[council] Meeting to provide input to the terms of reference for the GNSO Council review - Thu 8 Sept 2005 12:00 UTC

[Bruce Tonkin]

Hello Vint,

Please pass on this note to the members of the ICANN Board.

The GNSO Council invites all members of the ICANN board to attend a
teleconference on Thursday 8 September 2005 at 12:00 UTC 
((5:00 Los Angeles, 8:00 Washington DC, 14:00 Brussels, 22:00 Melbourne)
to provide input into developing the terms of reference for the GNSO
review.

This meeting is in response to the request from the ICANN Board to the
GNSO Council to prepare with the ICANN staff and Board a "Terms of
Reference" document to guide the independent entity an outside
consultant in conducting a review of the GNSO, and present the terms of
reference to the Board for adoption at the meeting in December 2005, in
Vancouver, Canada.

The GNSO Council is using the following process to manage the
development of the terms of reference for the approval of the Board.

(1) The ICANN bylaws set out the high level goals of review for all
parts of the ICANN community.

The goal of the review shall be to determine
(i)	whether that organization has a continuing purpose in the ICANN
structure, 
(ii)	and  if so, whether any change in structure or operations is
desirable to improve its effectiveness. 

The criteria and standards of the review are approved by the Board.

The Board in turn has asked the GNSO Council to prepare with the ICANN
staff and Board a "Terms of Reference" document to guide the independent
entity an outside consultant in conducting a review of the GNSO, and
present the terms of reference to the Board for adoption at the meeting
in December 2005, in Vancouver, Canada.

The ICANN staff support for this process is being provided by Dr Liz
Williams, Senior Policy Counselor.
 

(2) The Council is holding  a teleconference with members of the GNSO
Community on 25 August 2005 to provide input into developing a first
draft.

The Council will provide the resulting first draft to the Board for
review.   Board members will be encouraged to provide written input to
the GNSO Council on this draft.


(3) The Council will hold a teleconference with the Board to discuss the
draft terms of reference and the individual inputs from Board members at
a teleconference on 8 September.   The Council will be seeking direction
from the Board on changes that should be made to the terms of reference.

The Council will then provide the resulting second draft to the Board
for review.   Board members will be encouraged to provide written input
to the GNSO Council on this draft.

The final draft terms of reference will then be submitted to the Board
for approval at the Board's meeting in Vancouver, Canada .

The Council looks forward to early input from the Board on the terms of
reference.

Regards,
Bruce Tonkin
Chair, GNSO Council