NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS
Section 1: Nominations Committee
Section 1.1: The Chair of the Nominations Committee shall be the immediate Past President. In the event of the incapacity or conflict of interest of the Chair, the most recent Past Chair of the Nominations Committee available shall be the Chair of the Nominations Committee. In extenuating circumstances, a different individual may be appointed by the President, contingent on approval by the BoG.
Section 1.2: The Nominations Committee shall consist of the Nominations Committee Chair and three members of the Society serving as Nominations Committee members. At the time of their selection, they must have served as members of the BoG for at least one year.
Section 1.3: A committee will be formed (consisting of the Nominations Committee Chair, the President, and the President-Elect) which will prepare a slate of Nomination Committee member-candidates for election by the BoG. If there is no President- Elect, the third member could be selected by the Nomination Committee Chair and the President from the list of the eight Society Vice Presidents. The slate should consist of four to five candidates. The President, the President-Elect, and Vice Presidents may not serve as candidates.
Section 1.4: The BoG will select three Nominations Committee members from the slate.
Section 1.5: A member of the Nominations Committee may be nominated and run for a position under the condition that the member resigns from the Nominations Committee prior to its first meeting of the year in which the nomination shall be made. The Chair shall not be eligible to be elected to the BoG during their term of service
Section 1.6: The term of service of the Nominations Committee is for a period of one year.
Section 2: Nominations Schedule
Section 2.1: One month prior to the annual meeting, the Nominations Committee shall submit to the BoG the names of, and information about, the nominees for the BoG. The Nominations Committee shall also submit names of and information about persons it proposes for the offices of President-Elect and Vice President. It shall also submit to all formal nominators the NC recommended slates corresponding to the category of their nominee (Member-at-Large or the officer position) while keeping all other names confidential. A formal nominator is one whose nominee has submitted all required supporting documents
Section 2.2 All candidates for Vice President shall have been voting members of BoG elected by the membership-at-large sometime during the past 5 calendar years, and have served for at least one full year by the time of nomination. The candidates for President-Elect and President shall have served at least one year as a Vice President. All BoG, President, President-Elect, and Vice President nominees must be members of the Society at the time ballots are distributed. The information about nominees for President, President-Elect, Vice Presidents, and BoG shall include, but not be restricted to, the following:
- Full name and contact information
- IEEE member number
- Contributions to the profession
- Contributions to the SMCS and the IEEE.
Section 2.3: Additional nominations by the SMCS membership for Members-at-Large for the BoG will be solicited at the BoG Meeting and by announcement posted on the SMCS web site. These nominations must be made by written petition, signed by at least 2 percent of the SMCS members and filed with the SMCS Secretary at least 28 days before the date of election.
The written petition must also contain the aforementioned information about each proposed candidate. Members shall be notified of all duly made nominations prior to the election. Prior to submission of a nomination petition, the petitioner shall have determined that the nominee named in the petition is willing to serve, if elected; evidence of such willingness to serve shall be submitted with the petition.
Signatures can be submitted electronically through the official IEEE society annual election website or by signing and mailing a paper petition. The name of each member signing the paper petition shall be clearly printed or typed. For identification purposes of signatures on paper petitions, membership numbers or addresses as listed in the official IEEE membership records shall be included. Only signatures submitted electronically through the IEEE society annual elections website or original signatures on paper petitions shall be accepted. Facsimiles or other copies of the original signature shall not be accepted.
Section 2.4: If a Member-at-Large is selected as an SMCS officer, that member steps down as Member-at-Large. A Member-at-Large may serve as Secretary or Treasurer.
Section 3: Developing the Slates of Candidates
Section 3.1: A slate of nominees who have indicated their availability and willingness to serve on the Board of Governors and for whom all required supporting documents were received, shall be prepared by the by the Nominating Committee. Recommendations for such nominees shall be solicited from members of the Board of Governors, from Society members, and from others, such as Chairs of all sub-groups, Chapters, and standing committees. This slate shall be presented for approval by the Board of Governors.
Section 3.2: In developing its list of nominees, the Nominations Committee shall consider those factors that will promote efficiency and equitable representation of the SMCS membership and interests and seek relevant information from within and outside the IEEE, when appropriate. The Nominations Committee shall consider nominations for the President and President-Elect with particular care due to the unique importance of these offices and the significant time and effort commitment required to effectively carry out the associated roles and responsibilities. Attributes that the Nominations Committee shall consider in evaluating nominees for President and President-Elect include:
- Substantial leadership contributions to the Society and a high level of involvement and experience in Society governance
- Willingness and ability to devote the time and effort to serve
- Substantial knowledge of the SMCS, the IEEE Technical Activities Board, the issues confronting the SMCS, and a sense of vision
- Professional stature
- Leadership, collegiality, and the ability to interact effectively and intensely within the SMCS, the IEEE Technical Activities Board, and the greater Institute.
Section 4: The President, President-Elect, and the eight Vice Presidents shall be selected from among those nominated as specified in Section 2 and Section 3 above, by secret ballot of the BoG at the Annual Meeting. A majority vote of voting BoG membership is required to select a candidate.Five Members-at-Large BoG shall be elected from among those nominated as specified in Section 2 andSection 3 above by secret ballot of the membership-at-large.
Section 5: The current President shall inform the successful candidates of their election and shall arrange for the transfer of responsibilities.
Section 6: The term of office of the President and the Vice Presidents shall be two calendar years.The term of office of the President-Elect shall be one calendar year. The total continuous time served as a President shall not exceed two years. The total continuous time served as a Vice President in any one office shall not exceed four years. For any of the above positions the filling of an unexpired term for less than half of the term shall not be counted in applying this provision.
The following offices shall be selected in even years, to begin service in odd years:
• President-Elect
• VP Systems Science and Engineering
• VP Membership
• VP Publications
• VP Finance.
The following offices shall be selected in odd years, to begin service in even years:
• VP Conferences
• VP Organization and Planning
• VP Human Machine Systems
• VP Cybernetics.
Section 7: Newly selected voting members of the BoG shall assume office on January 1 of the calendar year immediately following the Annual Meeting.