IV. | MEETINGS AND OPERATIONS |
The Committee shall meet as often as necessary, but at least two times each year, to enable it to fulfill its responsibilities. The Committee shall meet at the call of its chairperson or a majority of its members. The Committee may meet by telephone conference call or by any other means permitted by law or the Company’s Bylaws. A majority of the members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum. The Committee shall act on the affirmative vote of a majority of members present at a meeting at which a quorum is present. Subject to the Company’s Bylaws, the Committee may act by unanimous written consent of all members in lieu of a meeting. The Committee shall determine its own rules and procedures, including designation of a chairperson pro tempore in the absence of the chairperson, and designation of a secretary. The secretary need not be a member of the Committee and shall attend Committee meetings and prepare minutes. The Secretary of the Company shall be the Secretary of the Committee unless the Committee designates otherwise. The Committee shall keep written minutes of its meetings, which shall be recorded or filed with the books and records of the Company. Any member of the Board shall be provided with copies of such Committee minutes if requested.
The Committee may ask members of management, employees, outside counsel, or others whose advice and counsel are relevant to the issues then being considered by the Committee to attend any meetings (or a portion thereof) and to provide such pertinent information as the Committee may request; provided that in all cases the CEO and any other executive officers shall not be present at meetings at which their compensation or performance is discussed or determined.
The chairperson of the Committee shall be responsible for leadership of the Committee, including preparing the agenda which shall be circulated to the members prior to the meeting date, presiding over Committee meetings, making Committee assignments, and reporting the Committee’s actions to the Board. Following each of its meetings, the Committee shall deliver a report on the meeting to the Board, including a description of all actions taken by the Committee at the meeting.
If at any time during the exercise of his or her duties on behalf of the Committee, a Committee member has a direct conflict of interest with respect to an issue subject to determination or recommendation by the Committee, such Committee member shall abstain from participation, discussion, and resolution of the instant issue, and the remaining members of the Committee shall advise the Board of their recommendation on such issue. The Committee shall be able to make determinations and recommendations even if only one Committee member is free from conflicts of interest on a particular issue.
The Committee has the authority, to the extent it deems appropriate, to conduct or authorize investigations into or studies of matters within the Committee’s scope of responsibilities and to retain one or more compensation consultants to assist in the evaluation of CEO or executive compensation or other matters. The Committee shall have the sole authority to retain, oversee of the work of and terminate any such consultants, and to approve such