- 1conf99-ses5-post

FOR EDUCATION

SFR

Session V: Decision Making Process

2nd Asha for Education Conference 1999

• Asha has more chapters now than 2 years ago

• We have many more activities on a national scale than ever before

• As a result, our current decision making process is becoming inadequate

• An informal survey was conducted from Mar-Apr 1999. Four key concerns emerged

- some volunteers feel excluded from national level decisions

- some feel too many decisions are left to them to make

- others feel that although the current system is adequate but “something” is missing

- almost everyone agreed that the current voting process is cumbersome

We need to improve the current decision making process to address these concerns.

- 2conf99-ses5-post

FOR EDUCATION

SFR

2nd Asha for Education Conference 1999

Current Process

Structure• Coordinator• Treasurer• (Informal Record Keeping)• Focus groups• Volunteers ~10-20

Process (Most Chapters)• Clear• Regular Meetings• Focus group presentations• Focus groups have decision making power• Coordinator & long-term members provide

guidance• On issues where consensus cannot be

reached, voting is conducted to decide issue

Chapter Level National Level

Structure• President• Treasurer• Secretary• Some Focus Groups, some ad-hoc groups• Active Volunteers ~30-40• Executive Committee (=coord of each chapter)

Process• Murky• No Meetings• Erratic emails to ashawide• Groups & Teams have limited power• President & long-term members provide guidance

but their voice is often drowned (e.g. Sandeep)• All issues require time-consuming voting process

- 3conf99-ses5-post

FOR EDUCATION

SFR

2nd Asha for Education Conference 1999

Proposed Change

Four pronged approach:

• Modified Structure (official posts, responsibilities, accountability, etc.)• Focus Groups at the national level (for day to day decisions and tasks)• EC Voting Process (quick and decisive)• NCC: National Coordination Committee (guide consensus building)

- 4conf99-ses5-post

FOR EDUCATION

SFR

2nd Asha for Education Conference 1999

Structure of Asha

President, Secretary, Treasurer- clearly identify responsibilities in writing

• Chapters- clearly identify responsibilities at the national

level- punitive clause for non-responsive chapters (to

be determined by focus group)

• Executive Committee- Current:

coordinators of all chapters (~30) Ashawide Treasurer

- Proposed: coordinators of all chapters (~30) President Secretary Ashawide Treasurer Board of Directors

Proposal at the Conference Recommendation of Conference Attendees

Yes. - Detailed proposal to be presented Ashawide for

everyone’s feedback (owner: Richa)

• Yes. - Detailed proposal to be presented Ashawide for

everyone’s feedback (owner: Richa)

• Modified: Only chapters should have a vote, no-one else. The President should have tie-breaker vote only.

- Detailed proposal to be presented Ashawide for everyone’s feedback (owner: Richa)

- 5conf99-ses5-post

FOR EDUCATION

SFR

2nd Asha for Education Conference 1999

Focus Groups

Example: at a chapter, project selection is handled by project focus group

- anyone interested can join- rest of chapter trusts and supports the

decisions of the project focus group

• Proposal: We should use the same system at the national scale.

- e.g. the national project focus group should decide WAH project selection rather than a voting process.

• “Day-to-day” operations can be handled by focus groups just as at the chapter level, with focus groups having some decision making authority

Proposal at the Conference Recommendation of Conference Attendees

Those present at the session agreed in principle with the proposal.

• A focus group should be formed to hash out outstanding issues of accountability and transparent process.

• A proposal should be presented to Ashawide for feedback and voting (owner: Prithvi).

- 6conf99-ses5-post

FOR EDUCATION

SFR

2nd Asha for Education Conference 1999

Executive Committee

• Current Situation: Voting takes forever and is cumbersome.

• Need improved implementation (result of survey)

- Faster process- regular & scheduled just like chapter

meetings (once every 3 months?)

• Proposal: If focus groups run day-to-day affairs (e.g. WAH project selection), minimal voting would be needed. Also, the process could be streamlined through the web.

Proposal at the Conference Recommendation of Conference Attendees

• Those present at the session agreed in principle with the proposal, but wanted to ensure that proper checks and balances are included in the process.

• The proposal should be presented to ashawide for feedback and voting (owner: Richa)

- 7conf99-ses5-post

FOR EDUCATION

SFR

2nd Asha for Education Conference 1999

National Coordinating Committee

Why? - be the wisdom of Asha- provide guidance on key issues if needed

(note: these are suggestions, not decisions)

• Who? (needs to be give more thought)- President- Secretary- Treasurer- coordinators of 4 elected chapters (elected every 2 yrs by EC)- 3 long-time elected members (elected every 5 yrs by EC)

• Note: EC is the final authority on all matters. On any given open issue, until the EC makes the decisions through deliberated voting, the NCC may be used to identify the voice of Asha.

Proposal at the Conference Recommendation of Conference Attendees

• Not needed at this time.