Proposal for an IT Advisory Group
Submitted to the Executive Committee, January 14, 2009

 

Per the proposal approved by the Executive Committee in its conference call of August 25, 2008, the following has been developed and is being submitted as a proposal by David Kantor for approval by the Executive Committee.

 

A group of IT professionals drawn from the readership have agreed to serve as an IT Advisory Group to advise the Executive Committee on matters related to IT services, developmental directions, and related administrative changes.  This group has agreed to meet and review the entire IT situation in which the Fellowship is seeking better administrative management as an initial undertaking.   This would be followed by a recommendation submitted to the Executive Committee recommending an approach for moving forward.

 

The following individuals have agreed to serve on this body:

 

Tim Hobbs   

Alan Goodman   agoodman@pcisys.net
Michael Challis   
Emilio Coppola   
Jeff Kendall   5kendalls@comcast.net
Michelle Klimesh   mrklimesh@yahoo.com

Paula Thompson   fellowship@urantiabook.org
Susan Cook    solonia@juno.com
Robert Burns   snickburns@aol.com

 

As a first step this group would meet for a two to three day retreat.  The purpose of this retreat would be the following:

 

1. Provide a context in which these folks could get to know each other socially and to share their perspectives on IT philosophy. 

2. Provide historical, technical, and political background on our current IT situation and its organizational context.

3. Conduct an extensive review of existing web-based resources.

4. Develop an initial proposal for the Executive Committee recommending a long-term approach to the management of IT issues.

5. Agree upon procedures for managing an ongoing advisory committee including the election of a chair, a recorder, and a specification describing the means by which this committee would conduct its internal discussions and reviews.

 

This preliminary meeting had in fact been scheduled to take place early in January prior to the Fellowship January business meetings, the funds for the meeting were cut from the budget with an agreed-upon review in June of 2009.  This retreat has been postponed accordingly.

 

This advisory body comprised of IT professionals (pending approval or modification by the group itself or Executive Committee action) would have the following objectives:

 

1. Provide for the Executive Committee a long-term plan for IT services implementation, including but not limited to long-term planning for staff expansion, planning for the implementation of

additional services in accord with long-term budget considerations,

 

2. Advise the Executive Committee on emerging technologies that might be incorporated into Fellowship IT services for the enhancement of administrative efficiencies and economies including long-term financial and staffing considerations.

 

3. Advise the Executive Committee on emerging technologies that might be utilized to further the dissemination mission of the Fellowship.

 

4. Provide the Executive Committee with informed critique of the work done by technical contractors working under the direction of the Executive Committee including but not limited to website development, Fellowship e-commerce development, database development, and administrative efficiencies related to technology implementation.

 

5. Provide the Executive Committee with advice related to budget requests submitted by technical contractors prior to the annual budget meeting of the Fellowship.

 

This proposal (pending approval or modification by the group itself or by Executive Committee action) would include the following administrative provisions:

 

1. The group would appoint a chair and a recording secretary.

 

2. The group would meet at least quarterly via conference call with online document sharing to review issues presented by IT staff, to review progress on agreed-upon programs, and discuss problems any member might feel to be relevant.  The result of this conference call would be a report, prepared by the committee secretary, submitted to the Executive Committee prior to each quarterly meeting. 

 

3.  The chair or a designee of this group would attend each quarterly meeting of the Executive Committee in an advisory capacity with full freedom to participate in discussions but not having a vote. 

 

4. The Executive Committee would use the advice provided by this working group as a basis for managing its IT staff, projects, and IT/Web budgets including responses to requests submitted by IT staff.

 

5. The Executive Committee would retain full control over the appointment and dismissal of individuals to this committee. 

 

6. This group would be free to enlist the opinions and services of adjuncts who might provide insight into technical specialties relevant to the work of the committee and the objectives of the Executive Committee and its subordinate IT staff. 

7. All members of this group as well as appointed adjuncts would be required to sign legally binding confidentiality agreements.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

David Kantor

January 14, 2009