Fellowships Committee

ICANN Fellowship Program

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Superseded by https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/committee-2012-02-25-en

25 February 2012

The Fellowships Committee (FC) will be responsible for selecting which applicants will receive fellowships to the ICANN International public meetings, utilizing the vetted applications garnered through the online application system. The Committee will also advise ICANN staff through scheduled phone calls and a once a year face to face meeting at the last ICANN International public meeting of the fiscal year.

Terms of Reference

1. Objectives
   The objectives of the FC are:
1. To select fellows from among the applicants based on their conformity with the criteria outlined in the application and the evaluation process outlined in this document.
2. To act as a resource to the ICANN Board and staff by providing information and feedback on the planning, implementation and evaluation of the fellowships programme.
3. To conduct outreach in support of the fellowships program and to create a pool of potential future members of the selection committee.
2. Membership
1. The FC shall be made up of no less than 4 and no more than five (5) representatives of the public with a strong history of experience with technical Internet issues, developing countries and/or Internet related development work, fellowships programmes and/or nonprofit experience.
2. The Fellowship program is designed toward ensuring geographic diversity and to include representatives from multiple ICANN regions.
3. In the event that the FC determines that its membership or terms of reference are not appropriate it shall have the power to recommend to ICANN staff amendments to these Terms of Reference.
4. Membership is at the invitation of ICANN staff.
5. An ICANN staff member will act as the FC committee Secretariat.
3. Terms of Service
1. Members will serve for a minimum of three ICANN meetings and for a maximum of three years.
2. Members may resign at any time.
3. Members will transition off the committee one member at a time when possible.
4. Administration
1. The FC may ask ICANN staff to investigate specific issues and to report back to the Committee.
5. Reporting
1. At the close of each ICANN International public meeting, the FC Secretariat will provide a summary report containing statistical information on its activities to the Fellowship Selection committee for their review. Once approved by the committee, this report will be provided to the Board and ICANN staff, as well as being posted on the ICANN website.
6. Quorum
1. A quorum for the meetings of the FC consists of a majority (50% plus 1 of all members).
2. If any members of the FC cannot attend a meeting or conference call, they will be provided the notes by the Secretariat, so those members can provide additional input and approval.
7. Process
1. Meetings of the FC shall be held via conference call during the evaluation period of the fellowships application process.
2. An agenda for each meeting shall be sent to the FC prior to the meeting.
3. Minutes will be kept by ICANN staff and submitted for approval following each meeting of the FC.
4. The FC will meet in person at an ICANN International public meeting once per year, preferably at the last meeting of each calendar year.
5. Members of the FC will be encouraged to contribute to the agenda.
6. The FC will be required to rank applicants within regions in order of preference. The number of fellowships available will vary dependant on the location of meeting, region of applicant and budgetary constraints.
8. Application Assessment and Decision Making Process

Round One – First Order Decision Making

Each FC member reviews the dossiers of each applicant against the questions set out in the application form:

• Why they want to attend
• Why they feel participation in ICANN is important
• Interest in participation in the Fellowship programme
• Knowledge of field
• Previous attendance: priority given to those who have not attended a meeting before or have only attended once
• Willingness to complete feedback materials
• Willingness to actively participate in ICANN meetings and the fellowship alumni network
• In addition, beginning with ICANN meeting #31, ICANN Regional Managers comments will be available to the committee.

FC members will individually review each dossier and assign a grade of either 3 (definite yes) 2 (maybe) 1 (definite no) or 0 (not meeting any criteria). They will then send that individual scoring information to ICANN, which is summarized within the application database.

If there are four voting FC members, the highest rank an applicant can receive is 12, the lowest a 0, and everyone will fall somewhere on the scale between 12 and 0.

If there are five voting FC members, the highest rank an applicant can receive is 15, the lowest a 0 and everyone will fall somewhere on the scale between 15 and 0.

The staff will then fill the slots from each region with the highest ranking applications according to the scores from the FC membership. If there are more admitted applicants with the same score than there are slots available for a region (i.e. "ties") then the FC must go to a second order of decision making.

Round Two – Second Order Decision Making

In the event of ties – too many applicants with the same score from the same region that exceeds the number of fellowships available for that region there will be a discussion about whether to have multiple attendees from a single country or to spread the slots out over many countries in a region. Questions that will be asked include:

• Has this country ever been represented at ICANN meetings before?
• Has the applicant ever been to a meeting before?
• Is the applicant in a position to influence or teach others at home about ICANN?
• Is the applicant from a department that makes it possible for them to influence Internet policy at home or in their region?

The FC will make a determination on how to prioritize individuals and countries based on the applicant's experience and then convey that determination to staff.

Committee Members

Current Committee Members:
Nashwa Abdel-Baki – Western Asia
Tatiana Chirev – Eastern Europe
Alejandro Pisanty – Latin America
Nii Quaynor - Africa
Hong Xie – Asia Pacific

Past Committee Members:
Vanda Scartezini – Latin America – served 3 years/9 rounds
Steven Huter - North America – served 3 years/9 rounds
Erick Iriarte Ahon – Latin America – served 2 ½ years/8 rounds
Pierre Ouédraogo – Africa – served 1 1/2 years/5 rounds
Ayman El-Sherbiny – Western Asia – served 1 year/ 3 rounds