Apereo Community of Interest Formation

Apereo Community of Interest Formation May 2015

A draft for community consultation

A. Objective:
To provide a framework for the recognition of Communities of Interest within Apereo, ensuring that the broad Apereo Community can form timely, effective and well supported thematic partnerships to meet strategic or episodic ends, whilst maintaining organizational and financial integrity. 

B. Outline:

1. Three or more organizational members of Apereo may choose to apply to form a recognized Apereo Community of Interest around a particular theme or common interest. 
2. Such a theme or interest should be outlined in a short charter document stating a clear purpose, and seeking recognition from the Apereo Executive Director. The Executive Director will evaluate purpose and possible conflicts, and will approve or disapprove the Community. The Executive Director will report on such applications and new Communities in the monthly Board meeting, and the Community will be recognized in the minutes. 
3. The charter should indicate two contact persons from different organizations, together with their contact details. If the Community of Interest intends to collect or disburse finance, a recognized formal governance body must be established. The Executive Director will be an ex-officio, non-voting member of CoI governance bodies.
4. The Community of Interest should establish, as a minimum, a welcoming page off apereo.org http://apereo.org/ with a copy of its charter and information to join.
5. Existing Apereo Communities of Interest, or groups that wish to be considered as such, should consider these guidelines and re-charter.

C. Operational Guidelines:

1. An Apereo Community of Interest is bound by the Apereo bylaws, and, where appropriate, will follow established Apereo financial procedures. 
2. The Community of Interest will maintain close liaison with the Executive Director. It will forward notes or other records of meetings and decisions to the Executive Director, who will report to the Foundation Board at a regular meeting. Where appropriate, financial reports will be prepared by Foundation accountants and submitted to the board in the same manner as any other Foundation body that handles finance. 
3. The Community of Interest should establish, as a minimum, a landing page off apereo.org with a copy of its charter. 
4. Communities of Interest will be encouraged to hold regular open meetings with their members using Foundation supporting conferencing systems and/or by face to face meetings at the Open Apereo conference or other events. 
5. Prior to, or during, each annual meeting of the Apereo Foundation, a representative of the Community of Interest will be asked to present a summary of community activities during the previous year to the Foundation Board as a written or oral report. 
6. The Executive Director will monitor the health of Foundation-sponsored Communities of Interest, and ensure that the Foundation Board of Directors is made aware of any issues in a timely manner.
7. Communities of Interest found to no longer function will be closed by the Executive Director, with closure presented to the Foundation Board. The Community welcoming page will be remain visible yet clearly labeled as "Inactive as of <date>" with instructions to contact the ED to re-activate/reform, the charter and/or documents will be archived, should others wish to re-invigorate a previous community.