Gary Jensen and
Laney Kulsrud
discuss the
future of CUG
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by Helene "Laney" Kulsrud
The Future of CUG (FOC) Committee completed its two-year study and submitted a report to the CUG Board of Directors in March 1998. (This report is available in PDF format from the CUG web site at www.cug.org.)
Though the future of CUG is dependent upon the uncertain future of SGI, the committee suggested certain
actions to keep CUG vibrant in these transitional times:
- SIG restructuring:
One of the principal recommendations of the report was the restructuring
of the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) in order to produce the CUG technical program more efficiently, provide more flexibility,
and involve more CUG members. For details on the restructuring as voted on by CUG members in June, see "CUG SIGs get a facelift" and A guide to the new CUG SIGs and Focus Groups."
The FOC report also includes a proposal for SIG guidelines.
- Term limits:
The FOC Committee believes that the rotation of people in key positions is
important for the health of CUG. Therefore, all CUG positions
should be elective and have term limits. In particular, the report proposes a bylaw to limit
the terms of board members and proposes a bylaw amendment on term limits.
However, CUG board of directors suppressed a membership vote on this bylaw. We believe that such suppression is not legal under Article 15.1 of the CUG bylaws.
- CUG workshops:
The FOC report also emphasizes the importance of "mini-CUGs" or workshops.
It suggests possible topics, a set of guidelines to carry out the
organization of these meetings, and recommends involvement of the SIGs. The report strongly recommends a Pacific Rim meeting.
- Electronic documentation:
The FOC report points out the importance of electronic documentation and the
need to keep all CUG documents online and up-to-date. Many items
included in the CUG policy procedures are obsolete and should be removed.
The committee also encourages the CUG board to report its decisions affecting
the membership and the events of special meetings (such as the Executive
CUG meeting) in a public forum, as specified in the bylaws.
To ensure even the short term future of CUG, it is important to take
action at this time. The committee urges that CUG update online documentation,
revise and adopt the two sets of guidelines proposed in the report, and submit the bylaw
amendment on term limits to the membership.
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