Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2008-08-11/Board Nominating Committee

On 8 August, Wikimedia Board of Trustees Chair Michael Snow announced the filling of a Nominating Committee, responsible for nominating candidates to fill the four "specific expert" seats on the Board, two of which are currently occupied (and whose terms expire on December 31, 2008). The Committee's six members are:


 * Michael Snow
 * Ting Chen, the newest Board member
 * Sue Gardner, Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director
 * Melissa Hagemann, Wikimedia Advisory Board member
 * Miloš Rančić
 * BirgitteSB

Snow describes how the Committee will handle the search over the next few months:

"Initially, once the committee has been briefed, it will work on identifying the types of expertise that are most needed and developing criteria to evaluate candidates. At that point, we will more actively solicit suggestions for potential board members, including recommendations from the community. But if you have input that would be useful as we look to strengthen the board's skills, feel free to contact us at any stage of the process."

The Nominating Committee will make suggestions for the four positions. One of those "specific expert" seats has been held by Jan-Bart de Vreede since December 2006, while another seat was filled in April, with the appointment of Stu West, the Board's treasurer and a former senior executive at Yahoo!, TiVo and JPMorgan Chase. The other two seats were not filled upon the Board's April restructuring, with the plan that they would be filled either in late 2008 or early 2009.

The positions are open to both community members and outsiders; however, the stated goal of the Board is to fill the seats with candidates who have an expertise in an area useful for supervision of the Foundation. The positions of de Vreede and West are not guaranteed, as all four seats will open up at the end of the year, and the Board could choose not to bring back one or both of the incumbent Trustees.

According to the question-and-answer page regarding the Board's restructuring in April, the Committee will make their suggestions by October 15, though it's unclear whether that guideline still applies. The Board will then have the option to appoint anyone listed on the Committee's list of candidates.

The one-year terms will begin on January 1, 2009, and end on December 31. In the unlikely event that the Board should make an appointment prior to the end of the year, the appointment would expire on December 31, 2008 along with all other "specific expert" seats, but could be renewed for another year.