The ORCID Board is responsible for ensuring the organization is acting in the best interests of ORCID stakeholders. To this end, the Board provides strategic guidance and oversight for the successful achievement of ORCID’s mission. The Board is supported by the Executive Director and a full-time professional staff who are responsible for management of ORCID operations and for recommending goals and policies.
Board Responsibilities
The Board is responsible for:
- Developing and regularly updating ORCID’s strategic plan
- Reviewing high-level organizational goals and policies to support that plan
- Overseeing ORCID’s organizational and financial performance
- Ensuring ORCID has financial resources to achieve its mission
- Monitoring Board function
- Appointing the Executive Director and reviewing their performance
- Serving as a community advocate for ORCID
Board Directors expected to attend all board meetings — currently there are four meetings a year, two virtual, and two in person — and to play an active role in ORCID activities during the course of their term. Board meetings are conducted in English. The in-person meetings typically last 1.5 days and are often scheduled back-to-back with ORCID-supporting engagements such as a workshop or outreach meeting, which would necessitate an additional one-day commitment to ORCID.
For more information about the role of ORCID Board members, please see the Board Charter. Our annual reports and other governance information are also available on our web site.
Who May Serve?
Any employee, officer, or director of an ORCID member organization is eligible to be nominated (including self-nomination) for election to the ORCID Board of Directors. The term of service is three years. Note that at any one time, there may be only one Board Director representing any one ORCID member.
ORCID also elects up to two Researcher Directors to the Board; their organization need not be an ORCID member organization.
Balance of Non-profit and Corporate Membership
As stated in our Bylaws, the Board is comprised of a majority of individuals representing members that are non-profit institutions. Every attempt is made to balance the Board by skills (e.g., technical, financial, management) and sector (e.g., academia, funding, government, publishing, etc.).
Are Board Members Compensated?
ORCID Board members serve as uncompensated volunteers, and are expected to pay their way to in-person Board meetings. However, ORCID will pay for the Researcher Members to participate in Board meetings, and there is a Board Meeting Attendance Fund to assist with additional financial support to Member Representative Directors if needed.
What is the Board Meeting Attendance Fund?
As a community-governed organization, we strive for broad representation across sectors and regions. To achieve this goal, in addition to an open nominations process, we have established a Board Meeting Attendance Fund for Member Representative Directors who are aligned with a member organization and who need additional financial support to attend an ORCID Board meeting. The Fund is intended to supplement the support that a Member Representative Director’s organization is able to provide. The Fund covers expenses directly related to facilitating meeting attendance, such as airfare, hotel, visas, meals, dependent care expenses, accessibility requirements, or translation services. For more information, please see the ORCID Board Meeting Attendance Fund document.
What is the Nominations Process?
All ORCID member organizations are eligible to have representatives serve as ORCID Board directors. The nominations cycle for the upcoming election year begins in May of the year before. e.g., the 2024 election cycle begins in May 2023. For more information on the nominations process, see the Nominating Committee Charter.
When are Elections?
Elections are by majority vote of the ORCID members on a slate presented by the Nominating Committee following approval by the Board. Write-in candidates may be nominated by any group of 20 or more Members (including no more than one member of a specific Consortium) no more than 30 days after the slate is announced. If write-in candidates are received, elections are by plurality vote among the slate and any write-in candidate. For more information on proposing write-in candidates, see the ORCID Bylaws, Article III Section 2b. Elections are carried out by electronic ballot.
What is the Term of Service and How is Succession Handled?
Directors are elected for staggered three-year terms, so we hold elections every year. Directors may stand for election for a maximum of two consecutive terms.