The Executive Team of the LTER Information Management Committee has reviewed the Committee’s Bylaws and is requesting approval of several updates. The original impetus for the update (and the only change of any real significance) is to allow the Executive Committee to choose their own chair(s) rather than having chairs selected by the IMC.
IM-Exec is also recommending a variety of minor changes now so that we won’t need to take a similar vote in the near future. Additional changes are catalogued below. Additions and deletions are also highlighted in the draft of proposed new bylaws.
- National Communications Office (NCO) changed to LTER Network Office (LNO) throughout the document.
- Reference to specific sections of the LTER Network Bylaws were deleted, as those may change.
- References to “teleconferences,” “videoconferences,” and “Zoom” were all changed to videoconference for consistency.
- First paragraph of section 4 (description of IM-Exec) shortened and simplified.
- Order of section 4 and 5 (Executive Committee and Co-chairs) was reversed to define the Executive Committee before the selection of co-chairs.
- Section 5 (Co-chairs): Language changed to make clear that IM-Exec elects their own chair(s). Reference to IM Representative to Executive Board and Science Council moved to section 7 (Network Roles).
- Section 6 (Working Groups) has been simplified to make clear that working groups determine their own work process, but need to submit a final report that details who participated and what was accomplished.
- In Section 7 (Network Roles), the following text was removed because it describes the role of an individual information manager, not the way the Committee operates.: “SiteIMs contribute LTER site data to the currently designated LTER Network data repository and/or to any other data repository that meets National Science Foundation (NSF) requirements.”
- Section 8 (Meetings and Communications) has been edited to omit reference to the LNO and EDI budgets — which are beyond the scope of the Bylaws document. Reference to expected IM attendance at monthly videoconferences has been moved to the paragraph discussing monthly videoconference. New language clarifies that LNO and EDI liaisons may be invited to attend IM-Exec meetings on an ongoing basis. Reference to posting IM-Exec meeting minutes on the IM website has been removed (since the IM website is no longer active), but the Bylaws continue to state that “Rosters, meeting notes, reports, and agendas of IMC and IM-Exec meetings are posted publicly by IM-Exec.”
- In Section 9 (Elections), reference to IM-Exec Co-chairs has been removed, as they are no longer elected by the IMC membership. Election of IM-Exec Co-chairs is now in section 5.
Please review the proposed new bylaws on the Committee Google Drive. For reference, the existing bylaws are available on the LTER Network website. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to a member of the IM Executive Team to get clarification.
Register your vote on the form at the bottom of this page by July 20 at the latest. We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter.
Thank you!
LTER IM-Exec
Co-Chairs: Stevan Earl (CAP) and Suzanne Remilliard (AND)
Members: Renée Brown (MCM), Greg Maurer (JRN), Tim Whiteaker (BLE)
