Fellowships Committee

ICANN Fellowship Program

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Superseded by https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/committee-2012-02-25-en

11 January 2013

The Fellowships Committee (FC) is responsible for selecting which applicants will receive fellowships to each of the ICANN International public meetings, utilizing the vetted applications garnered through the online application system.

1. The objectives of the Committee are:
   1. To select fellows from among the applicants based on their conformity with the criteria outlined in the application and the evaluation process.
   2. To act as a resource to the ICANN Board and staff by providing information and feedback on the planning, implementation and evaluation of the fellowships programme as needed.
   3. To conduct outreach in support of the fellowships program and to create a pool of potential future members of the selection committee.
2. Membership
   1. The FC shall be made up of no less than four and no more than five representatives of the public with a strong history of experience with technical Internet issues, developing countries and/or Internet related development work, fellowships programmes and/or nonprofit experience.
   2. Membership is at the invitation of ICANN.
3. Terms of Service
   1. Members will serve for a minimum of three ICANN Public meetings and for a maximum of three years.
   2. Members may resign at any time.
   3. Members will transition off the FC one member at a time when possible.
4. Process
   1. The FC will meet in person at an ICANN Public meeting once per year, preferably at the last meeting of each calendar year; if required, additional meetings of the FC shall be held via conference call during the evaluation period of the fellowships application process.
   2. The FC will be required to rank applicants within regions in order of preference. The number of fellowships available will vary dependent on the location of meeting, region of applicant and budgetary constraints.
5. Application Assessment and Decision Making Process

Each FC member reviews the applications against the questions set out in the application form:

• Why the applicant wants to attend?
• Why the applicant feels participation in ICANN and separately in the Fellowship Programme is important for this particular meeting?
• Has this country where the applicant resides ever been represented at ICANN meetings before?
• Has the applicant ever attend an ICANN Public meeting before?
• What is the applicant's knowledge base and level of expertise about ICANN?
• Is the applicant in a position to influence or teach others at home about ICANN?
• Is the applicant from a group, organization or governmental department that makes it possible for him/her to influence Internet policy at home or in his or her region?
• Is the applicant willing to complete feedback materials?
• Is the applicant willing to actively participate in ICANN meetings and the fellowship alumni network?

In addition, beginning with ICANN meeting #31, comments from ICANN staff located in or with knowledge of the relevant geographic regions will be available to the FC via the Vetting Comment Period before the Committee begins their reviews.

FC members will individually review each application and assign a grade of either three (definite yes), two (maybe), one (definite no) or zero (not meeting any criteria). The FC members will then send that individual scoring information to ICANN, which is summarized within the application database.

If there are four voting FC members, the highest rank an applicant can receive is 12, the lowest a zero, and everyone will fall somewhere on the scale between 12 and zero.

If there are five voting FC members, the highest rank an applicant can receive is 15, the lowest a zero and everyone will fall somewhere on the scale between 15 and zero.

ICANN will then fill the slots from each region with preference given to those highest ranking applications from the region in which that ICANN Public meeting is being held, and then according to the scores from the FC, with attention to diversity.

• Current Committee Members:
  Tatiana Chirev – Eastern Europe: Serving through Spring 2013 (Fellow Alumni, head of Moldova's .md ccTLD at SE MoldData)
  Alejandro Pisanty – Latin America: Serving through Spring 2013 (Former Board Member, Director of Computing Academic Services at UNAM, Active in WGs)
  Mouhamet Diop – Africa: Serving through Summer 2014 (Former Board Member, CEO of NEXT SA in Senegal, Observer ASO, Active in Registrar Group)
  Fahd Batayneh – Western Asia: Serving through Summer 2015 (Fellow Alumni, ccTLD/IDN ccTLD Manager of .jo, Member of ccNSO and various WGs)
  Gaurab Raj Upadhaya – Asia Pacific: Serving through Summer 2015 (Sr. Network Architect, Limelight Networks Inc., Chair SANOG)

• Past Committee Members:
  Vanda Scartezini – Latin America – served 3 years/9 rounds
  Steven Huter – North America – served 3 years/9 rounds
  Erick Iriarte Ahon – Latin America – served 2 ½ years/8 rounds
  Pierre Ouédraogo – Africa – served 1 1/2 years/5 rounds
  Ayman El-Sherbiny – Western Asia – served 1 year/ 3 rounds
  Hong Xie – Asia Pacific – served 3 years/9 rounds
  Nashwa Abel Baki – Western Asia – served 3 years/9 rounds