Participants
| Chair: | Louise Nadeau | |
| Members: | Nancy Edwards | Alan Bernstein (ex-officio) |
| Staff: | Christine Fitzgerald | Executive Vice-President |
| André Gratton | Deputy Corporate Secretary | |
| Rosa Venuta | Team Lead, Governance Membership Program |
1. Call to Order & Welcome
Louise Nadeau called the meeting to order at 11:00 and welcomed members.
2. Approval of the Agenda
The meeting agenda was approved as presented.
3. Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the 31st meeting were deemed to be an accurate reflection of the discussions which took place on October 26, 2005 and were approved.
3.1 Matters for Action and Business Arising
Christine Fitzgerald reported that a management decision was taken to not submit an application for the 2005 Conference Board of Canada Governance Award as there was insufficient time to allow for consultation and input from the Standing Committee on Ethics.
4. Augmenting Membership on Governing Council Committees
4.1 Nominating Committee
Pursuant to its Terms of Reference, the Nominating Committee is composed of the vice-chair of the Governing Council, and a minimum of two voting members from Governing Council. Currently there are only two members on the Nominating Committee. Management recommended that two additional members are required on this Committee in order to ensure effective succession planning for transference of corporate memory, increased stability and to ensure that there is adequate representation at meetings for quorum.
Members agreed that there is a pressing need to augment membership on this Committee and identified one Governing Council member that should be approached to enquire as to his interest to serve on this Committee, and that a second member be approached when membership on Governing Council is fully constituted.
4.2 Standing Committee for Oversight of Grants and Awards Competitions
Pursuant to its Terms of Reference, membership of the Standing Committee for Oversight of Grants and Awards Competitions (SCOGAC) consists of fifteen members, including two co-chairs, one of whom is a Governing Council Member.
SCOGAC meets three times per year face-to-face a few days before the Governing Council meetings where the major open competition results are approved. Because there are many other competitions concluding between these meetings, and it is not desirable to delay reporting the results of the competitions to the applicants, SCOGAC holds occasional meetings by teleconference. Since it is usually not possible to schedule these ad hoc SCOGAC meetings months in advance, there is a risk that quorum will not be reached, which would result in a delay in communicating competition results to applicants.
The Nominating Committee agreed with management's recommendation to augment the SCOGAC membership from fifteen to seventeen in order to ensure that there will be sufficient expertise and critical mass of members to conduct business and report recommendations to Governing Council. Management will present a list of potential candidates to Governing Council for review and approval at its March 2006 meeting.
5. Fourth Cycle of Institute Advisory Board Membership Renewal Status Report
The Nominating Committee was given a brief overview of the actions taken to enhance and streamline the Institute Advisory Board (IAB) member renewal, as well as an overview of the process and key timelines for the fourth cycle of IAB member renewal.
6. Status of Membership on Governance Committees
The Nominating Committee was provided with a brief overview of current appointments and the vacancies in CIHR's Governance Committees which should be addressed in this fiscal year and in the upcoming fiscal year (2006-07).
7. Revision of Terms of Reference
7.1 Terms of Reference of the Stem Cell Oversight Committee
The Nominating Committee accepted the proposed wording, as amended, to clarify member privileges related to quorum and voting for ex-officio members as well as the number of meetings of held each year in the revised terms of reference for the Stem Cell Oversight Committee (SCOC). The revised SCOC terms of reference will be submitted for consideration to Governing Council at its March 2006 meeting.
7.2 Terms of Reference of the Standing Committee for Oversight of Grants and Awards Competitions
The Nominating Committee accepted the proposed wording, as amended, to clarify member privileges related to quorum and voting for ex-officio members as well as the number of meetings of held each year in the revised terms of reference for the Standing Committee for Oversight of Grants and Awards Competitions (SCOGAC) The revised SCOGAC terms of reference will be submitted for consideration to Governing Council at its March 2006 meeting.
8. Adjournment
The 32nd meeting of the Nominating Committee was adjourned at 12:00 noon.
