Bylaws & Policies

Technical Committee

Bylaws

Approved September 2000.
Revised and approved February 2008.
Revised and approved December 2010.

1. Name:

   Multimedia Signal Processing Technical Committee (MMSP-TC).

2. Purpose:

   To promote the advancement of multimedia signal processing technology.

3. Fields of Interests:

   The fields of interests of the MMSP-TC shall be those of the signal processing society with special emphasis on the interaction, coordination, synchronization, and joint processing of multimedia and multi-modality signals.

4. Governing Documents:

   The MMSP-TC shall be governed by the Signal Processing Society Bylaws and the Signal Processing Society Policies and Procedures, with any additional Bylaws set forth herein, and any additional Policies and Procedures set forth in the MMSP-TC Policies and Procedures.

5. Ammendment:
   1. Suitable bylaws and amendments thereto may be adopted by a two-thirds vote of the member of the technical committee present at a regularly convened meeting of the committee provided that a quorum is present. Bylaws and amendments may also be adopted by an email vote receiving approval by 2/3 of the members of the MMSP-TC.
   2. Following the adoption by the technical committee members, the proposed bylaws or amendments shall become effective after it is approved by the Vice President-Technical Directions.

Policies and Procedures

Approved September 2000.
Revised and approved February 2008.
Revised and approved December 2010.
Revised and approved July 2011.

The TC shall be governed by the Signal Processing Society Bylaws and the Signal Processing Society Policies and Procedures. Relevant portions of these documents are cited and reproduced (as of October 2010) below for context. Additional Policies and Procedures specific to the MMSP-TC are highlighted.

1. Scope of Activities [SPS Bylaws section 501.1]:

   The Technical Committee shall promote activities within its area of technical interest and shall provide expertise and assistance as follows:

   1. assist in the review of papers submitted to Society technical meetings;
      

      Procedure:TC Chair, upon request of the conference technical program chair, shall coordinate the paper review for ICASSP, ICME, and other SPS sponsored conferences within the technical field of interests of MMSP-TC. All current TC members shall participate in paper review.

   2. organize and operate, which includes oversight of the technical program, society-sponsored/co-sponsored symposia, seminars, and workshops, or sessions at technical meetings of the Society or of the IEEE, at all levels, and at meetings of other organizations having Board-approved cooperative relationships with the Society, in accordance with IEEE rules and procedures and the rules of such meetings;
      

      Procedure: For IEEE workshops operated by the MMSP-TC, TC Chair shall appoint a conference and workshop subcommittee to prepare a call for workshop proposals, which will be reviewed by the TC and made publicly available. Responses to the call will be evaluated by the TC members, and the final selection of future workshop venues shall be determined by majority vote among TC members. While the active involvement of TC members in the organizing committee is strongly encouraged, those members that are listed as part of the organizing committee shall abstain from voting.

      For other workshops, the MMSP-TC may consider technical co-sponsorship, which indicates direct and substantial involvement in the organization of the technical program, but no financial involvement. Technical co-sponsorship of a workshop by the MMSP-TC shall require active support from at least one-third of the voting members, which implies a willingness to review papers for the workshop and assist in the organization of the technical program. In addition, at least three members of the TC must be on the workshop’s organizing committee.

      For ICME, the TC elects one Technical Program Co-Chair to each ICME Organizing Committee. Further, the TC endorses nominees for recommendation by the TC Chair to the Society President for appointment to the ICME Steering Committee. The nominations are processed by the Nominations subcommittee.

   3. make nominations in the Society awards process and vet nominations for technical excellence as requested by the Awards Board;
      

      Procedure: TC Chair shall appoint an awards subcommittee to process nominations for SPS society award, technical achievement award, meritorious service award, and SPS paper awards within the technical field of interests of MMSP-TC. Nomination processing includes calling for nominations from inside and outside the TC, collecting nominations, conducting voting among the TC members, and sending endorsed nominations to the SPS Awards Board. Self-nominations shall not be accepted. Subcommittee and TC members who are the subject of a nomination shall be recused from the process. Support from at least half of the voting members is required for nomination of paper and service awards.

   4. assist Editors-in-Chief in identifying appropriate Associate Editors;
      

      Procedure: TC Chair will keep contact with EICs of SPS Transactions, SP letters, and IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, as well as the editor of IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, to recommend qualified associate editors and reviewers who need not be a current MMSP-TC member.

   5. assist in selection of SPS Distinguished Lecturers;
   6. assist in the development of appropriate IEEE standards within scope, according to the rules and procedures of the IEEE;
      

      Procedure: Upon request by IEEE or recommendation of TC members, TC Chair shall appoint ad hoc subcommittee to participate in the standard development activities.

   7. engage with Society members that are interested in the Technical Committee’s scope and be involved in the organization of regional activities.
2. Technical Committee Membership [SPS Policies and Procedures section 5.3]:
   1. Members.
      1. All Technical Committee members must be current IEEE and SPS members of good standing. They must be willing to review papers within the area of the TC submitted to the Society’s conferences, review papers for workshops owned or co-owned by the Technical Committee, serve in the subcommittees established by the TC, and perform other duties of membership.

         Policy: Other duties of membership include:

         • Attending TC meetings at ICASSP and either ICME or the MMSP workshop.
         • Participating in election of new members and Chair, voting on the nominations for Society awards, and selection of MMSP workshop venues.

      2. Members will serve a term of three-years, starting 1 January. All terms run on a calendar year.
      3. Membership on the Technical Committee may be terminated by the Technical Committee Chair, with the consent of the Vice President-Technical Directions, provided that the Chair and Vice Chair concur that the member has been inactive in the sense of little or no participation in Technical Committee responsibilities.
      4. Technical Committees shall have at least 20 elected members so that they have critical mass, and may have up to 40 elected members. A TC Chair can request a larger number of elected members to the VP Technical Directions who, in consultation with the TC Review committee, may approve an increase in the number of members for Technical Committees with a large paper reviewing load.
         

         Policy: The MMSP-TC shall have no more than 32 regular members.

      5. The Vice President-Technical Directions shall be an ex-officio member, without vote, of all Technical Committees.
   2. Associate Members.
      1. The TC Chair can also appoint a small number of Associate Members, who are non-voting members of the Technical Committee. These can include past chairs.
      2. Relevant Transactions Editors-in-Chief should be invited as Associate Members. Special effort should be made to coordinate with them for nomination of new members, nomination of best paper awards, EDICS alignment between the periodicals and the Society’s conferences.
      3. The TC Chair may appoint Associate Members as reviewers for one of the Society’s conferences, and may also appoint them to subcommittees.
      4. Associate Members shall receive calls for member and Vice Chair nominations, as well as any Newsletters the TC may have.
         

         Policy: Associate Members in any given year will include the EIC of the Transactions on Multimedia, the two representatives to the ICME Steering Committee, the General Chairs of the MMSP workshops in the previous year and all subsequent years if known, and the Technical Co-Chairs (representing the Signal Processing Society) of ICME in the current year and all subsequent years if known, if they are not already Members.

   3. Affiliate Members.
      1. IEEE student members and all grades of IEEE SPS members interested in the scope of a given TC may freely join that TC as Affiliate Members by signing up in the Society’s website.
      2. Members of some professional organizations in interdisciplinary fields within the Society’s TCs scope, such as language processing or biological sciences, are not IEEE members. TCs may allow individuals from such professional organizations to join their TC as Affiliate Members.
      3. Affiliate Members are non-elected, unlimited in number, and non-voting members of the Technical Committee.
      4. The Chair may appoint Affiliate Members as reviewers for one of the Society’s conferences, and may also appoint them to subcommittees.
      5. Relevant Transactions Associate Editors should be invited as Affiliate Members.
      6. Affiliate Members shall receive calls for member and Vice Chair nominations, as well as any Newsletters the TC may have.
3. Technical Committee Management [SPS Policies and Procedures section 5.4]
   1. Vice Chair.
      1. The Vice Chair position automatically succeeds to the position of Chair then Past Chair. The term for Vice Chair shall be two years.
      2. The Vice Chair is a voting member of the Technical Committee.
      3. The Vice Chair is responsible for recording of minutes of all committee meetings, and assisting the Chair in paper review and session assignment process for ICASSP, maintenance of a roster of the membership, EDICS and a list of reviewers for the Society’s conferences.
      4. The Vice Chair will assist the Chair in preparing the TC Review Report and attending the TC Review meeting, if requested.
   2. Chair.
      1. The term of office of the Chair shall be two calendar years. A second term as Chair is permitted but may not be consecutive. The Chair automatically succeeds to the position of Past Chair.
      2. The Chair is a voting member of the Technical Committee.
      3. The Chair is a voting member of the Technical Directions Board and must attend meetings and participate in the board’s processes.
      4. The Chair is responsible for organizing the activities of the Technical Committee and maintaining communication with the Vice President-Technical Directions, the Officers of the Society and other similar organizations.
      5. The Chair is responsible for appointing members to the TC’s subcommittees.
      6. The Chair is responsible for maintaining a roster of the membership.
      7. The Chair shall maintain the EDICS and a list of reviewers for the Society’s conferences. The Chair also oversees the paper review and session assignment process for ICASSP.
      8. The Chair is responsible for preparing the TC Review Report and attending the TC Review meeting.
      9. The Chair is responsible for preparing bi-yearly activity reports.
   3. Past Chair.
      1. The term for Past Chair shall normally be one year, unless the TC specifically approves a two year term.
      2. The Past Chair is a voting member of the Technical Committee.
      3. The Past Chair is responsible for providing guidance and continuity to the Technical Committee Officers and members of the Technical Committee.
      4. The Past Chair will assist the Chair in preparing the TC Review Report and attending the TC Review meeting, if requested.
4. Technical Committee Organization [SPS Policies and Procedures section 5.5]
   1. Subcommittees.
      1. Technical Committees shall normally have subcommittees to accomplish the duties of the TC.
      2. The TC Chair shall appoint TC members to the subcommittees.
      3. The TC Chair may also appoint Associate and Affiliate Members to subcommittees, unless specified otherwise. Such Associate and Affiliate members must confirm in writing their willingness to serve and perform the duties of the subcommittee, and can be removed from the subcommittee if the TC Chair and Vice Chair concur they have been inactive.
      4. The Chairs of each subcommittee must be elected members of the Technical Committee, unless specified otherwise.
      5. The subcommittees may address the following activities:

         Awards Subcommittee. Members of this subcommittee preferably should include IEEE Fellows or individuals that have received an award as to bring experience to the Awards nominations process. This committee collects nominations from Technical Committee members and the community as a whole (nomination process is open) and narrows down the list, with the final names being voted on by the Technical Committee, which then passes its recommendations to the Awards Board. This procedure applies for all the SPS awards and Distinguished Lecturers. This subcommittee will also identify Senior Members that are considered qualified for elevation to Fellow and help find an individual that can nominate the candidate (neither the subcommittee nor the TC will nominate or endorse Fellow candidates). The Chair of this subcommittee would act as a liaison to the Society’s Awards Board.

         Nominations and Elections Subcommittee. Membership in the nominations subcommittee is restricted to elected Technical Committee members. The role of this subcommittee is to collect nominations for Technical Committee members and Vice Chair positions, and conduct the election process. The Nominations Subcommittee shall ensure that the candidate pool for new TC members represents the diversity of SPS members in the Technical Committee area, which includes: gender, geographic, academic/industry, junior/senior, etc. This subcommittee will also process nominations for representatives to the ICME Steering Committee and Technical Program Co-Chairs to the ICME Organizing Committees, and help nominate Associate Editor candidates to relevant Editors-in-Chief in the Society.

         Conference and Workshops Subcommittee. This involves soliciting proposals for workshops, helping volunteers with access to historical data regarding workshops and best practices, as well as putting in place a process to ensure there are enough proposals in time for voting and TC decision making.

         Technical Directions Subcommittee. This subcommittee identifies future trends and directions in multimedia signal processing and promotes the vitality and growth of the MMSP-TC. In addition, this subcommittee manages and maintains the EDICS for the TC and ensures it is being used consistently in all TC related conferences and workshops. Further, this subcommittee works with the Editor-in-Chiefs of the IEEE Transactions on Multimedia and the various SP Society Transactions to ensure that MMSP areas are accurately represented in the EDICS of these Transactions.

         Industry/Government Subcommittee. This involves supporting the Membership Board in industry and government activities. Responsibilities include forwarding information to relevant members from industry and the government, who are interested in activities of the Technical Committee and keeping them involved, as appropriate. Responsibilities include liaison with the Industry DSP standing Committee.

         Webmaster Subcommittee. This subcommittee maintains the Technical Committee web site together with SPS staff.

         Newsletter Subcommittee. The newsletter shall include open calls for new Technical Committee members and TC Vice Chair-elect, plus information on SPS elections, the Society’s e-newsletter, as well as other information such as relevant Calls for Papers. The Speech and Language TC newsletter is a good example.

         Area Chairs. A Technical Committee may have several Area Chairs within their Technical Committee. Such Area Chairs shall normally be elected Technical Committee members and shall drive the review of papers for that area submitted to the Society’s conferences and workshops. Each Area Chair will have a number of reviewers, which shall normally include elected, Associate and Affiliate Technical Committee Members. Other responsibilities may include proposal of special sessions and special issues in that area.

         Student Subcommittee. This subcommittee will be formed by students, either elected members or Affiliate TC members. The Chair of the Student Subcommittee will be a Student. This subcommittee may provide tutorials for students, courses, networking events, access to job postings, student grants, and other activities of interest to students.

         Education Subcommittee. Responsibilities of the subcommittee include liaison with the Signal Processing Education Technical Committee, and creation of content of interest to SPS members involved in the Technical Committee that is not appropriate for publication in the Society’s conferences and periodicals (such as tutorial style articles on Wikipedia or Connexions, etc).

         Four Regional Representatives. (Regions 1-6, Regions 7/9, Region 8, and Region 10). The four regional representatives shall support the Society’s Regional Directors-at-Large in the area of expertise of the Technical Committee. The representatives shall promote and foster local activities of that Technical Committee (such as conferences and meetings) and encourage new chapter development; publicize the activities of the Technical Committee in that region and help attract members from that region to the Technical Committee.

         Other. The TC is free to create other subcommittees to cover areas that have not been specifically addressed in the above list.

   2. Conduct of Business.
      1. The Technical Committee will hold at least one meeting per year, normally at one of the Society’s sponsored conferences.

         Policy. The technical committee will meet twice a year: once during ICASSP, and once during either ICME or the MMSP workshop organized by the TC.

      2. TCs are encouraged to hold meetings at their workshops too, and consider making them open to Associate and/or Affiliate Members if there is a large enough room available and an appropriate time slot in the workshop schedule.
      3. A quorum of the TC shall be a majority of those members having voting rights. An affirmative vote of a majority of all the voting members of the Technical Committee shall be required to approve the action.
      4. The TC may meet and act upon the vote of its members by any means of telecommunication. The normal voting requirements shall apply when action is taken by means of telecommunications equipment allowing all persons participating in the meeting to hear each other at the same time.
      5. The Technical Committee may conduct business via e-mail. The results of the vote shall be confirmed promptly in writing or by electronic transmission. The writings and/or electronic transmission shall be filed with the minutes of the proceedings of the committee.
      6. The order of business for TC meetings shall be organized by the Chair and made available to the members prior to the meeting.
      7. Only elected-Members of the TC, including the Chair, Vice Chair and Past Chair, are allowed to vote in matters that come before the TC. Associate and Affiliate Members of the TC do not have a vote. Individuals holding more than one position on the TC shall be limited to one vote on each matter being considered by the TC.

5. Technical Committee Election Procedures [SPS Policies and Procedures section 5.6]
   1. Vice Chair.
      1. The Vice Chair election shall be organized by the Nominations Subcommittee. The Nominations Subcommittee shall bring forward one or more candidates for the position of Vice Chair. The Nominations Subcommittee is responsible for making an open call for nominations, and conducting the balloting.
      2. Nominations for Vice Chair shall be restricted to individuals who are currently serving or have previously served as elected members of the Technical Committee. Vice Chair candidates that are part of the Nominations Subcommittee shall withdraw from such subcommittee. Vice Chair nominees are not eligible to vote in Vice Chair elections.
      3. Vice Chair elections will take place every two years and results shall be finalized by October, so election results will be known before the end of the year and the results can be reported to the Society’s Executive Office. All terms are on a calendar year basis (1 January-31 December).
      4. Each nominee must confirm in writing their willingness to serve and perform the duties described in the Society’s Bylaws and Policies and Procedures if elected. Each nominee must also submit a one-page position statement and/or vitae to be distributed before the election.
      5. The Vice Chair candidate shall be elected by a majority of the legal votes cast by the Technical Committee elected-members, provided a quorum of the Technical Committee members responded to the ballot. In the event of a tie, the run-off ballot will include only those candidates who are tied for the lead. In the run-off tally, the candidate receiving a majority of the votes shall be declared the winner.
      6. The election shall be conducted by an e-mail ballot, unless another means is proposed and approved by the Technical Committee.

   2. Members.
      1. The new member election shall be organized by the Nominations Subcommittee. New member elections shall be held once each year, so one-third of the TC’s membership turns over each year.
      2. The Nominations Subcommittee is responsible for making an open call for nominations in the Society’s e-Newsletters and the website. The Nominations Subcommittee shall come up with a slate of candidates representative of the diversity of SPS members in the Technical Committee area, which includes: gender, geographic, academic/industry, junior/senior, etc. The slate shall include at least as many candidates that have never served in the TC as open slots. The Nominations Subcommittee will also conduct the balloting.
      3. Candidates can be self-nominated or nominated by Technical Committee members. Each nominee must confirm in writing their willingness to serve and perform the duties described in the Society Bylaws and Policies and Procedures. Each nominee must also submit a one-page position statement and/or vitae, as determined by the TC, to be distributed before the election.
      4. Past TC members are eligible to be nominated for a second term. Current TC members may also be nominated for a second consecutive term, but are not eligible to vote in that new member election and shall not be part of Nominations Subcommittee for that election. Additional terms are allowed, but at least a 3 year gap in service is required.
      5. Technical Committee members shall be elected by the members of the Technical Committee itself based on the needs of the Technical Committee. Each year the new member election results shall be finalized by October, so election results will be known before the end of the year and the results can be reported to the Society’s Executive Office. All terms are on a calendar year basis (1 January-31 December).
      6. The new members shall be elected by a majority of the legal votes cast by the Technical Committee elected-members, provided a quorum of the Technical Committee members responded to the ballot. In the event of a tie, the run-off ballot will include only those candidates who are tied for the lead. In the run-off tally, the candidate receiving a majority of the votes shall be declared the winner.
         

         Procedure: Let N be the number of open slots. (1) Each TC member may cast up to N votes for his/her preferred candidates (called preference votes). (2) Each TC member should vote on approval for EACH candidate (called approval votes) to indicate if he/she approves that candidate for the TC assuming that candidate is one of the top N vote receivers. Successful candidates (max of N) are those with both (a) the most number of preference votes, which is not necessarily greater than half TC members, and (b) approval votes from at least half of the members with voting rights. The number of approval votes will be considered in breaking ties. Any remaining ties will be broken by the TC Chair.

      7. The election will be conducted by e-mail, unless another means is proposed and approved by the TC.

   3. Representatives to the ICME Steering Committee.
      1. The President of the Signal Processing Society shall appoint two representatives to the ICME Steering Committee. Each representative shall serve a two-year term, renewable once for another term of two years. Each year one new representative shall be appointed while the other is carried over from the previous year. Appointments shall be made no later than three months before the end of the year. The newly appointed representative shall take office the first day of the year (1 January).
      2. The TC Chair shall recommend representatives to the President for possible appointment, based on an election.
      3. The Nominations Subcommittee is responsible for making a call for nominations and coming up with a slate of candidates. Candidates can be self-nominated or nominated by Technical Committee members. Nominees must confirm in writing their willingness to serve. The Nominations Subcommittee shall conduct the balloting and announce the top two (most preferred) candidates who are also approved by a majority of voting members of the TC. The TC Chair shall recommend these top two candidates to the President.

   4. ICME Technical Program Co-Chair representing the Signal Processing Society.
      1. On behalf of the Signal Processing Society, the TC shall elect one Technical Program Co-Chair to each ICME Organizing Committee. The Technical Program Co-Chair nominated by the TC shall take charge of the review and selection of the papers submitted to the track(s) for which the TC is responsible.
      2. The Nominations Subcommittee is responsible for making a call for nominations and coming up with a slate of candidates. Candidates can be self-nominated or nominated by Technical Committee members. Nominees must confirm in writing their willingness to serve. The Nominations Subcommittee shall conduct the balloting and announce the outcome.