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Membership and Fees Charter

Purpose

The Membership and Fees Committee (the “Committee”) is charged with ongoing assessment of ORCID’s membership policies to ensure that they support the sustainability of the organization whilst also encouraging broad adoption and adherence to ORCID’s Planning Principles (see below).

Among their responsibilities is overseeing projects that explore new membership models and new or changed services that may impact membership, including understanding their costs and implications in order to inform the strategy of the ORCID Board of Directors (the “Board”).

Type of Committee

The Membership and Fees Committee is a Standing Advisory Committee of the Board. As such, it provides guidance or recommendations to the Board on specific issues or endeavors as set forth in this Charter or otherwise as specifically requested by the Board. It does not have delegated authority to make decisions on behalf of the Board.

Reporting

The Committee reports directly to the Board, providing a summary report of its discussions, including dissenting opinions, and recommendations as it deems appropriate. The Committee will keep minutes of its meetings and report to the Board, at the next Board meeting, on actions and decisions taken.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Committee

The Committee will develop a workplan, for review and approval annually by the Board, including such activities as:

  • Reviewing the fee model, maturity metrics, and membership policies in relation to the scalability and sustainability of the organization.
  • Using the Fee Principles to assess existing and proposed business models and membership services, including any implications from the outcomes of projects.
  • Reporting back to the Board and making policy recommendations.
  • Undertaking any other related activities set forth in the approved annual plan or otherwise requested by the Board.

The following Planning Principles were adopted by and guide the Committee in its recommendations to the Board:

  1. ORCID’s membership and fees model should maximize equitable international participation in, and use of, ORCID, whilst ensuring prudent financial sustainability of the ORCID organization.
  2. The current annual maximum fee increase, as defined in existing agreements, should be maintained where the fee type/band remains the same.
  3. The membership and fee model should encourage the establishment of active consortia and the consortia fee bands should incentivize consortia to grow in size without compromising Principle 1.

Resources

The Committee is supported by one or more ORCID staff liaisons selected by the Executive Director, who are responsible for scheduling meetings, developing meeting agendas and Board summary reports with the Committee Chair, creating and distributing meeting materials, and taking meeting minutes but who do not serve as voting members of the Committee

The Committee may engage with the Finance Committee for assistance on financial modeling should it so wish.

Appointment, Role and Responsibilities of the Chair

  • The Chair of the Membership and Fees Committee shall be appointed by the Board, upon recommendation of the Board Chair.
  • The Committee Chair is appointed each year for a one-year term. There is no limit to the number of consecutive one-year terms that the Chair may serve. Service for at least two years would be ideal.
  • The Committee Chair is responsible for identifying and proposing external Committee members to the Board Chair for approval by the full Board.
  • The Committee Chair serves as the principal conduit between the Committee and the Board, works with the staff liaison to schedule and set an agenda for each Committee meeting, and prepare and distribute handouts and reports to Committee members in advance of each meeting.

Committee Member Selection and Composition

As a Standing Advisory Committee of the Board, the Director and non-Director members of the Committee are appointed by the majority vote of the entire Board, and the Board reviews Committee membership and charter annually.

  • The Committee shall consist of at minimum five persons, three of whom are Board Directors and the remainder will be representatives of Members that do not have a Director-representative serving on the Board. 
  • The Board shall endeavor to fill any vacancies as soon as practical, but the Committee may continue to act while there are vacancies.
  • There shall be one member of the Committee who is also a member of the ORCID Finance Committee.
  • All members of the Committee may vote in Committee decisions.
  • Committee members shall not receive any consulting, advisory, or other compensatory fees from ORCID.
  • All Committee members are appointed each year for a one-year term. 
  • Committee members serve at the pleasure of the Board and may be removed by vote of the Board. Any member who is and then ceases to be a Director during their term of service on the Committee may not continue to serve on the Committee unless approved by the Board (subject to the Committee composition requirements in the first bullet). 
  • All Committee members will be required to sign ORCID’s Conflict of Interest policy.

Meetings and Quorum

The Membership and Fees Committee meets as needed to fulfill its responsibilities and will strive to establish quarterly meetings.

Notice of meetings shall be given by the Committee Chair to all Committee members. Meetings may be conducted in person, by phone, or by video conference. A quorum shall consist of the majority of Committee members, and a vote of the majority of members shall be required to approve a matter. Alternatively, a matter may be approved by unanimous written consent of the members without a meeting. 

Committee members are responsible for reviewing materials and making substantive contributions to the work of the group.

Committee History

Approved by ORCID ’s Board of Directors on 17 September 2019 and amended on 23 February 2021 and 12 October 2023.

Committee Membership

2024: Janet Remmington (Chair), Clare Appavoo, Nicolas Fressengeas, María Soledad Bravo Marchant, César Rendón, Simon Porter (external member)

2023: Lori Schultz (Chair), Nicolas Fressengeas, Gregory Gordon, Kalynn Kennon, Janet Remmington, Jesse Xiao, Roger Wood (external member)

2022: Alison Mitchell (Chair), Clare Appavoo, Paul Gemmill, Lori Schultz, Daisy Selematsela, Jesse Xiao Heath Marks (external member), Britta Dreyer (external member)

2021 Committee: Alison Mitchell (Chair), Clare Appavoo, Paul Gemmill, Daniel Hook (Treasurer), Daisy Selematsela, Heath Marks

2020 Committee: Alison Mitchell (Chair), Daniel Hook, Daisy Selematsela

2019 Committee: Linda O’Brien (Chair), Daniel Hook, Salvatore Mele, Ed Pentz