UCIMC Standing Committee Descriptions: proposed 2020

Facilities, Finance, Fundraising, Personnel, and Programming

This document contains descriptions for all standing committees. For an older document defining some of the specific duties of each committee, click here. If you have any questions about the information here, contact the Executive Director, Miriam Larson miriam@ucimc.org or the President of the Board, Karen Medina president@ucimc.org.

Facilities Committee: facilities at ucimc dot org

• This Committee is responsible for overseeing the care of the UCIMC’s property, and the general supervision of the grounds, radio tower, parking areas, building, and the utility equipment it contains (HVAC system, plumbing, electrical, locks, and maintenance tools). It is the committee’s responsibility to submit to the Board its recommendations for improvement and upkeep of the UCIMC property each fiscal year, with estimates of expected costs. During the current year it may submit requests to the Board for repairs whose costs may exceed the current budget.
• Building Codes being met:

• Building Safety and Fire Code compliance: At least one representative of this committee should be present during annual inspections for fire codes, the testing of the fire alarms. Make sure that the emergency lights are in working order -- the batteries changed.  
• ADA compliance, (grants depend on this)
• Insurance is not the responsibility of Facilities, but depend on the building being up to code: The liability, fire, and property damage insurance is the joint responsibility of the chairs of the Finance Committee and the Board

• Cooperation with other committees is essential, especially the committees concerned with social activities and scheduling of events on UCIMC property.
• The specific responsibilities of this committee include:

• 1. Supervise the servicing of heating and utility equipment.
• 2. Keep an inventory of all properties.
• 3. Supervise or oversee the supervision of the custodial purchase of all housekeeping supplies.
• 4. Evaluate the performance of the custodian(s) and make recommendations regarding salary or pay rate.
• 5. With the staff, organize volunteer cleaning and repair days.
• 6. For any extensive maintenance that requires an outside contractor, oversee the solicitation of bids, evaluate the bids, and make recommendations to the Board.

• Create and modify the maintenance manual. The physical layout of the UCIMC building, the procedures for maintenance, and a typical annual calendar are given in the service manual located in the UCIMC office. The committee chair will be given a second copy.
• The Facilities Committee helps make short and long-term decisions and plans aimed at making the UCIMC Building improvements and its utility usage sustainable. In particular, the  a) venue spaces, b) the office rental spaces, and the c) parking lot need to be rent-generating-ready. If significant changes are needed, the Facilities Committee is the committee that has the experience and interest in doing the research needed to make wise proposals.  

• The Committee’s members arrange for, or empower the staff to arrange for, any necessary repairs or upgrades to building infrastructure as needed.
• This committee shall oversee all tenant relationships with the IMC, working to rent out all available rental spaces at the building and ensure that tenants have their needs met according to the UCIMC's written contractual agreements with tenants, meetings spaces, and venue space renters.
• This committee will oversee and recommend necessary modifications to existing tenant-IMC contractual agreements as needed. Other duties are below:

• 1. Host public meetings with IMC tenants, members, working groups and staff to address building and grounds concerns
• 2. Coordinate with IMC staff to implement building and facilities related items that have been prioritized by the board or that can be prioritized by committee.
• 3. Prepare monthly board reports providing summary updates on building and facilities items, seeking board discussion and approval for spending above $500, and providing research on building items to aid in board discussion.
• 4. With IMC staff, coordinate with local vendors providing contractual service to the IMC building's heating, cooling, fire & safety, and other systems.
• 5. Seek funding in collaboration with the fundraising committee and board to enact large scale building projects
• 6. Plan strategically for long term sustainability of building systems, seek bids for equipment repair, help identify issues relating to building maintenance and energy efficiency.

• Finance Committee: The Finance Committee is responsible for ensuring that the basic financial health of the UCIMC is in good order. In addition to providing requested financial information to the IMC Board of Directors, Its members coordinate with the treasurer(s) to keep track of money coming in and out of the UCIMC, and file any necessary reimbursements. The Finance Committee works closely with Fundraising, Programming, Personnel, and Facilities Committees to ensure that the income associated with membership, room rentals, and events contracts is in good order and received in a timely manner. Last, the Finance Committee works to ensure that all IMC owed monies are paid out, including staff wages, monthly utilities bills, and any other outstanding expenses. More specific duties are below.

• 1. Provide financial oversight and advice to the Board
• 2. Make recommendations to the Board related to such items as: salaries, rental rates increases, large purchases or expenditures, etc.
• 3. Prepare an annual budget for Board adoption
• 4. Develop and maintain financial policies and procedures
• 5. Facilitate and provide oversight of the annual audit
• 6. Annually review and recommend appropriate levels of insurance coverage
• 7. Review all grant applications before they are submitted
• 8. Review and recommend Board approval of fiscal sponsorship applications
• 9. Work with other Board committees and/or Working Groups on overlapping financial issues/concerns as requested

• Friendraising (formerly Fundraising): fundraising at ucimc dot org 

• Coordinates with the board to translate with vision and mission of the IMC into meaningful invitations to participate, then works with subcommittees of Membership, Outreach, and standing Personnel committee (personnel = staff and volunteers) to disseminate the invitation to contribute to the well being and sustainability of the IMC and its community financially, Socially, Ethically, and Enjoyably

• FR Infrastructure (FR Structure Created April 2020):

• Works with Outreach to keep members informed about participation/contribution opportunities via web, newsletter, etc. (incl. Public I)
• Works with the Programming Committee/shows to integrate fundraising/membership into all events and the IMC space

• Works with staff and the Finance Committee to upkeep constituent management infrastructure (currently NationBuilder) and other donor records and technologies (e.g. campaign pages, donation links, etc)
• Works with the Finance Committee to set financial donation goals for the year, and translates this into a yearly fundraising campaign.

• Sustains and grows income from individuals, governments, foundations, Community Shares, and for-profit sources via donations, grants, employee matches
• Produces and/or supports regular fundraising campaigns, including events
• Applies for and helps manage grants, tracking, and reporting (including the Illinois Arts Council Agency and Cultural Data Project)
• Work with the Membership sub-committee to support retention of members and development of new members

• Personnel Committee: personnel at ucimc dot org
  The Personnel Committee is responsible for developing or modifying job descriptions and advertising job openings as they arise. This committee creates a hiring committee (a smaller number of people, and as representative as possible) for the interviewing process. The Personnel Committee presents candidates that the Hiring Committee shortlisted to the Board and the UCIMC Membership. With the Finance Committee, the Personnel Committee suggests compensation packages. This Committee is the first point of contact when staff have issues or concerns about their work or their work environment. The Personnel Committee shall hold regular evaluations of staff performance. Last, it will help organize volunteer labor with staff, and be the first point of contact for all concerns therein. Specific duties are below.

1. Develop written personnel policies

2. Supervise staff hiring procedures (draft job descriptions; arrange job interviews)

3. Serve as ombudsman and/or mediator role to prevent or resolve conflicts or complaints lodged by staff, volunteers and/or tenants.

4. Supervise staff termination procedures.

5. Conduct annual staff evaluations and review and revision of job descriptions and (with the Finance Committee) possible increases in compensation.

• Programming: The Programming Committee is responsible for supporting the programming that happens at the IMC. They do this primarily by deciding what events/groups to co-sponsor and directing groups to our available resources like fiscal sponsorships, IMC membership, or the working-group process. They keep in touch with regular, outside contributors to our programming (like the DIY Music Community) and our regular, internal contributors like our working groups, tenants, and fiscally sponsored groups. Specific duties are listed below.

• 1. Periodically review and update the mission and goals of the UCIMC
• 2. Serve as an initial “sounding board” for new programming ideas that could be sponsored by or scheduled at the UCIMC and, when appropriate, pass along these ideas to standing committees of the Board and/or to the Board itself for review and possible support
• 3. Recommend to the Board standards/criteria for defining Working Groups
• 4. Evaluate applications from individuals or organizations to become Working Groups and make recommendations to the Board regarding their approval
• 5. Provide Working Groups--and others attending--with a regular opportunity to learn about one another’s activities and to explore mutual support and/or collaboration
• 6. Periodically review performance of Working Groups and make recommendations to the Board regarding their continuation or termination as official entities of the UCIMC

• Executive Committee: 
  Who is on the Executive Committee:
  According to the Bylaws (2016) in Article VII, Section 2: “SECTION 2: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE THE OFFICERS OF THE BOARD AND CHAIRS OF ITS STANDING COMMITTEES SHALL CONSTITUTE AN EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD EMPOWERED TO MAKE BINDING DECISIONS FOR THE ORGANIZATION WHICH CANNOT WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING OF THE BOARD.”

The Board of Directors shall consist of 5 or more Directors including four (4) officers: President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer [Section 2]
“Directors shall select Officers for the upcoming year from their ranks.” [Section 3]

Executive Committee Role and Responsibilities:

• Should meet at least once a month, between board meetings.
• Creates or finalizes the agenda for the regular board meeting.
• Delegates
• Communicates
• It checks in on the progress of other standing committees and works to do those tasks that do not fit well within one particular committee. This committee assists the other committees in overcoming obstacles. If the other committees fail to fulfill their responsibilities, the Executive Committee must take these on.    
• Organizes and plans the board development and orientation process for new members.

• According to the bylaws of 2016, “All board members will be required to jointly participate in a board development and orientation process within 60 days of being appointed to the Board.”
• This could be done via a board retreat.
• For board members who miss the retreat....

• Makes sure that board orientation documents are readily available to all board members.

• Current bylaws
• UCIMC Structure documents
• Roles and responsibilities of the committees
• Job descriptions of all the staff members

• Proposes the date for the Annual Membership Meeting:

• According to the bylaws of 2016: “Elections will take place at the General Membership Meeting held in the fall (October/November).”
• Article VI, Section 1: “A General Membership Meeting shall be held in the fall (October/November) at the location of the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center Foundation. The exact meeting date and time shall be set by the Board of Directors with at least 28 days advance notice. Those members present shall constitute a quorum.”

• When there is a need for an advisory committee, the Executive Committee can recruit an  advisory committee. / The Board can also appoint a non-voting member to an advisory role.

• “The Board may appoint non-voting members to an advisory role on the board.” [from the bylaws, Section 7]

• The Executive Committees fulfills urgent duties of the BOD that can’t wait for the next meeting of the whole. It prepares the agenda for the board meetings.
  

The Tech Committee:

he most up-to-date description is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qG2WSKT6p-cgCRyoMEueSDFsL6jHZdN16Mdc2toQtKc/edit?usp=sharing

Keeping in mind that Indymedia “seeks to facilitate people being able to publish their media as directly as possible,” the role of the Tech Committee is to maintain the infrastructure that makes this goal possible.

All the other committees rely on the listservs and the website for every day internal and external communication. The Tech Committee will receive updated information from the Chairs of these committees and do their best to update the lists in a timely manner. They will assist staff and board members with the website -- also doing their best to make sure that these are accessible (webpages are viewable from different web browsers and various sizes of screens, links are not broken, that forms work, ….). They will alert the Finance Committee when they suggest changing services or software and hardware.

The Tech Committee will see that the maintenance of the IMC’s computer workstations happens: the IMC staff computers and the public access computers, updating the software and hardware and virus protection as needed, setting up automatic backups for the finance database, proposing

The Tech Committee will negotiate with the Internet Service Provider (ISP), the website host, Voice Over IP (VOIP), wireless Internet (WiFi), internal wired networking,  They will be involved in the negotiations with the radio tower rental with Peter Folk and Volo. They will be involved in the negotiations with Volo for their tech support. They will help with the research needed to move to electronic locks.

The emphasis we would like to use, to empower others, are:

• Education
• Tutoring
• Sitting beside people as they work through the steep learning curves

This committee shall work closely with the Facilities Committee to make any changes as necessary to the technological infrastructure of the building, including purchasing or maintaining equipment as necessary.

This committee shall also maintain the maps of the network wiring, have access to the network closets,

• The Board of Directors: the Committee of the Whole: The Committee of the Whole is the monthly meeting of all members of the Board of Directors. This body is ultimately responsible for the financial and legal well-being of the UC-IMC. Keep in mind that this body meets monthly and are therefore necessarily slow-moving, they do not run the UCIMC but rather empower others to do this. They are the holders of the long-view: the mission and the vision.
• The board is responsible for:

• Hiring staff, training staff, giving staff feedback, hearing concerns of the staff, staff evaluations, approve compensation (while watching the financial situation carefully)
• Financially responsible for the IMC

• Fundraising (with the Executive Director). In that fundraising, to watch carefully how the money is spent.
• Monitoring the budget (the Finance Committee should give reports and recommendations that the rest of the board can understand and be prepared to make wise decisions). In particular, in the past, it was tempting for the UCIMC to share its building resources freely as part of its mission. The board would be responsible for asking the tough questions like, “If that resource is given freely, how are we making sure the lack of income is made up elsewhere?”
• Sign off on grants and general grants oversight.

• Work with UCIMC members and staff to set vision and mission
• With the Executive Director and/or other staff, establish an organizational plan, be it an annual plan, a five year plan, or some other type of structure. This can also include programming directives.
• Plan Fall Membership Meetings and any emergency meetings during a crisis

• Recruit new board members
• Prepare any items that need to be voted on
• Prepare the elections and the voting

• Each member should be on a Committee as well as attend board meetings.
• Basic non-profit status maintenance, especially the Finance Committee should be aware of what all this takes
• Be ambassadors of the UCIMC to the community.
• Be ambassadors of the community to the UCIMC. Bring their combined wisdom and experiences to the decisions that need to be made.
• Creating and maintaining facilities policies and plans that will keep the UCIMC sustainable and operational.