Ddevault/reforms

TechInc reforms

This is where I am keeping notes for my proposals to improve TechInc. Some of this will become ALV agenda items.

Goals

• Implement a renewed sense of communal ownership and responsibility among space members over the association
• Reduce the workload and importance of the board

Renaming the board

I propose to rename the board, for internal purposes, to the Executors of Legal Faffery, and its members as "elfs", to reduce the sense that they hold a special position of authority in the space (alternative usage: Executors of Logistical Faffery, when called for). Naturally we can still refer to them as "the board" in official documents to the extent which is necessary to meet our legal obligations.

Reforming member introductions

The board should not be soley responsible for onboarding new members. The board is legally liable for the association and the behavior of its members, so they still need to be in the loop. However, a process should be established through which non-board members can perform member onboarding, and the board can, on the advice of a trusted & trained member, rubber stamp the new membership.

We should also eliminate the hour-long tour and boil it down to the essentials, or offload some of the tour information onto the wiki.

• What information needs to be included in the tour?
• What information needs to be collected from the members, and where is it stored?
• How to maintain the list of members who are trusted to do onboarding?

Should we establish an onboarding committee in the house rules?

Curtailing committees

The idea of an official, elected list of committees runs counter to the culture we should have. The committees mostly don't function for their intended purpose and all initiatives within TechInc should be informal, member-run grassroots affairs. The following committees should be removed and replaced with simple "projects" with no formally defined role:

• Media committee
• Space maintenance committee
• Event committee

The following committees should be retained:

• Auditing committee: this is useful for providing a check on the elfs and ensuring that we meet our legal and fiscal responsibilities
• Dispute committee: this is necessary for keeping the peace and moderating conflicts within the space, but should be reformed; see below

Dispute committee reforms

Need:

• Onboarding process for new members
• Better management of internal committee policy
• Better visibility from member body into how to interact with this committee

Will rewrite the wiki page.

Streamlining the ALV process

The agenda of the ALV should be strictly limited to:

• Legally required proceedings
• Votes on proposals issued prior to the ALV

Discussions regarding proposals and other issues should mostly happen among members prior to the ALV. Could be made easier with better dissemination of the agenda and encouraging members to schedule discussions on proposals prior to the ALV for those who are interested in digging into them further.

Random idea: maybe the board should not be sitting up front for this? Gathering all members into a circle, board included, might be better vibes

TODO

Notes to self:

• I want to be on the next member tour so I can see what's involved
• Draft specific changes to relevant policies and/or houserules
• Figure out all of the little things the board is doing that should be handled by members
• Talk to existing board members and circulate the draft among a few members for comment
• Prep these changes in the form of an ALV proposal
• Draft update to Rules that better illustrates the member's role in making the space work
• Draft email to all members explaining the changes, their motivation, and our desired cultural values
• Address the toool questions?
• Elaborate on the role of members in the space