Call for Assessment Committee Member Nominations for Cultural Grants Programs

Criteria for consideration of Assessment Committee Members

• Members will have expertise in one or more of the following areas: theatre, dance, music, festivals, visual arts, media arts, literary arts, Aboriginal arts, community arts, cultural planning and administration, cultural facility planning and development.

• Members will have a thorough understanding of the arts and cultural sector in Vancouver (either through practice or work experience), and have been active members of the Vancouver arts and cultural communities in recent years.

• Members should not be in a conflict of interest situation with applicants and must abide by the City of Vancouver’s Conflict of Interest policy and guidelines.

• Prior experience on juries or advisory committees is considered an asset.

The role of the Assessment Committee member is to evaluate applications from proponents requesting assistance from the City/Cultural Services based upon explicit program criteria. This requires pre-reading applications, participating in Assessment Committee meetings to further discuss the applications, and arriving at recommendations which will be forwarded to City Council for approval. Assessment Committee Members will be paid an honorarium and must be available to meet for at least 2 days per year.

Conflict of Interest Policy and Guidelines

The Conflict of Interest policy and guidelines are in place to ensure that any adjudication process employed by the Cultural Services Department, on behalf of the City, is transparent and equitable. It is recognized that members of the Assessment Committee have extensive connections to the community which are valued, but may result in a conflict of interest situation. Assessment Committee Members are expected to follow this policy and the guidelines below:

• Members are expected to make decisions that benefit the community. They are to be free from undue influence and not act or appear to act in order to gain financial or other benefits for themselves, family, friends, or business interests.

• A conflict exists when an individual is, or could be, influenced, or appear to be influenced, by a personal interest, financial (pecuniary) or otherwise, when carrying out their public duty. Personal interest can include direct or indirect pecuniary interest, bias, pre-judgement, close mindedness or undue influence. Examples of situations considered by the City to be conflicts of interests, include but are not limited to:

• Where a member has a working relationship with any of the proponents submitting an application and will benefit from the proponent receiving assistance (e.g. paid staff, board member, key artistic personnel);

• Where a member’s organizational or personal interests impair their ability to be unbiased and objective in their assessment and recommendation of a proponent’s application;

• Where a member, or a family member or a friend may have a close personal relationship with any proponent submitting an application;

• Where a member may be under obligation to someone who has business dealings with the City, and who could benefit from special consideration or treatment;

• Where a member can gain special advantage because of their position or when the City could be disadvantaged as a result of the other interests of the member.

• Where a member may be party to any litigation against or involving the City.

Please refer to the Conflict of Interest Policy for further details including examples of and the resolution for conflicts of interest.

Nomination Process

• Before you nominate an individual, please contact them to ensure their willingness to participate on the Assessment Committee and request consent to submit the information on the Nomination Form.

• Complete a Nomination Form for each individual (self-nominations are also accepted), and attach a resume, if available.

• Please submit your Nomination Form by mail, email, or fax to the following address:

Mailing Address: City of Vancouver / Cultural Services

Woodward’s Heritage Building

Suite 501 – 111 West Hastings Street 

Vancouver, BC V6B 1H4
Email: culture@vancouver .ca
Fax: 604.871.6005

Nominations may be submitted at any time. Staff will consider all nominations submitted when composing each Assessment Committee. Every effort will be made to ensure that the Assessment Committees are reflective of the cultural diversity in Vancouver and will consider a balance of areas including, but not limited to, artistic practice, ethnicity, gender, age, ability, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, socio-economic status and other forms of self-identification.

For more information, please contact Cultural Services: 604.829.2007 or click here.