Chapter Certification

Chapter Certification Process

• Certified Chapter Highlights
• History of Certified Chapters
• Chapter Certification Application
• Examples of Successful Applications

Goal

The overall intent of this program is to diagnose and improve the state of Chapters within SPS to address the actual condition in interest, activity level, membership, rate of recruiting, and general activities of SPS Chapters.

Periodicity

Once a year, when L31 forms are submitted.

Certification Benefits

Chapters which are granted with the Certification will receive in the following year:

• A certificate of merit to the Chair.
• An appreciation certificate to each officer of the Chapter.
• Once they have their Certification, the Chair (or his/her representative) can apply for a travel support grant (up to $1,000 per Chapter) annually to attend the Chapter Chairs Meeting during the four year certification period. There will be an annual cap of $20K. If limit exceeded, the Regional Directors-at-Large will decide the support.

Chapters which are granted with the Certification will receive in the following four years during which the Certification is valid:

• Visibility on the SPS Webpage via a rotating banner during the month of certification and a listing of the Certified Chapters.
• Support and visibility via social media, but excluding conference related events.
• Visibility in the Chapter News section of the Inside Signal Processing Newsletter.
• Ability for Certified Chapters to apply for limited travel support to send one Student member from their Chapter to attend ICASSP and/or ICIP to support membership development. There will be an annual cap of $20K. If limit exceeded, the Regional Directors-at-Large will decide the support. If your Certified Chapter is interested in nominating a Student or Graduate Student Member for funding under this new program, please submit a nomination form.
• Membership growth reward: Ability to request $50 per new member (up to $500) in additional funding for things such as networking events, poster awards, and food for seminars. The more new members they have the more likely it is that they can get the maximum amount. (Item subject to budget approval).

Chapter Development Status

Chapters which apply for the certification must submit a report to the Regional Activities Committee, describing the following items:

Major Items

• Actual Chapter Organization and Management
• Contextual operational situation
• Chapter initial objectives
• List of activities in the previous year
• Chapter policies (e.g local geographical synergies with other chapters)
• Revised objectives for following year
• Speakers (DLs and other technical talks)
• Networking Meetings
• Administrative meetings
• Member Recruitment Activities and analysis
• Technical courses

Additional Items

• Workshops and Conferences organization
• Recognitions granted
• SP Student Branches development
• Joint Chapters management
• Assisting authors not publishing in SPS publications to join SPS
• Chapter Authorities Leadership outstanding remarks
• Give-aways to attract attendance
• Notes/Suggestions

Chapters willing to compete for Chapter-of-the-Year Award (Awards & Submit an Award Nomination page), (CoYA) should indicate it in their form. Fully approved chapters maintain their status for four years.

Certification Process

1. October/November: The submission period for Chapter Certification opens via the online nominations system.
2. January/February: Yearly submissions of provided to SPS Regional Activities Committee for review.
3. The Regional Activities Committee provides to the Membership Board the completed scoresheet that includes the Regional Activities Committee's comments on each Chapter. The results (status) can be "Approved" or "Not Approved".
4. ICASSP: The Regional Activities Committee makes a recommendation for the Approved chapters at ICASSP to the Membership Board to grant the certification.
5. Post-ICASSP (May/June): Notification letters to the Chapter Chairs that include the Regional Director’s comments for each Chapter.
6. The Certification is valid for 4 years following the year it was earned.

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