# Kubeflow Steering Committee The Kubeflow Steering Committee (KSC) is the governing body of the Kubeflow project, providing decision-making and oversight pertaining to the Kubeflow project policies, sub-organizations, and financial planning, and defines the project values and structure. The governance of Kubeflow is an open, living document, and will continue to evolve as the community and project change. ### Charter 1. Define, evolve, and promote the vision, values, and mission of the Kubeflow project. 1. Define and evolve project and group governance structures and policies, including election rules, working group policies, and project roles. 1. Steward, control access, delegate access, and establish processes regarding all Kubeflow project resources and have the final say in the disposition of those resources. 1. Define and evolve the scope of the Kubeflow community, including acceptance of new projects into Kubeflow. 1. Define Kubeflow trademark policy and conformance criteria. 1. Receive and handle reports about code of conduct violations and maintain confidentiality. 1. Act as the final escalation point and arbitrator for any disputes, issues, clarifications, or escalations within the project scope. ## Committee Structure KSC is composed of 5 (five) members. They are elected according to [the election policy](elections). Seats on the Steering Committee are held by an individual, not by their employer. ### Limitations on Company Representation No more than one (1) seats may be held by employees of the same organization (or conglomerate, in the case of companies owning each other). If the results of an election result in greater than one employee of the same organization, the lowest vote getters in the current election from any particular employer will be removed until representation on the committee is down to one. In the staggered election schedule, if a particular organization already has one seat among the rotation not affected by the election, no candidates from that organization will be selected by the election. If the organization wants to change its representation in KSC, one member from that organization needs to stand down from KSC, which will trigger a "resignation" event as explained below. There is no guarantee that vacancy created will be filled by the organization's candidate. If employers change because of job changes, acquisitions, or other events, in a way that would yield more than one seat being held by employees of the same organization, sufficient members of the committee must resign until only one employee of the same employer are left. If it is impossible to find sufficient members to resign, all employees of that organization will be removed and new special elections held. In the event of a question of company membership (for example evaluating independence of corporate subsidiaries) a majority of all non-involved Steering Committee members will decide. ## Decision process The steering committee desires to always reach consensus. ### Normal decision process Decisions requiring a vote include: - Issuing written policy - Amending existing written policy - Accepting, or removing a Kubeflow component - Creating, removing, or modifying a working group - All spending, hiring, and contracting decisions - Official responses to publicly raised issues - Any other decisions that at least half of the members (rounded down) present decide require a vote Decisions are made in meetings when a quorum of the members are present and may pass with at least half the members (rounded up) of the committee supporting it. Quorum is considered reached when at least half of the members (rounded up) are present. Members of KSC may abstain from a vote. Abstaining members will only be considered as contributing to quorum, in the event that a vote is called in a meeting. ### Special decision process Issues that impacts the KSC governance requires a special decision process. Issues include: - Changes to the KSC charter - KSC voting rules - Election rules The issue may pass with 70% of the members (rounded up) of the committee supporting it. One organization may cast 1 vote. Votes cast by members from the same organization are equally weighted. Example: - If KSC is made up of employees from organizations A, A, B, C, D, each vote from organization A is weighted by a factor of 0.5. The total number of votes is 4, and 3 votes (70% rounded up) is required to pass a proposal. This rule is designed to remove organization A's ability to defeat a proposal that is supported by all other KSC members. - Similarly, if KSC is made up of employees from organizations A, A, B, B, C, the total number of votes is 3, and 2.5 votes is required to pass a proposal. ### Results The results of the decision process are recorded and made publicly available, unless they pertain to sensitive or privileged matters. The results will include: - Description of the issue - Names of members who supported, opposed, and abstained from the vote. ## Changes to the charter Changes to the KSC charter may be proposed via a PR on the charter itself by a Kubeflow community member. Amendments are accepted following the [Special Decision Process](#special-decision-process) detailed above. Proposals and amendments to the charter are available for at least a period of one week for comments and questions before a vote will occur.