Policies & Procedures
This page specifies the CNOM Policies & Procedures, which were last updated on May 24, 2011.
- Membership Requirements
Any IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) member can be a Member of the Technical Committee (TC). To become a Member it is necessary to subscribe to the TC mailing list as specified on the TC web page. A Member becomes an Active Member if he/she satisfies at least one of the following conditions in the last two years:
- has attended (physically present or by teleconference) at least one of the regularly scheduled CNOM meetings
- has served as a TPC or OC member for CNOM sponsored conferences, such as IEEE NOMS/IM, CNSM, APNOMS, LANOMS
- has served as an editorial board member or editorial advisory board member for CNOM supported journals, namely JNSM, IJNM or TNSM
The TC Secretary shall maintain an attendance list for each such meeting. All meetings of the TC are open.
- Elected and Appointed Officers
The TC Chair reports directly to the Vice President of Technical Activities (VP-TA), in accordance with the IEEE ComSoc Bylaws. If a TC officer position becomes vacant before normal conclusion of his/her term, the remaining term shall be filled by special election of the TC. If such a special election is not held before or during the next regularly scheduled meeting, the VP-TA, in consultation with the President, shall appoint someone to serve the remaining term. Positions filled shall be for completion of the interrupted term.
The TC shall have at least three and not more than eight elected officers: Chair, Vice-chair, Technical Chair and Secretary, each of whom must be a member of the IEEE Comsoc. Student Members are not permitted to serve as elected TC officers. The exact number of elected officers shall be at the discretion of the Nominations & Elections (N&E) Committee (see below for N&E Committee). At the discretion of the TC Chair, there may be additional appointed positions.
The nominal term for Chair, Vice-chair, Technical Chair and Secretary shall be two years. Any officer can be elected to the same position for one additional, contiguous term (i.e., continuously serve in any particular officer position for a maximum of four years). TC officers can be elected to a different officer position, but in no case shall one person continuously serve as a TC officer within the same TC for more than eight years
- Nomination and Election Procedures
Elections will occur every two years and will be ratified at the IEEE/IFIP Network Operations and Management Symposium (NOMS) or IEEE/IFIP International Symposium on Integration Network Management (IM) meeting. Only Active Members may vote. A Nominations & Elections (N&E) Committee that consists of the current TC officers and three volunteers who are Active Members shall facilitate the election of officers. The TC Chair shall also chair the N&E Committee if not being considered for re-election. If the TC Chair is considered for re-election, a TC officer who is not continuing or a past TC Chair may chair the N&E Committee. The N&E Committee shall come into existence at the TC meeting held at IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM) preceding the actual election and shall be dissolved thirty days after the elections have been fully completed.The purpose of the N&E Committee is 1) to decide the necessary number of elected officers, 2) to offer candidate names for all elected officer positions, and 3) to conduct the election. It is desirable that the N&E Committee identifies at least two candidates for each elected officer position. The N&E Committee shall also make biographies and position statements of candidates available to those eligible to vote. The N&E Committee shall announce its slate of candidates at least four weeks before an election is to be held. Such announcement shall be via email. Members shall be able to submit nominations via email to the N&E Committee up to December 31st of the year preceding the election year. All candidates, however they are identified, must be Active Members, must consent to being nominated, and must show willingness to serve.
TC elections are conducted by the N&E Committee and held by show of hands at a CNOM meeting at NOMS or IM. Only Active Members can vote. The quorum for a valid election is equal to two-thirds of the voters.
In the case of two candidates for a position, election is by simple majority. For the case of more than two but fewer than five candidates, the candidate with the highest number of votes wins. For five or more candidates, selection proceeds in two stages. In the first stage, votes can be cast for all candidates. In the second stage, votes can be cast only for the up to four candidates who have garnered the most votes in the first stage. In the event of a tie, votes shall be cast one more time. If the tie is not broken, the VP-TA shall cast a tie-breaking vote.
An officer of the TC shall take responsibility for reporting election results to the TC membership, VP-TA, Secretary of Technical Activities Council (TAC), and ComSoc. All candidates shall be informed of election results and be permitted to appeal the outcome. The TC Secretary shall keep record of votes cast for post-election audit purposes.
Newly elected TC officers assume their positions at the conclusion of TC meeting at IEEE NOMS/IM where the N&E Committee reports the election outcome, but no later than June 30 of the election year.
- Conduction of Meetings
The TC shall meet at least twice a year, during the first half of the year at NOMS/IM and in second half of the year at GLOBECOM. If necessary, an additional meeting can be organized at the IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC). Meetings will be announced at least two weeks in advance on the TC mailing list.
Meetings are open to any conference attendee. The TC Chair or a designated substitute, typically another TC officer, will chair meetings. Any TC member can suggest items for the agenda. The TC Secretary will take minutes. These minutes should be made available within 30 days of the meeting.
Minutes are posted on the TC Web page and are public. Should voting (other than for officers which has been specified above) occur at the TC meetings, only Active Members physically present or attending by teleconference have voting rights. Simple majority rule applies. If voting involves changes to the Policies and Procedures (P&P), then a two thirds majority of Active Members physically present or attending by teleconference is required. Formal meeting procedures should follow Robert’s Rules of Order.
- Budget & Expenses
The TC Chair shall request the VP-TA to inform the TC of its budget, and shall provide budget requests to the VP-TA in time for consideration by the ComSoc Board of Governors during its budget approval process.
When the TC feels that funds are needed to fulfill its mission, a proposal will be prepared by one or more TC Officers for discussion and approval at a TC meeting. (Such discussion can also be carried out via the TC’s email list). The proposal should contain sufficient detail about the activity for which funds are sought and justification for funds being requested.
If the TC agrees to the proposal, it will be submitted to the VP-TA for his/her approval. If approved, funds will be used in accord with ComSoc procedures. The Secretary of the TC will maintain a record of expenses. Invoices are sent to the VP-TA for approval, and then to ComSoc headquarters for payment or reimbursement.
Expenses will normally be incurred, but is not limited to, maintaining the TC’s information infrastructure (e.g., volunteer maintenance of its website) or showing appreciation for volunteer support
- Supporting Activities
As appropriate, the TC will be active in all of ComSoc’s activities. This will include ComSoc conferences (such as ICC, GLOBECOM, INFOCOM, MILCOM, and OFC/NFOEC) by providing official TC representatives or unofficial participants to their respective Technical Program Committees, by conducting professional reviews of submitted papers (by soliciting such assistance from among its membership) and by organizing mini-conferences, symposia, panels, short courses, tutorials, etc., as deemed appropriate by the Society, specific conference committee and the TC. Further, the TC can individually organize workshops and conferences that may or may not be collocated with other ComSoc or non-ComSoc events. Also, because of the broad nature of committee activities, collaborative sessions with other committees will be sponsored and heartily encouraged. As new technologies and application areas emerge, the 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.
The 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. The 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. The TC will take on a lead role in journals or magazines that are within its field of interest, e.g., TNSM. The TC may endorse activities both inside and outside of the Society (e.g., JNSM), but may not take on the role of sponsor.
The TC will also take active role in nominating names for IEEE and ComSoc Awards, and distinguished lecturers, senior members and fellows.
- TC Information Dissemination
The TC will maintain an Internet Web page. This Web page will be accessible from the main ComSoc Web page. Announcements distributed to the TC’s membership, notably meeting agendas and meeting minutes, opportunities for membership participation in TC-sponsored activities, as well as election-related issues, will be made available on their Web page. The TC will also provide at least one email exploder as an alternative for timely dissemination of information, and to welcome useful information from others.
- IEEE NOMS/IM Organization
The TC’s flagship conferences are NOMS and IM. NOMS will be held in even-numbered years and IM in odd-numbered years.
