Policy and Procedures

SECTION 1. MEMBERSHIP

1.1. Termination.

Members who become delinquent in the payment of dues and fees shall be treated in accordance with IEEE rules and procedures. In addition, members who breach the IEEE Code of Ethics shall be subject to sanctions as provided in the IEEE bylaws.

1.2. Resignation.

A member in good standing may resign by submitting a written resignation to the IEEE Secretary.

Subject to the rules and procedures of the IEEE, a resigned member may resume membership upon payment of the current dues, assessments, and fees, as appropriate. Continuity of membership may be obtained by payment of the dues and any assessments or fees pertaining to the lapsed period.

1.3. Dues and Fees. (amended 15 September 2011)

1. Annual dues for Members and Student Members shall be set each year as part of the budget cycle. Any change in dues will require approval by two-thirds of all voting members of the Board of Governors.
2. Annual dues for Affiliates shall be equal to those of Society Members, plus the Affiliate surcharge as set by the IEEE.
3. Annual dues for special categories of members shall be the fees established by the IEEE for all special memberships in groups and societies.
4. All other fees or assessments shall be set according to IEEE rules and procedures.

 

1.4. Member Discipline. (amended 15 September 2011)

A member of the Society is subject to the rules and procedures of the IEEE for any action that is determined to constitute a material violation of the Constitution, Bylaws, Policies, Operational Manual or Code of Ethics of the IEEE, or other conduct which is seriously prejudicial to the IEEE. Such discipline may take the form of expulsion, suspension, or censure for cause by the IEEE.

Persons under expulsion, or for the period of suspension by the IEEE, shall be denied the rights and privileges of membership in this Society.

SECTION 2. ORGANIZATION

2.1. Officer Position Descriptions. (approved 20 May 2006)

2.1.1. President. (amended 15 September 2011)

The duties of the President include the oversight of all activities of the Signal Processing Society, including but not limited to, awards, conferences, membership, publications, technical directions, strategic and long-range planning, etc.  The President is responsible for the TAB Five-Year Society Review and Publications Review with the assistance of the Vice Presidents. The President is responsible for enforcing the Society’s Constitution, Bylaws, and Policies, and ensuring that the Society is compliant with IEEE’s Constitution, Bylaws, and Policies.  The President is a member of the IEEE Technical Activities Board and represents the Society’s point of view.  The President is responsible for bringing IEEE and TAB issues that affect the Society’s operations to the Board of Governors’ attention.  The President acts as an ambassador for the Society at IEEE meetings or meetings of other organizations, representing the Society’s message as determined by its Board of Governors.

The President chairs the Society’s Board of Governors and Executive Committee. The President only votes on the Board if the vote is by secret ballot or unless the Chair’s vote can change the outcome of the vote . The President is an ex-officio, voting member on all Society Boards and Committees.

The President is responsible for making all nominations and appointments with the advice and consent of the cognizant Vice President or Technical Committee Chair for all liaison and joint Society, IEEE or non-IEEE activities.

2.1.2. President-Elect. (amended 4 October 2012)

The duties of the President-Elect include the oversight of strategic and long-range planning activities for the Society, by means of conference calls and in-person meetings of the Long-Range Planning and Implementation Committee; chairing the Board of Governors Long-Range Planning Retreat and chairing the annual Executive Committee Strategic Planning meeting; preparing agendas and documentation for the retreats and tracking action items; preparation and forecasting of Society budgets as well as monitoring of the Society's expenses, surpluses, and investments; assisting in the creation of the TAB Five-Year Society Review document; and representing the Society at IEEE meetings or meetings of other organizations on strategic and long-range planning activities or on other Society activities as requested by the President or by the Society’s Board of Governors. The President-Elect provides guidance to the Conference Board, Membership Board and Publications Board on matters concerning finances, including the Society’s membership fee; technical meeting registration prices, publication fees, page budgets, etc.

The President-Elect chairs the TC Review Committee and acts as a liaison to the Board of Governors regarding all activities of this committee.

The President-Elect chairs the Long-Range Planning and Implementation Committee and acts as a liaison to the Board of Governors for all strategic and long-range planning activities; he/she serves on, and is a voting member of, the Society's Board of Governors, Executive Committee, Conference Board, Membership Board and Publications Board.

The President-Elect is also responsible for the minutes of the Board of Governors and Executive Committee. (During the transition period, the Vice President-Finance will be responsible for managing the Society’s finances and minutes until 12/31/2014.)

2.1.3. Vice President-Membership. (amended 4 October 2012

The duties of the Vice President-Membership include the oversight of the activities of the Membership Services, Industrial Relations, Student Services and Education Committees; tracking membership trends; drafting strategic and long-term plans regarding the Society’s membership and educational activities for recommendation to the Board of Governors; overseeing the activities of the Society’s Chapter activities; assisting in the creation of the TAB Five-Year Society Review document; and representing the Society at IEEE meetings or meetings of other organizations on membership and education matters or as requested by the Society’s President or Board.

The Vice President-Membership chairs the Membership Board and acts as liaison to the Board of Governors for all membership and educational activities; and serves on and is a voting member of the Society's Board of Governors and Executive Committee.

2.1.4. Vice President-Conferences. (amended 10 May 2014)

The duties of the Vice President-Conferences include management responsibility for all Society conference and workshop teams; identification of locations to propose future ICASSP, ICIP, GlobalSIP, and any other SPS-sponsored major conference locations; recommend policy to the Board of Governors in the area of management of the Society’s technical meetings and apply such policy on behalf of the Board of Governors; enforce IEEE policy as it applies to the Society’s technical meetings; creation of strategic and long-term plans for the Society’s technical meeting activities; assist in the creation of the TAB Five-Year Society Review document; and represent the Society at IEEE meetings or meetings of other organizations on conference matters or as requested by the Society’s President or Board.

The Vice President-Conferences chairs the Conference Board and acts as liaison to the Board of Governors for all technical meeting activity; he/she also serves on, and is a voting member of, the Society's Board of Governors and Executive Committee.  He/she also represents the Society to IEEE or to other organizations, on behalf of the Society, on matters concerned with the Society’s technical meetings.

2.1.5. Vice President-Publications. (amended 11 November 2009)

The duties of the Vice President-Publications include the oversight of Society publication activities; the identification and appointment (with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee) of Editors-in-Chief for the Society’s periodical journals, membership magazine, newsletter(s) or other magazines; management of the activities of the Editors-in-Chief; drafting strategic and long-term plans for the Society’s publications; oversight of financial matters pertaining to the Society’s publications such as page budgets; oversight of the Society's online manuscripts submission interface; management of online and electronic publication initiatives; responsible for the creation of the TAB Five-Year Publications Review document and assisting in the creation of the TAB Five-Year Society Review document; assist in preparing of new periodical and publications/products proposals; represents the Society on the IEEE Panel of Editors; and represent the Society at IEEE meetings or meetings of other organizations for publication matters or as requested by the Society’s President or Board.

The Vice President-Publications chairs the Publications Board and acts as liaison to the Board of Governors for all publication matters; he/she serves on, and is a voting member of, the Society's Board of Governors and Executive Committee.

2.1.6. Vice President-Technical Directions. (approved 20 May 2006)

The duties of the Vice President-Technical Directions is to oversee the activities of the Society’s technical community, as embodied in its Technical Committees, in order to improve the Society’s technical profile within and outside IEEE; to assist the Society in identifying emerging technologies at the nexus of signal processing; assist in the creation of the TAB Five-Year Society Review document; and to proactively engage the Society’s members in strengthening the technical mission of the Society as defined in its Field of Interest.

The Vice President-Technical Directions is responsible for chairing the Technical Directions Board. He/she is an ex-officio member of all the Society’s Technical Committees and serves on, and is a voting member of the Society's Board of Governors and Executive Committee.

2.2. Member-at-Large Position Description. (approved 20 May 2006)

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

2.3. Regional Directors-at-Large Position Description. (amended 4 October 2012)

The duties of Regional Directors-at-Large are to:

1. serve as non-voting members of Board of Governors;
2. provide liaison for the Society’s Chapters with the IEEE’s Regions and Sections, with the means of four Regional Committees: Regions 1-6 (US), 7/9 (Canada/Latin America), 8 (Europe/Middle East/Africa) and 10 (Asia/Pacific Rim);
3. Chair the Regional Committees to promote technical liaison, membership development and Conference organization to regions;
4. promote and foster local activities (such as conferences, meetings, social networking); encourage new chapter development with the support of the Chapters Committee Regional Representatives; assisting established Chapters via promotion, topics, media or technical speakers for chapter meetings;
5. foster nominations for Chapters for the “Chapter of the Year Awards”;
6. represent their regions to the core of SPS;
7. offer advices to improve membership relations, recruiting and service to their regions;
8. guide and work with their corresponding chapters to serve their members, as appropriate and;
9. assist Vice President-Membership in conducting chapter reviews.

2.4. Awards Board Chair. (approved 4 October 2012)

The duties of the Awards Board Chair include the oversight of Society award activities and Distinguished Lecturer nominations; presentation of Society awards at the Society’s annual Awards Ceremony usually held in conjunction with ICASSP; solicitation of nominations for IEEE Technical Field Awards, Best Paper Awards, Major Medals, or other awards given by IEEE or any of its organizational units in the areas of signal processing; solicitation of nominations for awards in the area of signal processing given by non-IEEE entities; solicitation of SPS Senior Members as candidates for nomination to IEEE Fellow grade; drafting strategic and long-term plans regarding the Society’s awards activities for recommendation to the Board of Governors; assisting in the creation of the TAB Five-Year Society Review document; and representing the Society at IEEE meetings or meetings of other organizations on award matters or as requested by the Society’s President or Board.

The Awards Board Chair acts as liaison to the Board of Governors for all award, fellow and distinguished lecturer activities.

2.5. Officer Incapacity and Vacancy

2.5.1. President.

An incapacity of the President that does not constitute a vacancy of office shall be determined by the Board of Governors, or by the Executive Committee, if the incapacity occurs at a time when it is not feasible to convene a meeting of the Board of Governors and there is a need for action. In addition, the President may declare a condition of incapacity and the duration thereof by written communication to the Board of Governors. During such incapacity, the President-Elect shall assume the duties of the President. If the President-Elect is unavailable or incapacitated, the Board of Governors shall designate an individual to assume the duties of the President. In the event of a vacancy of the President, the President-Elect will succeed to the President position. An election will be held to nominate a new President-Elect.

2.5.2. President-Elect. (amended 15 September 2011)

An incapacity of the President-Elect that does not constitute a vacancy of office shall be determined by the Board of Governors, or by the Executive Committee, if the incapacity occurs at a time when it is not feasible to convene a meeting of the Board of Governors and there is a need for action. In addition, the President-Elect may declare a condition of incapacity and the duration thereof by written communication to the President. During such incapacity, the Past President shall assume the duties of the President-Elect. If the Past President is unavailable or incapacitated, the Board of Governors shall designate an individual to assume the duties of the President-Elect. In the event of a vacancy of the President-Elect, the Board of Governors will hold an election to fill the vacancy.

2.5.3. Vice President-Membership. (amended 4 October 2012)

An incapacity of the Vice President-Membership that does not constitute a vacancy of office shall be determined by the Board of Governors, or by the Executive Committee, if the incapacity occurs at a time when it is not feasible to convene a meeting of the Board of Governors and there is a need for action. In addition, the Vice President-Membership may declare a condition of incapacity and the duration thereof by written communication to the President. During such incapacity, the immediate Past Vice President-Membership shall assume the duties of the Vice President-Membership. If the immediate Past Vice President-Membership is unavailable or incapacitated, the Board of Governors shall designate an individual to assume the duties of the Vice President-Membership. In the event of a vacancy of the Vice President-Membership, the Board of Governors will hold an election to fill the vacancy.

2.5.4. Vice President-Conferences.

An incapacity of the Vice President-Conferences that does not constitute a vacancy of office shall be determined by the Board of Governors, or by the Executive Committee, if the incapacity occurs at a time when it is not feasible to convene a meeting of the Board of Governors and there is a need for action. In addition, the Vice President-Conferences may declare a condition of incapacity and the duration thereof by written communication to the President. During such incapacity, the immediate Past Vice President-Conferences shall assume the duties of the Vice President-Conferences. If the immediate Past Vice President-Conferences is unavailable or incapacitated, the Board of Governors shall designate an individual to assume the duties of the Vice President-Conferences. In the event of a vacancy of the Vice President-Conferences, the Board of Governors will hold an election to fill the vacancy.

2.5.5. Vice President-Publications.

An incapacity of the Vice President-Publications that does not constitute a vacancy of office shall be determined by the Board of Governors, or by the Executive Committee, if the incapacity occurs at a time when it is not feasible to convene a meeting of the Board of Governors and there is a need for action. In addition, the Vice President-Publications may declare a condition of incapacity and the duration thereof by written communication to the President. During such incapacity, the immediate Past Vice President-Publications shall assume the duties of the Vice President-Publications. If the immediate Past Vice President-Publications is unavailable or incapacitated, the Board of Governors shall designate an individual to assume the duties of the Vice President-Publications. In the event of a vacancy of the Vice President-Publications, the Board of Governors will hold an election to fill the vacancy.

2.5.6. Vice President-Technical Directions.

The Vice President-Technical Directions is encouraged to attend meetings of the Technical Committees, so he/she is knowledgeable of the issues/activities each group is encountering. Any support for travel to the Technical Committee meetings shall be strictly limited to that specifically detailed in the Policy and Procedures Manual. Travel approval is needed in advance by the Society President.

An incapacity of the Vice President-Technical Directions that does not constitute a vacancy of office shall be determined by the Board of Governors, or by the Executive Committee, if the incapacity occurs at a time when it is not feasible to convene a meeting of the Board of Governors and there is a need for action. In addition, the Vice President-Technical Directions may declare a condition of incapacity and the duration thereof by written communication to the President. During such incapacity, the immediate Past Vice President-Technical Directions shall assume the duties of the Vice President-Technical Directions. If the immediate Past Vice President-Technical Directions is unavailable or incapacitated, the Board of Governors shall designate an individual to assume the duties of the Vice President-Technical Directions. In the event of a vacancy of the Vice President-Technical Directions, the Board of Governors will hold an election to fill the vacancy.

2.6. Past President.

An incapacity of the Past President that does not constitute a vacancy of office shall be determined by the Board of Governors, or by the Executive Committee, if the incapacity occurs at a time when it is not feasible to convene a meeting of the Board of Governors and there is a need for action. In addition, the Past President may declare a condition of incapacity and the duration thereof by written communication to the President. During such incapacity, the Senior Past President shall assume the duties of the Past President. If the Senior Past President is unavailable or incapacitated, the Board of Governors shall designate an individual to assume the duties of the Past President.

2.7. Officers-Elect.

In order to provide for orderly and informed turnover of Society business from an Officer to his/her successor, the Society shall have Officers-Elect. To accomplish this, elections for Officer positions, which terms are due to expire at the end of the Calendar Year, shall occur at the beginning of each year, by e-mail ballot, in sufficient time to be confirmed at the Spring Board of Governors meeting. The newly elected individual(s) shall then hold the position of Officer(s)-Elect for the duration of the term of the incumbent. Officers-Elect shall be informed of and welcome to attend and participate, ex-officio, without vote, in meetings of their corresponding boards, the Board of Governors and the Executive Committee.

2.8. Order of Business. (amended 4 October 2012)

An appropriate order of business for the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors shall be:

• Roll Call
• Approval of Agenda
• Approval of Minutes or
• Approval of Consent Agenda (includes minutes)
• President’s Report
• Treasurer's Report
• Action Items
• Discussion Items
• Information Items
• Report of the Officers
• Other Reports
• Old Business
• New Business
• Selection of Next Meeting Date
• Adjournment.

Only those items considered to be non-controversial, and that are documented in the agenda materials distributed in advance of the meeting, may appear on the Consent Agenda. A single objection by a voting member of the Board of Governors shall be sufficient to move an item from the Consent Agenda to the Action Agenda.

2.9. Director-Membership Services Position Description. (amended 4 October 2012)

The Director-Membership Services shall be appointed by the Vice President-Membership with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee. The duty is to identify value/benefit/services to members and recommend policy/mechanism for recruiting members. The Director or his/her designee is a non-voting ex-officio member of both the Conference and Publications Boards. He/she shall chair the Membership Services Committee, which consists of five members appointed by the Director with the advice and consent of the Membership Board.

2.10. Director-Industrial Relations Position Description. (amended 4 October 2012)

The Director-Industrial Relations shall be appointed by the Vice President-Membership with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee. The duty is to identify value/benefit/services to attract/retain industrial members. The Director or his/her designee is a non-voting ex-officio member of both the Conference and Publications Boards. He/she shall chair the Industrial Relations Committee, which consists of five members appointed by the Director with the advice and consent of the Membership Board.

2.11. Director-Student Services Position Description. (amended 4 October 2012)

The Director-Student Services shall be appointed by the Vice President-Membership with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee. The duty is to identify value/benefit/services to Student members and recommend policy/mechanism for recruiting Student members. The Director or his/her designee is a non-voting ex-officio member of the Conference Board. He/she shall chair the Student Services Committee, which consists of five members appointed by the Director with the advice and consent of the Membership Board.

The Director-Student Services shall be responsible for the coordination of the Travel Grant Program for ICASSP and ICIP.

2.12. Editor-In-Chief Position Description. (approved 20 May 2006)

Editor-in-Chief duties include the identification of associate editors to serve across the topical scope of the periodical journal, including special issue topics and guest editors; management of the day-to-day operations in Manuscript Central with the assistance of the Signal Processing Society's publications staff; identifying areas that require strengthening the scope of the Society and working with the Society and its technical committees to achieve that goal.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for working with the Society's Vice President-Publications to create strategic and long-term plans for the publication they oversee. The Editor-in-Chief chairs the Editorial Board for the publication they oversee and serves on and is a voting member of the Society's Publications Board.

2.13. Resource Center Chief Editor Position Description. (approved 6 December 2013)

Chief Editor duties include identification of Editors to serve on the editorial board of Resource Center; management of the day-to-day operations of Resource Center; identifying areas that require strengthening of Resource Center; coordinate and management of Resource Center submissions; monitor the quality of Resource Center; editorial coordination; oversee the Resource Center Editorial Board; library management of Resource Center website; and ensure the visibility of the Resource Center.

The Chief Editor is responsible for working with the Society's Vice President-Membership to create strategic and long-term plans for the Resource Center. The Chief Editor chairs the Resource Center Editorial Board and serves on and is a voting member of the Society's Membership Board.

2.14. SigPort Chief Editor Position Description. (approved 6 December 2013)

Chief Editor duties include identification of Editors to serve on the editorial board of SigPort; management of the day-to-day operations of SigPort through periodic reports and user feedback; identifying areas that require strengthening of SigPort; oversight of SigPort submissions; monitor the quality of SigPort; oversee the SigPort Editorial Board; and ensure the visibility of SigPort.

The Chief Editor is responsible for working with the Society's Vice President-Membership to create strategic and long-term plans for SigPort. The Chief Editor chairs the SigPort Editorial Board and serves on and is a voting member of the Society's Membership Board.

2.15. Removal of an Editor-in-Chief, Director or Technical Committee Chair. (amended 15 September 2011)

An Editor-in-Chief or Director (Industrial Relations, Membership Services or Student Services) of the Society may be removed, with or without cause, by affirmative vote of two-thirds of the voting members of the Executive Committee. An Editor-in-Chief or Director so removed shall be considered to be removed from all Society duties including, but not limited to, the Publications Board or Membership Board and the editorial board or committee he/she chairs.

A Technical Committee Chair of the Society may be removed as a member of that technical committee, with or without cause, by affirmative vote of two-thirds of the voting members of the Executive Committee. A Technical Committee Chair so removed shall be considered to be removed from all Society duties including, but not limited to, the Technical Directions Board, and the technical committee he/she chairs.

2.16. Removal of a Committee Member.

A member of a Society major board or committee may be removed as a member of that board or committee, with or without cause, by affirmative vote of two-thirds of the voting members of the appointing body.

2.17. Removal of Representatives. A Signal Processing Society representative appointed to another IEEE organization or to an organization outside IEEE may be removed, with or without cause, by the Society President.

2.18. Chapter of the Year Award. (amended 6 December 2013). The IEEE Signal Processing Society Chapter of the Year Award shall be presented annually to a Chapter that has provided their membership with the highest quality of programs, activities and services. All IEEE Signal Processing Society local chapters established more than one year are eligible. The award shall be presented annually in conjunction with the International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing to the Chapter's representative. The award shall consist of a certificate and a check in the amount of $1,000 to support local chapter activities. In the event that multiple chapters are selected, each winner shall still receive $1,000. The winning Chapter shall be invited to publish an article in the IEEE Inside Signal Processing eNewsletter.

Nominations shall be solicited from the local Signal Processing Society Chapter Chairs through a call for nominations in the IEEE Inside Signal Processing eNewsletter. Self nominations are welcome from the local Society Chapter Chairs. The Regional Director-at-Large from each region should also help foster nominations.

The nominated Chapters shall be evaluated based on the following chapter activities, programs and services during the past year:

1. Technical activities (e.g. technical meetings, workshops and conferences, tours with industry)
2. Educational programs (e.g. courses, seminars, student workshops, tutorials, student activities)
3. Membership development (e.g. programs to encourage students and engineers to join the society, growth in chapter’s membership, member advancement programs)
4. Annual IEEE Chapter report submitted by the Chapter.

Selection shall be based on the nominator’s submission of the Chapter of the Year Award nomination form, the SPS Chapter Certification Form, which is valid for four years (optional) and the annual IEEE chapter report. If the Chapter indicates on the Chapter Certification Form that they would like to be considered for the Chapter of the Year Award, the Chapter Certification Form is sufficient to move the nomination forward.

2.19. Signal Processing Society Awards. (amended 4 October 2012)

The awards shall be:

1. Society Award. The Society Award honors outstanding technical contributions in a field within the scope of the Signal Processing Society and outstanding leadership within that field. The prize shall be $2500, a plaque and a certificate, and shall be presented at the Society’s Awards Ceremonies, normally held during ICASSP in the Spring following selection of the winner. A board or committee cannot nominate one of its members for the award. However, a member of a board or committee can be nominated by another board or committee. Current officers and members of the Signal Processing Society Board of Governors and Awards Board are ineligible. Previous recipients of the SP Society Award are ineligible. Nominees shall be judged on the basis of outstanding technical contributions and leadership in a field within the scope of the Society as evidenced by publications, patents, books, lectures, etc. Self-nominations are not accepted or considered. Members of the Awards Board and Board of Governors are not permitted to submit nominations. There shall be an open call for nominations reaching all Society members. Nominations will also be solicited from specific boards/committees of the Society, which are the technical committees, editorial boards and the major boards of the Society. Nominations may arise from any individual or committee/board. Nominations shall be submitted directly to the Society’s Awards Board, who is responsible for vetting all the nominations and ensuring that there are no more than three nominations per award. The Awards Board will manage the balloting by the Board of Governors.
2. Technical Achievement Award. The Technical Achievement Award honors a person who, over a period of years, has made outstanding technical contributions to theory and/or practice in technical areas within the scope of the Society, as demonstrated by publications, patents, or recognized impact on the field. The prize shall be $1500, a plaque and a certificate, and shall be presented at the Society’s Awards Ceremonies, normally held during ICASSP in the Spring following selection of the winner. A board or committee cannot nominate one of its members for the award. However, a member of a board or committee can be nominated by another board or committee. Current officers and members of the Signal Processing Society Board of Governors and Awards Board are ineligible. Previous recipients of the SP Technical Achievement Award are ineligible. Self-nominations are not accepted or considered. Members of the Awards Board and Board of Governors are not permitted to submit nominations. There shall be an open call for nominations reaching all Society members. Nominations will also be solicited from specific boards/committees of the Society, which are the technical committees, editorial boards and the major boards of the Society. Nominations may arise from any individual or committee/board. Nominations shall be submitted directly to the Society’s Awards Board, who is responsible for vetting all the nominations and ensuring that there are no more than three nominations per award. The Awards Board will manage the balloting by the Board of Governors.
3. Meritorious Service Award. The Meritorious Service Award honors contributions to the Signal Processing Society. Up to two Meritorious Service Awards may be presented annually, provided nominations meet the specific criteria. It shall consist of a plaque and a certificate. A board or committee cannot nominate one of its members for the award. However, a member of a board or committee can be nominated by another board or committee. The current President of the Signal Processing Society is ineligible. Previous recipients of the Signal Processing Society Meritorious Service Award are ineligible. Current members of the Awards Board and the Board of Governors are ineligible. Judging shall be based on dedication, effort, and contributions. Presentation shall be made at the Society’s Awards Ceremonies, normally held during ICASSP in the Spring following selection of the winner. Self-nominations are not accepted or considered. Members of the Awards Board and Board of Governors are not permitted to submit nominations. There shall be an open call for nominations reaching all Society members. Nominations will also be solicited from specific boards/committees of the Society, which are the technical committees, editorial boards and the major boards of the Society. Nominations may arise from any individual or committee/board. Nominations shall be submitted directly to the Society’s Awards Board, who is responsible for vetting all the nominations and ensuring that there are no more than three nominations per award. The Awards Board will manage the balloting by the Board of Governors.
4. Best Paper Award. (amended 6 December 2013) The Best Paper Award honors the author(s) of a paper of exceptional merit dealing with a subject related to the Society’s technical scope, and appearing in one of the Society’s solely owned transactions or the Journal of Selected Topics in Signal Processing, irrespective of the author’s age. The prize shall be $500 per author (up to a maximum of $1500 per award) and a certificate. In the event that there are more than three authors, the maximum prize shall be divided equally among all authors and each shall receive a certificate. Eligibility is based on a five-year window: for example, for the 2013 Award, the paper must have appeared in one of the Society’s Transactions between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2012. A board or committee cannot nominate one of its members for the award. However, a member of a board or committee can be nominated by another board or committee. Current members of the Signal Processing Society Awards Board are ineligible. Judging shall be based on general quality, originality, subject matter, and timeliness. Up to six Best Paper Awards may be presented annually, either at the Society’s Awards Ceremonies, normally held during ICASSP in the Spring or at ICIP in the Fall following selection of the winner(s). Self-nominations are not accepted or considered. There shall be an open call for nominations reaching all Society members. Nominations will also be solicited from specific boards/committees of the Society, which are the technical committees, editorial boards and the major boards of the Society. Nominations may arise from any individual or committee/board. Nominations shall be submitted directly to the Society’s Awards Board, who is responsible for vetting all the nominations and subsequent balloting by the Awards Board.

    

5. Young Author Best Paper Award. (amended 6 December 2013) The Young Author Best Paper Award honors the author(s) of an especially meritorious paper dealing with a subject related to the Society’s technical scope and appearing in one of the Society’s solely owned transactions or the Journal of Selected Topics in Signal Processing and who, upon the date of submission of the paper, is less than 30 years of age. The prize shall consist of $500 per young author (up to a maximum of $1500 per award) and a certificate. In the event that there are more than three young authors, the maximum prize shall be divided equally among all young authors and each shall receive a certificate. The prize is only presented to the author(s) who are under 30 years of age, not all the authors of the paper. Eligibility is based on a three-year window; for example, for the 2013 Award, the paper must have appeared in one of the Society’s Transactions between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2012. A board or committee cannot nominate one of its members for the award. However, a member of a board or committee can be nominated by another board or committee. Current members of the Signal Processing Society Awards Board are ineligible. Judging shall be on the basis of general quality, originality, subject matter, and timeliness. Up to six Young Author Best Paper Awards may be presented annually, either at the Society’s Awards Ceremonies, normally held during ICASSP in the Spring or at ICIP in the Fall following selection of the winner(s). Self-nominations are not accepted or considered. There shall be an open call for nominations reaching all Society members. Nominations will also be solicited from specific boards/committees of the Society, which are the technical committees, editorial boards and the major boards of the Society. Nominations may arise from any individual or committee/board. Nominations shall be submitted directly to the Society’s Awards Board, who is responsible for vetting all the nominations and subsequent balloting by the Awards Board.
6. Signal Processing Magazine Best Paper Award. The Signal Processing Magazine Best Paper Award shall honor the author(s) of a paper of exceptional merit and broad interest on a subject related to the Society’s technical scope and appearing in the Society’s magazine. The prize shall consist of $500 per author (up to a maximum of $1500 per award) and a certificate. In the event that there are more than three authors, the maximum prize shall be divided equally among all authors and each shall receive a certificate. To be eligible for consideration, a paper must have appeared in IEEE Signal Processing Magazine in any issue predating the Spring Awards Board meeting (typically held in conjunction with ICASSP). Presentation shall be made either at the Society’s Awards Ceremonies, normally held during ICASSP in the Spring or at ICIP in the Fall following selection of the winner. Judging shall be on the basis of quality and effectiveness in presenting subjects of broad interest to the Society’s members. A board or committee cannot nominate one of its members for the award. However, a member of a board or committee can be nominated by another board or committee. Current members of the Signal Processing Society’s Awards Board are ineligible. Self-nominations are not accepted or considered. There shall be an open call for nominations reaching all Society members. Nominations will also be solicited from specific boards/committees of the Society, which are the technical committees, editorial boards and the major boards of the Society. Nominations may arise from any individual or committee/board. Nominations shall be submitted directly to the Society’s Awards Board, who is responsible for vetting all the nominations and subsequent balloting by the Awards Board.
7. Signal Processing Magazine Best Column Award. The Signal Processing Magazine Best Column Award shall honor the author(s) of a column of exceptional merit and broad interest on a subject related to the Society's technical scope and appearing in the Society's magazine. The prize shall consist of $500 per author (up to a maximum of $1500 per award) and a certificate. In the event that there are more than three authors, the maximum prize shall be divided equally among all authors and each shall receive a certificate. To be eligible for consideration, an article must have appeared in the Columns and Forums Section of the IEEE Signal Processing Magazine in any issue predating the Spring Awards Board meeting (typically held in conjunction with ICASSP). Presentation shall be made either at the Society's Awards Ceremonies, normally held during ICASSP in the Spring or at ICIP in the Fall following selection of the winner. Judging shall be on the basis of quality and effectiveness in presenting subjects of broad interest to the Society's members. A board or committee cannot nominate one of its members for the award. However, a member of a board or committee can be nominated by another board or committee. Current members of the Signal Processing Society's Awards Board are ineligible. Self-nominations are not accepted or considered. There shall be an open call for nominations reaching all Society members. Nominations will also be solicited from specific boards/committees of the Society, which are the technical committees, editorial boards and the major boards of the Society. Nominations may arise from any individual or committee/board. Nominations shall be submitted directly to the Society’s Awards Board, who is responsible for vetting all the nominations and subsequent balloting by the Awards Board.
8. Signal Processing Society Education Award. The Signal Processing Society Education Award honors educators who have made pioneering and significant contributions to signal processing education. Nominees shall be judged by a career of meritorious achievement in signal processing education as exemplified by writing of scholarly books and texts, course materials, and papers on education; inspirational and innovative teaching; creativity in the development of new curricula and methodology. The prize shall be $1500, a plaque and a certificate, and shall be presented at the Society’s Awards Ceremonies, normally held during ICASSP in the Spring following selection of the winner. A board or committee cannot nominate one of its members for the award. However, a member of a board or committee can be nominated by another board or committee. Current officers and members of the Signal Processing Society Board of Governors and Awards Board are ineligible. Self-nominations are not accepted or considered. Members of the Awards Board and Board of Governors are not permitted to submit nominations. There shall be an open call for nominations reaching all Society members. Nominations will also be solicited from specific boards/committees of the Society, which are the technical committees, editorial boards and the major boards of the Society. Nominations may arise from any individual or committee/board. Nominations shall be submitted directly to the Society’s Awards Board, who is responsible for vetting all the nominations and ensuring that there are no more than three nominations per award. The Awards Board will mange the balloting by the Board of Governors.
9. Signal Processing Letters Best Paper Award. (Approved 4 October 2012) The IEEE Signal Processing Letters Best Paper Award shall honor the author(s) of a letter article of exceptional merit and broad interest on a subject related to the Society's technical scope and appearing in the IEEE Signal Processing Letters. The prize shall consist of $500 per author (up to a maximum of $1500 per award) and a certificate. In the event that there are more than three authors, the maximum prize shall be divided equally among all authors and each shall receive a certificate. To be eligible for consideration, an article must have appeared in the IEEE Signal Processing Letters in an issue predating the Spring Awards Board meeting by five years (typically held in conjunction with ICASSP). Presentation shall be made either at the Society's Awards Ceremonies, normally held during ICASSP in the Spring or at ICIP in the Fall following selection of the winner. Judging shall be on the basis of the technical novelty, the research significance of the work, quality and effectiveness in presenting subjects in an area of high impact to the Society's members. A board or committee cannot nominate one of its members for the award. However, a member of a board or committee can be nominated by another board or committee. Current members of the Signal Processing Society's Awards Board are ineligible. Self-nominations are not accepted or considered. There shall be an open call for nominations reaching all Society members. Nominations will also be solicited from specific boards/committees of the Society, which are the technical committees, editorial boards, and the major boards of the Society. Nominations may arise from any individual or committee/board. Nominations should be submitted directly to the Society's Awards Board, who is responsible for vetting all the nominations and subsequent balloting by the Awards Board.
10. Overview Paper Award. (amended 6 December 2014) The Overview Paper Award shall honor the author(s) of a journal article of broad interest that has had substantial impact over several years on a subject related to the Society's technical scope. A paper considered for the award should present an overview of a method or theory with technical depth and application perspective. It should have a multi-year record of impact and also be relevant to current researchers and/or practitioners. The prize shall consist of $500 per author (up to a maximum of $1500 per award) and a certificate. In the event that there are more than three authors, the maximum prize shall be divided equally among all authors and each shall receive a certificate. To be eligible for consideration, an article must have appeared in one of the IEEE Signal Processing Society Transactions, the Journal of Selected Topics in Signal Processing and the IEEE Proceedings, in an issue predating the Spring Awards Board meeting by at least three years (typically held in conjunction with ICASSP). Presentation of the award shall be made at either the Society's Awards Ceremonies, normally held during ICASSP in the Spring or at ICIP in the Fall following selection of the winner. Judging shall be on the basis of effectiveness in presenting subjects of high impact and broad interest to the Society's members. The nominated paper should be an overview paper with technical depth, not a tutorial. The paper should have a record of broad and/or long-term impact and be of current importance, e.g. it is still frequently cited and/or is incorporated in widely-used commercial technology. Work that was particularly important 20 years ago, but has since been superseded by other methods, would not be appropriate unless the new methods clearly leverage the original work in some way. The paper should have a sustained citation record. Ideally, the paper will have had commercial impact. There shall be an open call for nominations reaching all Society members, as well as specific boards/committees of the Society, which are the technical committees, editorial boards, and the major boards of the Society will be solicited. Nominations may arise from any individual or committee/board, but a board or committee cannot nominate one of its own members for the award. However, a member of a board or committee can be nominated by another board or committee. Current members of the Signal Processing Society's Awards Board are ineligible. Self-nominations are not accepted or considered. Papers that have already been recognized with another SPS Paper Award are not eligible. Nominations should be submitted directly to the Society's Awards Board, who is responsible for vetting all the nominations and subsequent balloting by the Awards Board.
11. Sustained Impact Paper Award. (approved 6 December 2013) The Sustained Impact Paper Award shall honor the author(s) of a journal article of broad interest that has had sustained impact over many years on a subject related to the Society's technical scope. A paper considered for the award should be relevant to current researchers and/or practitioners and represent at least one of the following: the paper resulted in a paradigm shift in how a particular problem is solved; the work forms the theoretical basis for much of the contemporary work in a particular field and the work introduced methods that are now broadly adopted in industry. The prize shall consist of $500 per author (up to a maximum of $1500 per award) and a certificate. In the event that there are more than three authors, the maximum prize shall be divided equally among all authors and each shall receive a certificate. To be eligible for consideration, an article must have appeared in one of the IEEE Signal Processing Society Transactions or the Journal of Selected Topics in Signal Processing, in an issue predating the Spring Awards Board meeting by at least 10 years (typically held in conjunction with ICASSP). Presentation of the award shall be made at either the Society's Awards Ceremonies, normally held during ICASSP in the Spring or at ICIP in the Fall following selection of the winner. Judging shall be on the basis of novelty and effectiveness in presenting subjects of high impact and long-term interest to the Society's members. The nominated paper should have a record of sustained impact and be of current importance, e.g. it is still frequently cited and/or is incorporated in widely-used commercial technology. Work that was particularly important 20 years ago, but has since been superseded by other methods, would not be appropriate unless the new methods clearly leverage the original work in some way. The paper should also be an original contribution rather than an overview or tutorial. There shall be an open call for nominations reaching all Society members, as well as specific boards/committees of the Society, which are the technical committees, editorial boards, and the major boards of the Society will be solicited. Nominations may arise from any individual or committee/board, but a board or committee cannot nominate one of its own members for the award. However, a member of a board or committee can be nominated by another board or committee. Current members of the Signal Processing Society's Awards Board are ineligible. Self-nominations are not accepted or considered. Papers that have already been recognized with another SPS Paper Award are not eligible. Nominations should be submitted directly to the Society's Awards Board, who is responsible for vetting all the nominations and subsequent balloting by the Awards Board.
12. Industrial Leader Award. (approved 6 December 2014) The Industrial Leader Award shall recognize an industry business or technical leader whose leadership has resulted in major and outstanding advances or new directions using signal processing technologies within the scope of the Society. This award is for executive leadership resulting in major advances and new directions using signal processing in a business area. Evaluation is based on such factors as global acceptance of the products and services, financial success and growth of the business, ubiquity of the products and services, emulation of the contributions by competition, and degree of global recognition of the candidate. Other factors include time of service, impact, specific innovations, etc. An industry leader who played a major leadership role in research or development and introduction of systems, devices, applications or services that have significantly impacted society on a global basis or has substantially advanced the use of signal processing technologies in industry, commerce, or society. The candidate is not required to be an IEEE member. The prize shall be $1500 , a plaque and certificate. Presentation of the award shall be made at either the Society's Awards Ceremonies, normally held during ICASSP in the Spring or at ICIP in the Fall following selection of the winner. There shall be an open call for nominations reaching all Society members, as well as, specific boards/committees of the Society, which are the technical committees, editorial boards, and the major boards of the Society. Nominations may arise from any individual or committee/board, but a board or committee cannot nominate one of its own members for the award. However, a member of a board or committee can be nominated by another board or committee. Current officers and members of the Signal Processing Society Board of Governors and Awards Board are ineligible. Self-nominations are not accepted or considered. Members of the Awards Board and Board of Governors are not permitted to submit nominations. Previous recipients of the Industrial Leader Award are ineligible. Nominations should be submitted directly to the Society's Awards Board, who is responsible for vetting all the nominations and ensuring that there are no more than three nominations per award. The Awards Board will manage the balloting by the Board of Governors.
13. Industrial Innovation Award. (approved 6 December 2014) The Industrial Innovation Award shall recognize an individual or team at any level who were industry employees whose technical contributions have resulted in significant advances using signal processing technologies within the scope of the Society. Selection will be based on major industrial accomplishments, standards, deployment of important processes or products, etc, that are of substantial benefit to the public, which use signal processing technologies and are visible beyond the company or institution where the contribution was made. The award shall be open to individuals at any level who were industry employees who played a significant role in the technical contribution at the time of the accomplishments being recognized. The prize shall be $1500 per awardee (up to a maximum of $4500 per award) and a plaque and certificate. In the event that there are more than three awardees, the maximum prize shall be divided equally among all awardees and each shall receive a plaque and certificate. Candidate(s) need not be an IEEE SPS member. It is preferred that recipients of the IEEE SPS Industrial Innovation Award be members of IEEE. However, the IEEE Board of Governors may approve the presentation to a non-member upon the recommendation of the IEEE SPS Awards Board. Presentation of the award shall be made at either the Society's Awards Ceremonies, normally held during ICASSP in the Spring or at ICIP in the Fall following selection of the winner. There shall be an open call for nominations reaching all Society members, as well as, specific boards/committees of the Society, which are the technical committees, editorial boards, and the major boards of the Society. Nominations may arise from any individual or committee/board, but a board or committee cannot nominate one of its own members for the award. However, a member of a board or committee can be nominated by another board or committee. Current officers and members of the Signal Processing Society Board of Governors and Awards Board are ineligible. Self-nominations are not accepted or considered. Members of the Awards Board and Board of Governors are not permitted to submit nominations. Previous recipients of the Industrial Innovation Award are ineligible. Nominations should be submitted directly to the Society's Awards Board, who is responsible for vetting all the nominations and ensuring that there are no more than three nominations per award. The Awards Board will manage the balloting by the Board of Governors.
14. Conference Best Paper Award for Industry. (approved 6 December 2014) The Conference Best Paper Award for Industry shall recognize the author(s) of an ICIP and ICASSP/GlobalSIP paper of exceptional industrial merit and industrial impact dealing with a subject related to the Society’s technical scope. To be eligible for consideration, the paper must have been submitted to ICIP or ICASSP/GlobalSIP. The GlobalSIP eligible papers will be considered for the Award during the next ICASSP. Judging shall be based on general quality, novelty, maturity of the technology and industrial impact of the described work. Prototype, demo or video of prototype/demo presented at these conferences can also be considered for the award. The candidate(s) are not required to be IEEE members. Candidates are not required to be working in industry at the time of nomination. Current members of the Conference Award Evaluation Committee are ineligible. Self-nominations are accepted. The prize shall consist of $500 per author (up to a maximum of $1500 per award) and a certificate. In the event that there are more than three authors, the maximum prize shall be divided equally among all authors and each shall receive a certificate. One award may be presented annually at ICIP’s Opening Ceremony and one award may be presented annually at ICASSP’s Opening Ceremony. The award will not be conferred in any given year for which there are no suitable candidates identified. The Award will be announced via the conference websites. Nominations can be submitted through two methods: 1) The authors will be given the option to nominate their paper for the award at the paper submission step; or 2) The reviewers will be asked to indicate whether a paper is award quality, as is the case for the regular conference paper awards. The nominated papers will be evaluated by a committee, consisting of members of the Technical Program Committee of the conference (including Area Chairs or Technical Program Committee Chairs). The Committee will consist of five members.

2.20. Awards Nomination Process. (approved 27 March 2015).

1. The awards nomination process shall be managed by the Awards Board.
2. The nomination cycle shall open 1 May and close 1 September, annually. The award nomination forms can be found on the Awards website.
3. The Awards Board shall be responsible for making an open call for nominations reaching all Society members. Nominations will also be solicited from specific boards/committees of the Society, which are the technical committees, editorial boards and the major boards of the Society.
4. Nominations may arise from any individual, board or committee. The term "individual nomination" includes co-nominations by multiple individuals who support the nomination. The Society policies specifically state what Boards/Committees/Individuals are not eligible to submit nominations for a particular award.
5. Boards/committees may not nominate one of their own current members for an award. However, a committee/board may nominate members of a different board/committee. Current elected members of a committee/board may participate as individual nominators for other members of the same board/committee.
6. Self-nominations are not accepted or considered for any award.
7. Individual nominations may have multiple co-nominators listed on the nomination form. In addition, individual nominations may include up to two endorsements to strengthen the nomination. All endorsements are to be submitted via email to the specified address, which will provide the nomination with a date and time stamp. If more than two endorsements are submitted, only the first two received endorsement shall be forwarded to the IEEE Signal Processing Society Awards Board for consideration.

   A nominator may not serve as an endorser for a nomination he/she is submitting. If the Society policies state that a particular Board/Committee/Individual is not eligible to nominate for a particular award, then that same group of individuals is not eligible to be an endorser. Members of a committee/board may participate as individual endorsers for other members of the same board/committee. All such endorsements should be written by single individuals and use the endorsement form that can be found on the Awards website. An endorser must be an eligible IEEE Signal Processing Society member at any grade level in good standing. IEEE staff cannot serve as an endorser. Endorsements must be submitted on or before the nomination deadline of 1 September.

8. Boards/committees are not permitted to submit endorsements, since their nominations carry the endorsement of the entire board/committee submitting the nomination. However, boards/committees are permitted to summarize in no more than 300 words supplementary material generated by the board/committee during the nomination process.
9. Individuals, committees, and boards are allowed to submit more than one nomination per award.
10. Nominations shall be submitted directly to the Awards Board, who is responsible for vetting all the nominations and subsequent balloting.
11. Full nomination restrictions are detailed in each award description.

2.21. (approved 28 May 2011). Details of volunteer involvement in the activities of IEEE staff assigned to the Society is guided by the IEEE Employee Handbook, specifically:

1. Section 4.5: Job Descriptions;
2. Section 4.07: Recruitment and Selection of Employees; and
3. Section 10.3: Staff Performance Appraisal Process and Incentive Goal Setting.

2.22. Membership Services Committee Subcommittees. (approved 10 May 2014).

2.23. Women in Signal Processing Subcommittee. (approved 10 May 2014)

1. Duties. The Women in Signal Processing Subcommittee shall report to the Membership Services Committee. The Women in Signal Processing Subcommittee shall identify value/benefit/ services to women members and recommend policy/mechanism for recruiting women members; develop programs and material to facilitate women member recruiting and services; maintain and develop contacts with leadership and membership constituents; and provide proper communication channels and feedback.
2. Composition. The Women in Signal Processing Subcommittee shall have six members: the Chair, Women in Signal Processing Subcommittee, who shall be appointed by the Director-Membership Services with the advice and consent of the Membership Board to serve three years, non-renewable, and five members appointed by the Chair with the advice and consent of the Membership Services Committee. The term of committee members shall be three years, renewable once. The Director-Membership Services shall serve ex-officio, without vote.

2.24. Young Professionals Subcommittee. (approved 10 May 2014)

1. Duties. The Young Professionals Subcommittee shall report to the Membership Services Committee. The Young Professionals Subcommittee shall identify value/benefit/services to young professional members and recommend policy/mechanism for recruiting young professional members; develop programs and material to facilitate young professional member recruiting and services; maintain and develop contacts with leadership and membership constituents; and provide proper communication channels and feedback.
2. Composition. The Young Professionals Subcommittee shall have six members: the Chair, Young Professionals Subcommittee, who shall be appointed by the Director-Membership Services with the advice and consent of the Membership Board to serve three years, non-renewable, and five members appointed by the Chair with the advice and consent of the Membership Services Committee. The term of committee members shall be three years, renewable once. The Director-Membership Services shall serve ex-officio, without vote.

2.25. Seasonal Schools Subcommittee. (approved 10 May 2014)

1. Seasonal Schools in Signal Processing. Seasonal Schools in Signal Processing are short term courses designed for graduate students, early stage researchers, and practitioners interested in selected topics in signal processing.
2. Duties. The Seasonal Schools Subcommittee shall run the Seasonal Schools in Signal Processing Program and shall report to the Membership Services Committee. The Seasonal Schools Subcommittee shall identify value/benefit/services to members and recommend policy/mechanism for recruiting Seasonal Schools; develop programs and material to facilitate recruiting and services for Seasonal Schools; maintain and develop contacts with leadership and membership constituents; and provide proper communication channels and feedback.
3. Composition. The Seasonal Schools Subcommittee shall have six members: the Chair, Seasonal Schools Subcommittee, who shall be appointed by the Director-Membership Services with the advice and consent of the Membership Board to serve three years, non-renewable, and five members appointed by the Chair with the advice and consent of the Membership Services Committee. The term of committee members shall be three years, renewable once. The Director-Membership Services shall serve ex-officio, without vote.

SECTION 3. NOMINATIONS/ELECTIONS/APPOINTMENTS

3.1. Officer Nomination Criteria. (approved 20 May 2006)

All candidates for Officer positions in the Signal Processing Society must posses records of significant technical achievement and must hold the IEEE grade of Senior Member or higher.  They must be at the time of nomination, and must remain throughout the term of service, members in good standing of IEEE and of the IEEE Signal Processing Society.  Candidates’ biographies must reflect some recent management experience.

Specific criteria, by position, appears below.

3.1.1. President-Elect. (amended 4 October 2012)

The President-Elect must have previously served as a member-elected Member-at-Large on the Board of Governors.   The President-Elect shall be an IEEE Fellow.  The President-Elect position automatically succeeds to President. The President-Elect may have served as a Vice President.

3.1.2. Vice President-Membership. (amended 4 October 2012)

The Vice President-Membership should have a high level of management experience and should have previously served the Society in some capacity, such as: Director, Regional Director-at-Large, Section/Chapter Chair or Section Chair etc.

3.1.3. Vice President-Conferences. (amended 10 May 2014)

The Vice President-Conferences preferably should have served as a General Chair, Technical Program Chair or Finance Chair for an IEEE symposium or major conference. Preferred candidates are those who have served as past General Chair or Finance Chair for ICASSP, ICIP, or GlobalSIP.

3.1.4. Vice President-Publications. (approved 20 May 2006)

The Vice President-Publications must have served as an Editor-in-Chief, or in an equivalent management capacity for an archival journal published by IEEE.

3.1.5. Vice President-Technical Directions. (amended 10 May 2014)

The Vice President-Technical Directions may have previously served as an elected Technical Committee Chair, and may have served in one or more of the following positions: General Chair or Technical Chair of ICASSP, ICIP or GlobalSIP; Editor-in-Chief of a Signal Processing Society sponsored publication.

3.2. Member-at-Large Criteria. (approved 20 May 2006)

Members-at-Large candidates must demonstrate that he/she is active in one or more signal processing disciplines and shall have been a member of the Society for five years or more.

3.3. Regional Director-at-Large Criteria. (approved 25 April 2015)

The Regional Director-at-Large candidates must demonstrate that he/she is active in their local Section or Chapter, such as a Section or Chapter Officer or active in Society activities as evidenced by participating in conference/workshop organization, serving on one of the Society’s Boards, Standing Committees, Technical Committees or its journal’s Editorial Boards.

At the time of nomination, the Regional Directors-at-Large candidates shall have been a member of the Society for five years or more. Moreover, the Regional Directors-at-Large candidates must be willing to travel to Chapters for outreach.

3.4. Editor-in-Chief Nomination Criteria. (approved 20 May 2006)

An Editor-in-Chief candidate must have served as an associate editor, special issue editor, or in a management capacity for an archival journal published by IEEE.  Preference shall be given to candidates who have served as Associate Editors of one or more Signal Processing Society archival publication.

3.5. Awards Board Chair.(approved 4 October 2012)

The Awards Board Chair must be an IEEE Fellow and must have received one or more major Society awards, which excludes the paper awards. The profile of the Awards Board Chair should bring positive attention to the awards program.

3.6. Resource Center Chief Editor Nomination Criteria. (approved 6 December 2013)

Nominations for the Chief Editor shall be restricted to members in good standing in the IEEE and the Society. Preference should be given, where possible, to individuals who have experience with society publications, such as former associate editors of IEEE publications and/or past members of the Publications Board.

3.7. SigPort Chief Editor Nomination Criteria. (approved 6 December 2013)

Nominations for the Chief Editor shall be restricted to members in good standing in the IEEE and the Society. Preference should be given, to individuals who have experience with both web-based platforms and have IEEE publications experience.

3.8. Distinguished Lecturers. (amended 24 March 2005)

Each year, up to ten (10) technically diverse and geographically dispersed individuals shall serve as Signal Processing Society Distinguished Lecturers (DLs). The formal term of appointment shall be two calendar years with five (5) individuals appointed each year.

3.8.1. Nomination. (amended 4 October 2012)

The Awards Board shall make an open solicitation for all distinguished lecturer nominations no later than 1 June of each year. All nominations will be considered by the Awards Board and a list of nominees and alternates, along with a list of their lecture topics, will be provided to the Board of Governors at least three weeks prior to its Fall meeting. The Board will consider this list at its Fall meeting and provide its advice and consent for the final selections, which shall be announced by the Awards Board Chair. Self-nominations will not be accepted.

The list of nominees and alternates shall comprise individuals of distinction who are members of the IEEE and of the IEEE Signal Processing Society, who are recognized experts in their fields of endeavor, and who are capable of delivering a message of importance to the technical community as well as to the Society’s members organized in chapters around the world.

Following identification of the top five (5) candidates and alternates by the Board, the Society staff, on behalf of the Awards Board Chair, will reconfirm in writing the candidates’ willingness to serve as an SPS Distinguished Lecturer/Alternate.

3.8.2. Publicity. (amended 24 March 2005)

The Executive Director shall contact each lecturer and request, by fax or e-mail, a copy of each lecturer's brief biography and a listing and brief description of the lectures/short courses each DL is prepared to present. Each DL will be requested to provide such information within ten (10) working days of contact by the Executive Director.

The Executive Director shall also provide, at the time of this contact, a current listing of Society Chapter Chairs and their contact information, as well as information on working with the Chapters regarding their engagement, negotiation and expensing of travel, and any other pertinent details.

Upon receipt of the requested biography and lecture information, the Executive Director shall prepare and transmit a message by e-mail/fax to the Society's Chapters, announcing the names of the new class of DLs, providing biographical information, contact information, and the list and description of lectures/short courses for the coming calendar year. Such correspondence by the Executive Director to the Chapters also shall contain any changes to the DL program for the coming year, as well as describe the selection, engagement, negotiation, and expensing of DLs for presentations to the Chapters.

The Executive Director shall also be responsible for causing information regarding the new class of DLs to be posted to the Society's Web page, publishing the names and lecture titles in the next issue of the Society's Directory of Volunteer Leaders and Staff, and providing in a timely way full information about the Society's program for the coming term to the IEEE for publication in the IEEE Distinguished Lecturer website.

3.9. President-Elect Election. (approved 4 October 2012)

The President-Elect candidates shall be required to be present at the Board of Governors meeting during the ICASSP meeting series. Presentation of the candidates may happen the day of the Board meeting or the evening before. The candidates will be required to submit a biography, which includes their Society, IEEE and other professional activities. Each candidate shall be allocated approximately 20 minutes at the Board meeting to present their background/ qualifications, as well as respond to any questions from the Board. After the candidates have been presented to the Board, there will be a discussion period followed by a secret ballot.

The Society will cover the President-Elect candidates’ expenses for the hotel charges from the night before the Board of Governors meeting through the night of the Board of Governors meeting; all other nights must be paid by the candidate. All reimbursement requests must be made on the IEEE reimbursement form and original receipts must accompany the request to the Society's Executive Office.

3.10. Notification of Officer and General Election Results. (amended 31 March 2012)

3.10.1. Notification of Candidates.

The Chair of the Nominations and Appointments Committee shall notify candidates of their success in the general election. Upon request from any member of the Society, he/she may receive the Officer, Member-at-Large and Regional Director-at-Large election results.

3.10.2. Vote Counts.

The results (vote counts) of the Society's elections shall not be published.

3.11. Resource Center Chief Editor Nomination Procedures. (approved 6 December 2013)

1. Nomination. The Vice President-Membership shall make an open solicitation for the Resource Center Chief Editor nomination, which shall stay open for a period of three months. Such solicitation shall occur no later than one year prior to the conclusion of the current Chief Editor’s term.

   Nominations for the Chief Editor shall be restricted to individuals who have experience with society publications, such as former associate editors of IEEE publications and/or past members of the Publications Board and who are members in good standing of the IEEE and of the Society. It is strongly recommended that a slate of at least two names be brought forward.

2. Willingness to Serve. The Vice President-Membership shall obtain, in writing, from each individual who has received a nomination, a written assurance of willingness and ability to serve if elected.

   Individuals who agree to be nominated shall be required to provide a brief biography and a statement of candidacy. These shall be circulated to the Executive Committee by the Vice President-Membership, via e-mail, at least two weeks before the meeting at which the slate of names will be discussed.

   The Executive Committee will review the candidates’ biographies and statements of candidacy and shall provide to the Vice President-Membership, at the meeting, their endorsement of the preferred candidate, along with any additional comments. Should the Executive Committee not endorse any of the nominees, the Vice President-Membership shall provide at least two new nominations within one month of the meeting. An e-mail ballot of the Executive Committee shall then be conducted and the results reported within 15 days.

   Upon endorsement of a nominee by the Executive Committee, the Chief Editor will then be appointed by the Vice President-Membership. The Vice President-Membership will notify all candidates of the final decision. Once the candidates have been notified, the Vice President-Membership will notify the Membership Board and the SPS Executive Office on the outcome of the appointment process.

3.12. Resource Center Editors. (approved 6 December 2013)

Resource Center Editors shall be appointed by the Resource Center Chief Editor and must be a current member of the IEEE and the Signal Processing Society in good standing. The Society encourages outgoing and incoming Chief Editors to work in coordination to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities. The selection of editorial board members, whose terms start on or after the term of the incoming Chief Editor, is the responsibility of the incoming Chief Editor. Prior to the start of their term, the new Chief Editor may submit their recommendations for new members to the Vice President-Membership.

A Resource Center Editor should have contributed a personally authored Resource Center before his/her editorial role commences. The role of the Editor is to solicit and coordinate submitted Resource Center reviews; recommend acceptance of Resource Center tutorials; ensure appropriate materials for Resource Center release; provide support for Resource Center contributors and solicitation of new Resource Center tutorials.

Editors shall have an initial term of no more than three years. After their initial term, Editors may be extended up to one additional year for exemplary service. Editors may serve more than one term on the Resource Center Editorial Board; however, such terms shall not be consecutive and shall have a minimum break of two years between service.

The Chief Editor shall have the right to terminate the terms of Editors. Appeals of such action by the Chief Editor shall be to the Signal Processing Society Vice President-Membership, who shall have final authority in the matter.

3.13. SigPort Chief Editor Nomination Procedures. (approved 6 December 2013)

1. Nomination. The Vice President-Membership shall make an open solicitation for the SigPort Chief Editor nomination, which shall stay open for a period of three months. Such solicitation shall occur no later than one year prior to the conclusion of the current Chief Editor’s term.

   Nominations for the Chief Editor shall be restricted to individuals who have experience with society publications, such as former associate editors of IEEE publications and/or past members of the Publications Board and who are members in good standing of the IEEE and of the Society. It is strongly recommended that a slate of at least two names be brought forward.

2. Willingness to Serve. The Vice President-Membership shall obtain, in writing, from each individual who has received a nomination, a written assurance of willingness and ability to serve if elected.

   Individuals who agree to be nominated shall be required to provide a brief biography and a statement of candidacy. These shall be circulated to the Executive Committee by the Vice President-Membership, via e-mail, at least two weeks before the meeting at which the slate of names will be discussed.

   The Executive Committee will review the candidates’ biographies and statements of candidacy and shall provide to the Vice President-Membership, at the meeting, their endorsement of the preferred candidate, along with any additional comments. Should the Executive Committee not endorse any of the nominees, the Vice President-Membership shall provide at least two new nominations within one month of the meeting. An e-mail ballot of the Executive Committee shall than be conducted and the results reported within 15 days.

   Upon endorsement of a nominee by the Executive Committee, the Chief Editor will then be appointed by the Vice President-Membership. The Vice President-Membership will notify all candidates of the final decision. Once the candidates have been notified, the Vice President-Membership will notify the Membership Board and the SPS Executive Office on the outcome of the appointment process.

3.14. SigPort Editors. (approved 6 December 2013)

SigPort Editors shall be appointed by the SigPort Chief Editor and must be a current member of the IEEE and the Signal Processing Society in good standing. The Society encourages outgoing and incoming Chief Editors to work in coordination to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities. The selection of editorial board members, whose terms start on or after the term of the incoming Chief Editor, is the responsibility of the incoming Chief Editor. Prior to the start of their term, the new Chief Editor may submit their recommendations for new members to the Vice President-Membership.

The role of the Editor is to actively solicit usage of SigPort by both authors and readers, manage the posting process, sample documents to ensure that they are appropriate, and ensure that user issues are addressed. Each Editor works actively with the Board to accomplish the Board objectives stated above.

Editors shall have an initial term of no more than three years. After their initial term, Editors may be extended up to one additional year for exemplary service. Editors may serve more than one term on the SigPort Editorial Board; however, such terms shall not be consecutive and shall have a minimum break of two years between service.

The Chief Editor shall have the right to terminate the terms of Editors. Appeals of such action by the Chief Editor shall be to the Signal Processing Society Vice President-Membership, who shall have final authority in the matter.

SECTION 4. GEOGRAPHICAL ACTIVITIES

4.1. Establish a Chapter. (amended 15 September 2011) A petition to establish a Chapter must contain the following:

1. name of the Section;
2. name of the sponsoring Society(ies);
3. name of the organizer (who becomes interim chair, pending election of a regular chair at a later organization meeting);
4. signatures of at least twelve (12) IEEE members, other than Students, who are members of the Society and Section involved;
5. information on Section members who indicate they will join the Chapter, if established.

 

The petition for a Chapter shall be submitted to the Section Executive Committee for written approval and forwarded with the written approval to the IEEE Member and Geographic Activities Board. The Chapter will be considered established after the IEEE Member and Geographic Activities Board has ascertained that the Regional Director and the Society President have no objection to its formation. The IEEE Member and Geographic Activities Board shall so notify the IEEE Executive Committee, the Society President, and the Section Chair.

4.2. Establish a Student Branch Chapter. A petition to establish a Student Branch Chapter, on the required form supplied by the IEEE, must contain at least:

1. name of Student Branch, signatures of its Student Branch officers, and signature of the counselor;
2. name of the sponsoring Society;
3. signatures of at least twelve (12) students who are members of the Student Branch and of the Society involved; the signature of the Faculty Advisor of the Student Branch Chapter selected by the petitioning students, who shall be a Member of the Society; the name of one student petitioner who will serve as interim chair until establishment of the Student Branch Chapter is authorized.

   The petition for the Student Branch Chapter shall be submitted to the Manager of Student Services at IEEE Headquarters. The Student Branch Chapter shall be considered established following approval of the petition by the Regional Student Activities Committee Chair, the Regional Director, and the Society President.

4.3. Chapter Support. (amended 4 October 2012)

The Society shall provide financial assistance to its chapters in the form of support for travel, publicity, and coffee breaks or other small social gathering expenses for invited speakers. The maximum amount of such support available to each Chapter annually shall be determined by the Executive Committee.

Reimbursement to the Chapter for invited speaker travel expense, upon submission of a completed IEEE expense form and appropriate, original receipts, shall be on the basis of approval by both the Chapters Coordinator and the President-Elect.

The Society shall not, as a rule, provide other financial support to its Chapters. However, in the event of a specific request, the Chapter Coordinator shall make a recommendation to the President-Elect for relief. (During the transition period, the Vice President-Finance will hold the position instead of the President-Elect until 12/31/2014.)

4.4. Assistance to Needy Colleagues. (approved 25 April 1997)

The Society is aware of geographical and financial issues that may severely limit access by its members and colleagues to information about signal processing technology. For these reasons, the Society will, upon action by the Executive Committee, participate in library and other donation programs that provide service to its members and the community of peers.

SECTION 5. TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES

The authority to create, merge, or dissolve, as well as change the name or scope of a Technical Committee lies with the Board of Governors, which acts upon the recommendation of the Technical Directions Board or TC Review Committee. The TC Review Committee’s and Technical Directions Board’s recommendation should be based on the technical needs of the Society’s membership and on the existing or expected levels of activity of the Technical Committee in question. (approved 28 May 2011)

5.1. Technical Directions Board. (approved 8 December 2009)

The Technical Directions Board has oversight of the Technical Committees and sets up policies and procedures for all of them. While Technical Committees may have additional Bylaws and Policies and Procedures, the Society’s Policies and Procedures will take precedence in case of conflict.

5.1.1. Creation of Special Interest Groups. (approved 5 September 2013).

Special Interest Groups are provisional groups that are created to quickly address emerging technical areas. Special Interest Groups will have a life-span of up to three years. They will follow the same composition structure as a Technical Committee and will also function in the same way. When the term end of the Special Interest Group approaches, the Special Interest Group will be subject to a review by the TC Review Committee to determine if the group should continue to be a Special Interest Group, formally become a Technical Committee or be disbanded. The TC Review Committee Chair will bring forward the Committee’s recommendation to the Board of Governors for review and action.

The Vice President-Technical Directions has the authority to identify emerging areas and create and receive proposals for Special Interest Groups. The proposal shall contain as much information as possible in support of the proposal and shall include a suggested scope, membership roster, as well as a rationale as to why the Special Interest Group is needed at that particular time. The proposal will be reviewed by the Vice President-Technical Directions, who will then seek feedback from the Technical Directions Board. After feedback has been received, the Vice President-Technical Directions will bring forward a recommendation to the Executive Committee for review and action. The Executive Committee shall then consider the proposal and the Vice President’s recommendation, and may act to approve the creation of the new Special Interest Group.

After approval of the Special Interest Group, the Vice President-Technical Directions shall appoint the inaugural Chair of the Special Interest Group, who will become an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Technical Directions Board.

5.1.2. Creation of New Technical Committees.

From time to time, consonant with advances to the fields of signal processing, and in order to service the many activities of the Society (publications, conferences, awards, etc.) requiring easy access to a cadre of experts in a specific technical area, it may be appropriate to create a new Technical Committee (TC).

5.1.2.1. Recommendation for a New Technical Committee.

A proposal for a new Technical Committee (TC) shall be brought to the attention of the Technical Directions Board (TDB).  The proposal shall contain as much information as possible in support of the proposal for a new TC and will include a suggested scope and a rationale as to why the TC is needed at that particular time.  The TDB will review, investigate, and discuss the proposal and then shall vote to recommend action by the Board of Governors.  The Board shall then, at its next regular meeting, consider the proposal and the TDB's recommendation, and may act to approve, in concept, the creation of the new TC.

Following the Board's approval, as noted above, for a new TC, the Vice President-Technical Directions shall empanel a working group to develop the name, scope, management, and membership of the new TC.  The efforts of the working group will be reported back to the Board by the Vice President-Technical Directions, which shall then be asked to provide final approval of the new TC.

5.1.3. Change of Technical Committee Name/Scope.

In response to changes within the technical community, it may be advisable to change the name of a technical committee.  Name changes may be recommended in order to keep current with the changing vocabulary of technology or to reflect a change in scope of an existing TC.

As technology advances, activities surrounding certain disciplines may evolve, making both a change of name and of scope of a Technical Committee appropriate.  In the event that such change is believed by a particular TC to be warranted, the Chair of that TC shall bring the suggested name change and change of scope to the Technical Directions Board for deliberation, discussion, and recommendation to the Board of Governors.  The Board of Governors will take final action on the recommendation of the TDB.

5.1.4. Merge or Dissolve a Technical Committee. (approved 28 May 2011) The TC Review Committee will use the TC Review process to identify Technical Committees that are inactive or only minimally active. The TC Review Committee will suggest to the Technical Committee appropriate and attainable goals. If the efforts of the TC Review Committee to revitalize an inactive Technical Committee are not successful after a defined period of time, the TC Review Committee will make a recommendation to the Board of Governors to merge the Technical Committee with an existing Technical Committee, dissolve or change the Technical Committee.

At the recommendation of the Vice President-Technical Directions or the TC Review Committee, the Board of Governors can approve, with a two thirds vote present at the meeting, to dissolve, merge or change a Technical Committee if it deems it is no longer serving the needs of the Society.

5.2. Technical Committee Reviews.

No later than 31 January of each year, the TC Review Committee shall provide to each Technical Committee Chair being reviewed the TC Review template. The template provides a snapshot of the TC’s membership and activities, including, but not limited to, sponsored/co-sponsored workshops; paper review for sponsored/co-sponsored major conferences; session organization for major sponsored/co-sponsored conferences; awards nominations; associate editor nominations by EDICS and journal; distinguished lecturer nominations; TC elections; TC bylaws; number of TC meetings, attendance and quorum; diversity of membership; web page address and date of last update. The TC Review Committee will individually meet with each TC Chair at ICASSP to discuss the review report. The TC Review Committee will study the reports and make formal remarks and recommendations via the review report. The TC Review Committee will submit the final report, which includes their recommendations, for every Technical Committee reviewed to the Board of Governors for formal acceptance.

5.3. Technical Committee Membership.

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.
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.
5. The Vice President-Technical Directions shall be an ex-officio member, without vote, of all Technical Committees.

5.3.2. 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.

5.3.3. 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.

5.4. Technical Committee Management.(amended 15 September 2011)

5.4.1. Vice Chair.

1. The Vice Chair position automatically succeeds to the position of Chair then Past Chair. The term for the Vice Chair shall be one calendar year. The Vice President-Technical Directions has the authority to grant exceptions to the one year term policy to allow a two year term based on the technical committee’s needs.
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.

5.4.2. 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.

5.4.3. Past Chair.

1. The term for Past Chair shall normally be one calendar 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.

5.5. Technical Committee Organization.

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.

The subcommittees may address the following activities:

1. 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.
2. 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 help nominate Associate Editor candidates to relevant Editors-in-Chief in the Society.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Webmaster Subcommittee. This subcommittee maintains the Technical Committee web site together with SPS staff.
6. 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 Processing TC newsletter is a good example.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Education Subcommittee. Responsibilities of the subcommittee include liaison with the Education 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).
10. 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.
11. Other. The TC is free to create other subcommittees to cover areas that have not been specifically addressed in the above list.

5.5.2. Conduct of Business.

1. The Technical Committee will hold at least one meeting per year, normally at one of the Society’s sponsored conferences.
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. Quorum. A quorum of the TC shall be a majority of those members having voting rights.
4. Face-to-Face Voting. The vote of a majority of the votes of the members present and entitled to vote, at the time of vote, provided a quorum is present, shall be the act of the Technical Committee.
5. Telecommunication Voting.The TC may meet and act upon the vote of its members by any means of telecommunication. The normal Face-to-Face 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.
6. E-Mail Voting. The Technical Committee may take action without a meeting if applicable (e.g., e-mail voting). An affirmative vote of a majority of ALL the voting members of the Technical Committee shall be required to approve the action. 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 Technical Committee. “Electronic transmission” means any form of electronic communication, such as e-mail, not directly involving the physical transmission of paper, that creates a record that may be retained, retrieved and reviewed by a recipient thereof, and that may be directly reproduced in paper form by such a recipient.
7. The order of business for TC meetings shall be organized by the Chair and made available to the members prior to the meeting.
8. 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. Proxy voting is not allowed.

5.6. Technical Committee Election Procedures.

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 15 November, 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 both approved by a majority of the Technical Committee elected-members, and most preferred by the Technical Committee members responding to the ballot, provided a quorum of the Technical Committee members responded to the ballot. In the event of a tie, the Technical Committee Chair will break the tie.
6. The election shall be conducted by an e-mail ballot, unless another means is proposed and approved by the Technical Committee.

5.6.2. 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. (amended 6 December 2013) Current TC members who are in their first term may be nominated for a second consecutive term, but are not eligible to vote in that new member election and shall not be part of the Nominations Subcommittee for that election. After the second term on a TC, members may run for additional terms, but there must be an absence of at least 3 years between terms.
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 15 November, 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 both approved by a majority of the Technical Committee elected-members, and most preferred by the Technical Committee members responding to the ballot, provided a quorum of the Technical Committee members responded to the ballot. In the event of a tie, the Technical Committee Chair will break the tie.
7. The election will be conducted by e-mail, unless another means is proposed and approved by the TC.

5.6.3. Elections Process. (approved 28 May 2011)

Please refer to Policy 5.6.1. for Vice Chair and Policy 5.6.2. for Member election procedure details.

Votes for “Vice Chair” and “Member” Technical Committee elections shall be tallied using a two-tier process. First, nominees are voted as "approved" (Yes) or "not approved" (No). Next, preference is given to "approved" votes using a ranking process. The implementation of the voting procedure is left to the discretion of the individual Technical Committees. An implementation sample is: N is equal to the number of open slots and each voting TC member casts up to N votes for his or her preferred candidates (preference votes). Each voting TC member should vote on approval for each candidate (approval votes) to indicate if he or she approves of 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 Technical Committee Chair.

Technical Committee elections shall be finalized by 15 November, 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).

Policy 5.7. Technical Committee and Special Interest Group Award Nomination Procedures. (approved 27 March 2015)

1. This policy describes the procedure that each Technical Committee (TC) and Special Interest Group (SIG) shall use to select the TC/SIG Awards Nominations that will be forwarded to the SPS Awards Board by 1 September for final vetting and selection.
2. TC/SIG’s may not nominate a current elected member of their own TC/SIG for an award. However, current elected members of a TC/SIG may participate as individual nominators for other members of the same TC/SIG.
3. Each TC/SIG should select a TC/SIG Awards Subcommittee to supervise the TC/SIG’s awards nomination process. Per Policy 5.5.1., the TC Awards Subcommittee members should preferably include IEEE Fellows or individuals that have received an award so as to bring experience to the Awards nominations process. The Chair of the TC/SIG Awards Subcommittee also acts as a liaison to the Society’s Awards Board.
4. The TC/SIG Awards Subcommittee shall vet all received preliminary nominations using a well-defined process approved by the TC/SIG in order to form a final list of preliminary nominations.
5. The final list of preliminary nominations shall be voted on by the full TC/SIG using a well-defined process approved by the TC/SIG in order to form the final set of nominations to be forwarded to the SPS Awards Board by 1 September. Each nomination may be forwarded along with a summary of supporting material not to exceed 300 words.

Suggested Technical Committee and Special Interest Group Award Nomination Procedure. The following section lists a suggested step-by-step procedure for paper awards nomination that can be used by TC/SIGs.

Step 1. TC/SIG Awards Subcommittee formation: see Item c above.

Step 2. List of preliminary nominations: Between 1 May and 15 July, the TC/SIG Awards Subcommittee compiles a set of preliminary nominations for awards. Each TC/SIG Awards Subcommittee is responsible for proactively soliciting preliminary nominations from within or outside the TC. Any individual member of the society or broader technical community is eligible to make one or more preliminary award nominations including members of the TC/SIG and the TC/SIG Awards Subcommittee. Sources for nominations may include authors of highly cited journal papers in the technical area of the TC/SIG, top downloaded papers from IEEE Xplore, journal versions of conference papers that obtained best paper awards, and preliminary nominations from the previous year that were not selected and are still eligible.

Step 3. Final list of preliminary nominations: see item d. The TC/SIG Awards Subcommittee may pare down the number of preliminary nominations based on a careful review. For example, the Awards Subcommittee may choose to select the 3 most worthy preliminary nominations in each category based on careful review. In addition, if a preliminary nomination is viewed as being without technical merit, it may be removed from consideration by a majority vote of the TC/SIG Awards Subcommittee. Moreover, all invalid preliminary nominations should be removed in this step.

Step 4. Anonymous review of paper award nominations: Each paper award nomination in the final list of preliminary nominations is anonymously reviewed by at least two experts. The Awards Subcommittee Chair makes the award review assignments and the Awards Subcommittee members act as auditors for the review and voting process. These reviews should comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the paper, its potential impact, and conclude with the reviewers’ opinion of whether or not the paper should be considered as the TC's nominee.

Step 5. Review by TC/SIG Members: By approximately July 30, all nominations along with associated reviews for paper nominations should be circulated to all TC/SIG members for consideration. During this period, TC/SIG members can make comments to the TC/SIG Awards Subcommittee. At their discretion, the TC/SIG Awards Subcommittee then has the option of circulating to the TC/SIG membership a balanced selection and/or summary of comments along with possibly expert rebuttal if this is deemed to be of value.

Step 6. TC/SIG Vote. See item e. Below is a suggested procedure for use in voting.

The suggested voting procedure occurs in two rounds. In the first round of voting, each voting TC/SIG member may vote for up to 3n preliminary nominations in each award category, where n is the number of awards that can be given in that category. The TC/SIG Awards Subcommittee then selects the 3n preliminary nominations with the largest number of votes. In the case of a tie, more than 3n nominations may be included.

In the second round of voting, each voting TC/SIG member votes for up to n nominations for each award category, where n is the number of awards that can be given in that category. A preliminary nomination wins the vote if it receives a majority of the responding Technical Committee members votes provided that a quorum of the Technical Committee members respond to the ballot. In the event of a tie, the committee has the two options of a) voting additional times among the tying nominations until a majority vote is achieved; or b) selecting the full set of multiple tying nominations as winners.

Step 7. Submission to Awards Board. Final nominations selected by the TC/SIG along with up to 300 word summaries of supplementary material are forwarded to the SPS Awards Board by 1 September.

SECTION 6: PUBLICATION ACTIVITIES

6.1. Authorship Responsibility and Misconduct. (approved 2 June 2013)

6.1.1. Author Rights and Responsibilities.

Authorship and co-authorship of any publication submitted to the IEEE Signal Processing Society in any form should be based on substantial contributions as defined in the IEEE Publications Operations manual, section 8.2.1.A, which include a significant intellectual input, contributions to drafting the article, and approval of the final version accepted for publications. All co-authors have responsibility for work submitted under their names. Co-authors have the right to withdraw their names before acceptance of the article, but no co-author shall be removed without his/her permission.

Submission of a paper to an IEEE Signal Processing Society journal is taken to mean that all listed authors have agreed to the authorship list and all the contents and confirm that the work is original and that figures, tables and other reported results accurately reflect the experimental work. The use of a co-author’s name in a submission without his/her consent is unacceptable and will result in corrective actions. Fabrication, falsification or intentional misrepresentation of any aspect is considered misconduct and subject to IEEE sanctions for all authors.

Authors may only submit original work that has not appeared elsewhere in a journal publication, nor is under review for another journal publication. Limited overlap with prior journal publications with a common author is allowed only if it is necessary for the readability of the paper and the paper is cited. It is acceptable for conference papers to be used as the basis for a more fully developed journal submission. Still, authors are required to cite related prior work; the papers cannot be identical; and the journal publication must include novel aspects. The question of whether there is sufficient novelty should be determined by the review process and not by a simple measurement of overlap determined by word count. Overlap with an unreviewed technical report or student thesis with the same authors is allowed if the original work is cited.

All manuscripts submitted for publication will be treated as confidential by Editors, Associate Editors and Reviewers.

6.1.2. Author Misconduct.

The IEEE Signal Processing Society recognizes that there are different forms of author misconduct including:

• Research misconduct: Falsification, fabrication and/or misrepresentation of results, committed intentionally or recklessly; intentional misuse of a co-author’s name in a submission without his/her consent. Research misconduct does not include honest errors.
• Plagiarism of the work of others: Plagiarism includes copying someone else’s work without appropriate credit, using someone else’s work without clear delineation of citation, and the uncited reuse of an author’s previously published work that also involves other authors. The IEEE PSPB Operations manual section 8.2.4.D provides guidelines on adjudicating five different levels of severity of plagiarism, including uncredited verbatim copying and uncredited improper paraphrasing of different amounts of text, as well as credited verbatim copying of a major portion of an article without clear delineation. These are intended as guidelines; the impact of the plagiarized material on the originality of the paper should be a primary consideration.
• Self-plagiarism: Self-plagiarism involves the reuse of an author’s own prior work without appropriate citation, including substantial overlap in technical content as well as verbatim copying. Uncredited reuse of material from a previously published journal paper that constitutes more than 35% of the submitted SPS manuscript (not necessarily verbatim) is unacceptable and shall be subject to sanctions. Uncredited reuse of a substantial amount of material from a previously published conference paper is also unacceptable.
• Multiple submissions: When papers by the same author(s) are being considered for review concurrently and have substantial overlap, as described above for self-plagiarism, they are considered to be multiple submissions. While some societies allow multiple submissions with editorial notice, the IEEE Signal Processing Society does not. If the authors alert the editor that a submitted paper is under review elsewhere (with either an IEEE or non-IEEE publication), they will be asked to withdraw other versions from consideration or withdraw the SPS paper. When the editor is not alerted, a duplicate submission will be considered self-plagiarism.

Uncredited verbatim copying of large amounts of material from another journal paper, whether by other authors or by the same authors, is classified as level 1 or level 2 plagiarism and is reviewed at both the society and the IEEE level.

Plagiarism and self-plagiarism applies to all previously published work, irrespective of whether the other publication is inside or outside of IEEE. All forms of author misconduct are unacceptable and may be subject to corrective actions by the IEEE.

Authors who have questions about whether their paper would violate any of the plagiarism principles should contact the Editor-in-Chief of the journal to which they plan to submit the paper.

6.1.3. Procedures for Investigation of Author Misconduct.

The IEEE process for handling allegations of author misconduct involve an investigation by the organizational unit (Signal Processing Society) and subsequent PSPB review for any cases that are not dismissed at the organization level, as documented in the PSPB Operations Manual, section 8.2.4. The process may be initiated by a formal complaint from a reader, reviewer, author, or editorial staff, referenced here as the complainant. Alternatively, it may be initiated by the automatic plagiarism detection software used by IEEE, in which case there is no formal complainant. The investigation process within the Signal Processing Society is described below. All inquiries shall be handled promptly and fairly. All parties relevant to the allegation shall be given the opportunity to respond.

• If the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) learns that an author may have acted improperly, which may include the suspicion of plagiarism, self-plagiarism or research misconduct, then he/she shall investigate the alleged misconduct. If the EIC has a conflict of interest, he/she shall report this to the SPS Vice President-Publications who will handle the case. The person handling the case will be referred to as the “investigating officer” in the steps below.
• The investigating officer should request material from the complainant to document the case, as described in PSPB Operations Manual Section 8.2.4.A If the investigating officer determines that is clearly not a case of misconduct, a letter of dismissal will be sent to the complainant. Otherwise, the SPS Staff will inform the PSPB chair of the investigation, the investigating officer will appoint one or two experts to confidentially investigate the allegation, and the investigating officer will inform the accused authors of the allegation and request a reply within 2 weeks.

1. The Ad Hoc Committee will review the material from the complainant, seek external help if needed, determine the type of misconduct and level of severity, and recommend corrective actions. The report should typically be prepared within 3 weeks, but extensions of up to a month may be approved for difficult cases. The institutions that funded the work, where the work was performed, or that employ the author(s) are not to be contacted, unless there is explicit information that any such institution has already investigated the issue.
2. Based on the Ad Hoc Committee report and the author response, the investigating officer shall make a decision within 2 weeks as to whether misconduct has been found and if so at what level. For all decisions, the investigating officer shall notify the SPS Vice President-Publications and the SPS Office.
   1. If no misconduct is found, the investigating officer will notify the authors and the complainant. The SPS Office or the investigating officer will notify the IPR office and the PSPB chair.
   2. If it is determined that there was misconduct, the investigating officer shall communicate the decision to the authors and the complainant and provide the authors with instructions for appeal, if they so choose. The authors may appeal the decision to the SPS Vice President-Publications. If the investigating officer is the SPS Vice President-Publications, they may appeal the decision to the PSPB chair.

      In either case, the investigating officer shall notify the authors of the decision no sooner than 30 days and no later than 90 days after they were first notified of the review.

3. If there is an appeal to the Vice President-Publications, s/he will consider all previous reports and the author appeal, and s/he shall communicate the decision within 2 weeks to the authors, complainant, and SPS Office.
4. If there is no appeal or if the Vice President-Publications concurs that there has been misconduct, the implementation of corrective actions will depend on the severity of the misconduct.
   1. For research misconduct or plagiarism level 1 or 2, the SPS Office will inform the PSPB Chair with recommendations of corrective actions, and the PSPB will review the case and determine the corrective actions.
   2. For lower-level plagiarism or self-plagiarism cases, the SPS Office shall then implement the decision.

6.1.4. Corrective Actions for Author Misconduct.

The IEEE Signal Processing Society will consider the following sanctions for manuscripts identified before publication.

1. Research misconduct and plagiarism level 1 or 2 shall be subject to IEEE PSPB recommendations for corrective actions, which may include:
   1. The manuscript at issue shall be immediately REJECTED.
   2. All authors (that is, any single, paired, or group of authors) of the manuscript shall be prevented from submitting new manuscripts to any IEEE publication for the period of 3-5 years from the date of sanction;
   3. Immediate rejection of all articles currently in review by any of the author(s), regardless of the stage of peer review; and
   4. The author(s) shall be required to write a letter of apology to the plagiarized author(s) and the publication editor.
2. Other cases of plagiarism involving significant technical content:
   1. The manuscript at issue shall be immediately REJECTED.
   2. All authors (that is, any single, paired, or group of authors) of the manuscript shall be prevented from submitting new manuscripts to any IEEE publication for the period of 1-3 years from the date of sanction;
   3. Immediate rejection or automatic withdrawal of all articles currently in review by any of the author(s), regardless of the stage of peer review; and
   4. The author(s) shall be required to write a letter of apology to the plagiarized author(s) and the publication editor.
3. Plagiarism of brief sections of background material that does not impact the technical contribution:
   1. For the first offence, the manuscript at issue shall be immediately REJECTED and the author(s) given a warning notice.
   2. For subsequent offences, the case should be handled as for other instances of plagiarism above.
4. Multiple submissions and self-plagiarism of a journal paper:
   1. The manuscript at issue shall be immediately REJECTED.
   2. All authors (that is, any single, paired, or group of authors) of the manuscript shall be prevented from submitting new manuscripts to any IEEE publication for the period of 1 year from the date of sanction; and,
   3. Automatic withdrawal of all articles currently in review by any of the author(s), regardless of the stage of peer review, except for manuscripts involving innocent co-authors.
5. Self-plagiarism of a conference paper:
   1. For the first offence, the manuscript at issue shall be immediately REJECTED and the author(s) given a warning notice.
   2. For the second offence, the manuscript at issue shall be immediately REJECTED and the author(s) prohibited from resubmission for 6 months.
   3. For subsequent offences, the case should be handled as for other instances of self-plagiarism above.
6. Combinations of plagiarism and self-plagiarism shall be considered more severe than either alone.

Papers that have a substantial overlap with another paper by the same authors, where the overlapping paper is appropriately cited, may be rejected without review by the Editor-in-Chief for lack of novelty, but they are not considered self-plagiarism and not subject to sanctions.

For manuscripts identified after publication, the IEEE Signal Processing Society will consider publication of a notice of violation of Publication Principles in the article’s bibliographic record, as specified in the PSPB Operations Manual section 8.2.4.E.

6.2. Protection of Intellectual Property. (amended 2 June 2013)

6.2.1. Copyright.

As provided by IEEE Policy, all technical, educational and professional publications, including Society newsletters, are required to be copyrighted by the IEEE. Copyright is held by the Institute itself and not by the Society.

In further keeping with IEEE policy, the Society shall ensure that, prior to publication, all authors or their employers shall transfer to the IEEE in writing any copyright they hold for their individual papers. Such transfer shall be necessary for publication, except for material in the public domain or reprinted from a copyrighted publication. In return, the IEEE shall grant authors and their employers permission in writing to make copies and otherwise reuse the material under terms approved by the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board, which shall be specified in the PSPB Operations Manual. This includes electronic posting of accepted article preprints, as described in Section 8.1.9.

For jointly sponsored conferences, which might require special copyright arrangements, those arrangements shall be made in accordance with the procedures which shall be specified in the PSPB Operations Manual. Inquiries regarding IEEE copyright shall be referred to the IEEE Intellectual Property Rights Office.

6.2.2. Property Rights.

No member or other individual may assign to any other organization or individual, ownership, whether in whole or in part, of any Society products, services, or other property, without the express, written consent of the Executive Committee.

6.2.3. Plagiarized Work Published by the Society. (approved 18 October 2008).

When authors plagiarize work published by the Society, whether in its periodicals or conference publications, the Society volunteer leader who is the nominal “publisher” of the periodical or conference publication will contact the publisher of the offending paper to request an investigation of the offense in a specified period. If the publisher of the offending paper does not undertake an investigation, or does not respond timely to the request, then the relevant society leader will undertake an investigation on behalf of the Society and will recommend a sanction to the Society’s Publications Board, if appropriate. In any event, the Society may take action, and also report the outcome of the Society’s decision to IEEE for the sanctioned author list.

6.3. Editor-in-Chief Nomination Procedures.

1. Nomination. The Vice President-Publications shall make an open solicitation for Editor-in-Chief nominations, which shall stay open for a period of three months. Such solicitation shall occur no later than one year prior to the conclusion of the current Editor-in-Chief’s term.
    

   Nominations for the Editor-in-Chief shall be restricted to individuals who have previously served as associate editor on an IEEE publication, and who are members in good standing of the IEEE and of the Society. It is strongly recommended that a slate of at least two names be brought forward for each position coming vacant.

2. Willingness to Serve. The Vice President-Publications shall obtain, in writing, from each individual who has received a nomination, a written assurance of willingness and ability to serve if elected.
    

   Individuals who agree to be nominated shall be required to provide a brief biography and a statement of candidacy. These shall be circulated to the Executive Committee by the Vice President-Publications, via e-mail, at least two weeks before the meeting at which the slate of names will be discussed.

   The Executive Committee will review the candidates’ biographies and statements of candidacy and shall provide to the Vice President-Publications, at the meeting, their endorsement of the preferred candidate, along with any additional comments. Should the Executive Committee not endorse any of the nominees, the Vice President-Publications shall provide at least two new nominations within one month of the meeting. An e-mail ballot of the Executive Committee shall than be conducted by the Executive Director and the results reported within 15 days.

   Upon endorsement of a nominee by the Executive Committee, the Editor-in-Chief will then be appointed by the Vice President-Publications. The Vice President-Publications will notify all candidates of the final decision. Once the candidates have been notified, the Vice President-Publications will notify the Publications Board and the SPS Publications Office on the outcome of the appointment process.

6.4. Associate Editor and Senior Area Editors (amended 1 October 2015).

Associate Editors and Senior Area Editors for a publication shall be appointed by the Editors-in-Chief and must be a current member of the IEEE and the Signal Processing Society in good standing. However, in special situations where there is an exceptional Associate Editor candidate that is not an IEEE and/or Society member, but whose expertise would be a benefit to the journal that cannot be obtained from other sources, the Vice President-Publications has the authority to grant exceptions for the membership requirement. The Editor-in-Chief would provide his/her rationale for the candidate to the Vice President-Publications. The membership exception is expected to be rare and would be granted only once per candidate for up to a three year term with no option for the one year term extension described below. A list of exceptions will be maintained by the SPS Executive Office.

The role of the Associate Editor is to manage manuscripts through the peer review process, as specifically stated in the Society’s Guide for Associate Editors, and to contribute, as a member of the Editorial Board, to maintaining the health and quality of the publication. Associate Editors shall have an initial term of no more than three years. After their initial term, Associate Editors may be extended up to one additional year or promoted to Senior Area Editor for exemplary service.

The role of the Senior Area Editor is to manage manuscripts through the immediate reject process, advise the Editor-in-Chief in selecting Associate Editors, assist with managing the peer review process for difficult cases, as specifically stated in the Society’s Guide for Senior Area Editors, and to contribute, as a member of the Editorial Board, to maintaining the health and quality of the publication. Senior Area Editors shall have a term of no more than three years. The combined term as Associate Editor and Senior Area Editor shall be no more than six years.

During their formal terms, Associate Editors and Senior Area Editors shall be voting members of the Editorial Board for the publication to which they were appointed. It shall be understood that, regardless of the formal term of service, Associate and Senior Area Editors shall serve until their workload has been completed; however, voting membership on the Editorial Board shall be for the formal term only. Associate and Senior Area Editors may serve more than one term for the same journal; however, such terms shall not be consecutive and shall have a minimum break of two years between service. No time break is required if the Associate Editor is moving to a position of Senior Area Editor, or to an Associate Editor position for a different journal.

The Editor-in-Chief shall have the right to terminate the terms of Associate Editors and Senior Area Editors. Appeals of such action by the Editor-in-Chief shall be to the Signal Processing Society Vice President-Publications, who shall have final authority in the matter.

The Society encourages outgoing and incoming Editors-in-Chief to work in coordination to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities for their journals. The selection of editorial board members, whose terms start on or after the term of the incoming Editor-in-Chief, is the responsibility of the incoming Editor-in-Chief. Prior to the start of their term, new Editors-in-Chief may submit their recommendations for new members to the Vice President-Publications, who would then seek the consent of the Publications Board on their behalf.

 

6.5. Overview Papers. (approved 31 March 2012)

Overview articles may be published in the regular SPS Transactions are intended to be of solid technical depth and lasting value and should provide advanced readers with a thorough overview of various fields of interest.

1. Authors interested in submitting overview articles are required to consult first with the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of their Transactions of choice before submitting a white paper proposal. White papers are limited to 2-pages and should motivate the topic, justify the proposal, and include a list of relevant bibliography including any available tutorial or overview articles related to the subject matter. The authors should also attach IEEE-style bios. White paper proposals should be submitted directly to the EiC.
2. The EiC solicits input from the Editorial Board on whether to encourage submission of a full paper. The EiC may also consult the leadership of one or more of the Society’s Technical Committees related to the topic of the proposed overview paper. Based on the feedback received from the Editorial Board, the EiC either discourages the author(s) from submitting a full-fledged manuscript or forwards it to the Publication Board for approval. If approved, the EiC encourages submission of a full manuscript within a three-month window through Manuscript Central. As a result of the feedback from the Editorial Board, the EiC may determine that the Overview Article is more suitable to some other Transactions and may contact the EiC of that Transactions.
3. If approved for submission, the overview article is subject to the same rigorous review process as all other regular submissions. The official submission date of the manuscript is counted from the time the full manuscript is submitted to the Transactions. It is expected that the time from submission to publication of accepted Overview Articles will not to exceed one year.

Overview articles may be up to twice as long as a regular paper.

In order to limit interference with the publication of regular manuscripts in the Transactions, the publication of overview articles is limited to at most one article per issue and averaging four per year in each Transactions.

6.6. Special Issues. (amended 23 May 2004)

The Signal Processing Society encourages the development and publication of special issues of periodicals when: (a) a broad cross-section of the technical community can be served; (b) to call attention to cutting-edge technology; (c) to establish a publication with the community it was designed to serve. The Guidelines for Special Issues are posted on the Society's website.

6.6.1. Approval of Special Issues. (amended 23 May 2004)

Approval of proposals for publication of special issues shall be the responsibility of the Society's Publications Board provided that: (a) the proposal is endorsed by one or more of the Society's Technical Committees; (b) the proposal indicates the name(s) and contact information of the special issue editor(s); (c) page budgets will not be exceeded; (d) expense budgets will not be exceeded; and, (e) publication of the normal queue of submitted papers will not be significantly delayed. The proposal shall follow the Guidelines for Special Issues.

6.6.2. Cooperative Special Issues. (amended 25 July 2012)

When the opportunity for publication of a special issue cooperatively with one or more IEEE Society or other organizations shall arise, and such publication shall provide a significant service to the Society's membership, the following procedures shall obtain:

6.6.2.1.

The steps in the process of creating cooperative special issues are: Step 0) The Editor-in-Chief of the SPS publication involved should alert the Vice President-Publications that the joint proposal is under development and identify the collaborative organization. 1) A proposal and Call for Papers be created by the potential cooperative special issue editors; 2) The proposal and the Call for Papers be approved by the Society's Publications Board; 3) Approval shall be sought by the Publications Board from the Society's Executive Committee to assure that a budget for the activity is established and also reflected in the Society's budget; 4) Call for Papers be issued and publicized by the IEEE Signal Processing Society and other cooperative organization(s); and 5) Usual editorial processes follow as the responsibilities of the cooperative special issue editors and as specified in the Call for Papers.

6.6.2.2.

The Call for Papers shall be disseminated to all Society members whose technical interests would permit their participation in the cooperative special issue. Additionally, appropriate participation by the Society's community of editors and reviewers shall be encouraged.

6.6.2.3.

At the time of dissemination of the Call for Papers, the IEEE Transactions/Journals Department will be notified, so that appropriate planning with that department and vendors can be planned.

6.6.2.4.

For three issues prior to publication, the Society's transactions and magazine shall publicize the special issue and the date of its availability, to call it to the attention of the regular subscribers and others who may choose to purchase the single issue.

6.7. Requirements Imposed by IEEE and/or TAB. (approved 10 June 2000)

6.7.1. Time from Submission to Publication (amended 15 September 2011)

Manuscripts published in all IEEE transactions/journals shall provide, on the first page, the date that the manuscript was initially received and the date on which the manuscript was received in finalized form from the author for publication. These two dates will serve to define the start and end of the review process.

6.8. Publication Activities, Appeal of Editorial Decision. (approved 10 June 2000)

The editorial policy of the journals sponsored by the IEEE Signal Processing Society are determined by the Society, within the framework and policies established by the IEEE Publication Activities Board and the IEEE Board of Directors. Implementation of these policies shall be the responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief of the publication.

The major criteria for publication of manuscripts in the publications sponsored by the IEEE Signal Processing Society shall be novelty and quality, based on the recommendation of the independent reviewers, and determined by the Associate Editor assigned to the manuscript. Authors wishing to appeal the decision of an Associate Editor shall make a request, in writing, to the Editor-in-Chief. If the Editor-in-Chief believes that additional, independent review is warranted, he/she may select independent reviewers, in consultation with the Editorial Board. The results shall be communicated to the author by the Editor-in-Chief. Thus, the Editor-in-Chief shall be, in general, the final authority on matters of content and appropriateness of material in the publication.

In the event the author(s) wishes to pursue the matter further, a decision would be made by the Vice President-Publications, with the advice and consent of the Signal Processing Society Publications Board. This decision shall be communicated to the author by the SPS Vice President-Publications.

In the event of a challenge to review or publishing actions which cannot be resolved at the Society level, the IEEE Vice President of Publication Activities shall be the IEEE officer with cognizance of the appeals process. An appeal of an editorial decision must be submitted within 60 days of final notification of the decision to the IEEE Staff Executive, Publications, who will acknowledge receipt of appeal and inform the IEEE Vice President of Publication Activities within 30 days. The IEEE Vice President of Publication Activities shall, within 30 days of receipt of a written appeal, determine whether the dispute merits a formal arbitration process. For arbitration, the Vice President of Publication Activities shall appoint an individual who shall, in consultation with all the parties to the dispute and with the assistance of knowledgeable members of the professional community, assess the merits of the dispute and recommend a resolution. The recommendation shall be presented to the IEEE Vice President of Publication Activities for review within 120 days of the receipt of the complaint. The decision, which shall be binding on the IEEE entity which is party to the dispute, shall be made within 15 days of the receipt of the recommendation by the IEEE Vice President of Publication Activities, and shall be reported to the IEEE Publication Activities Board.

6.9. Overlength Page Charges. (approved 11 September 2003)

The IEEE Signal Processing Society encourages authors to publish papers within the approved page limit. Papers of excessive length take space that could be used to publish a greater number of manuscripts. Publication values for the Society’s periodicals are high and the expense is significant, so extra pages add extra cost of publication and mailing. To encourage authors to remain, as much as possible, within the approved manuscript length limit, the Society has instituted Overlength Page Charges. Such charges encourage tightly written exposition of ideas and help to defray publication expenses when the manuscript length limit must be exceeded.

As published in the Information for Authors, payment of overlength page charges is the responsibility of the author(s) although, in some cases, his/her/their employer may defray this charge. The overlength page charge fee is set by the Society and approved by IEEE, and may not be suspended.

The author(s), upon submission of a manuscript, affirms by signature on one copy of the manuscript, and by mere submission of the manuscript to the Signal Processing Society, that he/she/they does/do agree to pay any overlength page charges accruing to that manuscript. Any and all authors who refuse, for whatever reason, to meet the obligation of payment of overlength page charges for any paper will be constrained from future publication of any and all manuscripts that are in excess of the approved page limit.

6.10. Advertising in Signal Processing Society Publications. (amended 10 May 2014)

IEEE Signal Processing Magazine shall be the primary venue for advertising Society events, products, and services. Ads shall be arranged, through the IEEE Magazine Advertising Department, at an advantageous Society-only rate.

The Society’s conferences and technical meetings shall be required to run an ad of at least ½ page in size, in an issue of IEEE Signal Processing Magazine to advertise the event. Further, such an ad shall be a prerequisite for free advertising, on a space available basis, in the most appropriate Society transactions or letters.

The Society’s major conferences shall be required to run their Call for Papers in the IEEE Signal Processing Magazine. One Call for Papers advertisement shall be allotted to the major conferences (ICASSP, ICIP and GlobalSIP) at no charge.

6.11. Scopes of Society Sponsored Journals. (approved 11 September 2003)

6.11.1. IEEE Signal Processing Magazine.

IEEE Signal Processing Magazine publishes tutorial-style articles on signal processing research and applications, as well as columns and forums of interest. Its coverage ranges from fundamental principles to practical implementation, reflecting the multidimensional facets of interests and concerns of the community. Its mission is to bring up-to-date, emerging and active technical developments, issues, and events to the research, educational, and professional communities. It is also the main Society communication platform addressing important issues concerning all members.

6.11.2. IEEE Signal Processing Transactions and Letters.

The scopes of the IEEE Signal Processing Society’s transactions and letters shall be as described in the EDICS for each of those publications.

6.11.3. Amendments to Scope.

6.11.3.1. IEEE Signal Processing Society Magazine.

Any recommendation for change to the scope of the IEEE Signal Processing Magazine shall be forwarded to the Society’s Publications Board for review, deliberation, approval, and recommendation to the Society’s Board of Governors for adoption.

6.11.3.2. IEEE Signal Processing Society Transactions and Letters.

Any recommendation for change to the scope of any of the transactions or the letters published by the IEEE Signal Processing Society shall be made via a recommendation for change of EDICS. Such recommendation(s) may arise from one or more of the Society’s committees or boards, or may be recommended by the Editor-in-Chief of the cognizant transactions or letters. Changes to EDICS shall be reviewed, deliberated, and adopted by the Society’s Publications Board.

6.11.4. Publication of Periodical Scopes.

The scope of the IEEE Signal Processing Magazine shall be published in a prominent location in each issue of the Magazine.

The scope of any transactions or letters, as contained in the EDICS, shall be published in each issue of that publication.

The scopes of all IEEE Signal Processing Society-sponsored periodicals shall be published on the Society’s web site and may also be published on the IEEE web site.

6.12. Publication of Obituaries in IEEE Signal Processing Society Transactions and Journals. (approved 24 March 2005)

An obituary, with photo included, of no more than one page, will be published in IEEE Signal Processing Magazine only for individuals who are considered to be Society “Pioneers”. A “Pioneer” is defined as an individual who was a member of IEEE and of the IEEE Signal Processing Society who is recognizable in the signal processing technical community for the discovery or development of a seminal engineering principle by being awarded an IEEE major medal, and who has, in some way, provided service to the Society. Any questions regarding the credential of “Pioneer” for any individual will be resolved by the Society President and President-Elect, in consultation.

No other Society periodical publication or technical meeting publication (proceedings or program) will publish any obituaries or memorial material.

6.13. Complimentary Membership for Special Guest Editors. (approved 21 April 2007)

In accordance with Society policy, individuals having fiduciary responsibility for Society activities are required to be Members of the Society they serve. This means that all Guest Editors of Special Issues must be a Signal Processing Society Member.

The Signal Processing Society will provide the Guest Editor(s) of a Special Issue of one of the Society’s solely owned journals, a complimentary Affiliate Society membership for their term as Guest Editor. This offer is only available to Guest Editors who are not current Members of the Society.

6.14. Handling of Manuscripts Authored by Publication Volunteers. (approved 25 April 2009)

All IEEE Signal Processing Society volunteers that are involved in the publications process should avoid every perception of conflict of interest. IEEE Signal Processing Society publications have established procedures to ensure that no one can acquire unauthorized access to privileged information. The procedures ensure that the identities of reviewers for papers authored by editors or other publication volunteers are not divulged to the authors and cannot be accessed by them. In particular, manuscripts submitted by publication volunteers are handled by another member of the editorial board; reports and recommendations for volunteer-authored papers, when submitted to the author, omit the names and other identifying information for reviewers; and access restrictions to ensure reviewer privacy from authors are also enforced in the electronic publication management systems used for IEEE Signal Processing Society publications.

When an Editor-in-Chief submits a paper to his/her journal, the Vice President-Publications of the Society should be notified promptly by the journal staff and by the Editor-in-Chief. The Vice President-Publications or another Editor-in-Chief (if the Vice President-Publications has a conflict) will then oversee the review process of the paper. The person overseeing the paper can delegate the handling of the review process to an associate editor, and the Editor-in-Chief is removed completely from the editorial handling of the manuscript.

Editors-in-Chief and the Vice President-Publications should not put forward special issue proposals during their terms. If an Editor-in-Chief has a conflict with a Guest Editor of a special issue, they should recuse themselves from the discussion and decision of the special issue approval during the Publications Board deliberations.

6.15. Publication Queues. (approved 11 November 2009)

The Society shall have a publication zero queue policy for all solely owned Society journals. The Editors-in-Chief are responsible for managing the page budget for their journal so no queues build-up during any calendar year. If a publication queue forms, the Editor-in-Chief should request a queue release from the Vice President-Publications with rationale. Upon approval by the Vice President-Publications, the Vice President-Publications requests the queue release from the Executive Committee. In the event, a queue release is approved by the Executive Committee, the Editor-in-Chief is responsible for managing the queue release for the approved pages, as well as bringing the publication page budget under control for the calendar year for which the queue release has been approved.

6.16. Handling of Rejected Papers. (approved 11 November 2009)

Authors of rejected manuscripts are allowed to resubmit their manuscripts afresh only once. At the time of submission, authors will be asked whether they consider their manuscript to be a new submission or a resubmission of an earlier rejected manuscript. If the authors indicate that their manuscript is a new submission, then the review process will follow the regular procedure.

If authors indicate instead that their manuscript is a resubmission, then they are required to upload a supporting document detailing how the new submission has addressed the concerns raised during the previous review. Authors may also request that the resubmission be handled by the same Associate Editor, if the Associate Editor has not retired from the board. The Editor-in-Chief will do his/her best effort to accommodate the author’s request while taking into consideration the balancing of the workload among the Associate Editors of the editorial board of the journal. A new Associate Editor may also be assigned to the manuscript by the Editor-in-Chief.

Even when the manuscript is flagged by the authors to be a resubmission of an earlier rejected paper, the manuscript will be treated as a new submission with a new submission date; it is not treated as an RQ version.

The assigned Associate Editor can use the previous reviewers or a new set of reviewers, or a mix of old and new reviewers. It is preferable that the Associate Editors use some of the previous reviewers to help ascertain that the revision has addressed the concerns of the earlier review cycle. The selection of the reviewers is left to the discretion of the Associate Editor.

If the authors indicated during the submission process that their manuscript is a new submission and it is found during the review process that the manuscript is very similar to an earlier rejected paper, then the manuscript may be immediately rejected. Authors can still resubmit their manuscript and indicate correctly that it is a resubmission of an earlier rejected manuscript, including uploading of the required supporting document detailing how the new submission has addressed the concerns raised during the previous review.

 

SECTION 7: CONFERENCE/TECHNICAL MEETING ACTIVITIES

7.1. Organizing Committees.

A technical meeting Organizing Committee shall be appointed to manage any and all aspects of a technical meeting sponsored by the Society. Such Organizing Committee shall be chaired by the technical meeting General Chair and shall typically comprise individuals to serve as chairs of the following:

1. local arrangements
2. technical program
3. finance
4. publications
5. publicity
6. registration

The members of the Organizing Committee shall be appointed by the technical meeting General Chair with the advice and consent of the Society’s Conference Board. Members shall serve a term of office coincident with the planning, execution, and closeout activities for that technical meeting.

Organizing Committee members may make administrative decisions on behalf of the technical meeting, pursuant to the rules and practices of this Society and of the IEEE.

7.2. Finances. (amended 30 September 2010)

Each Conference Organizing Committee shall submit, prior to each Conference Board meeting, a conference status report. In addition, budgets for new conferences shall be submitted to the Vice President-Conferences for review and recommendation to the Conference Board.

The Organizing Committee for a technical meeting shall open an IEEE Concentration Bank account for deposit and disbursement of all funds related to the technical meeting. In turn, the Vice President-Conferences shall be advised of names of signatories, which shall include:

1. one General Chair;
2. one Finance Chair or equivalent;
3. one staff member designated by IEEE as required by IEEE policy, must be included as a signatory on Society technical meeting accounts.

A contractor cannot be a signatory on Society technical meeting accounts.

Technical meetings sponsored with other technical societies may be excluded from the above provisions provided a charter of operations for those organizations is approved by the SPS Board of Governors and the IEEE, and an exclusion is granted by the Society’s Vice President-Conferences.

7.2.1. Merchant Services. (approved 28 May 2011)

An Organizing Committee that hires a professional conference organizer (PCO) for a technical meeting must engage the PCO, as part of the contracting process, to use the IEEE Merchant Services if they are integrated with the IEEE Payment Gateway.

If the PCO is not integrated with the IEEE Payment Gateway, the PCO shall use its own merchant account and open a non-interest-bearing account to receive and process payments. The PCO must record receipt of check and wire payments in a monthly report and a final report to the Society. The PCO shall exert reasonable efforts to collect any and all payments due for the event. The PCO shall submit to the Society a report of transaction details for check, wire transfer, and credit card funds collected each month within 20 days after the end of the calendar month.

The PCO shall remit collected funds to the Society 15 days after the end of the each calendar month.

The PCO may deduct the following from each monthly remittance of collected funds:

1. A per-transaction rate as specified in the contract statement of work.
2. Any bank fees paid by the PCO on behalf of the Society (such as wire transfer fees.)
3. Any credit card charge-backs or refunds owed to attendees or exhibitors. (The monthly report will detail all such fess or refunds.) A processing fee per transactions will be applied for all refunds.
4. Up to 20% of the total expected revenue of the funds may be collected as a reserve against potential additional charges that may occur after the end of the event. (Additional charges may include credit card charge-backs, attendee or exhibitor disputes, or similar items.) Any reserve funds not used to cover additional charges will be remitted to the Society approximately 30 days after the event or after the final processed transaction; whichever is later.

Note: Following remittance of all funds, the Society is still responsible for paying any additional charges related to the event that may occur after remittance. The Society may select to apply available funds to any outstanding invoices and loans should be repaid no later than last day of the conference. However, a PCO may reserve that right to withhold distribution of surplus funds if the Society has invoices that are outstanding beyond their due date and apply such funds as payment against outstanding invoices.

7.3. Budgets. (amended 10 May 2014)

In the preparation of budgets for Society technical meetings and other activities, it is important to acknowledge their role in the preparation of the Society's operating budget, as well as their contribution to the new and ongoing member services.

Meetings and events that have been convened or approved by the Board of Governors or Executive Committee to occur in conjunction with ICASSP, ICIP, GlobalSIP or other Signal Processing Society technical meetings will be considered part of the administrative series and will be absorbed into the technical meeting budget.

If the Board of Governors will be meeting in conjunction with a Society sponsored technical meeting, the technical meeting organizers are responsible for budgeting and providing wireless internet access for the Board of Governors meeting. It is the responsibility of the technical meetings to assure this service is provided.

7.3.1. Requirement to Balance Budgets. (amended 20 March 1999)

Every technical meeting with sponsorship by the Society will be expected to achieve its budget. The meeting will discharge all of its debts and meet the surplus as committed in the original budget.

7.3.2. Closing of Conference Books. (amended 4 October 2012)

Any technical meeting in which the Society has financial participation that is an “approved” IEEE meeting shall meet the requirements of IEEE for speedy closing, and shall not incur penalties for late closure, except with the express, written permission of the Vice President-Conferences and the President-Elect. (During the transition period, the Vice President-Finance will hold the position instead of the President-Elect until 12/31/2014.)

7.3.3. IEEE Conference Publications Program Revenues--Society Sponsored Meetings. (amended 15 September 2011)

Workshops: Electronic proceedings will be produced by the workshop, to be provided to attendees, in the format required by IEEE. A copy of that electronic proceedings shall be delivered to the Society staff office immediately upon preparation. In the event the IEEE Conference Publications Program purchases copies of the meeting record for a meeting sponsored by the IEEE Signal Processing Society, the Conference Publications Program will arrange for the creation of proceedings to meet the demand for direct sales through IEEE. No other copies will be produced and no monies will be charged against or credited to the workshop for print publications.

Conferences: Attendees will be provided an electronic proceedings, produced in the format required by IEEE. The Conference Publications Program monies will not be transferred to the conferences, nor will the Conference Publications Program revenues be considered repayment of the conference loan or as part of the surplus of the conference. However, the conference, on its final financial report, shall indicate under "Income" an amount equal to the expense of manufacture and shipping of the Conference Publications Program -purchased copies only.

7.3.4. IEEE Conference Publications Program Revenues--Cosponsored and In-Cooperation Meetings. (amended 15 September 2011)

In the event IEEE Conference Publications Program wishes to purchase copies of the technical meeting record for a meeting co-sponsored by the IEEE Signal Processing Society, or any meeting in which the Society's participation is less than that of full financial sponsor, it shall be the decision of the Vice President-Conferences, based on the history of sales of that title, to determine whether to commit the financial resources of the Signal Processing Society to share in the expense of purchasing and servicing the title, either solely by the Society, or in cooperation with other IEEE entities. The purchase price of the proceedings shall not exceed the actual cost for producing the proceedings files.

Should it be the recommendation of the Vice President-Conferences that a new title be purchased by Conference Publications Program, and the Society would be required, alone, to bear the expense to purchase and service the title, the Executive Director is charged with negotiation of the purchase price with the technical meeting to minimize the financial exposure to the Society for products outside its direct control.

7.3.5. IEEE Conference Publications Program Revenues--Ongoing and Repeating Technical Meetings. (amended 15 September 2011)

In the event the IEEE Conference Publications Program wishes to purchase copies of the technical meeting record for a meeting in which the level of sponsorship of the IEEE Signal Processing Society remains the same as previous years, the purchase of such title by the Conference Publications Program shall be automatic, with no additional action by the Vice President-Conferences. The purchase price for the meeting record shall not exceed the actual costs for producing the proceedings files.

In the event such meeting is sponsored by the IEEE Signal Processing Society, the manner of reporting the Conference Publications Program revenues shall be the same as in 7.3.3. of this Policy and Procedure.

In the event that the level of participation of the Signal Processing Society in the technical meeting has changed, the Vice President-Conferences shall determine whether the Society will continue to participate as a "sponsor" of the title, based on the financial history of the title, and the Vice President-Conferences shall advise the Conference Publications Program of the Society's decision.

7.3.6. Administration Services Fee. (amended 28 May 2011)

All conference and workshop budgets shall include as an expense item an administration fee which will be equal to 2% of the total (pre-loan) expense budget.

7.4. Sanction of Technical Meetings. (amended 4 October 2012)

Technical meetings (conferences, workshops, symposia, etc.) shall require the following approvals in order to be held under the auspices of and/or with the support of the Society:

7.4.1. (a) New Conferences
New Conferences in which the Society is the sponsor or co-sponsor shall require the following clearances:

1. Review by the Technical Directions Board
2. Approval by the Conference Board, including approval of the proposed budget
3. Approval by the Board of Governors
4. Approval by the IEEE

Subsequent notification shall be made to the cognizant Society Chapter Chair and IEEE Regional Section Chair.

(b) New Technical Committee Workshops, etc.
New workshops or other new technical meetings sponsored or co-sponsored by one or more of the Society’s Technical Committees or Chapters, or with other organizations shall require the following clearances:

1. Approval by the cognizant Technical Committee(s)
2. Approval by the Conference Board, including approval of the proposed budget
3. Approval by the Society’s Executive Committee.
   Subsequent notification shall be made to the cognizant Society Chapter Chair and IEEE Regional Section Chair.

(c) Meetings Having "Technical Cooperation" or "In Cooperation" Status.
Technical meetings for which the Society provides no direct financial sponsorship shall require the approval of the Vice President-Conferences who subsequently shall notify the President-Elect and the Executive Director. (During the transition period, the Vice President-Finance will hold the position instead of the President-Elect until 12/31/2014.)

7.4.2. Ongoing or Repeating Technical Meetings. (amended 4 October 2012)

Technical meetings of any description in which the Society has previously participated require approval by the Conference Board, which includes approval of the proposed budget. For ongoing or repeating technical meetings having “technical cooperation” or “in cooperation” status, approval of the Vice President-Conferences shall be required for each instance of Society participation.

The Vice President-Conferences shall notify the President-Elect and the Executive Director of such approvals. (During the transition period, the Vice President-Finance will hold the position instead of the President-Elect until 12/31/2014.)

7.5. Hotel Booking Agents. (approved 30 October 1997)

It shall be the policy of the Society not to use booking agents whose specific purpose is to engage hotel sleeping rooms on behalf of conferences, workshops, or other technical meetings, and who derive their income from direct payment or commission. When the meeting organizing committee believes an exception to this policy is warranted, a recommendation from the Conference Board followed by the express, written approval of the Society’s Executive Committee shall be required.

7.6. E-mail and Other Mailing Lists. (amended 10 May 2014)

All e-mail and postal mailing lists generated by technical meetings sponsored solely by the IEEE Signal Processing Society are solely owned by the Society and may be used only in conjunction with normal IEEE Signal Processing Society sponsored activities, as approved in writing by the Society’s Executive Director. Such permissions will be given on a one-time-use-only basis and with the understanding that the technical meeting using the e-mail or postal mailing list will provide any modifications, additions, or deletions back to the Society, or its designated agent for e-mail or postal mailing lists, upon completion of the technical meeting. Further, should a cost be incurred by the Society’s designated agent for e-mail or postal mailing lists to provide said lists, the technical meeting may be charged a fee to cover those costs. When a contractor is used for ICASSP, ICIP, or GlobalSIP it is mandatory that the contractor provide the conference e-mail and postal mailing lists back to the Society, in the proper electronic format, for updating the Society’s master e-mail and postal mailing lists. The contract will specify the information required for Society business. For example, such information might include:

• List of Attendees, including augmented lists from latest meeting
• Full list of all authors that submitted papers
• Full list of all reviewers contacted including those that declined to review

 

Furthermore, the list must contain the following information in the proper electronic format:

 

• name
• email address
• postal address
• EDICS, if the person was an author or reviewer
• PROFILE (i.e. student, faculty, industry)
• Meeting name and date where data was collected

 

This must be part of the contract signed with the conference management company. If a conference management company is not hired, the chair of the SPS event is responsible for providing this information.

 

7.7. Conference Contractors. (approved 11 September 2003)

7.7.1. (amended 25 April 2009) Approved Society conferences may, upon approval of their budgets, contract professional management for the conference. Such contractor shall be identified via a detailed request for proposal (RFP). Proposals shall be reviewed by the conference team and the Society’s Executive Office prior to selecting a contractor, and before signature of any contract, which shall be reviewed and signed by the IEEE Procurement Department on behalf of the Society.

7.7.2. Payments to Professional Conference Organizers. (amended 28 May 2011)
Professional conference organizers shall submit a detailed, enumerated invoice to the Society Conference Services Department staff and the Organizing Committee. The payments shall be processed by the Society staff after receipt of written approval from the Organizing Committee. The payments will be made from the IEEE Concentration Bank account if funds are available. If funds are not available, the Society shall advance or loan the invoice amount to the conference and process the payment. For financial obligations that are not known until after the surplus has been transferred to the Society, the Society shall be responsible for the payment of the expense charged against the surplus via journal entry.

7.7.3. The Society will not approve, nor will it pay for, the purchase of hardware or the development of software by an approved conference to manage registration, manuscript submission and review, or any other conference-related task, without express action by the Board of Governors. Nor may such expenses be levied against the budgets or any of the Society’s technical meetings.

7.7.4. (amended 25 April 2009) Approved Society workshops may, upon approval of their budgets, contract professional management for the workshop. Such contractor shall be identified via a detailed request for proposal (RFP). Proposals shall be reviewed by the conference team and the Society’s Executive Office prior to selecting a contractor, and before signature of any contract, which shall be reviewed and signed by the IEEE Procurement Department on behalf of the Society.

7.8. Conference/Workshop Publications.

7.8.1. Papers submitted to conferences of the IEEE Signal Processing Society shall be submitted electronically, in a format approved by IEEE to enable inclusion in the online Xplore database. Papers submitted to conferences will be reviewed electronically and the author(s) will be notified of the outcome by electronic means. Finalized manuscripts shall be transmitted electronically to the contracted printer for publication.

7.8.2. Requirement of Original Material. (approved 2 June 2013)

Authors of conference papers have the same rights and responsibilities as authors of journal papers (see Section 6.1.1). Authors are required to submit material that is original and that has not been published, or submitted for consideration, elsewhere. Authors misconduct, including fabrication of results and plagiarism of the work of others (see Section 6.1.2), shall be subject to sanctions by IEEE under the rules of Member Conduct. Instances of suspected or documented plagiarism shall immediately be brought to the attention of the conference/workshop General Chair.

Allegations of misconduct by authors of articles in IEEE Signal Processing Society conference or workshop proceedings shall be investigated by the conference/workshop General Chair or (one of) the Technical Program Chairs. The same process for investigation of misconduct will be used as for journal publications (see Section 6.1.3) with the exception that the appeal of a decision will be to the Vice President-Conferences.

7.8.3. Conference Publications, Publication of Obituaries. (approved 24 March 2005)

No obituaries will be published in any IEEE Signal Processing Society technical meeting proceedings or programs.

7.9. Author Registration. (approved 11 September 2003)

Every regular paper accepted by a technical meeting sponsored by the IEEE Signal Processing Society must have attached to it at least one registration at the full member/non-member rate.

Thus, for a manuscript for which all authors are students, one student author will be required to register at the full registration rate.

For manuscripts where at least one author is already registered at the full rate, this fulfills the obligation for up to four papers.

This policy must be clearly stated on the paper submission and call for papers sections of the conference web site so that authors are informed of it before they are notified of the acceptance of their paper. It should also be stated in the correspondence sent to the author advising the acceptance of their paper.

7.10. Recognition at Technical Meetings of the Society Members Who Have Died. (approved 24 March 2005)

No obituaries will be part of any IEEE Signal Processing Society technical meeting or ceremony.

7.11. Presentation of Society Awards and Recognition of SPS Fellows at ICASSP. (amended 4 October 2012)

As per Society bylaw, annual recognition of the Society’s awards is to take place at the Society’s Awards Ceremony, which is held during the Society’s ICASSP flagship conference. At the ceremony, the Society will also recognize its Members who were recently elevated to the grade of IEEE Fellow.

The Awards Board Chair will work directly with the conference organizers to arrange the date, time, location and duration of the Awards Ceremony. The Awards Board Chair will ensure that the Awards Ceremony be held in a location and at a time that is convenient for most attendees of the conference. The Awards Ceremony will be approximately one hour in length and should be scripted in advance by the Awards Board Chair.

7.12. Monetary Gifts to Local Signal Processing Society Chapters. (approved 21 April 2007)

Each Society sponsored conference and workshop has the opportunity to provide a donation to the local Signal Processing Society (SPS) Chapter, where the event is taking place. However, in order for the donation to be executed, the following criteria must first be met:

Society sponsored workshops may budget up to $5,000 per event. The donation must be included as an expense item in the approved budget and the workshop must meet the IEEE required 20% surplus. If the 20% surplus has not been met, the donation amount may be reduced, so the Society meets its projected surplus. If the 20% surplus can not be met, a donation will not be extended to the local SPS Chapter. Donations will not be allowed to be increased due to a workshop acquiring a larger than budgeted surplus. Donations are made with the provision that the local SPS Chapter actively participated in the organization of the meeting.

Society sponsored conferences may budget up to $10,000 per event. The donation must be included as an expense item in the approved budget and the conference must meet the IEEE required 20% surplus. If the 20% surplus has not been met, the donation amount may be reduced, so the Society meets its projected surplus. If the 20% surplus can not be met, a donation will not be extended to the local SPS Chapter. Donations will not be allowed to be increased due to a conference acquiring a larger than budgeted surplus. Donations are made with the provision that the local SPS Chapter actively participated in the organization of the meeting.

7.13. Technical Meeting No-Shows. (amended 11 November 2009)

No-show papers are defined as papers submitted by authors who subsequently did not either themselves or via proxy present the paper at the technical meeting. No-show papers that were not withdrawn and were published in the Proceedings must be identified as "No-Show" in the files submitted to IEEE for further publication (IEEE Xplore). No-shows will not be available on IEEE Xplore or other public access IEEE forums. IEEE will maintain an archive of no-shows.

Exceptions to this policy will be made by the Technical Program Chair of the conference only if there is evidence that the no-show occurred because of unanticipated events beyond the control of the authors, and every option available to the authors to present the paper was exhausted. The no-show authors may appeal the decision of the Technical Program Chair to the Vice President-Conferences.

Authors of papers submitted to the meeting must be advised in writing that the IEEE reserves the right to exclude a paper from distribution after the conference (e.g., removal from IEEE Xplore) if the paper is not presented at the technical meeting.

The technical meeting organizers will be responsible for gathering the no-show information from the sessions and submitting the information to the Conference Executive staff.

7.14. Handling of Manuscripts Authored by Technical Meeting Volunteers. (approved 25 April 2009)

All IEEE Signal Processing Society technical meetings have established procedures to ensure that no one can acquire unauthorized access to privileged information. The procedures ensure that the identities of reviewers for papers authored by editors or other technical meeting volunteers are not divulged to the authors and cannot be accessed by them. In particular, manuscripts submitted by editors and other technical meeting volunteers are handled by another member of the technical meeting; reports and recommendations for volunteer-authored papers, when submitted to the author, omit the names and other identifying information for reviewers; and access restrictions to ensure reviewer privacy from authors are also enforced in the electronic publication management systems used for IEEE Signal Processing Society technical meetings.

7.15. Criteria for Technical Co-Sponsorship by the Signal Processing Society (approved 25 April 2009)

The criteria for technical co-sponsorship falls into six broad categories: 1) personnel, 2) publicity and history, 3) topical, 4) logistics, 5) outreach, and 6) Proceedings. In this document “conference” is used to broadly refer to conferences and workshops.

1. Personnel
   
   1. Familiarity with key conference organizers (including but not limited to the chair and technical program chair), including their research visibility, their volunteer record in the SPS, and their past experience in conference organization. Organizers should submit IEEE-style biographies with the proposal for co-sponsorship.
   2. Participation of a few TC members in the conference TPC. This is a suggestion rather than a requirement; a TPC with many individuals who meet the criteria in the previous bullet but are not current TC members would be viewed favorably.
2. Publicity and History
   
   1. Quality and completeness of Call for Papers and web page.
   2. Existence of the web page and conference program on the web, for a period of at least five years, so that a record of past conferences is publicly maintained. This is especially critical for workshops.
   3. Organizers should submit the conference history of co-sponsorships, attendance, and prior programs.
3. Topical
   
   1. The conference topic must be a good match to the TC’s interests and will be gauged by the interest shown by TC members during the discussion.
   2. The theme and focus of the conference will be considered, as to whether it fills a topical niche with respect to other events. For workshops, well focused events on emerging topics are preferable to small conferences about a broad variety of topics.
4. Logistics
   
   1. The conference should not have time conflicts with other SPS conferences nor with relevant non-SPS conferences.
   2. An argument for the reasonableness of general as well as student registration fees should be made, with special emphasis on student registrations; a small discount for students is unlikely to encourage student participation.
5. Outreach
   
   1. The TC will consider what opportunities are provided by the conference to forge links with other societies, both within and outside of the IEEE.
   2. The opportunities to go to under-served areas and to reach hard-to-reach audiences will be considered positively.
6. Proceedings
   
   1. IEEE will not purchase proceedings of a conference until after it is held three times. After the conference has been held for the third time, the Proceedings can be purchased for the fourth conference and the previous years can then be backfilled. Once the Proceedings have been purchased, IEEE will not break the cycle. So it is better to insure high quality of the proceedings over time before having them published on IEEE Xplore.

7.16. Logos on Technical Meeting Websites. (approved 11 November 2009)

No logos of institutions of technical meeting volunteers may appear on any Society solely-owned technical meeting material, including websites. The main web page for technical meetings may not have any logos other than that of the approved sponsoring entities for the technical meeting. This would mean IEEE and IEEE Signal Processing Society logos only would appear for technical meetings solely owned by the Society.

7.17. Technical Meeting Paper Plagiarism. (approved 30 September 2010) [This policy only applies to conference papers. SPS Policy 6.1.3. applies to journal papers.]

7.17.1. Requirement for Original Material and Sanctions for Plagiarism and for Duplicate Submission of Technical Meeting Manuscripts.

Authors are required to submit material that is original and that has not been published, or submitted for consideration, elsewhere. Authors who plagiarize the work of others--who copy the work of another without attribution or appropriate documented permission--shall be subject to sanctions by IEEE. Such behavior not only constitutes a misdeed, but may be actionable by IEEE under the rules of Member Conduct. Instances of suspected or documented plagiarism shall immediately be brought to the attention of the Technical Program Chair of the meeting for notification to IEEE.

In addition, authors who make duplicate submissions of a Technical Meeting manuscript shall be subject to the sanctions of the IEEE Signal Processing Society. Duplicate submission shall be defined as:

• Crossover of 50% or more in the material of two or more manuscripts;
• Submission of the same manuscript to more than one IEEE Technical Meeting; or
• Submission to an IEEE SPS Technical Meeting and one or more Technical Meetings inside/outside IEEE.

Authors may expand and develop technical meeting papers into journal submissions. However, the authors must cite the technical meeting submission(s) and describe the enhancements made in the journal submission from the technical meeting paper.

The sanctions of the IEEE Signal Processing Society for duplicate submissions are:

• All manuscripts submitted to the Signal Processing Society discovered to be duplicate submissions shall be immediately REJECTED.
• All authors (that is, any single, paired, or group of authors) of the duplicate submission(s) shall be prevented from submitting new manuscripts for the period of one year from the date of sanction; and
• Any author(s) of duplicate submission(s) with papers in review by the Society will have his/her/their manuscripts returned to them immediately, regardless of the stage of peer review. In this way, innocent co-authors will not be harmed by having their manuscript rejected; but the manuscript(s) will automatically be classified as withdrawn from consideration by the Society.

Notification of sanction for duplicate submission shall be to the author(s) from the Technical Program Chair with copies to the SPS Vice President-Conferences.

7.17.2. Procedures for Investigation of Author Misconduct.

1. If the Technical Program Chair (TPC) of the technical meeting learns that an author may have acted improperly, which may include the suspicion of plagiarism or self-plagiarism, he/she shall investigate the alleged misconduct. All inquiries shall be handled promptly and fairly. All parties relevant to the allegation shall be given the opportunity to respond.
2. In considering the allegation, the TPC shall appoint an independent ad-hoc committee of experts in the topic to confidentially investigate and make a recommendation on the allegation to the TPC. This ad-hoc committee may seek the advice of the IEEE Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) offices. The institution where the work was performed is not to be contacted, unless there is explicit information that such institution has already investigated the issue.
3. After considering all available evidence in relation to the plagiarism policy of the Signal Processing Society (SPS), the TPC shall communicate the evidence to the authors. The authors may then respond and provide any additional evidence or arguments. Subsequently, the TPC shall make a decision.
4. The TPC shall communicate the final decision to the authors, the SPS Office, and the SPS Vice President-Conferences.
5. Should the authors choose to appeal, they shall be referred to the SPS Vice President-Conferences to handle the appeal process. Further appeals shall be referred to the IEEE PSPB Chair.
6. The SPS Office shall then implement the decision and notify the IEEE Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) office or that person's designee of the inquiry and the decision. In severe cases of misconduct (as specified in the PSPB Operations Manual Section 8.2.4.D and F), the TPC may recommend additional IEEE-level corrective actions to the IEEE PSPB Chair.
7. If the TPC has a conflict of interest, he/she shall report this to the SPS Vice President-Conferences to find a proper substitute to handle the case.
8. All co-authors of a paper have responsibility for work submitted under their names. (viz. PSPB Operations Manual 8.2.1.A.6)

7.17.3. Plagiarized Work Published by the Society.

When authors plagiarize work published by the Society, whether in its periodicals or conference publications, the Society volunteer leader who is the nominal “publisher” of the periodical or conference publication will contact the publisher of the offending paper to request an investigation of the offense in a specified period. If the publisher of the offending paper does not undertake an investigation, or does not respond timely to the request, then the relevant society leader will undertake an investigation on behalf of the Society and will recommend a sanction to the Society’s Conference Board, if appropriate. In any event, the Society may take action, and also report the outcome of the Society’s decision to IEEE for the sanctioned author list.

7.18. Meetings and Workshops of Sister Organizations at Conferences. (approved 30 September 2010)

IEEE Signal Processing Society technical meetings may host meetings and workshops sponsored by sister organizations provided; (1) the meeting does not overlap the technical activities of the conference; (2) no cost associated with the meeting is borne by the conference; (3) the Society takes no liability or risk associated with such meetings; and (4) the publicity of such events must be clearly separated from the conference event.

7.19. Logo Usage. (approved 1 May 2012)

Using the IEEE and Signal Processing Society logos achieves "brand recognition" and represents quality. Because the Signal Processing Society support and its logo are marks of quality, the Conference Board must review and approve conference proposals to retain the value and meaning of the brand.

Guidelines for the use of the IEEE logo and accompanying logos can be found in IEEE Policy 6.3.2 at IEEE.org.

7.19.1. Solely Sponsored and Financially Co-Sponsored Conferences and Workshops.

The Signal Processing Society logo is reserved only for conferences and workshops solely sponsored or financially co-sponsored by the Signal Processing Society per Policy 7.4. The Signal Processing Society logo must not be used until the Signal Processing Society has formally approved the conference. In addition (even though permission is anticipated), words or expressions such as "IEEE Signal Processing Society sponsorship requested" may not be used.

The sponsored and co-sponsored conference may only use the Society’s logo in one of the following forms:

 

[Electric Blue PMS 2728]
or

 

 

[Black]

 

 

7.19.2. Chapter or Section Sponsored Conference or Workshops.

 

When a Signal Processing Society chapter organizes/supports an event, it is the IEEE logo that must be used (not the Signal Processing Society logo), since the event normally belongs to an IEEE Section.

The chapter shall follow IEEE Policy 6.3.2 Guidelines on the Use of the IEEE Logo and "IEEE".

7.19.3. Technical Co-Sponsored Conferences.

When Signal Processing Society is a technical co-sponsor of a conference for a particular year, the support cannot be assumed for future years. Approval must be obtained from Conference Board for every event, unless multiples years have been approved.

Technical Co-Sponsored conferences may use the IEEE logo as prescribed in IEEE Policy 10.1.17.

Technical Co-Sponsored conferences may use the Signal Processing Society logo for Technical Co-Sponsorship as shown below, and only after the MOU has been signed by an authorized Society representative.

 

 

 

In addition (even though permission is anticipated), words or expressions such as "IEEE Signal Processing Society technical co-sponsorship requested" may not be used. Misuse of the Society’s logo may be grounds for revoking a technical co-sponsorship and future applications for technical co-sponsorship may be refused.

 

SECTION 8: FINANCIAL/LEGAL/MISCELLANEOUS

8.1. Contracts. (amended 15 September 2011)

All contracts for goods and services on behalf of the Society, whether in the name of the Society or one or more of its boards, committees, conferences, etc., shall be reviewed by IEEE prior to execution.

Whenever possible, contracts for review should be submitted by fax or mail to the IEEE at least four weeks prior to the signature deadline date, to allow the appropriate IEEE office time for thorough review and, if necessary, the further engagement of legal or other appropriate advice.

Following completion of the review as detailed above, and upon IEEE approval, contracts may be executed by an appropriate IEEE signatory.

8.2. Budgeting for Society Activities. (amended 30 March 1999)

The Signal Processing Society shall not, as a rule, adopt budgets for Society activities that provide for a deficit. The Society's policy shall be for break-even or better budgets. In the event that deficit budgeting may be necessary to initiate a new activity or preserve ongoing activities, the express permission of the Board of Governors is required.

8.3. Travel Support for Volunteer Leaders. (amended 30 September 2010)
The Society may provide volunteer travel support to specific Boards and representatives as mentioned in these policies. Additional travel support may be provided to other Boards and Committees, as detailed below. The additional support will be reviewed annually by the Executive Committee on behalf of the Board of Governors.

The Board of Governors gives the Executive Committee the authority to modify volunteer travel support levels as necessary due to the Society’s financial situation.

 

8.3.1. Upon request and submission of appropriate documentation, the Society will reimburse the full expense, within IEEE guidelines, of member travel in the following categories:

8.3.1.1. Travel of the President and President-Elect to meetings of the IEEE Technical Activities Board and its associated councils and committees.

8.3.1.2. Travel of members in connection with their services as Society representatives to IEEE-level committees and activities, when such representation has been requested by the Board of Governors or the Executive Committee.

8.3.1.3. Travel of members of the Executive Committee to meetings of that group that are not held in conjunction with a Society conference, workshop, or Board of Governors meeting.

8.3.1.4. (amended 4 October 2012) Travel of the Vice President-Technical Directions to meetings of the Society’s Technical Committees not held in conjunction with ICASSP. Travel and budget approval is needed in advance of the trip by the Society President with a copy to the President-Elect and Executive Office. (During the transition period, the Vice President-Finance will hold the position instead of the President-Elect until 12/31/2014.)

8.3.2. (amended 10 May 2014) Members of the Board of Governors shall qualify to have their hotel room, at the “host” conference hotel, direct billed to the Society for the ICASSP meeting in the Spring and ICIP or GlobalSIP meeting series in the Fall. The Society will cover the hotel charge from the night before the Board Member-at-Large’s and Regional Director-at-Large’s first Board or Standing Committee meeting through the night of the Board of Governors meeting; all other nights must be paid by the Board Member-at-Large. For the Awards Board Chair, the Society will cover the hotel charge from the night before the Awards Ceremony through the night of the Board of Governors meeting. The Officers of the Society are expected to attend the ICASSP and ICIP or GlobalSIP meeting series in their official capacity and will have their hotel room nights at the “host” hotel covered for the duration of the meeting series. Board Members will also be reimbursed for travel expenses associated with the ICASSP and ICIP meeting series provided they adhere to IEEE travel policy. Travel funds may not be used for conference registration. All reimbursement requests must be made on the IEEE reimbursement form and original receipts must accompany the request to the Society's Executive Office.

8.3.3. (amended 6 December 2014) Members of the Publications Board, upon completion and submission of an IEEE reimbursement form and appropriate documentation, shall qualify for reimbursement of travel expense to attend the IEEE Panel of Editors meeting. Should the Publications Board meet in conjunction with the Panel of Editors, Publications Board members shall qualify for one day additional reimbursement. Publications Board members are required to adhere to IEEE travel Policy.

Members of the Publications Board shall also qualify for up to $1200 continental or $2100 intercontinental travel per year in travel assistance to only one Publications Board meeting, either at ICASSP, ICIP or GlobalSIP. Members of the Publications Board may choose which Publications Board meeting they would like to seek travel reimbursement for. Additional travel support up to the same level may be provided to the members of the Publications Board to support the second Board meeting. This support will be determined annually by the Executive Committee after review of the Society’s financial situation. Publications Board members must adhere to IEEE travel policy. Such funds may not be used for conference registration. Such travel funds shall be reimbursed upon submission of appropriate documentation and a completed and signed IEEE reimbursement form.

8.3.4. (amended 6 December 2014) Members of the Conference Board shall qualify for up to $1200 continental or $2100 intercontinental travel per year in travel assistance to only one Conference Board meeting, either at ICASSP, ICIP or GlobalSIP. Members of the Conference Board may choose which Conference Board meeting they would like to seek travel reimbursement for. Additional travel support up to the same level may be provided to the members of the Conference Board to support the second Board meeting. This support will be determined annually by the Executive Committee after review of the Society’s financial situation. Conference Board members must adhere to IEEE travel policy. Such funds may not be used for conference registration. Such travel funds shall be reimbursed upon submission of appropriate documentation and a completed and signed IEEE reimbursement form.

8.3.5 (approved 6 December 2014) Members of the Membership Board shall qualify for up to $1200 continental or $2100 intercontinental travel per year in travel assistance to the Membership Board meeting at ICASSP. Membership Board members must adhere to IEEE travel policy. Such funds may not be used for conference registration. Such travel funds shall be reimbursed upon submission of appropriate documentation and a completed and signed IEEE reimbursement form.

8.3.6 (approved 6 December 2014) Travel support up to $1200 continental or $2100 intercontinental per person may be provided to voting members of the Technical Directions Board to attend the Board meeting at ICASSP. Travel support will be determined annually by the Executive Committee after review of the Society’s financial situation. Such funds may not be used for conference registration. Such travel funds shall be reimbursed upon submission of appropriate documentation and a completed and signed IEEE reimbursement form.

8.3.7 (approved 6 December 2014) Travel support up to $1200 continental or $2100 intercontinental per person may be provided to voting members of the Awards Board to attend the Board meeting at ICASSP. Travel support will be determined annually by the Executive Committee after review of the Society’s financial situation. Such funds may not be used for conference registration. Such travel funds shall be reimbursed upon submission of appropriate documentation and a completed and signed IEEE reimbursement form.

8.3.8 (amended 4 October 2012) Other Volunteers Leaders seeking travel assistance to attend a Society meeting series should submit their requests to the Society President with a copy to the President-Elect and to the Executive Office. (During the transition period, the Vice President-Finance will hold the position instead of the President-Elect until 12/31/2014.)

SECTION 9: AMENDMENTS (amended 15 September 2011)

9.1. Amendments to a section of the Society’s Policy & Procedures Manual is the prerogative of the Board of Governors. The Board of Governors may delegate approval to the Executive Committee between meetings. Notice of the proposed policy or amendment must be transmitted to each Board member at least one week prior to the Board meeting.

9.2.These amendments may be initiated by a particular board by a two-thirds vote of the members of that Board, followed by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Committee. Both the corresponding board and the Executive Committee may conduct the voting either at a face-to-face meeting or by email, provided a seven-day period is allowed for such responses.

9.3. Amendments to a section of the Society’s Policy & Procedures Manual that does not pertain to a particular Board of the Society may be adopted by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee may conduct the voting either at a face-to-face meeting or by email, provided a seven-day period is allowed for such responses.

9.4. Board of Governors Approval of Amendment.

Amendment to this Policy and Procedures Manual shall be by majority affirmative vote of the members of the Board of Governors present at the meeting for which the amendment appears on the agenda and has properly been circulated in advance of the meeting as part of the agenda book or by email, provided a seven day period is allowed for such responses.

9.5. Effective Date.

Unless specified in the action of the Board of Governors, amendments to this manual shall become effective immediately upon approval by the Board of Governors.