Terms of Reference – CWL Board

The Board of Directors will be made up of a Chair, Managing Director of the CWL, and the Library Collections Committee.  Additional guests may be invited as needed to help carry out the mandate of the CWL.

Term

The term of the membership on the CWL Board of Directors will be three years, renewable upon the invitation of Brock University.

Meetings

Hold formal meetings with the members of the Board of Directors (up to two per year).

Roles

Chair. Ensures all members participate and that the vision of the CWL is understood and carried out by the Board.  The Chair will also ensure:

  • Hold formal meetings with the members of the Board of Directors (up to two per year).
  • Works with the Managing Director to establish and deploy the Agenda for formal meetings.
  • Is prepared to represent the CWL at industry stakeholders’ annual general meeting to update its members on the activities of the CWL.
  • Helps ensure dissemination of the workings of the CWL with industry and gives suggestions for improvement when necessary.

Managing Director of the CWL. Works with the Chair to facilitate the needs of the CWL.  In particular, the manager’s role includes:

  • Management of the CWL inventory.
  • Manages tasting requests in consultation with the Library Collections Committee.
  • Ensures approved Tasting Groups payments are received, wines shipped, tasting group needs are met or managed appropriately.
  • Develops and deploys CWL Tasting form for approved groups.
  • Ensures proper feedback to participating wineries.
  • Manages the annual new selection tasting with the Library Collections Committee.
  • Manages the annual audit of CWL inventory using the CWL Wine Assessment form.
  • Works in consultation with all Standing Committees.

The Library Collections Committee. The purpose of the Library Collections Committee is to maintain the relevance of the Canadian Wine Library. Up to 10 members. by:

  • Participates in the annual new selection tasting.
  • Approves tasting requests received by the CWL
  • Participates in the annual audit of CWL inventory.
  • Works with the Chair and Managing Director on an annual report of its activities.
  • Helps ensure dissemination of the workings of the CWL with industry at every possible opportunity.

The Library Collections Committee may also be called upon to identify opportunities to host educational events that are designed to help sustain and promote the collection by:

  • Raising funds that enable the library to be self-sustaining
  • Promoting the VQA wines of Ontario and other VQA wines of Canada within its collection
  • Increasing awareness of the library
  • Preparing an annual report of its activities

Communications. CCOVI’s Communications Officer will work with the CWL to enhance and articulate the CWL’s profile by:

  • Articulating its purpose, mission, goals, and accomplishments to its various stakeholders
  • Publicizing events
  • Creating and implementing a communications strategy that seeks to raise awareness of the collection
  • Works with the Chair and Managing Director on an annual report of its activities.

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The CWL Board will be made up of, but not limited to, the following sectors of the wine and university communities:

  • Managing Director of the CWL (non-voting)
  • Wine educator(s) and academic(s)
  • Wine Writer(s)
  • Representative(s) from the Craft Wineries Association (active winemaker and/or winery representatives
  • Representative(s) from the Winery and Grower Alliance of Ontario (active winemaker and/or winery representatives
  • LCBO
  • Representative(s) from the hospitality industry
  • Representative from CCOVI, Brock University (CCOVI’s Research Oenologist)
  • Representative(s) from the Ministries of Tourism and/or Agriculture

If a member of the CWL Board is not able to attend, he or she may send a designate for the meeting.  A quorum represents 50% of regular members including any designate must be present.

The Board may invite other individuals or agencies as special guests as required.

Responsibilities

In overseeing the stewardship of the CWL, the role of the Board of Directors is to:
  • Guide the mission of the organization
  • Maintain high standards of accountability
  • Earn and maintain the public trust
  • Protect the public interest
To support the organization by:
  • Managing and administrating the library (use of the collection)
  • Establishing sub-committees to deal with selection and assessment
  • Acting as ambassadors to the community
  • Fundraising
  • Bringing contacts and influence to the organization
  • Providing special skills
  • Reviewing and authorizing plans and commitments
  • Evaluating and providing feedback on the organizations work
Overall responsibilities:
  • The Board ensures that the organization is operating within the framework of its mission.
  • Oversight.  The Board ensures proper management of the organization.
  • Fundraising. As part of its responsibility, the Board needs to seek creative ways to raise appropriate funding in order to carry out the activities of the organization.
  • Representation of constituencies and viewpoints. Board members may be appointed to bring their experience and varied perspectives of the organization’s constituencies.
Specific Responsibilities:
  1. Review mission and purpose.  The mission should reflect the organization’s goals.  As the goals of the CWL change, so should its mission. It is the Board of Director’s responsibility to review both from time to time for validity and relevance.
  2. Ensure that effective planning and adequate resources are maintained.  The Board should actively participate in the overall planning process and assist in implementing the plan’s goals.  The Board should ensure that the CWL has adequate resources to fulfill its mission.
  3. Manage resources effectively.  The Board should assist and ensure that all costs of the CWL are covered. The CWL cannot be a financial hinderance to the organization.
  4. Determine and monitor programs and services.   The Board’s role is to determine which programs are the most consistent with the organization’s mission, and to monitor program effectiveness.
  5. Enhance the organization’s profile.  The CWL’s primary link to the community is the Board of Directors.  Articulating the organization’s mission, accomplishments, and goals to the public, as well as garnering support from important members of the community, are important elements of its communication strategy.
  6. Ensure ethical, legal integrity and maintain accountability.  The Board is ultimately responsible for ensuring the organization adheres to its legal obligations and maintains its code of ethics.  The Board will adhere to provisions of the organization’s bylaws and terms of reference.
  7. Recruit and orient new Board members.  The existing Board of Directors is responsible for recruiting new members according to the needs of the Board, e.g. vacancy, etc.  The Board is responsible for providing new members with information regarding their responsibilities and the organizations’ mandate, history, needs and challenges.
  8. Evaluating the Board.  The Board must evaluate its performance in fulfilling its responsibilities, reach consensus on which areas need to be improved and in what priority.