Understanding Governance

Cheryl SinauskasDirector, Geographic ActivitiesMember & Geographic Activities March 2012

AgendaGeographic Unit RelationshipsGoverning DocumentsSection Officer Term LimitsElections – Things to Know– Candidate and Voting Eligibility– Election Process Overview– vTools voting

SPECIAL CASES:– Standing and Ad Hoc Committees

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IEEE Governance Organization

MEMBERS

Board of Directors

Assembly

PSPB

IEEE-USA Board

Standards Assoc. Board

Educational Activities Board

Regions & Sections

Technical Activities Board

Tech Cmtee

Societies & Tech. Councils

Member & Geo Activities Board

Sections Cover Broad Scope Locally

Technical Activities Board

Parents - WIE, Consultants, GOLD, LMC

IEEE Societies

Member and Geographic Activities

Board

Regions

Areas

Sections

Chapters Affinity Groups

Sub-Sections Student Branches Councils

SB Chapters SB Affinity Groups

Geographic Unit Structure

Hierarchy of Documents

New York State (Certificate of Incorporation)IEEE ConstitutionIEEE BylawsIEEE 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

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Section Bylaws

Section Bylaws are not requiredSections 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

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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

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Term Limit – Case Scenarios

1. 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?

2. 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?

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Elections – Things to KnowAppoint 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 candidateThere is an IEEE Petition Process, which has minimum number of signatures based on the size of the organization.

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Elections – Things to Know (cont’d)

No IEEE funds can be used to support any candidateCommunicate slate of candidates to voting members in advance of the electionBallot - must be made available to all members - web based balloting is acceptable

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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

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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

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Section Election Process OverviewAdministrative 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

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Section Election Process OverviewAdministrative 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

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Petition CandidatesAnnouncement of slate must include call for petition candidatesPetition must be signed by 1% of the Section’s voting membership; no more than 25 signatures are requiredAll petition signers are required to provide signature, member number or mailing address. – Signature cannot be scanned or sent

electronicallyEntire slate of candidates are communicated no less than 2 weeks prior to the election

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Section Election Process OverviewAdministrative 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

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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

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SPECIAL ISSUES: Standing and Ad Hoc Committees

Standing CommitteeStanding 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 unitAddress 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

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Comments, Questions, Discussion?

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