Understanding Governance Cheryl Sinauskas Director, Geographic Activities Member & Geographic Activities March 2012

Agenda Geographic Unit Relationships Governing Documents Section Officer Term Limits Elections Things to Know Candidate and Voting Eligibility Election Process Overview vTools voting SPECIAL CASES: Standing and Ad Hoc Committees 3/27/2017

IEEE Governance Organization MEMBERS Assembly Board of Directors PSPB Educational Activities Board Technical Activities Board Member & Geo Activities Board PSPB= Publication Services and Products Boar Standards Assoc. Board Regions & Sections Tech Cmtee Societies & Tech. Councils IEEE-USA Board

Sections Cover Broad Scope Locally Geographic Unit Structure Technical Activities Board IEEE Societies Parents - WIE, Consultants, GOLD, LMC

Hierarchy of Documents New York State (Certificate of Incorporation) IEEE Constitution IEEE Bylaws IEEE Policies/Finance Operations Manual/etc. Major Board Governing Documents MGA and TA Operations Manuals OU Governing Documents Bylaws/Charters/Policies/Manuals Roberts’ Rules of Order (11th edition) Primarily for Issues NOT CODIFIED in other Governing Documents

Section Bylaws Section Bylaws are not required Sections are allowed to have an addendum or separate governance document Documents cannot conflict with IEEE Policy Should documents contain exceptions to MGA Operations Manual Exception request must be submitted to Region Director to present for MGA Board action If document contain changes or additions to the MGA Operations Manual that pose no conflict Must be submitted to Region Director for approval 3/27/2017

Section Officer Term Limits Term of office for all officers - one or two years. Individual may continue in the position until a successor has been duly elected and takes office. Term of office: 1 January through 31 December. Consecutive period of service in any one office shall normally not exceed four years. Individual may be re-elected to a position previously held provided at least one year term has passed since he or she held that office. Maximum life time limit an individual may serve in one position is 3 terms provided there is at least one break in service. Exceptions to this rule require approval by the Region Director who will annually report such exceptions to the MGA Board. Approved by MGA Board, 19 Nov 2011 3/27/2017

Term Limit – Case Scenarios John Smith serves a one year term in 2004 and 2005 as section chair … Can John can serve in 2006? Can he service in 2007? Mary Jones serves a two year term as chair starting in 1998 and a second two year term starting in 2006 … Can she run for chair in 2010? Can she run for chair in 2010 and 2012? 3/27/2017

Elections – Things to Know Appoint a Nominating Committee. N&A can not include potential candidates. If on N&A, and want to be considered for a position, must resign prior to first N&A meeting of the year. In MGA, N&A can not include current officers. Call for nominations - distributed in advance of elections, explain requirements to be a candidate There is an IEEE Petition Process, which has minimum number of signatures based on the size of the organization. 3/27/2017

Elections – Things to Know (cont’d) No IEEE funds can be used to support any candidate Communicate slate of candidates to voting members in advance of the election Ballot - must be made available to all members - web based balloting is acceptable 3/27/2017

Section Officer Candidate Eligibility To be an eligible candidate for an officer position in a section election the member candidate: must hold current IEEE membership must reside within the Section’s boundaries must hold IEEE member grade of Graduate Student Member, Member, Senior Member or Life Member Meet term limit requirements 3/27/2017

Section Election Voting Eligibility To be eligible to vote in a section election the voting member must: must hold current IEEE membership must reside within the Section’s boundaries must hold IEEE member grade of Associate, Graduate Student Member, Member, Senior Member or Life Member Note: Chair may vote if it is a secret ballot; either paper or electronic 3/27/2017

Section Election Process Overview Administrative tasks to be completed prior to election Section Executive Committee to: appoint members to a Nominating Committee Set election date Appoint members to a Tellers Committee Notify Section members of election date and slate of candidates Note: Done well in advance 3/27/2017

Section Election Process Overview Administrative tasks to be completed prior to election Section Nominating Committee to: Distribute call for nominations Verify eligibility of potential candidates Create slate of candidates to be ratified by Section Executive Committee Communicate to the Section members the slate of candidates, petition process, range of dates that the election will be open, how to cast votes 3/27/2017

Petition Candidates Announcement of slate must include call for petition candidates Petition must be signed by 1% of the Section’s voting membership; no more than 25 signatures are required All petition signers are required to provide signature, member number or mailing address. Signature cannot be scanned or sent electronically Entire slate of candidates are communicated no less than 2 weeks prior to the election 3/27/2017

Section Election Process Overview Administrative tasks to be completed after election closes The Teller Committee: tallies the votes and reports the results to the Section Executive Committee The Section Executive Committee: Informs the candidates of results Informs the Section members of results Informs IEEE headquarters of newly elected Section officers 3/27/2017

Utilizing vTools.Voting to Administer Election vTools.Voting is a volunteer tool that helps simplify the voting process and allow members to vote online eliminates cost of mailing easy to administer; can be done by any volunteer in the section roster can be used to canvas for candidates makes your process professional supports elections for Sections, Chapters and Affinity Groups 3/27/2017

SPECIAL ISSUES: Standing and Ad Hoc Committees Standing Committee Standing committee are permanent committees of the organizational unit Specializing in the consideration of particular subject areas Member Development, Education etc. Ad Hoc Committee May be appointed from time to time by organizational unit Address a specific issue or activity The activities of an Ad Hoc Committee are expected to be completed by the end of the calendar year of the Committee’s formation, at which time the Ad Hoc Committee shall terminate. In the event that the specific issue or activity continues, the Ad Hoc may be reappointed with existing or new membership 3/27/2017

Comments, Questions, Discussion?