Committees

A big part of community life at Sunward is self-management of our operations and facilities and our governance. While our consensus-based Plenary holds the authority and makes big decisions, we delegate most things out to standing committees and ad hoc work groups. These can be grouped as follows:

Leadership

Coordinating Committee (CoCo) is responsible for setting the agenda for community meetings, strategic planning and keeping tabs on the pulse of the community.
The Board of Directors is an elected group that serves as our official and legal interface with external authorities and is responsible for making sure legal and financial matters are attended to.
The Work Coordinators organize our community labor system to see that certain tasks necessary to the functioning and physical maintenance of the community are attended.

Community Life

Facilitation Group offers their facilitation skills for meetings in the community and works to improve our process agreements.
Membership Committee assists with transitions &integration of new members, outreach & education, and a variety of member services.
Scribes Guild manages our record keeping, takes, posts, and finalizes minutes for Community Meetings, and manages the Book of Agreements.
Finance Committee tracks expenditures, facilitates the annual budgeting process, manages our accounts, etc.
Fun Committee plans fun for kids of all ages.
Mediation Guild helps community members resolve conflicts.
Intergenerational Committee — gives attention to the role and concerns of children in the life of our community

Common House OPerationS (CHOPS)

CHOPS facilitates and encourages use of the Common House and has several sub-committees:

Kitchen Kabinet — organizes the dinner program and oversees the kitchen facilities.
Furnishings — makes our Common House a warm and welcoming place to be
Maintenance — keeps all the systems working and the upkeep kept.
Cleaning — the glorious crew that cleans the house twice a month! (though everyone is responsible for cleaning up after themselves)
Workshop — manages our wonderful workshop.

Buildings &Infrastructure Group (BIG)

The B &I Group is responsible for maintaining our physical plant which includes the exterior of each home. They coordinate community labor efforts and the hiring of of professional jobs. Community members file a maintenance request when something is observed needing work. There are a couple of related groups

Architectural Review Committee (ARC) facilitates review and approval of proposals to make changes to the outside of individual units.
Barn OPerationS Committee (BOPS) helps maintain and improve the barn.

Land

Land-use Committee guides the creation and implementation of our overall land-use plan and hosts our annual Land Use planning day.
LAnd-use Review Committee (LARC) facilitates review and approval of proposals to make changes to the use of our land.

All of these committees are convened and peopled by Sunward members with passion for these efforts as part of our cooperative life together and they ebb and flow as needed. As you can see, there are a lot of opportunities to plug in and help the community thrive. What contribution will you make to Sunward?