Andrea Goldsmith

IT Society BOG MeetingMarch 18, 2009

CISSJohns Hopkins University

State of the SocietyCurrent state of the society is excellentHealthy financial outlook and reserves

Support for new initiatives this yearSome risks looming, long-term planning required

Transactions viewed as highly prestigious Consistently ranks as one of the most cited IEEE journals

Our field is becoming more interdisciplinaryMembers frequently honored for their workSymposium and workshops well-attended and of high

quality. Membership decline reversed this yearStudent committee events widely-attended and

compelling Identified as role model for other societies

Chapters are extremely vibrant and growing

So why not maintain the status quo?Society governance has largely changed to a

committee-based structure; less BoG influenceOur Transactions sub-to-pub time exceeds that of all

other IEEE journalsOur membership/chapters committee lacked a charterOur website was outdated and hard to maintainWe had a closed-door process for nominations to our

most prestigious awardWe are sometimes viewed as an “old-boys” network,

and have lacked representation of women and minorities

These issues are the focus of new initiatives this year

Society Governance Our society governance has changed over the last few years. In the past, most decisions and oversight was conducted by the

BoG, Society hierarchy was relatively flat.

Recently some of decisions and oversight have shifted to committees. e.g., conference committee Given importance of conference committee: chair should become a

voting BoG member: Vote for BoG approval Officer oversight of committee operations important

Make officers ex-officio members of committees if not alreadyCurrently in place:

Pubs committee: the president, 1st VP, and 2nd Shannon Award and Wyner Award Committees: All officers Paper Awards Committees (chaired by 1st VP) with 2nd VP as an ex-

officio member Membership and chapters committee: 2nd VP chairs

Proposed ex-officio membership for the other committees. Conference Committee: President and 1st VP (in bylaws: vote for BOG

approval) Online Committee: President and 1st VP Student Committee: 2nd VP Outreach Committee: 2nd VP

Reducing Sub-to-Pub TimeOur Transactions have unacceptably long delaysProvides poor member service, hurts timeliness of

publication, impacts tenure decisions for authorsThere are many reasons for these delays

But we can do much betterMy biggest initiative this year is to reduce sub-to-

pub time based on metrics we create (not IEEE) Publications Committee report will have more

detailsDecision to upgrade Pareja, move to Manuscript

Central, or create a new system must be made soon.

Membership/Chapters CommitteeThis committee has lacked a charter in the

pastOur membership had experienced constant

decline for many years (until this year)We lacked a real Distinguised Lecture

programChapters were not well integrated into the

societyOutreach to countries without a significant IT

presence was lackingNew charter and initiatives for this committee

AwardsOpen call for Shannon award nominees

Want to make sure not to exclude deserving nominess

Open nominations closed March 1Received 6 nominationsCommittee will still generate internal nominations

Paper AwardsChanges to joint Comsoc/IT awardWould still like to see more paper award nominationsNot following bylaws on IT paper award nominations

New WebsiteLaunched at ITAVery successful – many clicks!Many features that will improve its value to

our membersMaintenance requires ongoing activity:

Proposal to make the online committee a standing committee

More details and vote from Nick

Other InitiativesOutreach committee

Mentoring network

Newsletter initiativesCloser ties between website and newsletter

More tutorial materialPossible creation of a magazine