ORCID is excited to announce a number of major changes to its governance structure to allow for greater transparency and participation by its membership.
Elections
The Board has amended the organization’s bylaws so that, starting with the next election cycle in 2017, the election of Directors will be by majority vote of ORCID members, based on a slate proposed by the ORCID Nominating Committee. Members will have the opportunity to vote by electronic proxy to facilitate broad participation. All ORCID members are eligible to have representatives serve as ORCID Directors. The Board also has a slot for a researcher, who need not be affiliated with an ORCID member to serve. Interested in being considered for nomination? Want to learn more? Please see our Elections webpage.
Principles
To address a common question asked by the community, ORCID has redoubled its commitment to remaining a free and open service. Under the newly amended bylaws, any proposed change to the ORCID Principle that researchers are able to create an ORCID iD and edit and maintain an ORCID record free of charge would need to be approved not only by the Board of Directors, but also by the Members. And, this bylaw cannot be amended without the approval of the membership!
Community Participation
To support community awareness and participation, starting this year ORCID will hold three regional Town Hall sessions annually, virtual meetings during which Directors and staff will provide updates to the ORCID membership on its current activities, plans, financials and governance. This will provide an opportunity for ORCID members to learn more about ORCID’s operations, to ask questions and to provide feedback and critical input on ORCID’s future course. Town Hall sessions will be held virtually to allow for broad participation. The first Town Hall will be held in coordination with ORCID’s February Outreach meeting in Canberra, on February 15. For more information and to register, please see the Town Hall agenda webpage.
With thanks to Jackie Ewenstein, ORCID External Counsel, for co-authoring this post.
