Group Shutdown Process

Group Shutdown Process

Process Overview

This document provides information about the process for all parties involved. When a Group is shut down, additional actions may need to be taken by Kantara staff (such as website changes) and/or the Board of Trustees (such as looking after any intellectual property created by the Group).

The scope of this document is restricted to typical scenarios and does not extend to the scenario where a group is in gross violation of its charter or such activity risks reputational damage to Kantara. This is covered in the KI Operating Procedures

The scope of this document does not cover Merging of Kantara Groups. However the merge scenarios share some of the guidance outlined here.

Definitions

• Group Leadership: The elected Chair and Vice-Chair, or several Co-Chairs, of a Work Group or Discussion Group.
• Dechartering: The first stage in group shutdown. An LC vote to decharter a group requires a Simple Majority (to match the standard for chartering set in Section 3.1 of the Operating Procedures). A Work Group vote to decharter itself requires a Supermajority of the Voting Members of the group.

Work Groups

It is prudent for the Leadership Council to ensure that the Group's operations are wound down in an orderly fashion when a Kantara Work Group (WG):

• is incorrectly formed according to the Operating Procedures,
• becomes dormant,
• has an expired charter, or
• requests to be shut down.

Incorrect WG Formation

According to the Operating Procedures, Work Groups (Section 3.3) are required to elect Group Leadership.

If the Group Leadership is not filled within 45 days of a Group's formation, or if 45 days pass after a one-year Chair term ends (Sections 3.4 and 4.4) without a reconfirmation vote or election of a new candidate, the LC must send a reminder notice to the Group.

If the issue is not rectified by the Group within 60 days after receiving the warning, the question of dechartering the Group must automatically be brought up at the next Leadership Council meeting.

To assist the Leadership Council, a Group must note in its quarterly reports any deadlines in the forthcoming quarter, such as:

• Pending expiration of Group Chair term (Section 3.4 requires that a Work Group hold Chair nominations at least one month before the expiration of a term)
• Any Group chartered time-based or other limited restrictions on its own lifetime

WG Dormancy (as indicated by Group Activity and Activity Reporting)

Work Groups are responsible for submitting quarterly activity reports to the Leadership Council (Section 3.3.1). The reporting process is but one of a number ‘pulse checks’ that can be used to determine if a group is dormant.

If a Group fails to submit a quarterly report within 60 days of the end of a quarter, the LC must send a reminder notice to the Group. If the Group fails to submit two quarterly reports in a row, within 30 days of the second failure the LC appoints an LC representative to support the Group leadership team, the question of dechartering the Group must automatically be brought up at the next Leadership Council meeting. If the Group fails to submit three quarterly reports in a row, and no accompanying reasonable rationale for the failure, the LC shall commence a disbanding process in accordance with its Duties and Responsibilities outlined in Section 2.2 of the Operating Procedures.

On receipt from a Group of three quarterly reports in a row documenting no meetings held, no substantive list activity, and no document production, accompanied with a reasonable rationale for the lack of activity, within 30 days of the most recent report the LC must send a request to the Group asking for comment. If the leadership team of the Group does not respond (for example, with a remediation plan for Leadership Council discussion or a mitigating explanation) within 60 days of receiving the request, the question of dechartering the Group must automatically be brought up at the next Leadership Council meeting.

Expired WG Charter

A Group that has an expired Charter must either recharter and continue Group activity or decharter and cease activity. The process along either of these routes must commence no later than 30 days from expiry. The process for Chartering is detailed in Section 3 of the Operating Procedures. The most recent quarterly activity report should provide an indication of whether the Group expects to recharter or decharter. However, if no evidence of rechartering is provided to the LC within 30 days after expiry, the LC will commence a disbanding process in accordance with its Duties and Responsibilities outlined in Section 2.2 of the Operating Procedures.

WG Self-Shutdown

A Group may at any time vote to decharter itself by a super-majority of those voting on the motion to shut down the Group.  The result of the vote to decharter is then put before the Leadership Council for ratification.

Discussion Groups

It is prudent for the Leadership Council to ensure that the Group's operations are wound down in an orderly fashion when a Kantara Discussion Group (DG):

• is incorrectly formed according to the Operating Procedures,
• becomes dormant,
• has an expired charter, or
• requests to be shut down.

Incorrect DG Formation

According to the Operating Procedures, Discussion Groups (Section 4.4) are required to elect Group Leadership.

If the Group Leadership is not filled within 45 days of a Group's formation, or if 45 days pass after a one-year Chair term ends (Section 4.4) without a reconfirmation vote or election of a new candidate, the LC must send a reminder notice to the Group.

To assist the Leadership Council, a Group must note in its quarterly reports any deadlines in the forthcoming quarter, such as:

• Pending Group lifetime expiration (Section 4.3 sets the periods for Discussion Group existence and renewal)
• Any other time-based or other limits on its own lifetime

DG Dormancy (as indicated by Group Activity and Activity Reporting)

Discussion Groups are responsible for submitting quarterly activity reports to the Leadership Council (Section 4.5). The reporting process is but one of a number ‘pulse checks’ that can be used to determine if a group is dormant.

If a Group fails to submit a quarterly report within 60 days of the end of a quarter, the LC must send a reminder notice to the Group.

No other action will be taken by the LC during the term of the Discussion Group (one year).

If the level of activity in the Discussion Group is such that it fails to renew its term at the expiry of its existing one tear term, the LC shall commence a disbanding process in accordance with its Duties and Responsibilities outlined in Section 2.2 of the Operating Procedures.

Expired DG

A Group that has expired its one year term must either renew and continue Group activity or cease activity. The process along either of these routes must commence no later than 30 days from expiry. However, if no evidence of renewal is provided to the LC within 30 days after expiry, the LC will commence a disbanding process in accordance with its Duties and Responsibilities outlined in Section 2.2 of the Operating Procedures.

Self-Shutdown

A Group may at any time vote to decharter itself by a super-majority of those voting on the motion to shut down the Group.  The result of the vote to decharter is then put before the Leadership Council for ratification.