ARDC Policy for Conduct Review Committee

This policy was adopted on April 25, 2025. Please submit questions or revision requests to conduct@ardc.net.

Introduction

Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) is a 501(c)(3) organization that, in 2020, became a private foundation. As an organization, ARDC has two primary functions:

  1. To make grants that, per ARDC’s mission, “support, promote, and enhance digital communication and broader communication science and technology, to promote Amateur Radio, scientific research, experimentation, education, development, open access, and innovation in information and communication technology;” and
  2. To manage the remaining 44net address space (aka AMPRNet), which includes:
    • Allocating address space to amateur radio operators around the world, and
    • Maintaining the technical infrastructure for managing the AMPRNet space.

In order to support these goals, ARDC has created the Conduct Review Committee (CRC) which upholds ARDC’s Code of Conduct in an ethical and consistent manner.

The committee is composed of volunteers, in addition to members of ARDC’s staff and Board of Directors.

This document outlines further functions and processes related to ARDC’s Conduct Review Committee.

Contents

  • Governance
  • Member Duties
  • Term
  • Qualifications
  • Composition
  • Adding New Members
  • Renewing Terms
  • Departure and Removal
  • Revising this Policy

Governance

This Committee is governed by the Bylaws of Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) and any applicable laws governing private foundations in the State of California.

Per ARDC’s bylaws:

  • Section 6.3 Advisory and Other Committees. The Board may from time to time create advisory committees and other committees that are not Board committees (collectively, “Other Committees”) as deemed appropriate, consisting of Directors or persons who are not Directors (such as interested professionals, scientists, practitioners, and past directors who represent principal fields of this corporation’s endeavors). Such Other Committees shall not be deemed Board committees and shall not exercise any powers of the Board. Other Committees may be delegated with implementation of certain specified tasks under the direction and control of the Board. Notice of, and procedures for, meetings of Other Committees shall be as prescribed by the chair of each such committee, and meetings of any Other Committee may be called by the Chair of the Board (if there be such an officer), the Board, the President, or the chair of the Other Committee. The term of office for an Other Committee member shall be indefinite or otherwise subject to the Board’s discretion.

The information outlined in this document is intended to complement the content of this paragraph and the rest of ARDC’s Bylaws, which can be found here:
https://www.ardc.net/wp-content/uploads/Bylaws-2019-03-03.pdf

Decisionmaking scope

Unlike other ARDC Advisory committees, which advise on actions for the board of directors to ultimately decide to take (such as grant approvals), the Conduct Review Committee has some decisionmaking power as delegated by the Board of Directors. Specifically, in service of upholding ARDC’s Code of Conduct, the Conduct Review Committee may enact resolutions as outlined in the Code of Conduct.

Member Duties

Members of the Conduct Review Committee must:

  • Participate in regular meetings;
  • Participate in the mailing lists and other non-meeting communications for topics that would come up between meetings;
  • Help identify potential opportunities as they relate to supporting ARDC’s mission;
  • Help identify potential future qualified Committee members, particularly in support of Committee composition goals, which include international representation as well as representation by women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other underrepresented groups.

Committee-Specific Duties

  • Respond to reported incidents related to the Code of Conduct.

Term

The following term limits apply only to the Volunteer role; Staff and Board Member Representative roles may be re-assigned as needed at the discretion of the Board of Directors.

Committee members are generally asked to serve until the end of the calendar year in which they started. At the end of the calendar year, ARDC Staff will evaluate existing committee members, along with new potential candidates. They will create a recommendation to the Board as to whether to ask those existing members to continue for another calendar year, along with potential new members as necessary (as described in the Adding New Members section below).

4-year term limits followed by 1-year pause. 1-year terms may be renewed for a total of 4 terms. After that point, an Advisory Committee member must take one year off from that committee. They may be nominated for a role in the original Advisory Committee at the end of that off-year. At that point, they may serve up to four more terms before needing to take another break, and so on.

No presumptive renewal. Renewal of terms should not be presumed. Information regarding votes to renew terms and potential conditions for removal may be found in the Renewing Terms and Departure and Removal sections below.

Qualifications

Technical Competency Requirement. In order to be considered for any ARDC Advisory or other Committee, candidates must possess specific technical competency related to amateur radio and/or digital communications science and technology. This competency must be illustrated through either:

  • Possession of an amateur radio license from any country in the world; and/or
  • Hold a profession related to internet technologies, FCC regulation, or similar that demonstrates expertise with regards to digital communication science and technology.

Composition

Size

The Committee should comprise of at least 3 distinct roles, described in the following section.

Staff Lead

The Committee must include a Staff Lead position, corresponding to the staff member responsible for Human Resources, typically the Operations Manager.

  • Review incoming Conduct reports
  • Call Committee meetings
  • Participating in reviews of Conduct Reports
  • Send formal communications on behalf of the Committee
  • Making recommendations as to refinement of the Code of Conduct as well as procedures of the Committee
  • Provide appropriate updates on Committee activities to other ARDC community

The Staff Lead is a voting member.

Staff Lead will be appointed by the Executive Director, and confirmed by the Board of Directors.

Should the Staff Lead be temporarily unavailable, such as on Leave, the Executive Director may assume or appoint their responsibilities to another staff member and notify the Board of Directors.

Board Member Representative

  • Participating in reviews of Conduct Reports
  • Presiding over Conduct Appeal procedures and sending formal communications on behalf of the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors representative is a voting member.

The Board Member Representative is selected by a majority vote of the Board.

Volunteer Representative

The Committee should include at least two (2) volunteers. These volunteers must also serve on another ARDC Advisory Committee, such as the Grants Advisory Committee, or otherwise actively involved in the ARDC community, such as a 44Net Regional Coordinator.

  • Participating in reviews of Conduct Reports
  • Filing Conduct Reports when appropriate
  • Making recommendations as to refinement of the Code of Conduct as well as procedures of the Committee

The Volunteer Representative is a voting member.

Volunteer Representatives are selected by a majority vote of the Board.

Voting

Given the urgent nature of reviewing Conduct reports, the quorum is minimal. A quorum is to include at least the Staff Lead and Board Member Representative. However, whenever possible, meetings of the Committee should be scheduled to include one or both Volunteer Representatives.

Tie-breaking Votes
In cases of a tie, the Board Member Representative shall make a final decision.

Adding New Members

  1. Nominations. Anyone may nominate a qualified candidate for a seat on the Conduct Review Committee, including self-nomination. It is recommended that nominations – along with any supporting materials such as resume, website, or CV – be sent to hr@ardc.net to ensure inclusion in the nomination process.
  2. Nominee research and confirmation of qualifications. Following nomination, an ARDC staff member, director, or officer will research the qualifications and availability of the nominee. This may be done through a combination of:
    • reviewing materials, such as a nominee’s CV, resume, and/or website;
    • email correspondence with the nominee; and/or
    • interview(s) with the nominee.

    The results of this investigation will be provided to the ARDC Board for review.

  3. Board Review. Following the nominee investigations, the ARDC Board will review the pool of investigated nominees and make a determination of Committee members they would like to add. If this happens at the end of the calendar year, this review will concur with a review of existing Committee members to determine composition for the following year.
  4. Board Vote. The Board votes to add new members to the Conduct Review Committee.

Departure and Removal

Voluntary Departure. Committee Members may voluntarily resign at any time, even before the end of a term. Notice of departure must be submitted in writing to the ARDC Staff Lead, the Board Member Representative, and / or ARDC’s Executive Director.

Removal. In some cases, it may be required to remove a Committee member before the end of their term. Reasons for removal include but are not limited to:

  • Habitual missing of meetings or non-participation;
  • Harassment or other unwanted behavior that persists despite intervention; and/or
  • The result of an investigation indicating conflict of interest or other improper conduct.

In the event of any of the above, the ARDC Board may remove a committee member of their post. The Committee Member will be informed of the decision in writing.

Filing a complaint about a Committee Member. Anyone may file a complaint about a Conduct Review Committee member to the Executive Director and / or any member of the ARDC Board of Directors. The Board will then review the complaint and engage in an investigation of the matter, including speaking with all parties concerned. Following the investigation, the Board will vote on whether to remove the Committee member and / or whether further educational or punitive actions are necessary.

In the event that either the Executive Director or a Board member are a subject of the investigation, they will recuse themselves from deliberation and/or voting on the matter.

Revising this Policy

Revisions to the policy must be approved by the ARDC Board of Directors. If you have a suggestion for a revision, please submit it to conduct@ardc.net.