Last updated November 06, 2003
Committee Structure
The Communications Committee is a standing committee of the GP-US and is governed by section 3 of the bylaws of the GP-US. The Communications Committee shall be made up of volunteers from the various state Green parties. As a standing committee of the GP-US, up to three members of any state party may be sent to the Communications Committee for committee membership. Each state party, when requesting that a member be added to the roles of the Communications Committee, shall send a note to the Co-Chairs of the Communications Committee informing the Communications Committee of its new member.
The Communications Committee shall maintain an email list for the communication of committee business and to use in formal decision making.
Leadership
The Secretary of the GP-US shall always serve as one of the Co-Chairs of the Communications Committee. The other Co-Chair shall be elected each year by the membership of the committee either at an in-person meeting of the committee at the yearly meeting of the GP-US Coordinating Committee or in an online election to be conducted using Preference Voting.
When possible, the Co-Chairs shall be of different genders, and when the Secretary does not have adequate high tech skills, the other Co-Chair shall be expected to bring those complementary skills and knowledge to the table.
The job of the Co-Chairs is to keep the committee on task and provide leadership to the various project teams within the committee.
Decisions
Prior to making a formal decision, the Communications Committee shall publish the resolution on its email list noting that a decision will be made. The committee shall then attempt to achieve consensus on the resolution. If no consensus is achieved, the Communications Committee shall be empowered to vote, and a 2/3 vote of the voting active members shall be required for passage. As usual for GP-US committees, each state will have one vote.
When an email vote is needed to make a formal decision, there shall be a resolution circulated on the list followed by a two-week discussion period, followed by a 5-day voting period. The Co-Chairs shall conduct and certify the votes. When the committee makes a decision by consensus a shorter decision making process is allowed as long as sufficient time for comments and concerns, at least 5 days, is given.
All decisions that must be forwarded to the GP-US CC for a further decision shall include in the Communications Committee resolution a clause to that effect.
Quorums and Active Members
An active member of the Communications Committee shall be defined as a fully acknowledged member who has been active within the last three months, taking part in discussions, decisions, or project team work within that period. The Co-Chairs shall be responsible for keeping a roster of active members, though they may ask other committee members to actually keep the list. One third of the active membership shall constitute a quorum for formal decision making.
There shall be no quorum requirements for the committee to take on projects, designate people to work on projects, or other informal work that moves the committee's operations and projects along.
Teleconferences and In-Person Meetings
The Communications Committee shall use teleconferences and in-person meetings to conduct business when appropriate. The only final formal decision that can be made by a vote at a teleconference or in-person meeting is to choose a Co-Chair. A quorum for a vote on the Co-Chair, other than if the meeting takes place at the yearly CC meeting of the GP-US, is one of the active membership. At the yearly meeting the quorum is how many members are in attendance at the yearly meeting.
Reports
The Communications Committee shall make regular reports to the GP-US Coordinating Committee on its work. The Co-Chairs shall lead that process.