• Council shall debate what constitutes the minimum amount of committee activity per year and create a mechanism whereby a committee can be declared inactive. (originally in 2021-2022)
• Staff shall create, through the Google Workspace platform or comparable software, a means whereby Council members can see what activities the various parts of the Society are engaged in. (originally in 2021-2022)
• Staff shall develop a mechanism by which Committees identify gaps in membership before they happen and communicate this to the Executive. (originally in 2021-2022)
• Council shall review and prioritize the recommendations from the Impact Analysis Project. (New) 
• Council to incorporate EDIA project year 1 recommendations into CMOS policies. (New) 

Rationale: It is almost impossible at this time to accurately assess the activities of the Society.

2) Fine tuning Society business practices including By-Laws, the structure of Council and Executive, and Communications to serve the membership effectively. This includes appropriate investment in CMOS staff and IT.

• Staff shall create, through the Google Workspace platform or comparable software, a more reliable corporate email system for all assigned @cmos.ca email accounts. (originally in 2021-2022)
• Staff shall create a well-structured corporate network accessible by all staff and appropriate Council/Executive members and committee chairs/members. (originally in 2021-2022)
• Staff shall make meeting minutes and other appropriate documentation more readily available to the membership. (2022-2023)
• Council shall review and prioritize the recommendations from the Impact Analysis Project. (New)
• Council to incorporate EDIA project year 1 recommendations into CMOS policies. (New)

Rationale: This was strongly advocated for in the IOG report.

3) Increasing the range of options for involvement of government scientists in the Society.

• The Executive should continue discussions with ECCC about their participation with the aim of a corporate registration and abstract submission program for Congress 2024. (new)
• The Executive should continue discussions with DFO about their participation with the aim of a corporate registration and abstract submission program for Congress 2024. (new)

Rationale: This was strongly advocated for in the IOG report.

4) Ensuring the Society’s activities remain both relevant and appropriate for a COVID-19-impacted, and lower-carbon-footprint world.  This includes opportunities for tangible collaboration with related Societies and concrete support for the activities of CMOS Centres.

• The Executive should identify/confirm a group interested in organizing the 2026 virtual congress. (new)
• Explore concept of regional groups (chapters) of centres to advance specific initiatives. (New)
• Renew/revitalize/create new society centres, ensuring all CMOS members have representation. (New)

Rationale: It is important to gauge whether the Virtual Congress allows for broader participation in organization by smaller Centres.

5) Ensuring that CMOS delivers both scientific and operational services to its francophone members.

Rationale: At this time it is unclear how CMOS performs in this respect, nor what the precise needs of the francophone community are.

Scientific Excellence

1) Ensuring that the CMOS Congress attracts the best and broadest Canadian and international science in the CMOS-supported scientific disciplines, as well as those of related Societies.

• Continue efforts to involve government scientists as outlined in point GM 3. (originally in 2021-2022)

Rationale: Making sure ECR feel welcome at Congresses and reducing the perception of an “in club” were major issues identified by the member strategic survey.

2) Promoting modern, effective Society publications, supporting local science initiatives from the Centres, and developing broadly effective social media strategies.

• The Bulletin Editor, working with the ED shall ensure that the bi-monthly Bulletin Newsletter is distributed in a manner consistent with privacy legislation (e.g. by including a checkbox at membership renewal) (originally in 2021-2022)
• Develop a communications strategy that tightly integrates CMOS communications across all platforms (emails to members, website, Twitter, Facebook, CMOS Bulletin, and Atmosphere-Ocean). (originally in 2021-2022)
• Include “The Wave / l’onde” in the communications strategy being developed. (2022-2023)

Rationale: The Bulletin was identified as more widely read than Atmosphere-Ocean but news would still be more timely if it was delivered directly to mailboxes. The second and third points are largely continuation of what CMOS already does.  The fourth point addresses the need to improve coordination between various communication platforms used by CMOS.

3) Establishing clear, two-way communication with funding agencies, and the two government departments (ECCC, DFO) that formally support CMOS.

• Establish a point of contact with ECCC and DFO that could be passed along from Executive to Executive. (originally in 2021-2022)
• Identify funding agencies (e.g. NSERC, CFI, others?) and establish a point of contact that could be passed from Executive to Executive. (2022-2023)

Rationale: One of the biggest aspects of the “in club” issue the member survey identified is the fact that many of our contacts are personal, as opposed to institution to institution.

4) Honouring outstanding achievement in CMOS-supported scientific disciplines and Society service through financially meaningful scholarships and prizes.

• Review the financial amounts of CMOS scholarship to ensure a meaningful value when adjusted for inflation from the scholarship’s launch. (originally in 2021-2022)
• Sci. Comm to review scholarship offerings and amounts. (New)

Rationale: Largely due to the fact that the details of scholarships are codified in the By-Laws, scholarships have not changed and are at present rather small amounts.  Due to the demographic bulge, the Fellows program is under pressure to restrict new Fellows, even while a portion of existing Fellows reach a greatly reduced activity level.

Education and Outreach

1) Promoting student involvement from high school through graduate school in Society scientific activities, governance, local Centres, and the annual Congress.  Involve students in recruitment efforts

• Promote the continued annual involvement in the National Science Fair.
• Council shall review and prioritize the recommendations from the Impact Analysis Project. (New)
• Council to incorporate EDIA project year 1 recommendations into CMOS policies. (New)

Rationale: SPEC should be the conduit for communication on Education and Outreach.

2) Providing continued financial and logistical support to Centres for involvement in regional science fairs and the related promotion of scientific disciplines that fall under the CMOS scientific umbrella in K-12 education.

Rationale: The Centres are a significant locus of activity and resourcing from CMOS National should be made clear and transparent.

3) Providing avenues for active involvement in national and international programs for K-12 teachers to enhance their expertise in scientific disciplines that fall under the CMOS scientific umbrella, especially through joint efforts with related Societies.

• Council should develop a rubric for assessing cost effectiveness of programs for teachers, weighing more than one option. (originally in 2021-2022)
• SPEC to make recommendations to Council on use of financial resources from the Uri Schwarz Development Fund (2021-2022)

Rationale: CMOS involvement in Project Wet is new and hence needs oversight.  CMOS teacher programs have traditionally been renewed based on the single set of programs CMOS has participated in, and this needs a weighing of pros and cons.

4) Promoting and enhancing Society outreach to traditionally under-represented groups, and developing a climate justice component to CMOS activities.

• Council should establish a new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee using related societies and web resources (e.g. https://notimeforsilence.org/) as a model. (originally in 2021-2022)

Rationale: CMOS is a relative newcomer to this rapidly developing space and there is a serious risk in being seen as falling behind.

Glossary of Acronyms