Rationale

Multiple membership classes creates a reward structure. The more a member actively contributes to the community, the more privileges that member earns.

Objective and measurable criteria for defining membership classes

Objective and measurable criteria for defining membership class eligibility ensures that members know what they have to do to move to a higher membership class. Such transparency in the membership process ensures community harmony because decisions on membership class will be perceived as fair.

Representation

The Board members are elected representatives. The Board members represent members of the corporation (currently all known as patrons). The corporation does not subdivide its membership and allocate Board members to different subsections of the membership.

There are about 260 patrons and about 16 are graduates. There are 40 Board members.

There are 5-6 Board members who are graduates and who represent about 220 patrons (those who are not Board members) of whom about 10 are graduates.

The point: Board members who are graduates can and do represent nongraduates.

There are 34-35 Board members who are not graduates and who represent the 220 patrons of whom 10 graduates.

The point: Board members who are not graduates can and do represent graduates (BUT only the graduates who are patrons/members of the corporation).

The arrangement neatly avoids interest group representation on the Board. The assumption is that the corporation membership is united as one interest group: persons interested in supporting Pearson College and UWC. It means that every Board member represents 260 members (or however many members there are at any given point in time). It also means that every member has 40 representatives.

I like how the Board structures representation on the Board. (It’s a lobbyist’s dream: not just 1 but 40 people representing me.) I do not believe that a graduate’s views can only be expressed by a graduate representative. (Just like I don't believe my senator in Congress has to be a woman to represent my views. Or a single parent. Or Caucasian. Or any other type of demographic variable.) I believe that a nongraduate representative is perfectly capable of expressing a graduate's views as long as that person is the graduate's elected representative and that graduate got to vote to decide who would be his or her representative. I like the idea of enhancing community harmony by avoiding the development of interest groups.

Graduate Representatives

Proposals have been floated for elected graduate representatives, i.e. representatives who are graduates, who are elected solely by graduates and who represent only graduates. There are two variations to such a proposal.

One variation seeks elected representation while not providing graduates with membership in the corporation. I do not favor such a proposal. Such an arrangement would be clumsy, would require a modification of the by-laws to allow a non-member to be on the Board and would perpetuate current division in the Pearson College community.

The other variation allows graduate membership in the corporation but subdivides the corporation into two groups: graduates and nongraduates. Graduates then elect their own representative(s) to the Board. I do not favor such a proposal. This would create two interest groups and the possibility of community disharmony over the development of other interest groups. It would also mean that graduates would have fewer representatives (e.g. if 3 were designated as graduate representatives, then graduates would lose 37 representatives)

Proxy Voting

The majority of patrons/corporation members live in Canada. Many patrons are unable to attend the Annual General Meeting for a variety of legitimate reasons, including calendar conflicts, travel time and travel expense. As a result, attendance at AGMs is usually low. At the 2003 AGM, turnout was 15%.

At present, if a patron cannot attend the AGM, she or he cannot vote in the Board elections or on any other corporation business.

The argument has been put forth that because this attendance requirement for the privilege of voting is because the Pearson College corporation AGMs should be modelled on how Village Meetings are conducted: your voice is only heard if you attend the meeting. There's a flaw in the reasoning: if only 15% of students showed up to a Village Meeting, the meeting likely would be postponed or cancelled because nobody would recognize the validity of any Village Meeting decision based on 15% of the student body. So why does the corporation deem the decision of 15% of membership at an AGM as valid and indicative of the views of the corporation membership?

Because of geography, AGMs will never match Village Meeting attendance. That being the case, different ways need to be explored for getting the voice (and vote) of members recognized. Proxy voting is one such way.

What's the big deal with voting? Democratic accountability. It's an important mechanism for protecting the interests of the College.

Proxy voting will be essential with a larger membership that includes more individuals who live outside Canada.

Proxy voting also could be an interesting way to encourage interaction between members. For example, members living in another country might decide to designate one or more persons to proxy for all and then provide those individuals with financial support to travel to Canada to attend the AGM. The process of organizing and deciding proxy votes would require the members to interact with each other and that interaction could lead to all sorts of initiatives.

Appointment of 3 patrons as Board members

I’ve been told in the past that there are people who would not consider putting their name forward for Board election if there were any risk of losing the election yet they have valuable skills and experience that the Board needs. Allowing the appointment of three patron Board members addresses this issue. It also provides for another privilege to patrons. Requiring potential candidates for appointed Board positions to be patrons (not senior members or members) ensures that the position go to the most experienced persons.

Election of one Board member without voting privileges

The proposed membership class known as “members” would not be allowed to vote in general Board elections. Yet they should be allowed some form of representation at the Board. One solution would be permitting these members to vote within their class to elect a non-voting representative from within their class to the Board. The representative could bring to the Board the concerns and views of the members class but would not have a vote on any Board business. This is consistent with the principle that privilege should be earned; the proposed members class no voting representative on the Board because its members have not yet demonstrated sufficient commitment to the College that justifies granting the right to a voting representative on the Board.

The position of a non-voting Board member would provide individuals from the members class with an opportunity to gain experience at being a Board member. The Board leadership also would have the opportunity to assess the skills and aptitude of the non-voting Board member with a view to whether the individual is suitable to be a voting Board member at a later point in time.

At present, Board members are usually elected for 6 consecutive one-year terms. The recommendation for the non-voting Board member would be 2 consecutive one-year terms, which provides an opportunity for a larger number of “members” to have experience in the position.

I am very conscious that this particular idea in effect creates a separate group within the corporation and so appears inconsistent with what I've said about interest groups and representation. I am trying to balance some form of representation for all while recognizing that the privilege of power should be earned. And a vote is a source of power.

A closing point

Of all the recommendations made above, only two proposals would require any change to the by-laws:

1. Conversion of 3 elected voting Board members to 3 appointed voting Board members.
2. Conversion of 1 elected voting Board member to 1 elected non-voting Board member.

Every other change can be made without any modification to the by-laws.