Call for Nominations: RDaL & MaL

Call for Nominations: Regional Directors-at-Large and Members-at-Large

Deadline: 5 April 2024

In accordance with the Bylaws of the IEEE Signal Processing Society, the membership will elect, by direct ballot, THREE Members-at-Large to the Board of Governors (BoG) for three-year terms commencing 1 January 2025 and ending 31 December 2027, as well as TWO Regional Directors-at-Large for the corresponding regions: Regions 1-6 (United States) and Region 8 (Africa, Europe, Middle East) for two-year terms commencing 1 January 2025 and ending 31 December 2026. All nominations are due by 5 April 2024.

Regional Directors-at-Large are elected locally by members of the corresponding region. They serve as non-voting members of the Board of Governors and voting members of the Membership Board. They promote and foster local activities (such as conferences, meetings, social networking) and encourage new chapter development; represent their regions to the core of SPS; offer advice to improve membership relations, recruiting and service to their regions; guide and work with their corresponding chapters to serve their members; and assist the Vice President-Membership in conducting chapter reviews.

Members-at-Large are directly elected by the Society's membership to represent the member viewpoint in Board decision-making. They typically review, discuss, and act upon a wide range of items affecting the actions, activities and health of the Society.

All candidates must demonstrate that they are active in one or more signal processing disciplines and must have been a member of the Society for five years or more.

Athina Petropulu, SPS Past President and Chair of the Nominations and Appointments Committee, has provided the following formal procedures for the SPS's 2024 Regional Directors-at-Large and Members-at-Large elections:

1. Publication of a call for nominations for positions of BoG Members-at-Large and Regional Directors-at-Large. Nominees must hold SPS Member grade and be a SPS member for five years or more to hold elective office. (FEBRUARY/MARCH)
2. From the responses received, a list of candidates will be assembled for each election by the Past President for presentation to the Nominations and Appointments Committee. (APRIL)
3. The Nominations and Appointments (N&A) Committee ballots to create a short list of at least SIX Member-at-Large candidates and TWO Regional Director-at-Large per position (by bylaw, at least two candidates must be submitted for each BoG Member-at-Large and Regional Director-at-Large position becoming vacant). (APRIL-MAY)
4. Regional Directors-at-Large and Members-at-Large petition process opens. NOTE: all position criteria must be met to be considered a petition candidate. Please email George Olekson, g.olekson@ieee.org, if you want to start a petition. (19 MAY)
5. Regional Directors-at-Large and Members-at-Large petition process closes. (17 JULY)
6. After the N&A ranking ballot, the top candidates who are willing and able to serve for Regional Director-at-Large and Member-at-Large are advanced for ballot to the SPS's voting members (JULY).
7. Ballot is mailed. (15 AUGUST)
8. Collection and tabulation of returned ballots will again be handled by the IEEE Technical Activities Society Member & Committee Services Department on behalf of the SPS (AUGUST-OCTOBER).
9. Ballot closes. (1 OCTOBER)
10. The three candidates receiving the highest number of votes who confirm their ability to serve will be declared elected Members-at-Large to the Board of Governors with three-year terms commencing 1 January 2025 and one candidate from each specified region receiving the highest number of votes who confirm their ability to serve will be declared elected a Regional Director-at-Large with a two-year terms commencing 1 January 2025 (OCTOBER).

Please provide nominations for Regional Director-at-Large and Member-at-Large through the new online nomination system. However, if you first wish to communicate privately with Athina Petropulu, Chair, SPS Nominations and Appointments Committee before making a nomination, you can reach her at athinap@rutgers.edu. The following information is required for each nomination: candidate name, contact information, IEEE Region, IEEE member number and grade, candidate’s brief biography including information about current SP, IEEE, or other Society volunteer activities, technical affiliation and a high-resolution photo. Nominations must be received no later than 5 April 2024.

In the event that a nominee's name is not selected for a position on the general election ballot, and the nominee is a member in good standing and of the proper credentials to seek election, the nominee may seek to have his/her name added to the ballot by filing, starting on 19 May 2024, a petition. The IEEE rule regarding the nomination petition process states: “For all positions where the electorate is less than 30,000 voting members, signatures shall be required from 2% of the eligible voters." “The number of signatures required on a petition shall depend on the number of eligible voters, as listed in the official IEEE membership records, at the end of the year preceding the election." Note: Signatures from student members are not allowed, since they are not permitted to vote. Graduate student members are eligible to sign a petition as well as vote in the election. In order to accommodate the petitioning process, IEEE has established a web-based petitioning system that will automatically authenticate petition “signatures." According to IEEE rules, a candidate with a valid nomination by petition is guaranteed to be on the ballot.  Please email George Olekson, if you want to start a petition.