3.1.5 Attendance at Steering Group meetings

Background

At its meeting in October 2008, the Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group (CCSG) agreed that it should review attendance at its meetings. The issue related to (1) attendance throughout a meeting; (2) attendance just for selected agenda items; and (3) voting rights. This paper summarises the decisions taken.

Attendance throughout CCSG meetings:  

• Elected CCSG members attend throughout meetings (unless they have a significant conflict of interest for a particular item, in which case they leave the room).

• The CEO is an ex officio member of the CCSG because of his key role in Organisational, Business and Finance issues, attends throughout meetings, and participates in discussions as judged appropriate by the CCSG Co-Chairs.  

• The Editor in Chief is an ex officio member of the CCSG because of his key role in Methodological, Technical and Scientific issues, attends throughout meetings, and participates in discussions as judged appropriate by the CCSG Co-Chairs.  

• The Administrator is an ex officio member of the CCSG because of her key roles in the administration of the Collaboration and (as Company Secretary) in financial issues, attends throughout meetings, takes the minutes, and participates in discussions as judged appropriate by the CCSG Co-Chairs.  

• Pending further review, a representative of The Campbell Collaboration is invited to attend CCSG face-to-face meetings as an observer, again participating in discussions as judged appropriate by the CCSG Co-Chairs, on the basis that there is a reciprocal arrangement for representation of The Cochrane Collaboration at meetings of the Campbell Collaboration’s Steering Group.

• Other members of the Cochrane Operations Unit are invited to attend CCSG face-to-face meetings on the basis that they are often responsible for taking forward CCSG decisions. The default is that they will sit round the table with the CCSG but may at the discretion of the Co-Chairs be asked to sit separately if there is pressure on space such as might occur, for example, on CCSG meetings during Colloquia, which may be attended by both outgoing and incoming new CCSG members.

• Voting, when necessary, should be limited to elected CCSG members only (excluding those members who have a significant conflict of interest).

Attendance for specific items:

• Other selected people (such as the Director of the IMS, the Website Development Manager, the Directors of the  Trading Company/Companies, and those submitting papers to the CCSG) should be invited to join CCSG discussion of specific agenda items when the Co-Chairs judge (in advance) that this would enhance decision-making.

• If selected people are invited to attend for more than one agenda item, efforts should be made to arrange the agenda such that a single session covers all the relevant items.

• As a general rule, a CCSG member who has a significant interest in an agenda item leaves the room for discussion and decision-making in respect of that item; however, the Co-Chairs, applying the same criteria (see below), can decide in advance that attendance and participation of the CCSG member in the discussion of that agenda item would improve decision-making; the CCSG member would then stay in the room for discussion, but leave the room when asked to do so by the Chair for any further discussion and decision-making.

• Criteria on which CCSG Co-Chairs decide that non-CCSG members (or CCSG members with significant conflicts of interest) be invited to the discussion of specific agenda items at CCSG meetings are as follows:

• In most cases, the invitee would be the person leading the application, proposal or report to the CCSG. However, in some cases, for example, where specialist knowledge is required, a person may be invited who is independent of a proposal.