Get Involved with Technical Committees via the New Affiliate TC Membership

The Signal Processing Society (SPS) has 13 technical committees that support a broad selection of signal processing related activities defined by the scope of the Society. Technical Committees are actively involved in awards, conferences, publications, and educational activities, and provide technical advice to the Society's leadership. Learn more about the Signal Processing Society Technical Committees by visiting the TC web portal.

Recent Changes
The Signal Processing Society and its Technical Committees recently revised its bylaws and policies and procedures. As a result of these changes, the Society’s Technical Committees are now being governed under a common set of policies. The policy revisions are meant to ensure that Technical Committees remain at the forefront of innovation and interdisciplinary research and foster renewal and openness. The new Bylaws and Policies and Procedures Manual, now available online, have addressed several areas, such as: Technical Committee size, common management structure, election processes, and creation of subcommittees. Another major change is that now Technical Committees have the opportunity to expand their membership base by adding Technical Committee Affiliate Members.

Affiliate Members
Technical Committee Affiliate Members are non-elected, non-voting members of the Technical Committee. There is no limit to the number of Affiliate Members that a Technical Committee can have. Affiliate membership is open to:

• IEEE SPS members (any grade) and IEEE student members interested in the scope of a given Technical Committee.
• Non-IEEE members of professional organizations in interdisciplinary fields within the Technical Committee’s scope.

Technical Committee Affiliate Members will receive calls for Member and Vice Chair nominations, as well as any eNewsletter the Technical Committee may have. Technical Committee Affiliate Members also have the opportunity to act as reviewers for one of the Society’s conferences or be appointed to one of the Technical Committee’s subcommittees.

Becoming a Technical Committee Affiliate Member is easy, just visit this website and request Affiliate Membership. Sign up today and pass on this news to interested colleagues!

Common Management Structure for Technical Committees
All Technical Committees normally have 20 to 40 elected Members. Members can serve for two consecutive three year terms if re-elected at the end of their first term. Technical Committees each have a Chair and Vice Chair, who serve two calendar years; and a Past Chair, who normally serves one year. Technical Committees may also have a small number of Associate Members, selected by the committee and appointed by the Chair. Associate Members are non-voting members of the Technical Committee who are involved in specific tasks assigned by the Chair, for example, reviewing conference submissions. All Technical Committees must hold at least one meeting per year, at one of the Society’s conferences. They may also hold meetings at their workshops and make them open to Associate and Affiliate Members.

Creation of New Subcommittees
All Technical Committees have subcommittees to help accomplish the duties of the Technical Committee. The Technical Committee Chair makes the subcommittee appointments, which can be chosen from elected Members, or Associate and Affiliate Members. The subcommittees address the following activities: Awards, Nominations and Elections, Workshops, Industry/Government Outreach, Webmaster, Newsletter, Area Chairs, Student, Education, and four Regional Representatives (Regions 1-6, Region 7/9, Region 8 and Region 10).

Elections Process
The election process has been unified across all Technical Committees. The Vice Chair and new Member elections are organized by each Technical Committee’s Nominations and Elections Subcommittee, which is responsible for making an open call for nominations in the Society’s eNewsletter and website, and conducting the balloting. New Member elections are held once each year, so one-third of the Technical Committee’s membership turns over. The slate of candidates for new Members will be representative of the diversity of SPS members in the Technical Committee area, which includes: gender, geographic, academic/industry, junior/senior, etc. The slate will include at least as many candidates that have never served on the Technical Committee as open slots. The annual election results for both elections will be finalized by October.