Nominating Committee 

Meeting
January 11, 2002
Ottawa, Ontario

Minutes

Participants

Chair:	Louise Nadeau
Members:	Denise Alcock	Alan Bernstein (ex-officio)
Regrets:	Kevin Keough
Staff:	Carol Anne Esnard	Karen Mosher

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A. Governing Council Matters

Membership for Executive Committee

The Nominating Committee agreed on the proposed list of members for CIHR's Executive Committee. Membership must consist of the Chair and Vice-Chair of Governing Council, as well as five other voting Members of Governing Council. The Deputy Minister of Health Canada is an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee. The Nominating Committee's recommendations will be submitted to Governing Council for final approval.

Process for Replacement of Governing Council members due to lapsed terms or resignations

The Nominating Committee reviewed and discussed potential candidates for the replacement of Governing Council members whose terms lapsed, or will lapse, or who resigned from Governing Council. A major consideration was the geographical location of the candidates, in order to respect the "national" representation on the Governing Council.

There are currently two vacancies to be filled on Governing Council. Suggestions have been previously given to the Minister of Health with respect to a New Brunswick candidate. The Nominating Committee agreed on a potential candidate for Quebec (Montreal area), and this suggestion will be submitted to the Minister of Health and Prime Minister's Office for consideration.

The terms of six Governing Council members will lapse on June 7, 2002. The Nominating Committee confirmed the process for appointment or renewal:

1. Contact of Governing Council members by the President of CIHR to determine their intentions with respect to serving an additional term.
2. Proposal of new candidates to replace those Governing Council members, if required.
3. Submission of a letter to the Minister of Health outlining CIHR's best advice with respect to potential candidates for Governing Council.

Governance Infrastructure

The Nominating Committee reviewed the current status of CIHR's Working Groups, which were established in the early months of CIHR's existence and prior to the establishment of more permanent standing committees:

• the Working Group on Partnerships was disbanded, having fulfilled its mandate with the submission of its final report on a partnership framework to the Governing Council at its November 2001 meeting; and,
• the Working Group on Ethics was disbanded as a result of the establishment of a Standing Committee on Ethics.

The Nominating Committee agreed that,

• the continued existence of the Working Group on Programs and Peer Review was redundant, what with the presence of a Standing Committee on the Oversight of Grants and Awards Competitions, and a Research Priorities Committee; and that,
• there was a need to migrate the Working Group on Finance, Planning and Evaluation to the status of a Standing Committee on Finance, Planning and Audit. Terms of reference for this new Standing Committee will be prepared for review and approval of the Governing Council at its March 2002 meeting.

B.Institute Advisory Board (IAB) Membership

Appointment of IAB members due to Resignations

Since the establishment of the IABs in January 2001, their total membership has evolved from an initial approval of 209 members to a final approval of 221 members. Current total membership for IABs stands at 212, with 9 vacancies because of resignations.

The process established for the replacements of the 9 vacant positions on IABs included notification of the vacancy by the Scientific Director and submission of a rationale to justify the request for a replacement, as well as suggestions for a replacement.

Despite the due diligence and well-intentioned efforts of the Scientific Directors and their IABs, the Nominating Committee was reluctant to recommend the approval of any further additions to IABs until a full assessment of the current IABs is undertaken. Concern was expressed on the size of IABs (on average about 17?18 ) relative to the IAB terms of reference which state smaller (12-15) numbers of members, the subsequent cost of holding meetings for larger numbers of individuals, as well as a lack of evaluative (qualitative and quantitative) information on how IABs are functioning and performing.

The Nominating Committee will recommend to Governing Council to not approve any further appointments to IABs until an assessment process is underway, and until data gleaned from this process displays appropriate evidence to justify further appointments to IABs.

Steering Committee for IAB Appointments

The Nominating Committee approved the terms of reference for a Steering Committee that would be mandated to develop and implement a process for IAB appointments. It was suggested that the chair of the Steering Committee (a member of the Nominating Committee) meet with the Scientific Directors at their next meeting (February 5th) to explain the process that would be followed by the Steering Committee.