ASTHO, in association with the Interim BioSense Governance Group, created a DRAFT Charter of the BioSense Governance Group and is requesting comments and suggestions from ISDS members.
Please write your comments in the "Post a Comment" section at the end of this entry or email your comments to Amanda at aschulte@syndromic.org by February 6, 2012.
Thank you for your feedback.
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Draft Charter of the BioSense 2.0 Governance Group
BioSense 2.0 is the web-accessible
platform used to receive, store, maintain, process, analyze, and display data.
It is a service for state, local, and territorial health agencies for data
sharing and analysis. BioSense 2.0 can also be utilized as a tool for sharing
data that it contains between public health agencies.
BioSense Program
The BioSense Program, run by
the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), facilitates recognition and tracking of
health problems as they evolve, and provides public health officials with the
data, information and tools they need to better prepare for and respond, in a
coordinated way, to threats to the health of the American people.
Participating Jurisdiction
The term “participating jurisdiction” will be either a
local or state health jurisdiction operating under either statutory or
regulatory authority to provide data to BioSense 2.0 and has agreed to the
terms and conditions of the BioSense 2.0 Data Use Agreement (DUA). The formal designation of a participating
jurisdiction in the BioSense 2.0 DUA is “Data Source”,
The term "User" is any authorized user of
data available through BioSense 2.0. All users must be affiliated with a
participating jurisdiction and be held to Terms and Conditions of Data Use and
Security standards by the Data Source.
The BioSense 2.0 Governance Group was created in accordance with a
cooperative agreement between ASTHO and the CDC to ensure key stakeholder
involvement in BioSense 2.0. The purpose of this group is to oversee the
development and use of BioSense 2.0.
·
To provide representation from a diverse set of
public health stakeholders from state, local, and federal levels
·
To set strategic priorities, overall policy, and
direction for BioSense 2.0
·
To assure that overall system development is
responsive to data contributor and user input
·
To serve as a conduit for feedback and
recommendations from the constituents that the Governance Group’s members
represent
·
To identify and recommend new categories of data
sources to be added to BioSense 2.0
·
To make recommendations for resolving disputes
about or violations of data use agreements for BioSense 2.0
·
To form governance sub-committees and policy
workgroups as needed.
Governance Group members are expected to represent their participating
jurisdiction organizations and:
·
Solicit input from their respective
constituencies
·
Act as a conduit of information among their
organizations and constituencies and the Governance Group
·
Actively participate in conference calls and
face to face meetings
Desired attributes of
Governance Group members include:
·
Interest and commitment to improving national
surveillance efforts
·
Ability to fairly represent the views of their
constituencies
·
Familiarity with the assets and needs of their
constituencies
·
Knowledge and experience in syndromic
surveillance and policy
·
Skill in collaboration and consensus
·
Ability to attend face-to-face meetings and
monthly teleconferences
The Governance Group shall be composed of 15 people, each with a single
vote on all matters under the purview of the Governance Group:
·
4 Individuals shall represent the various public
health associations that will utilize BioSense 2.0. Specifically, there shall be one representative
each from:
o The
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)
o The
Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE)
o The
National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
o The
International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS)
·
3 Individuals shall represent the following
federal data submitting agencies:
o The
U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC)
o The
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
o The
U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)
·
8
Individuals shall represent the various groups which will be submitting data to
the BioSense 2.0 system:
o 3
shall be from state or territorial public health agencies
o 3
shall be from county or city public health agencies
o 2
shall be from data contributors which are non-public health agencies (such as
healthcare facilities, pharmacies, etc)
Representatives of ASTHO, CSTE, NACCHO, ISDS, CDC, VA, and DOD shall be
chosen by their respective groups using whatever means each group sees fit to
use.
Representatives of the 8 non-federal data submitting groups shall be
chosen by secret-ballot election, facilitated by ASTHO, among the population of
BioSense 2.0 participating jurisdictions.
Elections shall be held separately for state/territorial, county/city,
and non-public health representatives.
For state/territorial and county/city elections, each participating
jurisdiction is permitted to nominate one representative as a candidate for
election in their respective categories.
For non-public health agency representative elections, the
participating jurisdictions may nominate one candidate from a data-contributing
facility located within their jurisdiction.
State and territorial data submitters may only vote in the
state/territorial elections, city and county may only vote in city/county
elections. All participating
jurisdictions can vote in elections for the non public health agency representatives.
For all elections, each participating jurisdiction may cast one
vote.
The top 3 vote-receivers from the state/territorial and county/city
elections, and the top 2 from non-public health elections, shall be the
representatives on the Governance Group for the upcoming Term.
Governance Group members will serve a term of two years to begin just
following their elections.
These terms will be staggered as follows:
1) ST
and CC agencies: 2 members shall serve in the same 2-year term while 1 member
will serve an overlapping 2-year term, staggered by one year.
2) NPH
groups: each of the two members shall serve overlapping 2-year terms, staggered
by one year.
The first Governance Group will hold elections for all 8 positions,
with one each of ST, CC, and NPH groups to be designated with a term of only
one year. Upon expiration of the
one-year terms, new elections will be held for these positions which will then
have a normal term of two-years.
If any scheduling conflict prevents a member from attending any
meeting, the member is
permitted to designate a substitute, with voting rights, on a
case-by-case basis.
Permanent vacancies created for any reason will be filled by selection
of an interim member as chosen by the four public health associations and, if
available, the member that has vacated the role.
To facilitate aspects of Governance Group function, a chair
shall be elected. The term of the Chair
shall be one year, followed by one year as Past-Chair. The Past Chair shall
serve as a backup when the chair is unable to participate for any period.
The Chair will be elected – by secret ballot of the Group
membership – with the Chair-elect having
accumulated the most votes. In the case
of a tie between two members, a second vote will be held until one receives a
majority.
Upon completion of a Chair’s term, the Group will hold
elections for a new Chair.
The first Governance Group will hold elections for both a
Chair and a Past-Chair, with the position of Past-Chair having a term of one
year.
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Representatives
of the 8 non-federal data submitting groups shall be chosen by an interim group
consisting of members from ASTHO, CSTE, NACCHO, and ISDS. These shall be temporary memberships until
elections can be held. One of the first
decisions of this Governance Group shall be to determine when there will be
sufficient numbers of data submitters enrolled in BioSense 2.0 to make
elections feasible.
The
resulting Group will be a Transitional Governing Group.
The
Transitional Group will elect Co-Chairs.
These will also be Transitional positions and will expire once
Governance Group elections are held and the proper terms of office begin.
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Policy
Formation by the Governance Group
The BioSense 2.0 Governance Group shall meet, in person or by
conference call, on a periodic basis as determined by the Group in order to
discuss policy issues surrounding use of and participation in BioSense
2.0. Meeting frequency should be at least twice per year, but as many
meetings may be held as necessary.
Policies under the purview of the Group include development
of the roles and responsibilities for participants in BioSense
2.0. Policy proposals to be considered by the Governance Group may
be suggested by a member of the Group or by other BioSense participants.. If an
issue is to be considered by the Governance Group, documents outlining policy
proposals will be drafted (facilitated by ASTHO) and supplied to the Group for
comment, revision, and, votes for approval, if warranted.
Voting
on Policy
Votes will be held at arranged meetings of the Governance
Group (in person or via teleconference).
In order to assure a voting member of the Governance Group
receives sufficient informed input from those they represent, any issues for
which a vote is required shall be presented to the Group at least two weeks in
advance of any scheduled vote.
A vote may only proceed when a quorum of at least 60% of the
governance group participates.
Sufficient time will be given to discuss each issue
scheduled for a vote prior to the vote itself. The vote itself will
be an open-ballot vote (ie, by show of hands or verbal assent), but will not be
recorded unless specifically requested.
Passage of an issue shall require a majority of at least
60% (sixty) percent of votes in the affirmative, however the goal shall
always be to strive for consensus.
Changes
to the BioSense 2.0 Governance Charter
Changes to this charter document shall be proposed to the
Governance Group by providing the written amendments for the Group to
consider. After sufficient time for
discussion and debate, the Group shall vote on the written amendments.
Participation of all Governance Group members, or
appointed substitutes, shall be required for a vote on charter amendments to
proceed.
Passage of an
amendment shall require a vote of 2/3 of the complete membership of the
Governance Group in the affirmative.
Changes to the charter will be reflected in a new draft of
this document, with a recording of the date of revision. An archive will be kept of all official
previous versions of this charter.
