Bylaws
Bylaws of the Vireo Users Group
ARTICLE I: The name of this organization shall be the Vireo Users Group
ARTICLE II: MISSION
The Vireo Users Group (VUG) is designed to gather and prioritize constituent needs to guide the Texas Digital Library (TDL) and partnering organizations on the future development of the Vireo Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Management System. The VUG serves as the home for the open-source software development community that is coordinated by the Texas Digital Library. Finally, the VUG provides avenues for the exchange of information about Vireo needs and utilization.
ARTICLE III: ORGANIZATION
Section 1. Product Owner
The Product Owner (PO) serves as the liaison between the VUG and the development team. They receive the prioritized list of user feedback and/or system changes and improvements from the Steering Committee, negotiate them with the Vireo Community Developers Group, and have the final say on whether or not system functionality sufficiently addresses them.
Section 2. Steering Committee
The Steering Committee (SC) organizes all VUG activities. It solicits enhancement ideas from the Vireo Users Group, documents the ideas, and organizes them. The SC conducts the product enhancement prioritization assessment and submits the prioritized list of changes to the PO. The committee is also responsible for organizing the annual meeting and otherwise conducting the business of the VUG. The SC consists of two co-chairs, one TDL staff member, and at least two additional members.
One co-chair will be from a TDL member institution and one co-chair will be from outside the TDL consortium.
A TDL Staff member will serve as an ex-officio member.
The diversity of the partnering organizations will be reflected in the membership of the steering committee.
Section 3. User Group Members
Membership is open to TDL and non-TDL members, as well as institutions outside of the TDL region. The Members furnish the SC with software enhancement ideas, participate in meetings, and participate in the enhancement prioritization assessment. Any individual or institution using Vireo, or with an interest in doing so, can join the VUG. Members may participate in open VUG sessions to learn or to share Vireo requests. Only those members at institutions currently using Vireo may participate in the prioritization of needs.
Section 4. Development Partners
Section 4.1. Ownership of the Vireo Code
Vireo is an open-source software freely available for download. The Texas Digital Library maintains the official source code for Vireo and coordinates official version releases.
Section 4.2. Vireo Community Developers
The Texas Digital Library coordinates development efforts and new software releases through the Vireo Community of Developers..
Vireo Community of Developers includes anyone making technological contributions from any institution that is part of the Vireo Users Group, regardless of membership status in the Texas Digital Library. The lead developer for Vireo must be from a TDL member institution or TDL staff.
Section 4.3. Development Releases and Contributions
Official Vireo development cycles will be guided by priorities set by the Vireo Users Group (See Article IV, Section 2).
Additional contributions of code outside the official VUG priority list are allowed. Such contributions can be submitted to the Vireo Developers Group and Steering Committee for approval and inclusion into the official source code.
ARTICLE IV: GOALS
Section 1. Annual Meetings
Meetings may be held annually in conjunction with the Texas Conference on Digital Libraries. This meeting gives members a forum to express opinions and discuss issues with other members either in person or virtually.
Section 2. Annual Vote
Decisions about how product enhancements should be prioritized are made at least once a year. The Steering Committee solicits ideas from the VUG, classifies them into bug fixes, existing functionality enhancements, and new functionality. Bug fixes and software changes will be addressed in development cycles.
Changes selected for development are not chosen strictly by popularity. Other factors include level of development difficulty and resources available, similarity of change requests, and incorporation of bug fixes and enhancements that have been determined outside of this process.
Section 3. Communication
The list of enhancements and other documentation are organized and made available online via public Vireo user and technical documentation.
Meeting and informational notices will be distributed through the VUG listserv.
ARTICLE VI: AMENDMENTS
These bylaws should be reviewed biannually and may be amended by the Steering Committee as needed to facilitate the purpose and activities of the users group.
Date Revised April 28, 2021
Deprecated Bylaws
ARTICLE I: The name of this organization shall be the Vireo Users Group
ARTICLE II: MISSION
The Vireo Users Group (VUG) is designed to gather and prioritize constituent needs to guide the Texas Digital Library (TDL) and partnering organizations on the future development of the Vireo Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Management System. The VUG serves as the home for the open-source software development community that is coordinated by the Texas Digital Library. Finally, the VUG provides avenues for the exchange of information about Vireo needs and utilization.
ARTICLE III: ORGANIZATION
Section 1. Product Owner
The Product Owner (PO) serves as the liaison between the VUG and the development team. He/she receives the prioritized list of user stories from the Steering Committee, negotiates the user stories with the Vireo Developers Group, and has the final say on whether or not system functionality sufficiently addresses user stories.
Section 2. Steering Committee
The Steering Committee (SC) organizes all VUG activities. It solicits enhancement ideas from the Vireo Users Group, documents the ideas, and organizes them. The SC conducts the product enhancement prioritization vote, converts the enhancements into user stories, and submits the prioritized list of user stories to the PO. The committee is also responsible for organizing the annual meeting and otherwise conducting the business of the VUG. The SC consists of two co-chairs, one TDL staff member, and at least two additional members. The committee will work out the details of membership selection and eligibility.
One co-chair will be from a TDL member institution and one co-chair will be from outside the TDL consortium.
A TDL Staff member will serve as an ex-officio member.
The diversity of the partnering organizations will be reflected in the membership of the steering committee.
Section 3. User Group Members
Membership is open to TDL and non-TDL members, as well as non-Texas institutions. The Members furnish the SC with enhancement ideas, participate in meetings, and participate in the enhancement prioritization vote. Any individual or institution utilizing Vireo, or with an interest in doing so, can join the VUG. Members may participate in open VUG sessions to learn or to share Vireo requests. Only those members at institutions currently using Vireo may vote on the prioritization of needs.
Section 4. Development Partners
Section 4.1. Ownership of the Vireo Code
Vireo is an open-source software freely available for download. The Texas Digital Library maintains the official source code for Vireo and coordinates official version releases.
Section 4.2. Vireo Developers Group
The Texas Digital Library coordinates development efforts and new software releases through the Vireo Developers Group.
The Vireo Developers Group is a sub-group of the Vireo Users Group.
The Vireo Developers Group is open to developer contributions from any institution that is part of the Vireo Users Group, regardless of membership status in the Texas Digital Library.
Section 4.3. Development Releases and Contributions
Official Vireo development cycles will be guided by priorities set by the Vireo Users Group (See Article IV, Section 2).
Additional contributions of code outside the official VUG priority list are allowed. Such contributions can be submitted to the Vireo Developers Group and Steering Committee for approval and inclusion into the official source code.
ARTICLE IV: GOALS
Section 1. Annual Meetings
Meetings may be held annually in conjunction with the Texas Conference on Digital Libraries. This meeting gives members a forum to express opinions and discuss issues with other members either in person, or via teleconference.
Section 2. Annual Vote
A vote on how product enhancements should be prioritized is conducted once a year. The Steering Committee solicits ideas from the VUG, classifies them into bug fixes, fundamental enhancements such as fixing sorting behavior, and new functionality. Bug fixes and fundamental enhancements are not included in voting, but will be addressed in development cycles. The Steering Committee selects the enhancements to be included in the vote.
Enhancements selected for development are not chosen strictly by popular vote. Other factors include point values, similarity of enhancement requests, and incorporation of bug fixes and fundamental enhancements that are not included in the voting process.
Section 3. Communication
The list of enhancements and other documentation are organized and made available on the VUG website.
Meeting and voting notices will be distributed through the VUG listserv.
ARTICLE VI: AMENDMENTS
These bylaws should be reviewed periodically and may be amended by the Steering Committee as needed to facilitate the purpose and activities of the users group.
Date Ratified April 30, 2014