IEEE SCV EMC Chapter Best Practices


Table of Contents

Article I - Name

Section 1. This organization shall be known as the IEEE Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the Electromagnetic Compatibility Society.

Section 2. Hereafter "Chapter" shall refer to the organization named in Section 1. "Society" shall refer to the Society or Societies named in Section 1, and "Section" shall refer to Santa Clara Valley Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, having administrative responsibility for the Chapter(s).

Article II - Field of Interest and Objectives

Section 1. The field of interest of the Chapter shall be Electromagnetic Compatibility.

Section 2. The Chapter shall sponsor meetings of the Section within the field of EMC, shall provide the necessary personnel for Section committees, and shall assist in any Society EMC symposium or conference held within the Section territory. The Chapter shall be responsible for coordination with the Section on such symposia or conferences.

Article III - Membership

Section 1. Membership in the Society shall be available only to members of the IEEE in any grade, including students, having a professional interest in any phase of the Field of Interest of the Society, providing payment of dues is current.

Section 2. Membership: There shall be only one grade of Society membership based on the payment of the annual fee.

Section 3. Member: Membership shall be based on payment of both annual IEEE and Society dues and upon acceptance of formal application by IEEE Headquarters.

Section 4. Affiliates may participate in Society activities, as provided by the IEEE Bylaws, subject to applicable IEEE rules and regulations, and any additional limitations imposed by the Society Bylaws.

Section 5. A Society Affiliate may not serve in elective office in the Society, a Chapter or vote for candidates for these offices; however, an Affiliate may serve in any appointive office in the Society or a Chapter of the Society. A Society Affiliate is entitled to receive notices of all meetings sent to Society members, may receive copies of publications of the Society, may attend and participate in any function of the Society by payment of IEEE member charges, and may receive any award bestowed upon him/her by the Society. A Society Affiliate may not receive any IEEE benefits that are derived through IEEE membership except as approved by the IEEE Executive Committee.

Article IV - Management

Section 1. The Chapter shall be managed by an Administrative Committee (ADCOM) composed of the Chapter Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and Past Chair; and the Counseling Committee (COCOM) consisting of the Awards Chair, Activities Chair, Membership Chair, Institutions Chair, Nominations Chair, Technical Program Chair, Webmaster Chair, Publisher Chair, Colloquium Chair plus and other chairs determined necessary by the Chair. The Administrative Committee shall be responsible for carrying out locally the program of the Society and shall be governed by the actions of the Administrative Committee of the Society. It shall be responsible for making such reports to the Societies as may be required by their Bylaws, and for making meeting, financial, and other reports to the Section.

Section 2. The term of office of all Chapter officers shall be one year starting on January 1. No person shall hold the same office for more than 3 consecutive years. Any member of the ADCOM can be removed from their position for not performing their responsibilities as listed in Article V. The Administrative Committee shall fill vacancies of office during the year by holding an election by the chapter membership unless the vacancy occurs during the summer when the membership not available for a vote. In this case the ADCOM will fill the vacancy with an interim officer until a vote can be held in September.

Section 3. No Chapter or any officer or representative thereof shall have the authority to contract debts for, pledge the credit of, or in any way bind the Section, Society, or the IEEE. Disbursements in excess of $1000.00 shall require the approval of the majority of the ADCOM and the Section.

Section 4. All officers, committee members, or representatives thereof shall adhere to the IEEE Code of Ethics when performing their duties.

Section 5. All current officers and committee Chair are responsible for the orderly transfer of documents and information to the next year's officers and committee Chair. This transition is to take place in December following elections held in November. It is expected that all officers are ready to fulfill their position responsibilities on the 1st of January.

Article V - Chapter Officers

Section 1. The Chapter officers shall consist of the Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. The officers shall be members of the IEEE and the IEEE EMC Society, and hold the grade of Fellow, Senior Member or Member.

Section 2. The Chapter Chair shall:

  • Have general supervision of the Chapter in all its activities.
  • Preside at all meetings of the Chapter per se and of its Administrative Committee.
  • Represent the Chapter at all meetings, Sectional, Regional or otherwise, having business or activity embraced by the field of interest of the Society.
  • Be an ex officio member of all Chapter committees. Appoint the Chair of all Chapter Committees other than the Technical Program Committee.
  • Attend (or designate an alternate Chapter Officer if the Chair is unable to attend) all SCV Section meetings, and provide necessary reports and information to Society and section officers.
  • Get approval from Section of any expenditures greater than $1000.00.
  • Prepare a budgetary plan for the upcoming year to AdCom by the second week of September.
  • Meet with Previous Chair and review Chapter Inventory List and account for all chapter property.
  • Add all new chapter purchases during the year to Chapter Inventory List.
  • After being elected in November, obtain signature authority to authorize checks and meet with outgoing Treasurer to understand chapter financials.
  • At January meeting present a financial budget to the chapter for approval by the chapter membership.
  • The financial presentation should state how much the chapter has in savings and checking and a budget for the chapter's expenses for the year. Same message to be presented to SCV Section.
  • Responsible for working with Nominations Chair to identify candidate(s) for presenting perspective candidates to the membership at the September meeting.
  • Oversee the officer elections held at November meeting.
  • Responsible for organizing officer transfer of information meetings held in December.
  • Responsible for working with newly elected chair and treasurer to prepare the next year's budget.
  • Present budget for Chapter to ADCOM and get approval from majority of ADCOM officers before start of the new year.
  • Responsible for holding all officers accountable in the performance of their responsibilities as specified in Article V.
  • Responsible for conducting an ADCOM vote to dismiss any officer not performing their responsibilities.
  • Perform responsibilities of discharged officer until a replacement can be found and elections held.
  • Request for candidates for "Open Position" to be announced at next meeting and elections held at the subsequent meeting.
  • Signature authority for expenses authorized by budget and approved by majority of ADCOM.
  • Verify the budget guidelines for chapter are being adhered to. The budget should not exceed 25% of the funds on hand, so as to keep funds available to plan and organize a fund raising event as identified by the Colloquium Committee Chair and approved by the ADCOM.
  • Supervise the activities of the Institutions Chair to ensure adequate funds are being collected from our corporate, supplier, and laboratory sponsors.
  • Ensure that sponsors are being adequately represented to the chapter and its membership based on donations received.
  • Verify presentations adhere to IEEE standards (no commercial presentations).
  • Appoint any additional personnel which must be IEEE and Chapter members to assist in conducting the Chapter's business. These appointees shall be approved by the majority of the ADCOM.
  • To make arrangements for ADCOM meetings and send out invitations with agenda minimum of three days prior to meeting.
  • Keep ADCOM meetings focused on agenda and conducted in a timely manor.
  • Provide Membership Chair and Secretary with list of current and past Chapter membership lists.

Section 3. The Vice Chair shall:

  • Assume the duties of the Chair during the latter's absence or incapacity.
  • Assume any of the duties of the office of the Chair when so directed by the Chair.
  • Be Chair of the Technical Program Committee.

Section 4. The Treasurer shall:

  • Manage the funds of the Chapter in accordance with IEEE Section and Chapter policy.
  • Maintain accurate financial records, and prepare and submit any financial statements required by the Chair, AdCom Committee, or Section.
  • Coordinate payment of monthly meeting dinner.
  • Following November elections meet with outgoing Treasurer and obtain signature authority to authorize checks and to understand the excel spread sheet used by chapter for accounting.
  • Work with outgoing Treasurer to prepare paperwork needed for submittal to Section.
  • In December meet with Chair and outgoing chair to get documents needed by IEEE Section signed off before end of December.
  • To provide monthly actuals for monies spent during the year and only approving checks which are approved by ADCOM and less than budgeted amount.
  • To inform the ADCOM of amounts that are not in budget and whether such amounts require a fund raiser or additional sponsorship.
  • To serve as focal point for fund raiser checks during the registration process.
  • To work with current Chair and outgoing Chair to develop budget for next year with guidelines found under Chair Duties and Responsibilities.
  • To keep accurate records of checks written per month and provide totals to ADCOM at their meetings using excel spreadsheet. Main focus is what was budgeted for and what was actually spent.
  • To review fund raiser budget, track expenses to that budget, issue checks per approved fund raiser budget.
  • To provide chapter ADCOM/Section with profit or loss after fund raiser.
  • To support chair with chapter budget for the year to be presented at the January chapter meeting.
  • To work with fund raiser chair to prepare slides for presentation to SCV Section.
  • To be available at ADCOM and Chapter meetings to provide re-imbursement checks for approved budgetary expenses or special ADCOM approved expenses.

Section 5. The Secretary shall:

  • Keep accurate minutes and records for all activities of the Chapter.
  • Prepare and mail the Chapter Newsletter approximately two weeks prior to a Chapter meeting to each Chapter Member and Affiliate so recognized.
  • The Newsletter shall include notice regarding meetings, symposia, conferences, conventions, and other pertinent functions and activities of the Chapter.
  • Obtain mailing labels from the Section for newsletter.
  • Record attendance at each chapter meeting and submit appropriate documentation to the Section.
  • Maintain a copy of all technical papers, softcopy of presentation, etc. handed out at the Chapter meetings for at least 1 year.
  • To obtain speaker information from Vice Chair and use to publish newsletter both soft and hard copies a minimum of two weeks before the meeting.
  • To send meeting information to the webmaster immediately after the monthly chapter meeting; provided a speaker has been identified.
  • To submit the L-31 information to IEEE for rebate monies.
  • Send meeting information to GRID for website publication.
  • To keep accurate list of both past and present membership of Chapter.
  • To provide signup sheets at Chapter meetings.
  • To provide feedback to chapter on number of members versus non-members at monthly meetings.
  • To be able to determine chapter members who have attend most or all chapter meetings for special recognition at December meeting. If more than one there will be a drawing where winner gets a gift and/or special award from the Awards Chair.
  • To take minutes at Chapter ADCOM meetings and publish within 3 business days.

Section 6. The Past Chapter Chair shall:

  • Responsible for ensuring the Chapter Bylaws are followed.
  • Meet with newly elected Chair and review Chapter Inventory List.
  • Provide advice to the newly elected Chair and the ADCOM.
  • Provide historical information regarding past budgetary inquires.

Article VI - Committees

Section 1. Each counseling committee shall be headed by a Chair, and shall have the power to divide its work or create a subcommittee of its own selection with ADCOM approval. The Chapter Chair may create additional ad hoc committees as necessary to ensure the smooth and proper operation of the Chapter with ADCOM approval. The standing Committees of the Chapter shall be Membership, Institutional, Technical Program, Activities, Nominating, Awards, Webmaster, Publisher, and Colloquium. All COCOM members must hold Fellow, Senior Member or Member grade memberships, and must be members of both the IEEE and the IEEE EMC Society.

Section 2. The Membership Counseling Committee Chair shall:

  • Encourage and promote Chapter membership consonant with membership requirements of the Constitution and Bylaws of the Society.
  • Ensure that IEEE applications are displayed at every technical meeting.
  • After being selected to serve as membership chair obtain list of current and past members from the Chair. Provide membership materials at each meeting.
  • After being appointed in December, work with outgoing Membership Chair and Chapter Chair to establish realistic goals for how many new Chapter Members, promotions from Member to Senior Member, and from Senior Member to Fellow.
  • Provide list of current members, past members, and guests to Secretary for putting out at each chapter meeting.
  • Welcome members and guests and help them sign in properly.
  • Make special effort to get past members and guests to supply e-mail addresses so as to reduce the number of hardcopy newsletters.
  • Determine the cost of "Membership" materials and suggest to ADCOM the amount to be added to Chapter budget.
  • When requested by the Chair, make short presentation at the beginning of Chapter meeting entitled "Why should I be a member of the IEEE", or "The Benefits of being an IEEE member".
  • As part of announcement request anyone with questions to see you after the meeting.
  • At end of Chapter meeting present information on how many members, past members, and guests attended and the total number of attendees.
  • Send Secretary names and e-mail addresses new attendees from monthly meeting and other event sign up sheets. Those without e-mail address should give us a mailing address.
  • Contact via e-mail, regular mail, or phone calls "In-Active", "Arrears", and "Resigned" members from SAMIEEE report to determine reason(s) and report to ADCOM on monthly basis.
  • Work with Webmaster Committee Chair and Publisher Committee Chair to add monthly articles to both publications that promote membership in the SCV EMC Chapter.

Section 3. The Institutional Committee Chair shall:

  • Actively seek institutional listings for the Chapter Newsletter.
  • Submit listings that are in a camera ready artwork format (or wmf, jpg, bmp, etc) to the Chapter Secretary for inclusion into the Chapter Newsletter.
  • Submit appropriate files to webmaster for addition to the chapter website.
  • The price for an institutional listings shall be approved by majority vote of the Administrative Committee.
  • Create corporate sponsorship brochure and oversee its distribution to potential companies.
  • Ensure corporate sponsorship banners are displayed at chapter meetings and other chapter functions.

Section 4. The Technical Program Committee Chair shall:

  • Solicit and coordinate speakers for proper coverage of the Chapter field of interest at technical meetings.
  • Prepare, distribute, and collect speaker and topic surveys to ensure that the needs and requests of Chapter members are met.
  • Submit the meeting notice and speaker biography to the IEEE Grid and the Chapter Secretary.
  • To assist the speakers by meeting them at the airport and taking them to the chapter meetings when necessary.
  • To assist speakers getting back to their hotel after the meeting.
  • To provider speakers with information on where the meetings are located.
  • To contact the speaker 24 hours before the presentation to allow enough time to provide a backup speaker at the meeting.
  • To have a local backup speaker or DVD presentation available should something happen to the scheduled speaker, such as a flight cancellation due to weather or illness.
  • To provide a budget to the ADCOM for travel expenses to allow speakers outside the area to present to our chapter.
  • After being elected in November provide a list of potential speaker candidates to the ADCOM for their review in December.
  • Maintain list of speakers who have presented to the chapter and try not to have repeat speakers within three years from their last presentation.
  • Potential speakers should have a history of making presentations to other EMC/IEEE chapters or at symposiums, etc. First time presentations should have their presentation reviewed and approved by the ADCOM.

Section 5. The Activities Committee Chair shall:

  • Coordinate the annual Chapter Social normally held in September.
  • Coordinate the activities at the technical meetings ( for example raffles, cookies and coffee, etc.).
  • Coordinate restaurant arrangements for the monthly meeting dinners (when held).
  • Ensure video, audio, and other equipment needed for the presentation are available including extra batteries for microphones and laser pointers.
  • Understand the operation of audio/visual support equipment.
  • Responsible for making arrangements for meeting location.
  • Coordinate with company sponsor to ensure availability of meeting location second Tuesday of every month Jan - May and September - December.
  • Provide food and drinks at meetings based on Chapter approved budget.

Section 6. The Nominating Committee Chair shall:

  • Be responsible for coordinating the election of Chapter Officers in accordance with the requirements set forth in Article VII.
  • Submit a nominating procedure for approval by the Chapter Officers on or before the September monthly meeting.
  • Submit any biography and campaign statements in a "ready to copy" form (no greater than 1 legal size sheet) to the Secretary so it can be included in the September Chapter Newsletter.
  • Coordinate the election process during the November Meeting.

Section 7. The Awards Committee Chair shall:

  • Present Awards to Speakers after their presentation to chapter and gift or gift certificate based on ADCOM and membership approved budget.
  • At December meeting present Award and gift certificate to chapter member who attended the most meetings. Oversee drawing if there are more than one frontrunner.
  • Assist chapter membership become aware of other awards available through IEEE and assist qualified members in applying for these awards.
  • Make announcement of the available awards to chapter members at the beginning of each meeting.

Section 8. The Webmaster Committee Chair shall:

  • Take inputs from Chapter Secretary for monthly chapter speaker and Institutional Listings Chair and post information on Chapter website.
  • Post current members of ADCOM and Counseling Committee (COCOM) on website.
  • Post information on current colloquium.
  • Create website for colloquium registration.
  • Make website easy to use by all members and guests.
  • Post previous presentations that are can be down loaded once visitor registers with their e-mail address, and other critical contact information.
  • New visitor information is to be supplied to the Membership Chair in a timely manner.
  • Ensure website institutional listings are maintained based on their level of sponsorship (Platinum, Gold, and Silver).

Section 9. The Publisher Committee Chair shall:

  • Create articles for the chapter newsletter and for the website.
  • Generate hard copies of the newsletter and mail to membership as detailed by either the Membership Chair or the Secretary.
  • Generate soft copies of the newsletter and e-mail to membership as detailed by either the Membership Chair or the Secretary.
  • Generate Award Certificates.
  • Generate and publish Corporate Sponsorship brochures.
  • Generate and publish Laboratory and Supplier Sponsorship brochures.
  • Design layout for website, newsletter, and colloquium.
  • Work with colloquium presenters to supply handouts (Hardcopy and or CDs).

Section 10. The Colloquium Committee Chair shall:

  • Work with Technical Chair to determine topics, number of speakers, length of presentation, technical tracks (Automotive EMC, EMC in Aerospace, EM Modeling Techniques, PCB Design and Modeling, Signal Integrity, System EMC Test and Measurement, System EMC Design and Modeling, etc).
  • Determine location based on expected attendance, flexibility in increase lecture halls, exhibit area, insurance, transportation, hotel accommodations, and food availability/cost.
  • Coordinate activities for spouses and family members not attending presentations. Price the cost of attending each activity so as it becomes a profitable for the chapter.
  • Try to involve local High School and College Bands for evening entertainment at Welcome Reception.
  • Determine pricing structure consistent with similar events.
  • Coordinate invited speakers accommodations so as to be close to event.
  • Coordinate with webmaster and publisher chairs to ensure that the necessary information is distributed, i.e. who should attend, subjects being presented, location, price breakdown, dates, where, sponsors (if any), contact information for questions.
  • Generate data base with company EMC manager¡¯s names/ e-mail addresses that would be interested in attending such an event.
  • Work with webmaster to ensure registration website is designed properly.
  • Coordinate with hotel, college, convention center, etc. personnel to ensure all requirements for event are coordinated, such as audio, visual, A/C, and lighting.
  • Ensure insurance protecting the organization in the event of an accident is covered.
  • Work with Chapter Treasurer to ensure all speakers and others involved with supporting the event are paid for their services.
  • Determine most cost effective method for supplying food for the event. Usually consisting of a morning break, lunch, afternoon break. The Welcome Reception would be a buffet style event with dancing supplied from a local school or university band.
  • Arrange for the printing of handouts, advance programs, final programs, and special notices mailed to potential attendees.
  • Assist speakers with their hotel, airfare, and ground transportation needs.
  • Coordinate with vendors when exhibitors are part of event giving special attention and booth location to Platinum, Gold, and Silver sponsors.
  • Suggest other means to raise funds such as selling custom SCVEMC Chapter T-Shirts, raffles, selling food at chapter meetings, and filming our chapter meetings for creating a year's worth of lectures than can be sold on or chapter website.
  • Work with Publisher Chair and Institutions Chair to put together one brochure targeting EMC laboratories and equipment suppliers for chapter sponsorship; also put together a second brochure targeting corporations.
  • Work with Publisher Chair and Webmaster to create advertisements that will help raise funds for the chapter.

Article VII - Nominations and Elections

Section 1. Candidates must hold Fellow, Senior Member or Member grade memberships, and must be members of both the IEEE and the IEEE EMC Society.

Section 2. Nominations shall contain at least one name for each office. Unless otherwise contested, the Secretary automatically becomes acandidate for Treasurer, the Treasurer automatically becomes a candiate for the office of Vice-Chair, and the Vice-Chair automatically becomes a candiate for the office of Chair.

Section 3. No name of any candidate shall be presented without his or her prior consent.

Section 4. The Administrative Committee or its designees shallconstitute a Tellers Committee.

Section 5. An Affiliate cannot serve in an elective office in a Chapter nor vote for candidates for these offices.

Section 6. In the event of a tie, the nominating committee chair shall cast the deciding vote.

Article VIII - Meetings

Section 1. The Chapter shall hold monthly meetings every second Tuesday of the month from September through May. The September meeting shall be the Chapter's Annual Social. All other meetings shall be technical meetings. All meetings sponsored by the Chapter shall be open to all Section members, all Affiliates of the Chapter, and guests. The Annual Budgetary Meeting shall be held in conjunction with the January Technical Meeting. The membership shall approve the chapter budget at this meeting.

Section 2. An Affiliate shall be entitled to attend and participate in activities of the Societies with which he or she is affiliated by payment of the same charges as IEEE Members.

Section 3. The Administrative Committee of the Chapter shall hold meetings at such times as are deemed necessary to carry on the management of the Chapter. Meetings of the Administrative Committee may be called by the Chapter Chair at his or her discretion, or shall be called upon request by two of its members. No meeting shall be held unless all members of the Administrative Committee shall have been notified of the time and place at least 2 working days in advance of the meeting. Two-thirds of the Chapter Officers shall constitute a quorum, and a plurality vote of Chapter Officers attending a meeting shall be necessary to conduct business unless otherwise provided to the contrary.

Article IX - Financial Support

Section 1. A Chapter shall administer and have authority over only such funds as are a) budgeted for it by the ADCOM and approved by its membership, b) given to it by the parent Society through the Section Treasurer, c) collected from institutional listings, d) provided by corporate sponsorship, or e) accumulated through conducting special fundraisers.

Article X - Amendments

Section 1. Amendments to these Best Practices may be initiated by a majority of the Administrative Committee or by petition bearing fifteen signatures of Chapter members.

Section 2. Proposed amendments to these Best Practicess shall be made available to chapter members at a regular monthly chapter meeting as defined in Article VIII, Section 1. A plurality vote by chapter members who are present at the chapter meeting is required to approve the amendments.

Section 3. All changes in the Bylaws must be consonant with the Constitution and Bylaws of the IEEE, the Society, and the Section.

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