Uploaded May 28, 2002 to ncac/minutes as ncac0507final.html
Tuesday May 7, 2002
Location: Allie's American Grill, Bethesda Marriott.
Meeting following the Washington Section's Meeting and Dinner.
1. Call to Order, Welcome and Approval of Agenda
Call to order after the Washington Section's meeting at 8:40 PM.
2. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
Concerning the minutes of the NCAC meeting of April 2 continued April 10, 2002.
Motion to Approve: Jerry Gibbon, second Jim Allen
The minutes were approved unanimously and are now on the NCAC web site as ncac0402final.html
3. Chairman's Remarks
3a. IECEC Conference. The Electron Devices Society did not agree to our proposal that we share the surplus in proportion to our respective seed money investments but EDS pick up the entire cost of any potential loss. However, with 210 papers and a traditional multiplicator of 1.7 there will be a guaranteed surplus. Even if the multiplicator is reduced to 1.2, to conservatively account for the effects of 9-11, break even is assured.
3b. SCANNER.
Xianhua reminded us that the question of Scanner editorial oversight was discussed in the Officers Orientation
meeting. It was understood that each Section would have a chance to review the material before the issue is finalized.
Mike had appointed a Liaison Member earlier, and Xianhua named Greg Strutt to this position. Such a review may
be important in the next issue, which will have large coverage of the banquet, plus other stories.
Starting with the July August issue, the Scanner staff will use the following procedure:
Compile all the material that has been received - before doing the final layout - and identify any items that may
have to be excluded due to lack of space.
Send by e-mail copies of the material to (i) the two Section Chairs, (ii) the two Liaison Members, and (iii) the
Council's Chair and Vice Chair. Remind everyone that they have two working days to get back with their comments.
Try to accommodate all the suggestions received, and resolve any problems that may arise.
Bill, as Editor and the Council's Publications Chair, will have the final say on what goes in the issue.
3c. The NoVa proposed withdrawal from NCAC
At the end of the preceding meeting of the Washington Section, the WS Chair, Xianhua, had asked for short comments regarding the proposed withdrawal of NoVa from NCAC. Comments were offered by Vince Williams, Jerry Gibbon, Gideon Kantor. Vince presented a summary of the events leading up to the ExCom vote including two or more years of personality clashes where the NCAC had put itself above the sections. Jerry made an eloquent case for retaining the NCAC structure to prevent fractioning of the area. Gideon talked about the importance of historical and emotional connections across the Potomac.
The discussion in the NCAC meeting was a continuation of that discussion.
John asked how the NoVa ExCom vote had happened without notification to affected parties including the Life Member Chapter and WS. Vince reiterated the long standing problems NoVa had had with NCAC and said it had been coming for more than two years.
Gideon said that the structure would be destroyed and that the efforts to rebuild the infrastructure especially for continuing education should not be underestimated.
Jerry was asked to provide his previous eloquent comments in writing. He also pointed out the problems that had arisen when the structured responsibility for conferences was removed. Previous regular surpluses from conferences had disappeared, and the Sections had not approved seed money funding for other proposed conferences.
To the comment that the NCAC budget would burden the sections, Jim responded that Sections now have complete control of funds and budget. Also, Vince repeated that money was not an issue in the NoVa deliberations.
Doug made three points one of which included the quote: "United we stand, divided we fall.":
- People underestimate what the Council does e.g. running the IEEE office.
- He was unhappy about the way it had happened. It should have included a joint meeting with WS/NoVa.
- There is possibly/probably a hidden agenda related to personalities which makes rational discussion of the issue
difficult.
Saj pointed out one of the first related problems he had faced. NCAC had proposed meetings to be held in connection with the Section Meetings in order to increase the interaction with the Sections and give the Sections a chance for input. The NoVa section had objected to the number of meetings on the ground that they would take too much time. On the other hand NoVa complains that NCAC is unresponsive. Saj's conclusion: Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Saj also said he would not himself conduct an active campaign to influence the NoVa membership vote, but wanted to be sure that NoVa members get the full picture and that the Sections follow the procedure for bylaws changes.
Xianhua said he expected the NoVa vote to be in favor of a withdrawal and would expect to set up joint committees to handle the transition to a post NCAC world.
4. Treasurer's Report.
Howard Needham presented the Treasurers report for April. NCAC has received the second installment of assessments
from the Sections. The Scanner mailing cost were up $300 to $2000 and the printing invoice was been paid after
some delay in transit. With a balance of $9911.05 the current account is in good shape.
5. Next Month's Meeting:
Regular meetings of the NCAC officers and AdCom will continue to be held according to the schedule set in the beginning
of the year. Thus, the NCAC officers will meet immediately after the WS AdCom meeting on June 4 and the NoVa AdCom
meeting on June 13, in order to review results of the NoVa ballot and discuss the necessary follow-on actions with
officers of the two sections.
6. Adjournment
Motion to Adjourn in due course. Meeting adjourned at 9:40 PM.
Respectfully Submitted
Jan Aminoff
Secretary, NCAC
j.aminoff@computer.org
Saj Durrani, Chair, NCAC
Jim Allen, Vice Chair, NCAC
Howard Needham, Treasurer, NCAC
Jan Aminoff, Secretary, NCAC
Jerry Gibbon, NCAC Chair of Conferences Standing Committee
Xianhua Yang, Chair, WS
Doug Holly, Treasurer, WS
Shyam Baipai, Chair, WS Pace Committee
Gideon Kantor, Past Chair, WS
Greg Strutt, Director WS
Vince Williams, Past Chair, NOVA
John Margosian, Chair, Life Member Chapter