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From: Isaiah Harrison <>
Subject: [BOARD-L] VOTE--Motion 04-02--Mediation Procedures
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 23:51:16 -0700


As there seems to be no additional discussion regarding Motion 04-02, I
will call for the vote.
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It has been moved by Phyllis and seconded by Jan that the revised Mediation
Process Proposal be adopted. The proposal reads as follows:

When a grievance is filed with the Advisory Board, it will automatically
become subject to this mandatory mediation process. Persons wishing to file
complaints/grievances should read this document in its entirety, in order
to fully understand the process and the responsibilities of everyone involved.
A. About the Mediation Process
1. The purpose of the Mediation Process is to assist USGenWeb
members, and some affiliates, in reaching fair and amicable
settlement of issues on which disagreement exists, in concurrence
with Article VI, Section 3, of the USGenWeb By-Laws.
2. The goal of Mediation is that final resolution of conflict in a
fashion that best addresses the interests and concerns of all parties,
the USGenWeb Project and researchers.
B. Advisory Board Mediators--Selection, Procedure and Duties
1. Selection of Mediators
a. The National Coordinator shall ask which members of
the Advisory Board are willing to serve as mediators. The
entire Advisory Board shall then vote to select five (5) of
these volunteers.
b. The names of the mediators shall be posted in
alphabetical order on the National Website.
c. Immediately after the selection process is completed, the
Advisory Board Secretary, or Recording Secretary, shall
randomly draw these five (5) names to determine the order
in which conflicts will be assigned. This order will remain
confidential to the NC, Secretary and Mediators.
d. No conflict shall be assigned to a Mediator if he/she is
named in the complaint.
2. Duties and Responsibilities of the Mediators
a. Upon reviewing an assigned grievance, the Mediator may
and should, pass the request to the next Mediator on the
list if
i. He feels his association with either party would
give the feeling of impropriety.
ii. He knows he will not be available for the time
needed.
iii. He feels he could not remain unbiased in a
particular conflict.
iv. He feels an inherent conflict of interest.
b. The Mediator will contact the parties to notify each that
the grievance has been received.
c. The Mediator will subscribe all parties to a private list.
The Mediator shall serve as neutral Chair, and will insure
that all parties have a full, fair and equal opportunity to be
heard and to present relevant material.
d. The role of the Mediator shall not be to pass judgment,
or determine outcome, but to serve as a facilitator in
bringing the conflicting parties together so that they may
reach a point of agreement between themselves, and
thus resolve the conflict.
e. The Mediator may utilize all forms of communication to
enhance and expedite discussions.
f. At the conclusion of mediation, the Mediator will
unsubscribe all parties from the private list and report the
outcome to the Advisory Board, in Executive session.
g. In the event a Mediator is unable to complete his
assignment, due to illness, emergency, etc., the next-in-line
Mediator will be asked to step in so that discussions may
continue.
h. Agreements found to be not in concurrence with
UsGenWeb By-Laws will be re-negotiated.
C: Mediation Eligibility
1. The Mediation Process is applicable when a complaint, or
grievance, is filed by the following:
a. Any member of the USGenWeb Project, filing on his/her
own behalf, within 45 days of incident, or discovery of
incident.
b. Former USGenWeb members within 14 days of
termination of membership either with the Project, or
within a specific State or Special Project.
c. Transcribers and accepted contributing researchers,
within 45 days of incident, or discovery of incident.
d. Copyright disagreement may be assigned for mediation
only by the Advisory Board.
e. In the case of two or more individuals forming one party,
the group will select one spokesperson to enter into
Mediation, on behalf of the others, in addition to an
advisor/counselor. The chosen advisor/counselor
may be a member of the group.
2. Filing Procedure
a. A filer should compile a note using the subject line
"Complaint", or "Grievance"; give a brief description of the
conflict and the name(s) of the opposing party/parties. The
note shall be sent to the filer's Regional Representatives on
the Advisory Board.
b. Filer understands that his Regional Representatives may
request clarification, make helpful suggestions, or offer to
personally assist in reconciling the differences, prior to
forwarding the request to the appropriate USGenWeb
Advisory Board Mediator, to insure that all other avenues
of settlement have been exhausted.
3. Mediation Procedure
a. Upon receipt of the complaint/grievance, the Mediator
shall offer each party an opportunity to choose a current
member of The USGenWeb Project to serve as
advisor/counselor. Each member has the right to waive the
selection of an advisor/counselor. A waiver may not be
withdrawn once mediation begins.
b. Recognizing the importance of confidentiality during
mediation, all communication, dialogue, documents, logs,
etc. presented is to be considered privileged information
and will remain confidential during and after negotiation.
c. Mediation may continue for an indefinte period, as long
as the mediator feels that progress is being made and an
amicable and just conclusion may be reached.
d. All agreements are considered binding and parties are
expected to honor and abide by agreements reached during
mediation.
e. The results (only) of the Mediation Process may be made
public to the membership, by the involved parties, if all
parties are in agreement.
f. At the close of Mediation, the Mediator shall report a
summary of the grievance and outcome of mediation to the
Advisory Board in Executive Session. In the event that a
resolution has not been reached, the Advisory Board will
then review the issue with the Mediator, call on the parties
involved to submit further statements only if deemed
necessary, and issue a ruling.
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Those in favor plese vote YES, those opposed, NO. Members will have until
11:45 pm MST Saturday, January 17 to cast their votes. A 2/3 majority is
required for the motion to pass.

-Isaiah

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