WCET Policies

I. Membership

I.A. DEFINITION of MEMBERSHIP. The membership of WCET is organizational or institutional, not individual. WCET establishes criteria and admits organizations to specific categories of membership.These categories are defined and reviewed by the Executive Council.

I.B. CATEGORIES OF MEMBERSHIP. The categories of organizations that can be members of WCET include:

Educational institutions that hold accreditation or appropriate third party recognition within their country or state;
Corporations with an interest in educational technologies and policy;
State or governmental agencies that either represent or work with higher education;
Non-Governmental Organizations and not-for-profit organizations whose activities can benefit from or be a benefit to WCET;
Other organizations approved by Executive Council;
Special organizations with which WCET trades "membership" for the benefit of both parties.

I.C. APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP. A responsible party for the organization files the application for membership and includes appropriate third-party validation of the legitimacy of the applying organization.

I.D. APPROVAL OF MEMBERSHIP. WCET staff has the authority to accept into membership organizations that provide an appropriate application complete with third-party validation or "candidacy for validation." Staff will expect U.S. institutional applicants to hold third party validation from an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. WCET reserves the right to explore any other third-party validation [1]. The Executive Director will refer to the Executive Council for final determination, any applications for which third party validation is difficult to assess. Institutions denied membership may appeal that decision to the WCET's Executive Council for review. The decision of the Executive Council will be final.

I.E. MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES. WCET defines expectations of its members informs them of those expectations, and reserves the right to deny or withdraw membership to organizations that fail to honor them.Those expectations include:

Maintaining an official representative and providing at least two other contacts within the member organization along with the names of others using member benefits within the organization;
Paying dues annually on in accordance with the schedule established by the WCET staff;
Voting in all WCET elections;
Using the WCET membership appropriately, including but not limited to:
1. Correctly defining and portraying its membership within WCET including correctly reflecting its category of membership;
2. Official representatives are responsible for ensuring appropriate use of WCET resources/services within his or her organization.
3. Conducting its activities, particularly those related to the mission of WCET, with integrity.

I.F. WITHDRAWAL OF MEMBERSHIP. WCET can exercise withdrawal and termination of membership in the following ways:

Voluntarily with notification by organization's official representative to the WCET Executive Director;
Failure to pay dues after due notice;
A majority vote of Executive Council for failure to honor member responsibilities.

II. Organizational Decision-Making

II.A. STRUCTURES. The By-laws for WCET define the various components of organizational governance and decision-making: WICHE, WCET Steering Committee, WCET Executive Council, and WCET staff.

II.A.2. WCET Staff. The Executive Director, selected by WICHE on the recommendation of the WCET Executive Council, provides leadership for the organization. All other WCET staff are hired and evaluated by the Executive Director. All staff members follow the WICHE personnel handbook. The Executive Director is responsible for assuring that the needs of WCET are fulfilled through allocation of responsibilities among the staff.

II.A.3. Responsibilities of the WCET Staff. Under the leadership of the Executive Director, responsibilities of the WCET staff include, but are not limited to:

Overseeing the organization's meetings and publications;
Maintaining ongoing, consistent communications with the membership;
Working closely with the Executive Council and Steering Committee;
Proposing and creating member service and member service programs, seeking, as appropriate, advice or approval from the Executive Council or Steering Committee;
Determining, in accordance with WCET policies, membership status;
Entering into contractual arrangements and accepting gifts and grants on behalf of WCET, in consultation with the Executive Council and WICHE when appropriate
Overseeing WCET's finances, including setting a budget for Executive Council adoption;
Representing WCET in regional, national, and international settings.

II.A.4. Composition of the Executive Council. Four members of the Executive Council are elected by the membership from slates created by the Executive Council to ensure broad representation of the membership. One of the slates will be for a WICHE Commissioner.Three ex-officio members serve on the Executive Council: WCET Executive Director; Chair of the Steering Committee, and Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee. The Past-Chair of the Steering Committee serves as the Chair of the Council. Attendance at meetings of the Executive Council are expected; If an Executive Council member misses more than one meeting, he or she may be asked to resign by a majority vote of the other Executive Council members. The Executive Council may fill any open position on the Council for the remainder of the original term.

II.A.5. Decision-Making Roles of the Executive Council. The Executive Council oversees the activities of the organization on behalf of the members and contributes to leadership of the organization through the following activities:

Setting dues levels for members;
Establishing and updating policies for WCET identified in the policy book;
Recommending to WICHE the selection of the WCET Executive Director;
Planning for the future of the organization by reviewing the financial health of the organization, identifying strategic priorities for organization; and with staff, establishing program priorities within the mission of WCET;
Approving and maintaining the governance structure in accordance with the By-Laws.
Resolving any special situation or issues brought to it by the Executive Director.
Advising WICHE on matters relating to the health of WCET.
Considering and soliciting input from the Steering Committee on issues relevant to the organization.
Approving the annual budget for WCET.

II.A.6. Meetings of the Executive Council. The Executive Council meets semi-annually at times set by the Executive Director and announced at least three months in advance of the meeting. Full attendance is expected. The meeting agenda is set by the Executive Director and Chair of the Council, but any member of the Council may propose to the Executive Director items to be included in the agenda.The Executive Council makes decisions by majority vote, but tried for consensus whenever possible. Minutes of the Executive Council will be approved at the next meeting of the Executive Council.

II.A.7. Steering Committee Composition. Members of the Steering Committee are elected by their constituent groups. Members elect a Chair and Vice Chair for one-year terms.The Vice Chair is expected to serve as Chair but must be confirmed by the Steering Committee members. Should a Steering Committee member miss two consecutive meetings (without having a pre-arranged substitute), the Steering Committee may remove that person from the Steering Committee.

II.A.8. Roles of the Steering Committee The Steering Committee members fulfill several roles, including but not limited to:

Serving as a primary conduit between staff and constituency groups;
Providing advice to the WCET staff on issues relevant to membership, such as, project development, dues levels, emerging topics, communication strategies, and other items as appropriate.
Members of the Steering Committee agree to communicate with their constituency groups on a regular basis.
The Chair, Vice Chair, and immediate past-Chair of the Steering Committee sit on the Executive Council and provide leadership to that group.

II.A.9. Meetings of the Steering Committee The Steering Committee meets bi-monthly via audio-conference and once annually face-to-face at the Annual Conference.Minutes of these meeting will be taken by staff.

II.B CODE OF CONDUCT. Although providing voluntary service to WCET, members of the Steering Committee and Executive Council will honor the following expectations of professional service.They will:

Interact with WCET staff through the Executive Director or his/her designee;
Speak on behalf of the organization only when designated by the Executive Director;
Maintain confidentiality when appropriate;
Identify clearly any conflict of interest that might influence their decision-making or the decision-making of others.

III. WCET Services

III.A. MEMBER SERVICES The services of WCET are outlined on the WCET website and may change at the discretion of staff.

III.B. ELIGIBILITY FOR SERVICES Although institutions or organizations possess membership in WCET, any individual officially affiliated with a member institution or organization has access to all member benefits.

III.C. COMMUNITY SERVICES WCET provides services that are useful to the members and to broader communities of shared interests.Some of the services involve a fee established by the Executive Director in consultation with the Executive Council.

III.D. SUPPORT FOR SERVICES WCET'S services may be funded in a variety of ways: dues, fee for service (often discounted for members), grants and gifts, and solicited sponsorships for specific activities that serve the membership and the organization.

IV. Accountability and Integrity

IV.A. RELATIONSHIP WITH WICHE As an organization operating under the incorporation of WICHE, WCET complies with WICHE policies and any state and federal regulations that apply to WICHE.

IV.B. ADVOCACY Because WCET sees itself as an advocate for the effective use of information and communication technologies in higher education, it may take a stance on public policy issues which is shared with its membership. WCET will adhere to U.S. federal policies on lobbying.

IV.C. ENDORSEMENTS WCET does not endorse any product or service unless it has participated in its creation.

IV.D. PROTECTION OF PRIVACY AND SECURITY WCET honors the relationship with its members by:

Not selling its membership list for other organizations to use; however, WCET may agree to distribute information to its members either electronically or through the mail about activities of interest to the membership but sponsored by other organizations;
Using a website list that provides only the name of the organization or institution and a link to that organization's or institution's website;
Honoring Federal law in communicating with members (and non-members);
Allowing members and non-members the right to approve any institutional information used by WCET.

IV.E. FINANCIAL INFORMATION WCET makes its dues structure available on its website.It makes its annual financial report available to the public together with full disclosure of its projects, grants, and contracts. Since WCET is part of WICHE, it also facilitates public access to WICHE's audit report.

IV.F. OFFICIAL RECORDS Minutes of all official meetings of the WCET Steering Committee and Executive Council will be maintained electronically. A paper copy will also be maintained by WCET.

Adopted by the Executive Council, May 18, 2006

[1] International institutions may be validated by organizations like the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's affiliate the International Association of Universities or other similar organizations.