be composed of:
a.    6 members of the NCF Board of Directors,
b.    3 active and interested members of NCF, appointed by the Board, and
c.    the Executive Director.

Moved by:	Chris Hawley
Seconded by:	Richard Taylor

      We recommend that the President call for volunteers from the Board to
      serve on the Board Planning Committee up to a maximum of six, and that
      a call for volunteers/nominations be posted on the FreeNet for members
      to serve on the Board Planning Committee.

      Once the Board members of the BPC have been identified, we recommend
      that the President call for a volunteer to chair the Board Planning
      Committee and (if necessary) the Board vote to select the chair.