1.1.3.2 Members of the Steering Group

This section was updated on 5 May 2011, to clarify the eligibility for election to its Steering Group of people whose salaries are paid directly or indirectly by The Cochrane Collaboration.

The section was further updated on 24 May 2011, to include the responsibility of Steering Group members of constituencies which have an Entity Executive to be one of the Convenors of that Executive (see item 8 below). However, the section was again updated on 12 August 2011 to the effect that the Fields Executive wishes to have the option of its Chair position being separate from the Steering Group representative position.

General description

The Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group (CCSG) is the Board of Directors of The Cochrane Collaboration, a registered charity. The CCSG sets policy for The Cochrane Collaboration, in consultation with the members of the organisation.

Responsibilities

People are elected to represent a type of Cochrane entity (a Cochrane Review Group, a Centre, a Field, or a Methods Group) or a type of role (Author, Co-ordinating Editor, Managing Editor, Trials Search Co-ordinator) within a Cochrane entity.

Responsibilities include:

1.             Canvassing the opinion of members of one’s constituency on issues of central importance to The Cochrane Collaboration.

2.             Informing members of one’s constituency of the development of new, or the modification of existing, policy.

3.             Communicating decisions made at CCSG Group meetings and other matters of interest to members of one’s constituency on a regular basis, usually by e-mail.

4.             Attending the two face to face CCSG meetings each year, one of which takes place during the Colloquium, the other of which takes place approximately six months later. The latter (‘mid-year’ meetings) are hosted by a Cochrane entity, often in conjunction with a conference for people in the region. CCSG members are invited to make presentations at these conferences, which provide an opportunity to raise awareness of The Cochrane Collaboration and to give prominence to the work of the hosting entity. In accordance with charity law, CCSG members cannot receive payment for fulfilling their role as members of the CCSG, but all travel and accommodation costs of these meetings are reimbursed to them from core Collaboration funds (in accordance with the Collaboration’s policy on reimbursement of expenses – see section 2.1.2 below).

5.             Attending the Annual General Meetings (AGMs) of the Charity and its trading subsidiary. The AGMs are held during the annual Cochrane Colloquia.

6.             Participating as a member of one of the sub-committees of the CCSG (e.g. the Monitoring and Registration Committee [MaRC], which conducts its business mostly by e-mail, and also holds a face to face meeting once or twice a year). The Co-Chairs of the CCSG decide which sub-committee it would be most suitable for newly elected members to join, according to both the gaps left on each committee by outgoing members, and the particular skills and interests of the incoming members.

7.             Representing the CCSG on one of its advisory committees. These committees are comprised mostly of non-CCSG members, but each committee has two CCSG members to facilitate communication. Some of the advisory committees meet face to face occasionally, but most of them meet by teleconference or during the annual Colloquium if possible, and otherwise conduct their business by e-mail. The workload varies from committee to committee, and funding is available to each of them (via an annual budget approved by the CCSG) to enable members to communicate with each other. The document ‘Structure, remit and membership of groups accountable to the Steering Group’ on the Collaboration website (www.cochrane.org/admin/structure.htm) describes the responsibilities and membership of these committees.

8.     CCSG members of constituencies which have an Entity Executive are expected to fulfil the role of Co-Convenor of that Executive. The Fields Executive is an exception to this (see note at top of this page).

Accountability

CCSG members are accountable to the full Steering Group and to the constituents who elected them.

Qualifications

No specific qualifications are required for being a member of the CCSG other than being an active member of the relevant constituency. It is important that people who join the CCSG are prepared to take an active part, and to share the workload with the other members.

Recruitment process

The members of The Cochrane Collaboration elect people to the CCSG annually. The entities (or the relevant constituents, where relevant for some posts) are the ‘members’ of The Cochrane Collaboration, and each entity contributes a single aggregated vote. People are elected to the CCSG for three years, with effect from the first Annual General Meeting (AGM) after the annual election in which they were elected.

Term of position

CCSG members serve for a period of three years. At the end of three years, they are eligible to stand for re-election for a further three years. With the exception of the Co-Chairs (see section 1.1.3.1), no-one may be a member of the CCSG for more than two consecutive terms (i.e. six years), but may stand for re-election after a subsequent gap of three years.

Questions for intending candidates for election to the CCSG

[Responses not to exceed two A4 pages in length, in Arial font, size 11.]

1.             How long have you been contributing to the work of The Cochrane Collaboration, and how did you first become involved?

2.             Have you helped to prepare or bring into practice a Cochrane Review?  If so, what was your involvement?

3.             What experience do you have of committee work (particularly at the policy-setting level) nationally, internationally, and within The Cochrane Collaboration?

4.             What do you think would make you an effective member of the Steering Group?

5.             What would you like to change about the Collaboration and/or the Steering Group, and why?

6.             What would you wish to achieve as a member of the Steering Group?

7.       For individuals seeking re-election: What do you think you have contributed to the work of the Steering Group during your previous three-year term of office?

8.       Please state any potential conflicts of interest that might limit your participation in Steering Group discussions and decision-making:

a) Core conflicts of interest.
b) Internal conflicts of interest.
c) External conflicts of interest. 

Clarifying the eligibility for election to its Steering Group of people whose salaries are paid directly or indirectly by The Cochrane Collaboration

Policy

The Cochrane Collaboration’s policy is that people whose salaries are paid by the Collaboration, either directly or indirectly, are not eligible to stand for election to the Collaboration’s Steering Group.

This is explained and expanded upon below.

Effective date

This policy is effective for people elected to the Steering Group after 5 May 2011.

Purpose

This policy document clarifies the position for Collaboration employees and quasi-employees with regard to election to the Collaboration’s Steering Group.

Background

Legal position

The Cochrane Collaboration is a Charity and jointly-registered Limited Company. Although known within the Collaboration as the ‘Steering Group’, our primary governance body is in legal terms the Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors. Steering Group Members are Trustees and Directors.

The governance body for charities registered in England (as is the Collaboration, registration number 1045921) is clear on the eligibility of employees as trustees. The Charity Commission, in its publication, “The Essential Trustee – What you need to know”, states that:

Generally, a trustee cannot become an employee of their charity nor can an employee become a trustee. The exceptions are where the governing document of the charity explicitly authorises it, or if permission has been given by us or a court of law.

In noting that there may be exceptions, the Charity Commission makes it very clear that these are unusual. Examples where it might be appropriate include short-term and specific tasks where it may be simpler and cheaper for a trustee to perform the work, rather than engage a third party, for instance, where a Board of Trustees has a solicitor on the Board, and some legal work needs doing, or where some decorating needs doing and a trustee is a decorator. But these are still exceptional circumstances, not normative, and would not include the position where an individual works for the charity on an ongoing basis, for instance, providing ongoing legal services rather than a one-off situation. The primary concern for the Charity Commission is that salaried employees would have clear conflicts of interest should they be on the Board of their employer.

Why is the Collaboration different?

What makes the Collaboration different from most charities is that many people who provide its core services, whose salaries are paid for fully or in part by the Collaboration, are in fact employed by other organisations. This places them in a difficult position in relation to their directly-employed colleagues, and leaves them open to accusations of conflict of interest should they stand for office. The Collaboration also places high regard on transparency, explicitness and avoidance of bias.

For these reasons, the Steering Group has moved to clarify who may or may not stand for election.

Further detail on eligibility

The following groups are specifically ineligible to stand for election to the Steering Group:

• Directly employed staff of the Collaboration, such as the staff of the Cochrane Editorial Unit and the Cochrane Operations Unit.
• Core infrastructure teams employed by third party organisations but whose salaries are paid indirectly, in whole or in part, by the Collaboration. These would include, for example, the members of our Information Management System team and our Website team.
• Employees of contracted partners and service providers. These would include, for example, the staff of our publishing partner, John Wiley & Sons Limited, and the employees of our bookkeepers, Inca Financial Services Limited.
• In general, seconded staff employed by third party organisations providing services on behalf of the Collaboration, where the Collaboration pays all or some of the salary costs for the secondment, and whose secondment will last for a period of more than six months from the date that they are elected to the Steering Group; at the discretion of the Co-Chairs this category may be over-ridden where the circumstances warrant an exemption.

 The following are eligible to stand for election:

• Anyone not listed in the above categories and who is not ineligible for other, non-employment related reasons.
• People undertaking project work as a result of a programme grant or other similar funding process, such as the former Cochrane Opportunities Fund or the Cochrane Discretionary Fund.
• People working with, supervising, or being supervised by a person ineligible to stand for election. (Normal rules for declarations of interest would apply.)