OERu/Strategic plan 2014 - 2017/Strategic plan 2015 - 2017/Annual report 2014/Report from the OERu Management Committee

Report from the OERu Management Committee
The OERu Management Committee (OERuMC) was established during 2014 to provide managerial and operational oversight over the implementation and coordination of the activities of the OERu working groups recommended at the 2nd meeting of OERu partners in November 2013. The OERuMC also aims to seed activities which may be required for the OERu network to achieve the outcomes for which it was established.

Mode of operation
Following the OERF's commitment to open governance and transparent planning approaches, the meetings of the OERuMC are broadcast live so that any member from the OERu or open community can attend meetings and contribute using the microblog backchannel. The agendas, recordings of the meetings and minutes are published openly on WikiEducator thus maintaining a public digital record of decisions.

The OERuMC comprises the conveners of the active working groups and is chaired by the Director of the OERF. The selection of the conveners for the individual working groups are guided by the principle of meritocracy where the conveners have demonstrated expertise in the focus area of the working group or have demonstrated experience in the OERu community. Staff members from OERu partners are free to join any of the working groups as part of their staff time contribution to the network. Decision-making is informed by a rough consensus model relying on the strength of the argument underpinned by the principles of engagement of the OERu network rather than an absolute count of votes. As the OERuMC is assembled from active working groups, this means that once the objectives of the working group have been achieved, conveners will not be required to continue service on the OERuMC thus enabling rotation of volunteer contributions to the management of the OERu as a dynamic, needs-driven structure.

Currently, the OERuMC is represented by the conveners of eight working groups determined by the recommendations of the OERu 2013 partners' meetings and guided by the published 2014 operational priorities:


 * 1) Strategic planning working group
 * 2) Curriculum and programme of study working group
 * 3) Course design and development partner manual working group
 * 4) Course approval and quality working group
 * 5) Credit transfer and course articulation working group
 * 6) Technology working group
 * 7) PLAR portfolio working group
 * 8) Marketing, recruitment and communication working group.

Summary of main outputs
During 2014, three OERuMC meetings were convened approximately every four months. The OERuMC has agreed on its aims, objectives and modus operandi. The OERuMC meetings considered progress reports of the individual working groups and established target outputs in preparation for the 3rd meeting of the OERu anchor partners. Details are available in the corresponding reports of the working groups.

Future perspectives
The OERuMC will continue in its current form to coordinate progress of the activities of existing and future working groups. To date, all the conveners of the OERuMC reside in time zones which have been amenable for synchronous meetings. However, the group will need to consider solutions for working across twenty four time zones as conveners from different regions join the OERuMC in the future. The OERuMC model has evolved as a pragmatic response to the need to coordinate activities of the OERu network using an open planning model. The structural and operational design of the OERuMC will need to be reviewed as part of the input evaluation of the implementation of the OERu.