[AT-Review] Answers to questions about fellowship program transparency

[Mandy Carver]

Dear Cheryl, Louie, and ATRT members:

Below are our responses to the questions you forwarded to Janice and I. Please let us know if you have additional questions or would like to talk to us further. (The same information is attached as a word document.)

Kind Regards

Mandy


Kathryn A. (Mandy) Carver
Deputy General Manager - Global Partnerships
ICANN - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
USA

mandy.carver at icann.org

tel: +1.310.823.9358
mobile: +1.310.773.2855
fax: +1.310.823.8649

www.icann.org

Responses to A&T queries on Fellowship program

Names of the Selection Committee members:
The Selection Committee member's names, regional affiliations and length of service have been posted. They were posted in response to a public comment made in the travel policy. Please see the current and past members list at:  http://www.icann.org/en/fellowships/fellowship-committee.htm
Selection Committee members are bound by their own Terms and Conditions. Those T&C have always been posted on the website since the inception of the program. Those terms can be found at: http://www.icann.org/en/fellowships/fellowship-committee.htm
How long they serve:
Selection Committee members commit to serve a minimum of 3 meetings (roughly a year) but no more than 3 years (9 meetings.) That term limit requirement means that there will be a regular turnover of Selection Committee members. Members are volunteers selected for their extensive networks and knowledge of the ICANN community. The reason there is a range of service dates is that we have had some members that due to the press of their other work have not been able to serve their full 3 year term and have asked to step back. We have also had members that served the full 9 meeting run. Of the current committee members the remaining terms vary from ending the last meeting of 2012 to the longest remaining term ending at the second meeting of CY 13.
How the Selection Committee was created:
The current members of the committee, as was the case with previous members, were identified from a pool of potential community volunteers through outreach by the Global Partnerships team (under which the Fellowship program resides) to their communities and regions, in keeping with the desire to have diverse representatives from multiple ICANN regions on the committee.  At the time of the creation of the program a pool of potential knowledgeable community members was identified through conversations with constituents, staff, and representatives of community and industry groups. A series of invitations were generated and a committee created from the responses. Some of those invited to the inaugural committee expressed interest in serving but were unable to join the committee at the time of the invitation (due to work or other commitments.) Those individuals that asked to be kept in mind for the future were kept in a pool of potential members. In addition the Selection Committee itself was asked to identify potential future leadership and those names were used to further populate the pool.
 Since the inception of the program ICANN staff has returned to that initial pool as and when necessary. We endeavor to have geographic diversity in the makeup of the selection committee. In the absence of an early retirement, the term limit requirements will not change the conformation of the committee until 2012.
Geographic weighting of applications:
The geographically weighted condition of the selection process is only one factor in the process of selecting candidates for each round of the program.  Geography is factored in as a way to increase the potential attendees from the region hosting the meeting and the regions adjacent to the hosting region. We do not separate out a portion of regions so an individual's location within the Latin American region or the African region etc. would not be a factor. Focusing on an entire region provides more opportunities for candidates to attend, as long as minimum requirements for the program are met, and as travel costs are lower for those closer to a particular meeting. Because the ICANN meetings rotate through the 5 ICANN regions, the number of slots available for a region varies by meeting.
The criteria that the Fellowship Committee use for first and second order decision making are in the Terms and Conditions for the Selection Committee at http://www.icann.org/en/fellowships/fellowship-committee.htm
The Fellowship program has a budget and manages against a funded limit rather than a headcount of a certain number of travelers. We have a target that we aim for - roughly 25 members per meeting but - we do not have a guaranteed set of slots to fill like some of the constituencies. By prioritizing the applicants from the region and the adjacent regions we maximize the number of people we can afford to bring to a meeting. There is no distinction made about proximity within a region.

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