Governance

FabLab Governance

This page contains documentation related to how the FabLab Governs itself to support its members and the rest of North Forge. For now the two most significant groups that have an impact on the day to day operations of the FabLab are the Member Council and the Safety Committee.

Member Council overall

Historically, Member Council fulfills and number of different roles within the institution that is North Forge. It uses a mix of both paid staff, volunteers, and subject matter experts to conduct some the week by week operations of the FabLab.

Member Council Participant Categories

The member council consists of folks that fit into four very broad categories:

1. Compensated Volunteer: people whose membership fee is reduced in exchange for their efforts on the on member council
2. Members at Large: people who participate in the meeting(s) without direct financial compensation. Regular members.
3. Staff: people doing paid work as employees of North Forge
4. Invited participants: This could include guest speakers, other North Forge components, contractors and more

Member council agreed on this method of participant categorization via simplistic concent method.

Purpose of Member Council

The membership at large voted via Slack poll to use the following as the Member Council Purpose Statement:

“The purpose of the North Forge FabLab Member Council is to represent the diverse voices and needs of our membership, foster a culture of proactive and responsive problem-solving, by enabling a connected, collaborative community.

Through effective communications and hands-on operational efforts, the Member Council strengthens its support for North Forge at large, cultivating a dynamic environment where members are empowered to innovate, create, and grow together.”

The purpose of member council was agreed upon via Facilitated Concensus Modelling. A subject matter Expert, David Dorosz, was brough it to facilitate the discussions. {Insert Date Time Reference}

The proposed statement was carried forward via simple concent.

Member Council Methods

Issue Categories

Member Council will sort issues requiring a decision into three broad categories

Member Council Issue Categories

Issue Category	How hard is it to discuss
Simple	Doesn't Require a whiteboard to explain it
Tricky but not Complicated	Probably doesn’t need a whiteboard to explain it, but it may help
Complex	This is gonna need a whiteboard, possibly pictures/diagrams and some deep thinking on everyone's part

Decision Flow

Member Council will use the following flow to work through making decisions on issues. We’ll use each method one after the other until a decision is made.

Concent Based ⇒ Consultative Based ⇒ Consensus Based ⇒ Democratic Based

member council agreed on this method via simplistic concenet method.

Structure of Member Council

Member Council Leads

Discussions are ongoing on what the requirements are for Member Council Leads and thier purpose in the larger body.

last updated Revised: January 15, 2025

Member Council Lead Attributes

• Demonstrated expertise in the required areas.
• Positive attitude.
• Sufficient time availability and commitment to perform required tasks.
• Demonstrated self-starting, trustworthy.
• Passion for North Forge Fabrication Lab and its members.

Expectations for all Member Council Leads:

• Attend weekly meetings. Should unexpected events happen or during planned vacation, an update is expected via Member Council Slack Channel for the time that you are away from meetings. If three consecutive meetings or more are missed with no explanation or updates, you may be removed from the Member Council.
• Provide an update electronically or in person for every member meeting. Strive to update on what you accomplished last week, what you plan on doing next week and is anything in your way preventing you from meeting your goals.
• You are empowered to make your lead area as efficient and successful as you want.
• Any requirements for financial support need approval by the council or operation prior to starting your project.
• Responsible for ensuring any lead tasks are completed by someone or a team of people that the lead coordinates.
• Recruit other members to help you in your lead area and encourage them to submit volunteer hours.
• Bring forward solutions and recommendations to issues.

The benefits to Member Council Leads

The opportunity to volunteer, give back to the Start-Up Community, help other entrepreneurs, network with other like-minded people, build your resume with experiences.
100% discount on your membership with North Forge.

1. Co-Chair 1
2. Co-Chair 2
3. Tours Lead
4. Orientation Lead
5. IT Lead
6. Consumables Lead
7. Training Lead
8. Volunteer Lead
9. Build Lead

Member Council Leads

Rebuild the following section as a template

Member Council Co Chair: Graeson Fehr Monitor first floor activities and member use of the space. Provide insights for first floor design and equipment layout. Notify the council when garbage/recycling is building up. Monitoring all waterjet consumables (water softener, abrasive, air filter). Facilitate waterjet abrasive pickup (which requires the use of a pickup truck). Reporting waterjet usage to Jeff. Cleaning the bathroom on the first floor. Sweeping the floor (1-2 hours per week). Organizing tools and setup of the new tool room. Manage the first floor jail. Cleaning up after members who have left tools out.

Member Council Co Chair: Greg Linton Chairs member meetings and posts minutes. Accountable for Member Council, ensuring the needed member lead roles and responsibilities. are filled by volunteer members to keep the FabLab operational. Provides leadership to Member Council lead roles.

Tours Lead: Robert Elms Respond to tour requests. Schedule of tours and conducts tours.

Orientation Lead: Lawrence R Conducts the Orientation and Safety sessions for new members. Ensure the orientation and safety walk-throughs are up to date.

IT Lead (IOT Lead, Keeper of the Internet, Duke of the WAN, Protector of Software Licenses): Brian Greenberg Providing VPN access for members. Maintain Internal shop network and infrastructure which should be shared between the Maintenance Manager and IT role. Maintain the shop computers and switches Make recommendations of cost effective enhancements Work towards a reliable system that meets the needs of the members Keep the software up to date Setup new equipment purchases Maintain and update documentation for licensing configuration and passwords

Consumables Lead: John Reichel

Tracking and invoicing consumables and other sales to members. Purchasing and keeping consumables in stock. Work with room coordinators to keep consumables ordered and filled. Determine consumables for supplies or to be sold. Labels lockers and monitors locker status. Check the consumable channel on Slack and take action as needed.

Training Lead: John Hache Evaluation of instructor performance. Ensures all member demand for training is being addressed. Check the training channel on Slack and take action as needed. Review and prepare training documents. Write up documentation for new machines. Help new members connect with the appropriate trainers.

Volunteer Lead: Jamie O’Neill Gather incoming volunteer tasks from all members. Communicate tasks to members that need filling. Check the Volunteer channel on Slack and take action as needed. Update the Volunteer task board. Manage volunteer night on the last Tuesday of the month. Create awareness for new and legacy members.

Build Lead: Doug Campbell Primary Duties Plan and execute builds/larger scale projects (eg, Grinding room, carpentry room expansion) work closely with the Maintenance Team. and applicable room leads/volunteers to accomplish these builds. determine design, cost, and timeline for builds, as well as coordinating volunteers and material pickup Secondary duties Install/build smaller scale projects in coordination with maintenance (eg, painting, small scale installations) can be suggested by room leads, and coordinating with room leads to accomplish tasks. hours will vary depending on whether or not there are big builds happening, so the build lead can build a database of secondary duties suggested by members and do those tasks when they have the time.

Member Council Minutes

Meeting Minutes Template