Updated: 17 December 2010
The Board Review Working Group (BRWG), in its final report [PDF, 116 KB], recommended that the current timing of appointments to the Board be altered so that all incoming Board members are sat at an ICANN Public Meeting. Currently, only Board members appointed by the Nominating Committee are seated at a Public Meeting. The BRWG recommendation would facilitate the seating of Board members selected by the ICANN Supporting Organizations and the At-Large Community occur at a mid-year Public Meeting (Meeting) to facilitate Board member transition. Presently, these Board seats transition in between public meetings; the BRWG recommendation will allow for a more orderly, face-to-face transition.
The Board Governance Committee (BGC) reviewed this recommendation, and recommended that the Board approve the posting for public comment the proposed Bylaws amendments to implement the BRWG recommendation. At its 28 October 2010 meeting, the Board directed staff to post these proposed Bylaws changes for a minimum of 30 days of public comment.
The Bylaws amendments do three things: (1) Define that if a Meeting occurs between six to eight months after the conclusion of an ICANN annual general meeting (AGM), the Board seat transitions should occur then; (2) if no Meeting occurs during that time, the Board seat transitions will occur as they do now – six months after the conclusion of the AGM; and (3) require the those selecting Board members to give an additional month of notice of their selection, which will allow for more comprehensive Board committee slating to be completed before the transition in terms. The Bylaws amendments do not require ICANN to hold a mid-year Meeting.
The relevant portion of the proposed Bylaws revisions, in redline for ease of review, can be found here: http://www.icann.org/en/general/proposed-bylaws-revision-vi-8-08nov10-en.pdf [PDF, 76 KB]
Deadline and How to Submit Comments:
ICANN is opening a 30-day public comment, from 8 November 2010 through 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight time on 8 December 2010 Extended to 8 January 2011.
To Submit Comments: bylaws-amend-article-vi8@icann.org
To View Comments: http://forum.icann.org/lists/bylaws-amend-article-vi8/
Staff Responsible: Amy Stathos, Deputy General Counsel