Board Membership Policy

Preamble

1. This Policy lays down the procedures and protocols for appointing and removing Members of the Big-8 Management Board (hereinafter referred to as "the Board").

The Handover Date

1. The dates on which terms of office begin and end shall hereinafter be referred to as "the Handover Dates". The Handover Dates shall be April 1st and October 1st in each year.

Term of Office

1. The term of office for a Member of the Board shall ordinarily be eighteen months. There shall be no limit on the number of terms that a Member of the Board may serve.

2. The Board Shall Be Appointed by Thirds

3. The Secretary of the Board shall be responsible for maintaining a list of Members of the Board and the expiration dates of their terms of office, and for informing the Board at least one calendar month before each Handover Date which Members' terms of office will expire on the forthcoming Handover Date. In the absence of a Secretary, the Chair shall be responsible.

4. If, following appointment and/or removal of members, the number of members due to retire on any one Handover Date is greater than one-third, rounded up, of the full membership of the Board, the Chair shall arrange, by consent if possible, or by a random process, to adjust sufficient Members' term of office expiration date such that approximately one-third of the membership of the Board retires on each upcoming Handover Date.

Resignation of Existing Members

1. A Member may resign from the Board at any time by notifying all other Members.

2. Upon resignation, the outgoing Member may nominate a replacement to become a Member.

a. Such nominee shall replace the outgoing Member unless rejected by a two-thirds majority of active Members.

b. If the replacement is approved, he shall be appointed to the Board with the same term of office expiration date as the Member he replaces.

Reappointment of Existing Members

1. At the expiration of a Member of the Board's term of office, if he wishes, he may be re-appointed to a new term at the discretion of the Board. The Board shall vote on the re-appointment by secret ballot; the vote-taker (the Chair) shall publish the results of the vote to the Board, but not the individual ballots.

2. If the Chair is himself up for re-appointment, the vote shall be taken by the Vice-Chair.

3. The member whose reappointment is at issue may cast a ballot in this vote as usual.

4. The vote tallies shall not be published to the public, though the re-appointment itself shall be announced.

Appointment of New Members

1. The Board shall at all times consist of at least three Members.

a. If the number of Members falls to two, then the two Members shall appoint a third Member.

b. If the number of Members falls to one, that Member shall appoint a second Member; the two Members will then appoint a third Member.

2. There shall be no upper limit to the number of Members that may comprise the Board.

3. Except in cases covered by IV(2) or VI(1), appointment of new Members shall be by two-thirds majority of active Members.

4. How new members are added to the board.

Approved by the the Board, 2006-05-03.