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
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IEEE Governance Organization
MEMBERS
MEMBERS
Assembly
Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Professional
Educational
Activities Board
Activities Board
Publications
Activities Board
PSPB
Regional
Activities Board
Educational
Activities Board
Standards
Assoc. Board
IEEE-USA
Board
Standards
Activities Board
Member & Geo
Activities Board
Regions &
Sections
Technical
Activities Board
Technical
Activities Board
Tech
Cmtee
Societies &
Tech. Councils
Sections Cover Broad Scope Locally
Geographic Unit
Structure
Member and
Geographic Activities
Board
Technical
Activities Board
Regions
IEEE Societies
Parents - WIE,
Consultants,
GOLD, LMC
Areas
Sections
Chapters
Sub-Sections
Affinity Groups
Student Branches
SB Chapters
SB Affinity Groups
Councils
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
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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
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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 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.
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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
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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 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
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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
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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
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Entire slate of candidates are
communicated no less than 2 weeks
prior to the election
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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
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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 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
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Comments, Questions,
Discussion?
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