International Conference on Software Maintenance Steering Committee Charter
(DRAFT)
23rd. November 1998
1. PURPOSE
The purpose of the International Conference on Software Maintenance
(ICSM) Steering Committee (SC) is to:
- Provide a continuing committee to represent ICSM interests with the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE CS) and other groups
- Improve ICSM and adjust it as needed - Guide ICSM conduct
- Obtain feedback about ICSM for purposes of improving it Assist as needed the current ICSM
- Start new ICSMs (picking General Chair(s) and Program Chair(s))
- Pick sites for ICSMs
- Hear appeals for complaints about the conduct of ICSM (the decision of Steering Committee is binding on the current ICSM)
The Steering Committee will have six members, who will elect from their membership a CHAIR, whose principal duty will be to chair SC meetings.
The SC will also elect a SECRETARY from the membership of the SC, whose main duties will be:
- producing draft minutes of SC meetings and circulating to the committee for checking
- issuing final minutes and ensuring actions are clearly identified
- issuing a draft agenda for all SC meetings, and sending this for approval to the Chair for approval. Issuing the approved agenda with supporting papers, in due time.
Each SC member must meet all these qualifications:
- Have served as any of the following:
- ICSM Program Committee member (for the current ICSM or a previous ICSM)
- ICSM Program Chair or Co-chair (for the current ICSM or a previous ICSM)
- ICSM General Chair or Co-chair (for the current ICSM or a previous ICSM - Subscribe to the SC code of ethics.
4. CODE OF ETHICS
Each SC member shall follow these principles in SC matters:
- Openness. Willing to receive input from anyone.
- Response to inquiries. Will swiftly acknowledge inquiries and track them to their completion.
- Nonownership. Realize that SC members are not owners of ICSM, but caretakers of it for a limited time. ICSM decisions will be made in the best interests of ICSM, and not necessarily (1) to further the SC member's continuance as an SC member, or (2) in the best interests of another conference or organization.
- Courteous. Be courteous with other SC members and with those approaching them with SC matters.
- Participation. Take SC duties seriously and perform them professionally. Take an active interest in SC matters and actively contribute inputs when requested. Respond to requests in a reasonable time. Agree to abide by the SC Charter.
- Disclosure of conflict of interest. When a matter arises before the SC that an SC member is a direct party to, or stands to personally gain or lose from, that member shall disclose that there is a conflict of interest and disqualify himself or herself from taking part in considerations of the matter.
- Truthful and honest, in all SC dealings.
- Confidentiality. On sensitive matters SC members will not disclose SC discussions unless authorized by the SC to do so. Will hold confidences when requested.
- Commitment to ICSM. Believe in the worth of ICSM and will support its future.
- Upholding of IEEE CS. Will be subject to rules and regulations of
the IEEE Computer Society, as long as IEEE CS is a primary sponsor of
ICSM. k. No bribes. No SC member may receive any reward or payment in
return for his or her voting in a particular manner on some issue.
5. MEMBERSHIP TERMS
Each member of the SC is normally elected for a term of three years. Every year, two seats of the SC will be available for election. Terms begin on December 1 and end three years later on November 30. No person may serve consecutively more than two terms. It is recognized that transition from the old (pre 1996) to the revised (1996 and beyond) term will require extraordinary procedures. The SC is charged with implementing these procedures, subject to the condition that, for any member, no single term of office will exceed three years.
Election of SC Members.
Notification of election of Steering Committee members shall be made at each ICSM. Proposals for SC candidates will be received from anyone, but the proposals should be sent to the SC Chair. (If a candidate proposal is sent to a past SC Chair, the person will immediately forward the candidate information to the current SC Chair.) The responsibility for showing a proposed candidate's SC membership qualifications is with the candidate. Nominations will be accepted prior to the elections. Qualified write-in candidates are acceptable as candidates. The list of candidates will be publicly available from the SC Chair. New SC members will be elected by the current ICSM Program Committee and Conference Committee members. In case of ties in the voting, the SC will collectively select candidates from the highest vote-getting candidates. If agreement cannot be reached in this way within two weeks of the conclusion of the vote, then the SC Chair will appoint new SC members from the highest vote-getting candidates within two more weeks. New SC member elections will be held annually at ICSM or November 20 December 1st., whichever is earlier. New member terms will take effect on December 1 of the year they are elected as from the end of the meeting at which they are elected. In absentia voting: In absentia voting in writing by qualified voters by electronic mail, fax, or regular mail is allowed. The voting person's identity and qualifications must be verified.
Election of SC Chair. The SC Chair has a one-year term, from December 1 until November 30. starting from the end of the committee meeting at which he or she is elected until the end of the corresponding meeting one year (approximately) later. The SC Chair shall be elected by the SC at the beginning of each new SC (i.e., during December) immediately following the open meeting at which he or she is elected to the SC. The previous SC will designate a retiring SC member to co-ordinate the election of the SC chair. The SC Chair is elected by majority vote from the current Steering Committee. The IEEE Computer Society conference office will be told about the new SC Chair by that new Chair.
7. REPLACEMENTS
Replacements of resigning or removed members are made by selection and
vote of the SC, on or before one month after the resignation or
removal is effective. The replacement's term is the same as the term
of the replaced SC member. The SC Chair may be replaced by another SC
member by vote of the SC. Replacement here means that the SC member is
no longer SC Chair, not that the SC member is no longer a member of
the SC.
8. REMOVAL
A person may be removed from the SC for gross or consistent violations
of the code of ethics, or for other reasons deemed abhorrent by the
SC. Removal is by vote of the SC, and is effective at the conclusion
of the vote. Removed members must wait at least one full term (i.e. at
least three years) before being considered again for SC membership.
Only the committee may collectively agree on policies, motions, and resolutions of the SC. No one person alone can establish an SC policy, motion, or resolution. There must be at least four votes cast on a resolution/motion for a vote's result to be binding. A majority vote carries the item. In case of ties in voting, it will be SC Chair's choice. All members must be allowed the opportunity to vote on changes in membership (including removal or replacement of a member) or changes to the Charter. An urgent motion is an item requested by an SC member for a quick SC vote. All SC members will be notified of the item and a vote will be made on the item within one month from when the item is received by the SC Chair. In absentia voting. In absentia voting in writing by SC members by electronic mail, fax, or regular mail is allowed. The voting SC member's identity must be verified.
Most issues and votes will be handled through electronic mail. Each SC member should have an electronic mail address, if possible. Members without an electronic mail address will be notified by fax or regular mail. The SC charter, motions, and resolutions made since the last ICSM shall be made publicly available at each ICSM. Apart from ICSM, people may request these from the SC archives.
The official language of the SC will be English.
Meetings shall be at least once a year, normally at ICSMs or by SC agreement elsewhere. All SC members must be given reasonable notification (i.e., one month's advance notice) of a meeting. A meeting agenda will be sent by the SC Chair ahead of time and all SC members may vote on items in the agenda.
13. STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP LIST
Retained by current SC Chair. Archived in the SC archives.
14. RECORDS AND ARCHIVES
Records of the SC and ICSM will be archived with the IEEE Computer Society. Records are the joint property of the SC and the IEEE CS. All information shall be publicly available at nominal charge. Sample items to be placed in the Archives are, for each ICSM:
- Steering Committee (names, addresses)
- Conference Committee (General Chair, Program Chair, Tutorials Chair, Publicity
- Chair, Local Arrangements Chair (names, addresses)
- Program Committee (names, addresses)
- Call for papers
- List of papers submitted (titles, authors, authors' addresses)
- List of tutorials proposed (titles, authors, authors' addresses)
- Advance program
- Final program
- Conference proceedings
- Number of attendees
- Names and addresses of attendees
- Conference budget
- Hotel and other contracts
- Final balance sheet
- Conference summary report (by General Chair, if done)
- Conference evaluations from attendees
- Other information added by the SC, ICSM Conference Committee, ICSM Program Committee, or the IEEE Computer Society
- Lessons learned
- SC Charter
- SC interpretations of the Charter
- SC Papers (Meeting minutes, less confidential material; resolutions/motions)
- Program chair information pack (information to referees, blank referee response forms)
15. STANDARD ELECTRONIC FORMATS
16. PUBLIC POINT OF CONTACT
All SC members are public points of contact. The SC Chair should be sent copies of matters requiring full SC attention. All inquiries should be logged by the receiving SC member and responded to. Inquiries may be put into the SC archives at the discretion of the SC members.
17. CHANGES TO CHARTER
Changes to the SC Charter are by vote of the current SC, with at least four votes cast. Approved changes are put into the SC archives.
18. INTERPRETATIONS OF THE CHARTER'S MEANING
Whenever the Charter is found ambiguous or unclear, the proposed interpretation will be sent to the SC. The SC will establish within one month by vote an interpretation of the ambiguous Charter passage. The interpretation will be appended to the Charter.
19. ICSM PPROGRAMME COMMITTEE OFFICERS
The Steering Committee will approve the appointment of the following PC members:
- programme general chair
- programme co-chairs
- publicity co-chairs
- exhibition/tools co-chairs
- local arrangements co-chairs
- tutorials co-chairs
- industry track co-chairs
The criteria to be used are attached as Appendix I
The SC is self-supporting, through the donated time and money of its members. Should the responsibilities of the SC become financially onerous, the SC member may seek financial support for his SC activities. The support received should be unconditional relative to the SC member's duties.
21. ABBREVIATIONS AND DEFINITIONS
Conference Committee: General Chair(s), Program Chair(s), Tutorial Chair, Local Arrangements Chair, Publicity Chair
ICSM: International Conference on Software Maintenance
General Chair(s): General Chair or Co-chair
IEEE CS: IEEE Computer Society
Program Committee: Program Chair(s) and Program Committee members
SC: Steering Committee
TCSE: Technical Committee on Software Engineering
APPENDIX I
==========
Criteria for Selecting ICSM Key Personnel and Conference Location
Purpose: Minimize the probability that a poor combination of PC personnel and conference location leads to disastrous results for both ICSM attendees and the reputation of ICSM. We must strike a balance between openness and competence (not necessarily mutually exclusive).
1. Qualifications for General Chair
a. Minimum
i) Served successfully (as judged by the SC) at least once in one of the officer positions (see list of officer positions at the bottom of this appendix).
b. Desirable
i) Familiar with IEEE\CS conference and publication procedures.2. Qualifications for Program Chair
ii) Familiar with the local facilities (e.g., hotel) of the proposed site.
a. Minimum
i) Served successfully (as judged by the SC) at least twice on the PC.
b. Desirable
i) Familiar with IEEE\CS conference and publication procedures.
3. Qualifications for Tutorials Chair, Tools Chair, and Industry Track Chair
a. Minimum
i). Served successfully (as judged by the SC) at least once on the PC.
4. Qualifications for Publicity Chair
a. Minimum
i). Served successfully (as judged by the SC) at least once on the PC.
b. Desirable
i) Familiar with IEEE\CS publicity procedures.
5. Qualifications for Local Arrangements Chair
i) Served successfully (as judge by the SC) at least once on the PC
ii) Familiar with local facilities (e.g., hotel) of the proposed site.
b. Desirable
i) Familiar with IEEE\CS hotel contracting procedures.
6. The above qualifications may be waived if, in the judgement of the SC, individuals have other outstanding qualifications for a
position (e.g., did an outstanding job as General Chair for anotherconference).
7. Site Selection Criteria
i) Convenient air travel to and from the site is available. ii) Reasonably priced hotels are available at and in the vicinity of the site.
iii) Safe environment (e.g., no nuclear fallout).
iv) Support facilities (e.g., A/V facilities, copying, student registration help) are available in the area.
v) significant software industry presence in the area
8. Office Positions of ICSM
- General Chair
- Program Chair
- Tutorials Chair
- Tools Chair
- Industry Track Chair
- Publicity Chair
- Local Arrangements Chair
(In the above, "Chair" can mean "Co-Chair". Other than for the general and programme chairs, if there is more than one co-chair for a post, then at least ONE must meet the above criteria.)
END