Society Constitution Amendments

At its 18 May 2019 meeting, the Board of Governors of the IEEE Signal Processing Society passed amendments to the Society’s Constitution document regarding member election of the Society’s President-Elect, updating the reference to email voting instead of postal mail voting along with its associated timeframe and removing the 30-day waiting period, so amendments are effective after all required approvals are received. Procedures require approval by the IEEE Technical Activities Board, which has already been secured, followed by a 30-day period for member comment. Publication here fulfills the latter portion of this approval requirement. The amendment is considered approved unless one-half percent or more of the Society’s membership objects, in writing, within 30 days of publication - by 6 July 2019. Please provide comments via e-mail to sp.info@ieee.org. The amendments appear below.

Notation: Material to be excised appears as strikethrough; material to be added is bolded.

CONSTITUTION AMENDMENTS

ARTICLE V - ADMINISTRATION

Section 1. The Society shall be governed by an administrative committee which shall be referred to as the Board of Governors, and which shall comprise the Society’s Officers, Members-at-Large and Regional Directors-at-Large.

The Officers of the Society shall be the President, the President-Elect, and the Vice Presidents.  The Officers Vice Presidents shall be elected by the Board of Governors and shall serve terms and perform such duties as are specified in the Bylaws.

Section 2. The voting members of the Society shall elect the President-Elect, Members-at-Large and Regional Directors-at-Large who shall serve on the Society’s Board of Governors.  The number and method of election of the President-Elect, Members-at-Large and Regional Directors-at-Large shall be as specified in the Bylaws.

ARTICLE VI - NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

Section  1. The Board of Governors shall submit, annually, to the voting members at least two candidates for the President-Elect, and each Member-at-Large and Regional Director-at-Large position becoming vacant.

Section  2. The election procedure for the President-Elect, Members-at-Large, and Regional Directors-at-Large of the Board of Governors shall provide for petition candidates.

ARTICLE X - AMENDMENTS

Section 1. Amendments to this Constitution may be initiated either by petition submitted in writing with the exact wording of the amendments to the President by a minimum of one-half percent of the members of the Society or by a two-thirds majority vote of the Board of Governors.  Each proposed amendment will be transmitted for administrative approval to the IEEE Technical Activities Board (TAB).  If approved by the IEEE, the proposed amendment shall appear in a Society publication normally reaching all members of the Society, with notice that it shall be considered approved unless one-half percent or more of the Society membership objects, in writing, within 30 days of publication.  If such objections are received, a copy of the proposed amendment shall be mailed with a ballot to all members of the Society at least 30 days before the date appointed for return of the ballots.  The ballots shall carry a statement of the time limit for their return to the balloting agency.  Approval of the amendment by at least two-thirds of the ballots legally cast shall be necessary for enactment.

Section 2. Changes to the Bylaws may be adopted by a two-thirds vote of the Board of Governors present at a regularly convened meeting of the Board, provided that notice of the proposed new bylaw or amendment has been transmitted to each Board member at least one week prior to such a meeting.  In addition, a proposed new Bylaw or amendment may be adopted by a two-thirds email vote of the members of the Board of Governors, provided a seven-day 30-day period is allowed for such responses.  In either event, the proposed new Bylaw or amendment shall be reviewed by the Vice President, Technical Activities IEEE TAB Secretary after prior to its presentation to the Board of Governors.

Following adoption by the Board of Governors, the proposed new Bylaw or amendment shall appear on the Society’s website.  No proposed new Bylaw or amendment shall take effect until it has been published and has been mailed to the Vice President, Technical Activities IEEE TAB Secretary and he/she has obtained any other necessary approvals.

Section 3. All amendments to the Constitution or the Bylaws shall become effective immediately upon 30 days after all necessary approvals and notifications, unless a later date has been specified at the time the vote is taken.