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

2. 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

3. 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

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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. Comments, Questions, Discussion?