[IAEP] [SLOBS] ACTION Required: Approval Internal Procedure definition: "Request for Travel Policy exemptions"

[Walter Bender]

On Thu, Sep 7, 2017 at 3:37 PM, Laura Vargas <laura at somosazucar.org> wrote:

>
>
> 2017-09-07 14:03 GMT-05:00 Walter Bender <walter.bender at gmail.com>:
>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Sep 7, 2017 at 2:19 PM, Laura Vargas <laura at somosazucar.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi SLOBs,
>>>
>>> *To avoid future Sugar Labs travelers to have to request personal loans
>>> to fulfill their programs expectations* and as it has been discussed
>>> recently by the Board, Sugar Labs Travel Policy is subject to Software
>>> Freedom Conservancy Travel Policy and therefore we are required to
>>> approve a procedure
>>> <https://github.com/conservancy/policies/blob/master/Travel/conservancy-travel-policy.txt#L220>
>>> for "Request for Travel Policy exemptions".
>>>
>>> I have documented the following draft on: https://wiki.sugarlabs.org
>>> /go/Procedures with very limited understanding of Ignacio's US$350 Cash
>>> Advance April 2017 Travel Policy - rejection circumstances.
>>>
>>> Those with more info, please read and give back your constructive
>>> feedback to enhance the procedure before making a *proper motion to
>>> approve the procedure.*
>>>
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Laura V
>>> Internal Procedure #01: "Request for Travel Policy exemptions"
>>>
>>> >Action 1: Any Sugar Labs member/contributor can request a Cash advance
>>> - Travel Policy exemption by sending a formal request to slobs AT
>>> lists.sugarlabs.org detailing the reason for the request, the amount of
>>> the request, the date needed and any other relevant information. Requesting
>>> party understands SFC has the final approval for his/her request and must
>>> make sure to ask with enough anticipation of the need of the Cash advance -
>>> Travel Policy exemption.
>>>
>>> >Action 2: Sugar Labs Oversight Board members manage project funds, and
>>> according to available balance on Sugar Labs Accounts at the date of the
>>> request, they must try to reach consensus in the form of majority of votes
>>> to approve or disapprove the request. Once the request gets approved or
>>> disapproved the decision shall be documented on
>>> https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Oversight_Board/Decisions.
>>>
>>> >Action 3: In case of an approved decision, Sugar Labs representative or
>>> his/her delegate (e.g. Sugar Labs Financial Manager) will communicate to
>>> SFC the decision and make in Sugar Labs behalf the correspondent Cash
>>> Advance - Travel Policy exemption request and follow up the result with the
>>> Conservancy sharing the results with the Sugar Labs Oversight Board and the
>>> requesting party.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Laura V.
>>> * I&D SomosAZUCAR.Org*
>>>
>>> “Solo la tecnología libre nos hará libres.”
>>> ~ L. Victoria
>>>
>>> Happy Learning!
>>> #LearningByDoing
>>> #Projects4good
>>> #IDesignATSugarLabs
>>> #WeCanDoBetter
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> SLOBs mailing list
>>> SLOBs at lists.sugarlabs.org
>>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/slobs
>>>
>>>
>> Laura,
>>
>> Thanks for getting the ball rolling on this.
>>
>
> Your welcome!
>
> I undid your changes since *a procedure needs to have Action items
> clearly identified to be able to track any upgrade required to the proposed
> procedure*.
>

IMHO, my wording was much easier to follow than yours and had a number of
tweaks, such as removing the requirement that the request be made by a
"member". Perhaps for a non-native speaker of English, adding the word
'Action:" at the start of a sentence is helpful? To a native speaker, it is
redundant. But beyond that detail. you also undid the detailed content of
my changes as well. Can you explain your reasons? Did you disagree with my
edits?

>
> Your inquiry is related to  Action 2 of the proposed procedure:
>
> >Action 2: Sugar Labs Oversight Board members manage project funds, and
> according to available balance on Sugar Labs Accounts at the date of the
> request, they must try to reach consensus in the form of majority of votes
> to approve or disapprove the request. Once the request gets approved or
> disapproved the decision shall be documented on
> https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Oversight_Board/Decisions.
>
>
> Please be as specific as possible. What else would you like Action 2 to
> say?
>

I would like specific criteria for the decisions that SLOB makes.
Currently, the only criteria stated is availability of funds. But clearly
there are other criteria, since Samson's request, fully funded by Google,
was denied. I ask that those who voted down that request clarify the
criteria that they used.

>
> We can add it once we have a better understanding of your suggestion.
>

Since my suggestions are removed, it will be hard to have a discussion
about them. I'll copy my deleted text here, with "Action" prepended, since
apparently you don't want to use the wiki for edits/discussion:

Action 1: Before asking for a travel advance, please consider the following
questions:

   - Is the travel on behalf of Sugar Labs?
   - Has the trip been approved by the Sugar Labs oversight board or some
   designated representative of the board?
   - Do the travel plans comply with the SFC travel policy
   <https://github.com/conservancy/policies/blob/master/Travel/conservancy-travel-policy.txt>
   ?
   - Do you need to have a ticket purchased on your behalf?
   - Do you need cash for local travel and/or per diem expenses?

Action 2: Anyone traveling on behalf of Sugar Labs may request a travel
advance by sending a written request to the oversight board <slobs AT
lists.sugarlabs.org>. Be sure to include the reason for your request, the
amount requested, the anticipated dates of travel, and answers to the
questions above.

Action 3: The oversight board will discuss the request and may ask for
clarification. The criteria for approval include:

   - availability of funds
   -  ???

It may take the board *up to one week* to reach its decision, so please
make your request as far in advance as possible.

Action 4: The deliberations of the board will either be published on a public
email list <https://lists.sugarlabs.org/> or in a meeting log
<https://meeting.sugarlabs.org/sugar-meeting/meetings>. The decision itself
will be documented on Oversight_Board/Decisions
<https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Oversight_Board/Decisions>.

Action 5: If the travel advance is approved (by at least four board
members) then our liaison with the SFC will communicate the decision on
behalf of the applicant. Note that approval by the SL oversight board does
not guarantee that the SFC will approve the travel advance. (Past
experience suggests that they are more likely to approve the prepurchase of
a ticket than a cash advance.) The time-frame for the SFC varies widely and
is outside of our control, so again, it is recommended that you make your
request well in advance.



>
> Regards and thanks for helping out
>
> Laura
>
>
>> regards.
>>
>> -walter
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Walter Bender
>> Sugar Labs
>> http://www.sugarlabs.org
>> <http://www.sugarlabs.org>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Laura V.
> * I&D SomosAZUCAR.Org*
>
> “Solo la tecnología libre nos hará libres.”
> ~ L. Victoria
>
> Happy Learning!
> #LearningByDoing
> #Projects4good
> #IDesignATSugarLabs
> #WeCanDoBetter
>



-- 
Walter Bender
Sugar Labs
http://www.sugarlabs.org
<http://www.sugarlabs.org>
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