NDSA Governing Procedures

Membership

Application Process. Membership is open. The process for submitting an application to join NDSA is made available on the NDSA website.

Prospective members may submit an application which will be reviewed by the NDSA Coordinating Committee. Prospective members must demonstrate that they meet NDSA’s eligibility requirements as outlined in Article IV, Section 1 of the NDSA Bylaws. Approval is by simple majority of the CC.

Coordinating Committee

CC Duties. The Coordinating Committee (CC) is charged with setting the strategic vision and priorities for the NDSA membership, and it is critical that each elected member is actively engaged in the ongoing work of this group. Regular meeting attendance and participation is a key component of this engagement. Much of the core work of the CC is undertaken asynchronously, and work is often required between the monthly meetings to move efforts forward. Specifically, CC members are expected to:

  • Work with other committee members to provide general oversight and individually participate in Interest Groups and Working Groups as needed or required.
  • Actively promote and represent the work of NDSA in their own professional communities.
  • When leading or participating in NDSA projects, communicate clearly, respectfully, and in a timely fashion to support active participation by all members of the project team.
  • Engage the community and create membership value through our collective research, publications, and discussions platforms (e.g. website, mailing lists, OSF site and the DigiPres conference).
  • Be active and engaged in monthly meetings with the goal of at least a 75% attendance rate.
  • Notify the Chair of the CC in writing when these expectations can no longer be met.

Officer Roles.
A. Coordinating Committee Chair. The role of the CC Chair is to facilitate communication both within the Leadership Team and with the NDSA membership as a whole. The Chair convenes and facilitates the NDSA Leadership meeting. The Chair also takes the lead in strategic planning and management of the Leadership Team’s tactical roadmap. In particular, the Chair is responsible for:

  • Convening the NDSA Leadership no less than once a month, creating and managing the calendar invite on the NDSA Leadership calendar.
  • Liaising between the NDSA and its Host Organization, through quarterly meetings with Host representative(s) and the Vice-Chair.
  • Convening and facilitating strategic plans and needs as they arise.
  • Addressing any concerns or conflicts that may arise within NDSA operations.
  • Managing and confirming Leadership Team members to assist in the overall operational management of the NDSA.
  • Addressing the membership at the annual meeting as appropriate.
  • Carrying out onboarding for new CC members and off boarding for outgoing Leadership members.
  • Ensuring that the NDSA Code of Conduct is adhered to, receiving and responding to conduct claims, along with the Vice-Chair.

B. Coordinating Committee Vice-Chair. The CC Vice-Chair is elected by the CC and becomes Chair the following year; as such the role of the CC Vice-Chair is to shadow the CC Chair to learn the processes of chairing the CC and NDSA Leadership in order to provide continuity. The Vice-Chair is responsible for:

  • Managing the annual process to elect new CC members.
  • Convening quarterly meetings for the Co-Chairs of Working Groups and Interest Groups, creating and managing the calendar invite on the NDSA Leadership calendar.
  • Participating in quarterly meetings between NDSA and its Host Organization.
  • Ensuring the NDSA Code of Conduct is adhered to, receiving and responding to conduct claims, along with the Chair.

C. Coordinating Committee Secretary. The CC Secretary is elected by the CC. The Secretary is responsible for:

  • Managing the minutes of the Leadership Team.
  • Maintaining governance documentation, organizational policies and procedures, and any other important records.
  • Compiling regular Leadership updates to be disseminated through a newsletter or other communication channel.

Leadership Team. The Leadership Team is made up of the Coordinating Committee members, the co-chairs of Interest Groups, and the co-chairs of active Working Groups, which in collaboration provide strategic leadership for the organization.

Elections

CC Elections.
A. Timeline. Nominations for CC members are normally solicited in August-September, and votes collected in September-October. The newly elected members may be invited to begin attending NDSA Leadership meetings through the end of the year, but their terms officially begin in January.

The current Vice-Chair will initiate the following steps:

  • Call for nominations (early August)
  • Collect and share candidate statements (early September)
  • Voting for CC sent to NDSA membership (late September, with a reminder in early October)
  • Communication of results with candidates (mid October)
  • Announcement of new CC members (late October)

B. Process. Voting forms and files are located in the Annual CC Nominations folder in the NDSA google drive. The sub-folders for each election are shared only with the ndsa.digipres email.

Three CC members are elected each year by a simple majority of the NDSA members who cast a vote. Votes shall be cast by the designated Program Representative of any member organization. In general, a CC term runs for 3 years unless a special situation arises and is approved by the CC. In the event of a tie vote, the Host Organization will cast the deciding vote.

Vice-Chair Elections.
A. Timeline. Nominations for Vice-Chair follow the annual CC election process in order to allow newly elected CC members to be eligible to serve as Vice-Chair. Elections take place in January with voting being completed by the February NDSA Leadership meeting.

The current Chair will initiate the following steps:

  • Confirmation of Vice-Chair nominees (at least 2 weeks in advance)
  • Voting for Vice-Chair sent to NDSA Leadership (at least 1 week in advance)
  • Announcement of NDSA Vice-Chair by February Leadership Team meeting

B. Process. Voting forms and files are located in the Vice-Chair Nominations and Elections folder in the NDSA google drive. The sub-folders for each election are shared only with the ndsa.digipres email.

  • Confirmation of nominees (Done by Chair)
    • Contact all eligible CC members to ask if they are interested in the position of Vice-Chair and are willing and able to do the duties of Vice-Chair and Chair the following year.
  • Elections for Vice-Chair sent to NDSA Leadership (Done by Chair or Host Organization)
    • The Chair and Host Organization representative work together to create a ballot of confirmed nominees only available to the Chair.
    • The ballot must include the names of the nominees as well as those who voted.
    • The CC Chair sends out the ballot to the Leadership Team.
  • Announcement of NDSA Vice-Chair by February meeting. (Done by Chair)

Groups

Group Formation and Dissolution. NDSA participants may form Interest Groups and Working Groups at will, in order to discuss mutual interests, and advance joint projects. Groups can be proposed at any time by any member of the NDSA community. A lightweight charter including the topic, scope, and group objectives should be documented and presented to the Leadership Team for approval. If the proposal is for a new Working Group, a timeline and description of the final product should be included. If the proposal is for a cyclical Working Group, the previous group charter may be reused with an updated timeline. Group formation will be discussed and approved by the Leadership Team. Calls for interest and participation in new groups should be made to NDSA-ALL.

When they are deemed to be inactive or have completed their objectives, groups will be dissolved. Working Groups who expect to be doing work on a cyclical basis should be deemed dormant rather than dissolved. This status will be made clear in NDSA’s strategic plans and goals. Formal dissolution will be discussed and approved by the Leadership Team.

Co-Chair Duties. Interest Group Co-Chairs lead regular calls around topics of interest to NDSA members and the digital curation community, contribute to the strategic planning for NDSA, participate in Leadership calls, update the group webpage, maintain group documentation, and may lead or collaborate on Working Group projects. Co-Chairs are also expected to help create an annual roadmap of what the group hopes to accomplish during a given calendar year.

Working Group Co-Chairs are like project managers. Working Groups are created to achieve specific objectives or deliverables and are usually time-bound. Working Group Co-Chairs lead, facilitate, organize, and manage the work of the group; participate in Leadership calls; maintain a Working Group webpage and documentation; and manage a group workspace.

Meetings. NDSA hosts one Interest Group meeting each month, with all IGs working on a rotating schedule. The schedule for each of the IGs is provided on their pages on the NDSA website. IG Co-Chairs also send out announcements of meeting times and topics to NDSA-ALL in advance of each meeting.

Working Group meetings are organized, scheduled, and facilitated by their Co-Chairs. The frequency of WG meetings is not prescribed, but WG meetings often take place monthly.

Group Requirements.

  • Groups will update the annual strategic plan, providing an outline of their anticipated activities for the year.
  • Group activities should be made public via the NDSA website, NDSA-ALL listserv, NDSA blog, and other means as appropriate.
  • Group meeting recordings and/or notes should also be publicly available as appropriate. Reviewing survey results where participants can be identified should not be made publicly available.