Policies and Procedures – IEEE Communications Society Signal Processing and Computing for Communications Technical Committee

Signal Processing and Computing for Communications Technical Committee (SPCC)

IEEE Communication Society Technical Committee

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES (P&P)

last update Dec 2020

1. SPCC Charter
The Signal Processing and Computing for Communications Technical Committee (SPCC-TC) sponsors papers, participates in organization of conferences, and promotes technical activities on those aspects of converged communications and computing systems that pertain to the innovation, development and application of algorithms, devices, systems and protocols for generation, exchange, recovery, analysis and utilization of different signals and data.
2. SPCC Objectives
• Promote knowledge and dissemination of knowledge related to the scope of the SPCC technical committee
• Foster the development of new emerging topical areas related to the scope of the SPCC technical committee
• Provide technical support to the development of ComSoc conferences, publications, standards, and educational activities
3. SPCC Organization Structure
The SPCC Technical Committee reports to the Technical Committees Board. Operation of the SPCC Technical Committee and coordination among TC members will be managed by the elected officers, i.e. TC Chair, TC Vice Chair and TC Secretary. Each term of elected Technical Committee officers is two years.
• TC Members shall:
o be ComSoc members in good standing
o participate in TC meetings
o be encouraged to assist in the conduct of TC business
• Active TC Members shall:
o meet all requirements of TC Members
o attend at least 2 out of 5 last TC meetings
o cast informed votes on TC business
• Collaborators – individuals who are not ComSoc members may participate in TC activities as collaborators.
• Subcommittees and Special Interest Groups may be formed by the TC.
o Subcommittees deal with specific tasks related to the TC operations, e.g., nomination and selection of awards, TC officer elections, etc.
o Special Interest Groups (SIGs) help the TC foster the scientific and technological development in topical emerging technologies within the scope of the TC. SIGs may be created to promote activities in well-established technologies.
4. Activities and Responsibilities
• TC Chair
Duties of the Chair include, but are not limited to, the following:
o Represents the Technical Committee on the Technical Committees Board
o Provides guidance and direction to Technical Committee members in the conduct of their responsibilities
o Appoints Chairs of Subcommittees and Special Interest Groups as necessary
o Coordinates with ComSoc Staff in the conduct of his/her responsibilities
o May assume leadership for specific projects, as delegated by the Technical Committee
• TC Vice Chair
o Replaces the TC Chair in case of his/her absence
o Assists the TC Chair and Secretary in his/her activities
• TC Secretary
o Coordinates the TC meetings, arranging the meeting time schedule, reserving the meeting room and food, and informing the members via the e-mail list.
o Prepares reports for the TC and Technical Committees Board meetings
o Provides an annual written report, which shall be distributed to the VP-TEA-C, the Director-Technical Committees, and TC members prior to each meeting held at ICC.
o Records the minutes of the TC meetings
o Maintains contact with the TC members and Chair
o Sends announcements to the TC e-mail list
o Maintains and updates the TC website
• Technical Committee
Responsibilities of the Technical Committee shall be as specified in the Bylaws and the Technical Committee Board P&Ps.
5. Transaction of Business
a) All TC meetings shall be conducted in compliance with Clause 2.0 of ComSoc’s P&Ps.
b) The TC shall hold at least two in-person meetings per year, one at ICC or GLOBECOM (with the possibility of remote participation by dial-in).
c) The TC may conduct additional meetings concurrent with flagship conferences for the TC.
d) Conference calls, discussions via email, and voting via email shall be conducted on an as needed basis.
6. Working Policies and Procedures
• Definition of elected and appointed officer positions:
The committee has three elected officers: Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary. Each position is for two years. The Chair reports directly to the Vice President of Technical Activities, in accordance with ComSoc Bylaws.
The Chair represents SPCC at Technical Activities Committee or any ComSoc committee or board, provides endorsement for technical conferences that require technical co-sponsorship to ComSoc. The Vice Chair supports the Chair and takes chairing responsibility in his/her absence. The Secretary is responsible for the membership list, meeting documents and meeting minutes, as well of maintaining the SPCC website.
If any SPCC Officer position becomes vacant before normal conclusion of his/her term, the remaining term shall be filled by a special election. If such a special election is not held before or during the next regularly scheduled meeting, the ComSoc Vice President of Technical Activities, in consultation with the President, shall appoint an officer to serve the remaining term. At the discretion of the Technical Committee, there may be additional non-officer positions elected or appointed, but no more than eight can be considered at any one time.
• Nomination and election policies and procedures:
Term: The nominal term for Chair, Vice-chair(s) and Secretary shall be two years. Any officer can be re-elected to the same position for one additional term (i.e., any officer can continuously serve for a maximum of four years). SPCC officers can be elected to a different officer position, but in no case can one person continuously serve as an officer for more than eight consecutive years.
Nomination: To facilitate the election of officers, SPCC establishes an ad-hoc Nomination & Election (N&E) committee, made up of members of the Technical Committee. The N&E Committee shall convene at a Technical Committee meeting, normally held during ICC, before the actual election (normally held during Globecom) and shall be dissolved after the election and installation of SPCC officers. The N&E committee member shall consist of past chairs and any other SPCC members selected by the current Chair. The N&E Committee membership should be between 3 and 5.
The purpose of the N&E Committee is to offer candidate names for officer positions. It is desirable that the N&E Committee identifies at least two candidates for each officer position. Eligible candidates for an officer’s position are those who are SPCC and ComSoc members who attended at least 2 out of 5 SPCC TC meetings. A definition of voting members is given in the voting section below.
The N&E Committee shall announce its slate of candidates at least four weeks before an election is to be held. Such announcement is preferably made via email. At any point, members shall be able to submit nominations via email or regular mail by communicating to the current Chair, Vice-chair, Secretary, or directly to the SPCC N&E Committee. Such “write-in” candidates should receive at least three supporting signatures. During an election, actual nominations from the floor shall also be invited and it is desirable that these impromptu nominations, receive support from three or more members at the meeting. All candidates, however they are identified, will have consented to being nominated and will have shown a willingness to serve if elected.
Technical Committee elections must be held in-person and is limited to voting members. Approval of this measure is by simple majority. An SPCC officer shall take responsibility for conducting the election and reporting election results to the Technical Committee membership, Vice President of Technical Activities, Secretary of Technical Activities Committee, and ComSoc headquarters in New York City. It is desirable that biographies and position statements of candidates be available to SPCC members. Candidates shall be permitted to “advertise” their candidacy on the SPCC email distribution list. All candidates shall be informed of election results and be permitted to appeal the outcome.
Election: Technical Committee elections shall be administered by the SPCC Chair or, in his/her absence, any other elected officer, normally during a TC meeting at Globecom. In the case of two candidates for a position, election is by simple majority. For the case of more than two candidates, selection proceeds by attending voting members through a series of elections: at each stage, the individual gathering the fewest votes is eliminated, until only two remain. In the event of a tie, votes shall again be cast until the tie is broken. If that is not possible, the SPCC officer running the election shall cast a tie-breaking vote. SPCC-TC elections will normally be open. However, upon the request of any member, the election shall proceed by secret ballot. Votes will be counted by at least one SPCC officer and any other member (officer or not). A record of vote cast must be retained for post-election audit purposes.
Voting: A voting member is an active SPCC Technical Committee member who attended at least 2 out of 5 last TC meetings. A voting member shall only be permitted to vote in-person for a specific individual and position.
The SPCC Secretary shall maintain an attendance list for each meeting. That attendance list shall be a part of the meeting minutes prepared and issued by the Secretary. If SPCC has not maintained attendance lists in the past, the provision cannot be instituted until five meetings have elapsed. In that case, the Technical Committee shall specify an interim definition of membership and send that information to both the Vice President of Technical Activities and Secretary of Technical Activities Committee. A list of members shall also be maintained and appended to meeting minutes.
After the election: After each election of officers, the TC Chair shall provide an Election Report to the Director-Technical Committees and the VP-TEA within two weeks. The Election Report shall contain:
o An outline of the election process
o Name of the person preparing the ballot
o The candidates for each office and how the candidates were selected for the ballot
o The IEEE member number for each candidate
o The method of voting (in person, electronically, by teleconference, etc.)
o The method used to determine which members are entitled to vote.
o A list of those members who voted in the election
o The actual vote tally by candidate.
• Election results shall be authorized by the Director – Technical Committees upon consultation with the VP-TEA.
• Election results become valid when approved by the Director – Technical Committees and the VP-TEA. The Director of Technical Committees or the VPTEA shall accordingly notify the serving TC chair within two weeks after receipt of the Election Report.
• If the Director – Technical Committees does not authorize the election results, the Director shall organize a new election on behalf of the TC.
7. Website and Email
• SPCC shall maintain an official web page and a mailing list hosted by the ComSoc IT Department. It is necessary to attend an SPCC-TC meeting or to subscribe to the SPCC-TC mailing list as specified on the SPCC-TC Web page
• The web page shall contain information about officers and their contact information, the scope of the TC, TC P&Ps, subscription to membership, and minutes of meetings held.
8. Planning, announcement, and conduction of SPCC-TC meetings
Meeting is usually scheduled on the first day of technical sessions during ICC or GLOBECOM. Meeting announcement is delivered through e-mail network of members and by announcement on the SPCC Web page. Any one who has visited SPCC home page and are interested in the committee activity can attend the meeting announced.
Our twice-a-year meetings are advertised in advance on the web and again via the email list shortly before ICC or Globecom. It is desirable that the SPCC Secretary invites new members who will present papers at ICC or Globecom to the Technical Committee meeting. An advanced notification will be possible since SPCC knows the accepted papers related to the technical areas through Technical Program Committees (TPC) representative.
9. Budget and expense policies & procedures
Any officer shall make a proposal for an expense when he or she thinks that the Technical Committee needs a budget to accomplish its mission. If the proposal was seconded then the SPCC Chair solicits discussions among Technical Committee members. If there is no objection, the proposal will pass the Technical Committee discussions. If there is any objection, SPCC members vote and simple majority is used as a decision. If the proposal is passed, then the SPCC Chair finally approves the proposal and submits it to the Vice President of Technical Activities. The accounting procedure for expenses is based on the ComSoc practice. The expense report and record shall be kept by the SPCC secretary.
10. Supporting Activities
As appropriate, SPCC will be active in all of ComSoc’s activities. This will include ComSoc conferences (such as ICC, Globecom, INFOCOM, MILCOM, and OFC) by providing representatives from their respective Technical Program Committees, by soliciting assistance from its membership to provide professional review of submitted papers, and by organizing
mini-conferences, symposia, panels, short courses, tutorials, etc., as deemed appropriate by the Society and SPCC-TC. Further, SPCC-TC can individually organize workshops and conferences. Also due to the broad nature of committee activities, collaborative sessions with other committees will be sponsored and heartily encouraged. As new technologies and application areas emerge, SPCC-TC will seek to address aspects of these topics relative to its charter, and work with both the Strategic Planning Committee and Emerging Technologies Committee.
SPCC-TC will further support ComSoc journals, magazines, and standards activities by soliciting volunteers as authors and editors, submitting proposals, and identifying committee members from its membership. SPCC-TC will seek ways to increase active participation of its members in information exchange related to the charter of this Committee, such as: stimulating Feature Topics and Special Issues of ComSoc journals and magazines; and by sponsoring workshops, tutorials, short courses, panel sessions, etc. on special topics.
11. Procedures to nominate and vote for ComSoc Awards
SPCC nominates suitable candidate for ComSoc and IEEE Best Paper and Career Awards. SPCC also proposes distinguished lecturer candidates, and candidates for the election to Senior Member and Fellow statuses.
A candidate for any of the above categories is nominated by an active member of the SPCC, and seconded by at least another active SPCC member. A valid nomination must have a written case description with sufficient details and justification for the appropriate candidacy. The selection is made at the ICC and/or GLOBECOM SPCC candidate selection meeting. Written cases of nomination are presented to member of the selection meeting. The Chair of SPCC will form a selection committee including the current SPCC Secretary and a previous SPCC Chair or Vice-chair who is an active member. The selected candidates are nominated and/or proposed by the Chair.
12. Policies and Procedures for the SPCC Outstanding Services Award
• Aim: To recognize and encourage continuous and outstanding services to the technical activities sponsored and endorsed by the SPCC Technical Committee.
• Award: This award is given by the SPCC Technical Committee. Upon successful nomination and selection, no more than two awards will be given per year. The award consists in a plaque. The award will be announced and conferred during the IEEE Global Communications (GLOBECOM) conference.
• Eligibility: Active SPCC members who have made continuous and outstanding contribution to the technical activities sponsored and endorsed by the SPCC Technical Committee. An active SPCC member is a member who is eligible to vote for officers as defined by the SPCC bylaws.
• Candidate Nomination:Nominations will be solicited by e-mail from the SPCC members. All nominations must be sent to the SPCC Secretary in PDF or text format by October 15 of the year in which the award is to be given. The nominations should meet the following requirements. a) A candidate is nominated by an active member of the SPCC and seconded by at least another active SPCC member. b) A valid nomination must have a written case description. c) A nominee must accept the nomination in order to be nominated and cannot be his/her own nominator or seconder. d) An award recipient cannot be nominated in the immediate following year.
• Award Selection Committee and Selection Process:
The recipient of the SPCC Technical Recognition Award and the corresponding selection process are decided by the SPCC Outstanding Service Award Committee. The committee consists of the current SPCC chair and other two SPCC members nominated by the Committee Chair. The committee will be chaired by the current SPCC chair. The term of the committee and the committee chair is two years.
• Reporting of Awards:
The Chair of the Outstanding Service Award selection committee shall prepare an Awards Selection Report containing the following information for each award:
o the process conducted to select the award recipient,
o the names of all candidates for the award,
o the name of the recipient of the award and associated justification
The TC Chair shall send the Awards Selection Report to the Technical Committees Director for approval. The Technical Committees Director shall approve the Awards Selection Report within two weeks of receipt. If the Director does not approve the report, the TC Chair shall be contacted to discuss the issues raised. A revised report may be submitted to the Director for approval. If the outstanding issues are not resolved between the Director and the TC Chair, the VP-TEA shall bring the matter to the TEA-C for a final decision.
Once the Awards Selection Report has been approved, and only then, the final award recipients may be announced.
13. Policies and Procedures for the SPCC Technical Recognition Award
The Signal Processing and Computing for Communications (SPCC) Technical Recognition Award aims to promote signal processing for communications research and development activities in both the academic and industrial communities. This award is established as part of the SPCC activities in which research and development takes place in areas related to signal processing for communications. The award recognizes members of the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) who have made outstanding contributions to the technological advancement of signal processing for communications.
• Award
This award is given by the SPCC Technical Committee. Upon successful nomination and selection, no more than two awards will be given per year. The award consists in a plaque. The award will be announced and conferred during the IEEE Global Communications (GLOBECOM) conference.
• Nomination Procedure
Nominations will be solicited by e-mail from the SPCC members. All nominations must be sent to the SPCC Secretary in PDF or text format by September 30 of the year in which the award is to be given. The nominations should include a concise description of the candidate’s contributions to the technological advancement of signal processing for communications and any supporting materials showing that the candidate has met the award eligibility criteria. Any person may nominate a candidate for the award, except the members of the SPCC Technical Recognition Award Selection Committee and ComSoc Board of Governors.
• Eligibility Criteria
Any individual, except members of the SPCC Technical Recognition Award Selection Committee and ComSoc Board of Governors, may be nominated for the award, if the following criteria are met:
-the candidate must be an IEEE ComSoc Member at the time of nomination;
-the candidate must have been involved significantly with research related to the areas of signal processing for communications; and
-the candidate must have made outstanding contributions to the technological advancement of signal processing for communications.
• Award Selection Committee and Selection Process
The recipient of the SPCC Technical Recognition Award and the corresponding selection process are decided by the SPCC Technical Recognition Award Committee. The committee consists of the second past chair, the first past chair, the current chair and other two SPCC members nominated by the Committee Chair. The
committee will be chaired by the second past chair. The term of the committee and the committee chair is two years.
• Reporting of Awards
The Chair of the SPCC Technical Recognition Award Committee shall prepare an Awards Selection Report containing the following information for each award:
o the process conducted to select the award recipient,
o the names of all candidates for the award,
o the name of the recipient of the award and associated justification
The TC Chair shall send the Awards Selection Report to the Technical Committees Director for approval. The Technical Committees Director shall approve the Awards Selection Report within two weeks of receipt. If the Director does not approve the report, the TC Chair shall be contacted to discuss the issues raised. A revised report may be submitted to the Director for approval. If the outstanding issues are not resolved between the Director and the TC Chair, the VP-TEA shall bring the matter to the TEA-C for a final decision.
Once the Awards Selection Report has been approved, and only then, the final award recipients may be announced.
• Support for the Award
The SPCC Technical Recognition Award, a recognition plaque, is supported by the IEEE ComSoc and will be funded under the IEEE ComSoc annual budget for supporting Technical Committee activities.
14. Policies and Procedures for the SPCC Best Paper Award
The Signal Processing and Computing for Communications (SPCC) Best Paper Award recognizes members of the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) who have made outstanding contributions in one paper in the technical areas that are of interest to SPCC.
• Award
This award is given by the SPCC Technical Committee. Upon successful nomination and selection, no more than one award will be given per year. The award consists in a plaque. The award will be announced and conferred during the IEEE Global Communications (GLOBECOM) conference.
• Nomination Procedure
Nominations will be solicited by e-mail from the SPCC members. All nominations must be sent to the SPCC Secretary in PDF or text format by October 15 of the year in which the award is to be given. The nominations should include a concise description of the contributions in the paper to the technological advancement of signal processing for communications and any supporting materials showing that the award eligibility criteria are met. Any SPCC active member may nominate a candidate for the award, except the members of the SPCC Best Paper Award Selection Committee and ComSoc Board of Governors.
• Eligibility Criteria
Any paper published in ICC/GLOBECOM during the past year from the call for nominations may be nominated for the award, if the following criteria are met:
-at least one of the co-authors of the paper must be SPCC members
-the paper must constitute an outstanding contribution to the technological advancement of signal processing and computing for communications.
• Award Selection Committee and Selection Process
The recipient of the SPCC Best Paper Award and the corresponding selection process are decided by the SPCC Best Paper Award Committee. The committee consists of the second past chair, the first past chair, the current chair and other two SPCC members nominated by the Committee Chair. The committee will be chaired by the second past chair. The term of the committee and the committee chair is two years.
• Reporting of Awards
The Chair of the SPCC Best Paper Award Committee shall prepare an Awards Selection Report containing the following information for each award:
o the process conducted to select the award recipient,
o the title and details of all candidate papers for the award,
o the title and authors recipient of the award and associated justification.
The TC Chair shall send the Awards Selection Report to the Technical Committees Director for approval. The Technical Committees Director shall approve the Awards Selection Report within two weeks of receipt. If the Director does not approve the report, the TC Chair shall be contacted to discuss the issues raised. A revised report may be submitted to the Director for approval. If the outstanding issues are not resolved between the Director and the TC Chair, the VP-TEA shall bring the matter to the TEA-C for a final decision.
Once the Awards Selection Report has been approved, and only then, the final award recipients may be announced.
• Support for the Award
The SPCC Technical Recognition Award, a recognition plaque, is supported by the IEEE ComSoc and will be funded under the IEEE ComSoc annual budget for supporting Technical Committee activities.
15. Policies and Procedures for the SPCC Early Achievement Award
The Signal Processing and Computing for Communications (SPCC) Early Achievement Award aims to promote signal processing and computing for communications research and development activities in both the academic and industrial communities. This award is established as part of the SPCC activities in which research and development takes place in areas related to signal processing for communications. The award recognizes members of the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) who have achieved early career visibility through research and service to the SPCC community.
• Award
This award is given by the SPCC Technical Committee. Upon successful nomination and selection, no more than one award will be given per year. The award consists in a plaque. The award will be announced and conferred during the IEEE Global Communications (GLOBECOM) conference.
• Nomination Procedure
Nominations will be solicited by e-mail from the SPCC members. All nominations must be sent to the SPCC Secretary in PDF or text format by October 15 of the year in which the award is to be given. The nominations should include a concise description of the candidate’s early achievements and contributions to the technological advancement of signal processing for communications and any supporting materials showing that the candidate has met the award eligibility criteria. Any SPCC active member may nominate a candidate for the award, except the members of the SPCC Technical Recognition Award Selection Committee and ComSoc Board of Governors.
• Eligibility Criteria
Any individual, except members of the SPCC Early Achievement Award Selection Committee and ComSoc Board of Governors, may be nominated for the award, if the following criteria are met:
-the candidate must be an SPCC member at the time of nomination;
-the candidate must be within 10 years since the award of her/his last degree; and
-the candidate must have achieved early career visibility through research and service to the SPCC community.
• Award Selection Committee and Selection Process
The recipient of the SPCC Early Achievement Award and the corresponding selection process are decided by the SPCC Early Achievement Award Committee. The committee consists of the second past chair, the first past chair, the current chair and other two SPCC members nominated by the Committee Chair. The
committee will be chaired by the second past chair. The term of the committee and the committee chair is two years.
• Reporting of Awards
The Chair of the SPCC Early Achievement Award Committee shall prepare an Awards Selection Report containing the following information for each award:
o the process conducted to select the award recipient,
o the names of all candidates for the award,
o the name of the recipient of the award and associated justification
The TC Chair shall send the Awards Selection Report to the Technical Committees Director for approval. The Technical Committees Director shall approve the Awards Selection Report within two weeks of receipt. If the Director does not approve the report, the TC Chair shall be contacted to discuss the issues raised. A revised report may be submitted to the Director for approval. If the outstanding issues are not resolved between the Director and the TC Chair, the VP-TEA shall bring the matter to the TEA-C for a final decision.
Once the Awards Selection Report has been approved, and only then, the final award recipients may be announced.
• Support for the Award
The SPCC Early Achievement Award, a recognition plaque, is supported by the IEEE ComSoc and will be funded under the IEEE ComSoc annual budget for supporting Technical Committee activities