IEEE Fellow Elevation Process: Importance of Society/Technical Council Input March 2016 Returned to academia after 23 successful years in industry Signal Processing Written successful nominations; served on my society’s fellow committee; been a Fellow Judge for 4 years Amy R. Reibman 2016 IEEE Fellow Committee Chair 11/19/2018

Presentation Goals Communicate the IEEE Fellow process Emphasize the importance of thorough Society/Technical Council (S/TC) evaluations. Emphasize the importance of timely submission of S/TC reviews. 11/19/2018

The Fellow Elevation Process - Nomination Nominee An eligible nominee an IEEE member in good standing (i.e. dues current), an IEEE Senior member, and a member of IEEE for five or more years Nominator An eligible nominator need not be a member of the IEEE Nomination Form Description of Individual Contributions – a narrative! Evidence of Technical Accomplishments – should be specific! References from 5 to 8 IEEE Fellows Endorsements (optional) from up to 3 supporting entities/individuals Description of IEEE and non-IEEE Activities, e.g. Offices held, Conferences organized, Periodicals’ editorship…. I’m going to assume you all have a basic familiarity with the IEEE Fellow. Nominee, nominator, nomination form. Quick emphasis that the description is a narrative, tells a story, and is very important, and the evidence should be very specific 11/19/2018

Block diagram of the fellow process References Fellow Committee Judge Endorsements Nomination Society Nomination This slide is overview of the process. Nomination is seen by everyone! 3 distinct audiences, which I’ll talk about next Society “box” has 2 inputs and 3 outputs The society-output is seen by the Fellow committee Judge, so it’s important to understand your audience. April 15— June 15 Before March 1 July 1 – September 1 11/19/2018

Distinct independent roles Letters and endorsements Support from someone well-versed in the specific field Chosen by the nominator to advocate Society and Technical Council Fellow Committees Comparative ranking from a group with a broader view of field The S/TC is chosen by the nominator, but the committee members are not Both an independent assessment and an advocate IEEE Fellow Committee Ranking across a wide range of disparate technical fields Everybody reads the same nomination, but has different roles in the overall process. 11/19/2018

IEEE Fellow Committee: Composition 50 Judges plus Chair and Vice-Chair All appointed by the IEEE Board of Directors Balanced representation Societies/Technical Councils Regions Academia/Industry/Government Gender Appointed for 1 year, possible renewal 2 more years The fellow committee will read the output of the S/TC committees; so it’s worth considering who your audience is! Educated, smart, but NOT necessarily in your field! 11/19/2018

Block diagram of the fellow process points Professional Activities 10 References Strength of support of References & Endorsements 15 Fellow Committee Judge Endorsements Nomination Strength of support of S/TC 25 Society Technical accomplishments (40 points) 40 Nomination The fellow committee ranks on 4 items, shown on the right, with the indicated number of points. Society influence is at least 25/90 points. Society influence is often broader, because the Judge may not be in the specific field. Society input is more even-handed and less advocating; also helps to fit into a bigger picture than a reference might. Effective Society input is therefore quite valuable. April 15— June 15 Before March 1 July 1 – September 1 11/19/2018

Endorsements S/TC committees have access to the endorsements. Endorsements are not restricted to come from fellows, and do not include an indication of support level (Extremely Qualified, Highly Qualified, etc). Goal: To allow nominees from industry to create evidence of technical impact for contributions that may be proprietary and not available for citation in the open literature. Industrial nominees may be less well known in their society, so endorsements may be especially important to assist a fair evaluation by the S/TC’s. 11/19/2018

Society/Technical Council: Evaluation The Society/Technical Council Evaluating Committees’ “Society Evaluation” has significant impact on the Judge Worth 25 points in the final evaluation Can carry substantial influence on how the nomination is perceived The Society/Technical Council provides the following nominee evaluation to the IEEE Fellow Committee A rank order among all nominees evaluated by the S/TC An “absolute” nominee score, 0-100 Three narrative answers: What is/are one or two of the accomplishments or contributions identified? (200 word limit) Characterize the evidence provided in support of the specific accomplishments (150 word limit) Describe the impact of the nominee’s work (150 word limit) 11/19/2018

Society/Technical Council: Evaluation Provides invaluable input to the Fellow Committee Judges assess strength of support from S/TC Remember: No one judge sees the narratives about all nominees from same S/TC Ranks and scores from different S/TC are “integrated” using different strategies by each Judge Big societies, and small technical councils must be fairly treated S/TC committees with “grade inflation” and those who grade more “harshly” must be treated fairly Even mid-range nominees can be elevated if they have solid support on S/TC evaluation Remember who your audience is: educated, smart fellows from the diverse fields comprising the IEEE They will rarely be from your S/TC, but they are technically educated 11/19/2018

Timeline: Society/TC perspective Presidents identify the Fellow Chair of their Society/Technical Council: January 31 Nominations Submission Deadline: March 01 Evaluation by Societies/Technical Councils: April 15 - June 15 S/TC Fellow Chair orientations in late March or early April S/TC Fellow Chairs inform their teams on the process Repercussions for non-timely response Fellow Committee Evaluation: July 01 – September 01 Fellow Committee Meeting: Early October IEEE Board of Directors Approval: Mid November 11/19/2018

Summary of Recommendations We expect reliable, independent evaluations from Societies/Technical Councils. S/TC Fellow Chairs should attend orientation, understand the process and inform their teams. S/TC evaluations of the nominees should be submitted on time (no later than 15 June). The Society/Technical Council evaluation information carries significant impact for the Judge. R10 to encourage quality nomination from the industry! 11/19/2018