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UPDATE - 1 June 2006

BCWWA Watermark Article: Governance Update

 

By Jim Levin, President

 

Governance has moved from concept to practical reality for the Association. As you are now aware, we now have a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Ms Natalie Zigarlick – who is fast at work looking at operations and resource requirements. We also have a new Board of Directors operating under the new form and function described in our previous report. This is an interim Board which will dissolve at the 2007 Annual General Meeting. Here are some highlights of the practical achievements we’ve made and the plans we have for moving forward

 

Governance Task Force

The Task Force responsible for leading the governance process is moving towards terminating its own existence. With the interim Board in place and the new form and structure of the Association now approved, the main focus of the Task force is to assist the new Board with its role and to assume management of the governance process, help create the Leadership Council, assist with the Strategic Planning process and develop a membership package that can be implemented by an Ad Hoc committee of the Board.

 

The new Board is pleased to report that the efforts of the Governance Task Force to steward the restructuring of the Association has been recognized by someone peripheral to the process but who has the appropriate expertise.

 

“I just recently reviewed the … new governance system being implemented at BCWWA and would like to congratulate the Association for being progressive in this initiative.

As a person trained by Dr. John Carver as a consultant in Policy Governance, and having experience working with an Association that implemented this system successfully, I feel very confident that in the long run the path you are on will serve the Association very well. As the concepts of this model are very logical and simple, it is difficult for anyone to disagree with it on a conceptual level. However, I would caution that implementation is not always easy and there will, undoubtedly, be bumps along the way and will require a lot of dedication and hard work by your committee members and staff. 

Just wanted to congratulate your committee for its foresight and wish you well as you progress through the implementation stages.

Daisy Foster”

Retiring Board Provides Recommendations

On Feb 24, the Governance Task force sponsored a planning session with the retiring Board along with Committee Chairs to develop a set of recommendations for the new Board within the three major areas of the organization: Leadership, Governance and Administration.

 

A full report is available by contacting the office. However, here are some significant highlights. Keep in mind that these are simply recommendations. It is up to the Board to implement them and/or revise as necessary:

 

Regarding the new form of the Association:

Where the organization is going:

Main areas of focus for the organization:

Need to develop policy that governs all decisions and communications made by the organization:

 

Regarding the Purpose and Mandate of the Leadership Council, its role is to:

Regarding the administration of the Association:

The role of administration is to manage time, effort, energy and money

The Board should:

In providing this set of recommendations, this group can be a resource for the new Board which it may wish to engage as it completes its work in the ensuing year.

 

Planning for the Future

To ensure that the new form and structure of the Association is truly workable, the interim Board and Leadership Council will work with the Governance Task Force to identify any challenges and determine strategies to address them, implement as many recommendations as possible to “try them out” and revise where necessary and evolve the structure to one that the 2007 Board can work with effectively and efficiently.

 

One of the major activities underway within the interim period is the creation of the Leadership Council. This will not be an easy task but it is one that everyone agrees is necessary. To that end, the new Board, as one of its first formal activities, will lead a planning session that will be asked to draft a structure and elect two representatives that will become Directors on the Board for the interim period.

 

Another major undertaking for the Governance Task Force, and perhaps the only remaining large task, is the development of a membership package.  One of the key objectives for the association in its new mandate is to figure out how to attract and retain new members. That task, headed by Melanie Sawyer, is now examining what the Association should do such as:

UPDATE - September 27th 2005

Mandate of the Governance Research Committee (Ad Hoc committee formed by the Board)

The BCWWA Board of Directors approved the establishment of an Ad Hoc Governance Committee (the so-called “ Governance Research Committee “) with a broad mandate to assess the Association’s operational model, investigate the potential to incorporate the key elements of a “governance” mode, establish the prerequisites for succession planning and to chart the medium term direction for the Association.  The main function of this Committee was to collect data from various stakeholders and make recommendations to the Board of Directors by Sept 2005.

Process

The Committee carried out this mandate in two major stages: Data collection followed by Recommendations.

The data collection occurred in three steps. The first step was to poll members’ opinion and input on the current state of the Association.

After receiving and analyzing the results of that survey, the Committee identified gaps, determined what qualitative measures needed to be taken and followed up with additional data gathering by conducting a facilitated focus group session to obtain additional data and explanation about the Association’s mandate, role and structure.

Interviews of existing Board members were conducted to complete the qualitative analysis, identify their perception of how the Association can best govern itself to serve the needs arising within the industry and identify a structural model.

Recommendations

A report of recommendations was submitted to the Board as of Sept 11, 2005.  Here are the recommendations:

Regarding the future direction, the Association should:

Regarding the Association’s ability to address the needs within the industry, the Association should:

Regarding the operating model, the Association should:

Regarding the Board role & function, the Association should:

Regarding the structure, the Association should:

Regarding the question of how to attract and retain new members, the Association should:

Other Recommendations

 

Implementation

The Board has received the Report, accepted it and its recommendations in principle and re-struck the committee (now simply called the Governance Committee) and given it a new mandate to oversee the Implementation Plan.

The main recommendation is that the Association switch to a governance-based operational model so that it can adequately address the water and wastewater industry needs. There are two major implications:

 

Regardless of how many recommendations are approved, the intention is to phase in the implementation of the approved recommendations. However, the two implications need to be completed in order.

The Committee will carry out specific tasks and deliver results with recommendations. Specifically, the Committee will:

 

To ensure transparency and openness, the Committee will oversee communications of all activity. Specifically, it will:

The suggested timeline for completion of all activities is tied to Board meeting dates between Sept 2005 and May 2006.

 
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