IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA)
Type 1 Standards Coordinating Committee (SCC)
Policies and Procedures Template Instructions
IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Type 1 Standards Coordinating Committee (SCC) Baseline Policies and Procedures
Instructions
The principles contained in the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Standards Coordinating Committee (type SCC1) Baseline Policies and Procedures constitute the fundamental requirements for proper standards practice in the IEEE.
The responsibilities of a Type 1 SCC are similar to a Type 2 with the exception that a Type 1 cannot act as a Sponsor for standards projects. For further information, see the IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws, subclause on “Standards Coordinating Committees (SCCs).
The IEEE-SA requires that these procedures be adopted intact, with modifications of some clauses allowed as indicated. Modifications for additional unique Type 1 SCC details may be proposed, which will be audited for appropriateness by the IEEE-SA Standards Board Audit Committee (AudCom), once approved by the SCC (hereinafter called the Committee). Those additional details shall be inserted after the final section (9.0 Appeals) of the template.
This instructional material is intended to aid in the drafting of policies and procedures documents. If a discrepancy is found between the instructional material and the red text instructions within the baseline policies and procedures, the red text instructions within the baseline take precedence.
The current Committee procedures shall be located on the IEEE-SA Standards Board AudCom website. These procedures can be updated no more than once per year.
General Information
· Before starting, save the baseline document with a different name, identifying the Committee. Turn on “track changes” and submit completed Committee P&P with the tracked changes displayed. The instruction pages (i to vii) shall be removed from the draft document.
· The name on the cover page (Page 1) and at the top of Page 2 shall be replaced with the “Committee’s name.”
· All P&Ps shall be prepared in .doc or .docx format. The name of the Committee and the date of document approval by the SCC shall be included in the header of the document. The purpose of the date in the footer is to identify the baseline document utilized in the preparation of the Committee’s P&P and shall not be removed or changed.
· This document shall be used as the baseline for Type 1 Standards Coordinating Committee (SCC) Baseline Policies and Procedures. Type 1 Standards Coordinating Committee (SCC) Baseline Policies and Procedures submitted to AudCom shall be compared against this baseline. All clauses shall be included. If a specific clause is not utilized in the prepared baseline P&P, the clause number and title shall be left in the document, the clause text shall be removed and replaced with the words “Not applicable.” For example, if the group does not allow Proxy voting the clause would be formatted as follows:
7.3 Proxy Voting
Not applicable.
· Throughout the document, the words “Committee” or “Committee name” may be replaced with the Committee’s formal name, e.g., “SCC18 National Fire Protection Association Standards Committee.” If not, as a minimum, “Committee” shall be clarified in Clause 1.0 – “Introduction,” by removing the brackets and inserting the name of the Committee, i.e., “hereinafter, the ‘SCC18 National Fire Protection Association Standards Committee’ will be referred to as the ‘Committee’.”
· Items in square brackets [] are optional. When the text in brackets applies, remove the brackets and retain the text. If the item is not applicable, completely remove the brackets and the enclosed text.
· Text in shaded italics indicates a placeholder that should be replaced with information specific to the Committee. For the shaded text on the cover and in Clauses 1.0, 1.03. 1.04, 1.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5.2, 6.0, 6.1 and 9.0, the gray, shaded text shall be revised to match the Committee’s requirements, and the shading and italic style shall be removed. While the shaded text items have been made changeable for the Committee preparing the baseline, AudCom will review any changes for reasonableness.
· It is easier and faster for AudCom to review the submitted document with the editing instructions, in red text visible. Therefore, the red instructional text shall be retained until final acceptance by the IEEE-SA Standards Board.
· The purpose of the date in the footer of the document is to indicate the date of the baseline document. It shall should not be removed or changed. If a Committee is concerned about the date of approval, it is suggested that the header of each page could contain both the Committee’s name as well as the date of approval by the committee of the Committee’s document.
P&P Content Considerations
· The baseline document shall only be focused on the basic process and procedures the Committee utilizes to serve as a forum for the exchange of information in the technical area of relevance to the SCC. Only Committee procedures, responsibilities, or actions relevant to the exchange of technical information shall be included. The following are examples of areas that belong in a Sponsor's Operating Manual or similar document:
§ The addition of organization structures that are frequently changing, e.g., the scope of short-term groups or subcommittees is inappropriate, as a change to these will require the re-submittal of the complete document to AudCom for IEEE-SA Standards Board acceptance.
§ Responsibilities for officers shall only include items relevant to standards development. Items such as promoting activities, senior membership, cooperation with local chapters, encouraging IEEE membership, awards, reviewing technical papers, etc. belong in the Sponsor’s Operating Manual.
· If the Committee has material that does not appear in the baseline document, but is being considered for inclusion, it shall first be considered for the Committee’s Operating Manual. If, after detailed review, the Committee determines the additional material is integral to the basic process and procedures associated with the Committee’s technical area and the facilitation of the exchange of information in this area, it could be added to the end of the baseline document after Clause 9 as Clause 10, 11, etc. Note: the addition of new clauses does not guarantee their acceptance, and will increase the time it takes for review, as the new clauses will require additional discussion to review and evaluate.
Baseline Specific Instructions
· In Clause 1.1, IEEE Committee Scope, the Committee’s scope shall be focused on the specifically approved technical area within the Committee’s responsibilities.
· Clauses 7.1.1, 7.1.2, and 5.2 shall be consistent. For example, if the Sponsor requires a two-thirds majority vote for disbandment of a subgroup, then item b) of 7.1.1 shall be moved to 7.1.2, and the shaded text in Clause 5.2 shall be changed to two-thirds.
Bracketed Material [ ]
· In Clause 1.04, the Committee shall decide whether they wish to use their name throughout the document wherever ‘Committee’ is used and replace it throughout the document, or if they wish to make single reference to their name in this paragraph and utilize ‘Committee’ throughout. If the only reference to the actual name of the Committee that will be made is in this paragraph then the brackets shall be removed and the text retained.
· In Clause 4.1 (c), [up to five] shall be removed if not applicable. If the material is retained, remove the brackets and select the number to be used in the shaded text and remove the shading.
· In Clause 4.1 (d) [A representative may have an alternate serve in his/her absence] shall be removed if not applicable, or just the brackets shall be removed if applicable.
· Clause 4.3 (d) the Committee shall decide if only Designated Representatives (DR) shall be listed; or if both DR and Designated Representative Alternates (DRA), shall be listed. If yes brackets shall be removed; if not, the brackets and included material shall be removed.
· Clause 4.3 (e) shall be included if the Committee has subgroups and removed if not.
· In Clause 4.4, [affiliation] and [membership status] shall be removed if not applicable, or just the brackets shall be removed if applicable. The Committee shall decide if they want affiliation and membership status contained on their public membership lists.
· In Clause 6.0, the Committee shall decide if meetings of subgroups can be held independent of the Committee’s meetings. If so, the brackets shall be removed around the phrase [Meetings of subgroups may be held as decided upon by the voting members or Chair of the subgroup.] If not, the entire bracketed phrase shall be deleted.
· In Clause 9.0, the Committee may add additional details of their Appeals process, but the baseline text shall not be changed.
Format and Style
· The preparer may select the fonts utilized in the P&P document; however, it is recommended that the Times New Roman font should be utilized for the body text and Times New Roman Bold font for the clause and subclause headings. Authors of P&P documents should select a font that is legible when read on a digital device.
· A Table of Contents may be added to the document if desired. It shall be located after the cover page and before the main body of the document.
Submittal and Review Process for Policies and Procedures Documents
After completion of your Policies and Procedures document, the Standards Coordinating Committee (SCC) Chair or Standards Delegate uploads the document (in .doc or .docx format) into the myProject system. The AudCom administrator will then assign two AudCom members to review the document. The reviewers will use a checklist table to compare the prepared Type 1 SCC’s Policies and Procedures to the Baseline that follows these instructions, and will create a list of comments. The comment checklist table will then be uploaded into the myProject system, and the SCC Chair or Standards Delegate will be automatically notified by e-mail to go to myProject to obtain the checklist. The Committee should download the checklist and review it for any changes or recommendations made by the AudCom reviewers. If the SCC has any questions on the checklist and comments, they may contact the AudCom administrator to set up a conference call with the AudCom reviewers to discuss resolution. The SCC then revises their document as required, and again uploads it into the myProject system. If the reviewers are satisfied, they will post a new checklist on the myProject system indicating they are recommending acceptance at their next scheduled AudCom meeting. If all of the concerns are not resolved, the process repeats until they are.
Examples of issues that the members of AudCom look for are:
a) Adherence to the “mandatory” elements of the baseline P&P.
b) Consistency in selection of optional elements in various sections of the P&P.
c) Addition of substantial amounts of “new” text, beyond the limits of the baseline P&P. Note that such additional text is not cause for disapproval but does result in additional scrutiny. Further, it will extend the review cycle, as it will take time and additional discussion to review and evaluate such text.
d) Unusual revisions of the text from that of the baseline P&P.
e) The addition of new clauses.
It should be noted that while two AudCom members are assigned to perform the initial review and to recommend acceptance of the SCC’s P&P to AudCom, all AudCom members are expected to read over the reviews and the recommendation for acceptance prior to the AudCom meeting. A final discussion will take place at the meeting and members of AudCom may bring up additional issues or items that require revision at that time. Only after the AudCom review is complete can AudCom then recommend to the IEEE-SA Standards Board either that the submitted P&Ps should be accepted, not accepted, or considered visibly under development.
After acceptance by IEEE-SA Standards Board the final version of the Policies and Procedures for Standards Development for the Committee will be published on the IEEE-SA Standards Board AudCom website. The Committee shall refer its members to this website, and any references on the Committee’s website to the accepted P&P shall be directly linked to this copy as it is the only official P&P document for the Committee.
For additional procedures, see the IEEE-SA AudCom Conventions.
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