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Organization and Governance
The SMETE Open Federation is a federation of organizations and research projects that span science, mathematics, engineering and technology (SME&T) education. These organizations include various SME&T disciplinary digital libraries, K-12 science libraries, services that support digital libraries, professional development organizations for SME&T teachers and faculty, as well as SME&T publishers and professional and disciplinary societies. The SMETE Open Federation as a voluntary membership organization depends upon the reciprocal agreements among and between Federation members. A Board of Directors representing the membership of the Federation provides direction and oversight to the organization; it facilitates collaboration among the members, establishes future directions for the Federation and guides the work of the SMETE Open Federation operations unit.
The SMETE Open Federation organizational structure is shown in Figure 1. Currently, the SMETE Open Federation is an unincorporated entity. Initially, the Board of Directors will assume an advisory role until a plan for sustaining the organization has been developed and implemented. During this period one representative from each SMETE Open Federation Partner will sit on an interim Board of Directors. The role of the Board of Directors is to set policy, derive and monitor the Federation's purpose and goals, and conduct strategic planning for the short and long term. It is also responsible for working with the SMETE Open Federation operations unit to ensure fiduciary solvency and sustainability of the organization.
The initial focus of the interim Board will be strategic planning to develop short and long term plans for establishing a sustainable business model. At the end of this transition period (approximately two years) the SMETE Open Federation will incorporate as a non-profit or for-profit entity with the structure as recommended in the sustainability model.
There are two types of members within the SMETE Open Federation. Partners are actively engaged in the development and/or operations activities of the SMETE Open Federation and commits resources (human, e.g., in-kind services, or financial) to these activities. Affiliate members collaborate in one or more Program Area, but do not need to commit resources to those activities. Typically, Affiliate members are new or emerging projects which have not reached sustainability. Regardless of member type, organizations interested in participating in the SMETE Open Federation:
- Demonstrate a clear alignment with the mission and objectives of the SMETE Open Federation.
- Work to integrate their project activities with those of the SMETE Open Federation.
- Have an existing successful track record in working in collaborative projects.
- Offer resources or support to assist in the advancement of the SMETE Open Federation.
- Follow the terms and conditions outlined established by the SMETE Open Federation Board of Directors.
Figure 1: Proposed SMETE Open Federation Structure
Two advisory boards, with no fiduciary or operational responsibility to the Federation, will provide counsel. The National Advisory Board (NAB) consists of national leaders in SME&T education, digital libraries, industry and government. The NAB advises the Federation regarding future trends that may impact the federation and assists with fund raising. The NAB is made up of a minimum of XXX members. The User Advisory Board advises the Outreach, Education and Evaluation program and is made up of XXX representatives of the Federation's user communities. The primary purpose of this board is to ensure that the products and services of the SMETE Open Federation meet the needs of its users.
The SMETE Open Federation operations unit provides the staff support for the Federation. It is responsible for the administration, management and system support for www.smete.org, the Federation's main portal. It also provides the day-to-day operational support of the Federation and staff support to the advisory boards. There are two program areas within the operations unit: Applied Research and Outreach, Education and Evaluation. The Applied Research program area focuses both on technical research, e.g., interoperability studies, cooperative cataloging and digital library technologies, and educational research, e.g., user studies and impact studies. The Outreach, Education and Evaluation program area focuses on identifying and working with new Federation partners, education of end users, publicity and marketing, and implementation of programs to meet end user needs. The Evaluation arm of this component focuses on formative and summative evaluations, e.g., user studies, impact studies, and user needs assessments.
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