Bylaws Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society (UFFC-S)
Approved by the Constitution and Bylaws Review Committee (C&B Review Committee): 03/14/2011
Incorporated Suggestions from IEEE Headquarters: 04/10/2011
Approved by the C&B Committee on IEEE Suggested Changes: 04/21/2011
Approved by IEEE UFFC-S AdCom: 05/13/2011
Filed with IEEE and Effective Date: 05/20/2011
Notice to Membership: 05/22/2011
BYLAWS (with Comments)
IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society(UFFC-S)
Proposed Amendments (Latest Revision April 21, 2011)
Table of Contents
1.Nature of the Bylaws
2.Society Membership
2.1.Member
2.2.Voting Member
3.Administrative Committee (AdCom)
3.1.AdCom Composition
3.2.Quorum
3.3.Absences and Vacancies
3.4.Nomination and Election of Elected Members
3.4.1.Nomination
3.4.2.Election
3.5.Nomination and Election of President-Elect
3.5.1.Terms of Office
3.6.Duties of UFFC-S Officers
3.6.1.President
3.6.2.President-Elect
3.6.3.Vice Presidents
3.6.4.Secretary/Treasurer
3.6.5.Junior and Senior Past Presidents
3.7.Meetings
3.7.1.Special Meetings
3.7.2.E-mail Vote in Lieu of a Meeting
3.7.3.Parliamentary Procedure
3.8.Policies and Procedures
3.9.AdCom Student Representatives
3.10.AdCom Emeritus
4.Society Funds
4.1.Annual Dues and General Expenditures
4.1.1.Student Dues
4.2.Symposia Funds
4.3.Other
5.Committees
5.1.Standing Committees
5.1.1.Three Technical Standing Committees
5.1.2.Symposia
5.1.3.Finance
5.1.4.Publications
5.1.4.1.Transactions
5.1.4.2.Newsletter
5.1.4.3.Symposium Proceedings
5.1.4.4.Website
5.1.5.Awards
5.1.6.Fellows
5.1.7.History
5.1.8.Member Services
5.1.9.Nominations
5.1.10.Standards
5.1.11.Strategic Planning
5.2.Ad Hoc Committees
6.Appendix A: UFFC-S Constitution Clauses That Are Related to the Bylaws
7.Appendix B: Information Related to Robert’s Rules of Order
Note: The current composition of the Constitution and Bylaws Review Committee: Chair: Jian-yu Lu (); Members: Andrew J. Bell (), Gerry Blessing (), Jan Brown (), Mike M. Driscoll (), Fred Hickernell (), Jackie Hines (), Leonhard M. Reindl (), Susan Trolier-McKinstry (), and Herman van der Vaart (). Dr. Mike Garvey is the UFFC-S President and thus is an Ex-Officio of the Committee.
Note: In the comments, explanations, and questions, etc. below, “Mike” means Dr. Mike Driscoll, “Gerry” is Dr. Gerry Blessing, “Jackie” is Dr. Jackie Hines, “Herman” is Dr. Herman van de Vaart, and “Lu” means Dr. Jian-yu Lu. The full name will be used for Dr. Mike Garvey to avoid confusions.
Note: The pink paragraphs are tentative revisions to the Bylaws. The blue “***” in front of paragraphs, if there is any, indicates that some revisions or additions might need to be checked or discussed further.
1.Nature of the Bylaws
[Tentatively replaced by the pink paragraph(s) below] [November 14, 2009, proposed:] These Bylaws provide rules governing the internal affairs of the Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society, and shall be in accord with IEEE governing documents and the UFFC-S Constitution.
These Bylaws provide rules governing the internal affairs of the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society (UFFC-S), and shall be in accord with IEEE governing documents and the UFFC-S Constitution.
[Lu’s explanation on April 10, 2011:] In the pink paragraph above, “IEEE” is added in front of the Society name as suggested by the IEEE Headquarters on April 10, 2011: “Add ‘IEEE’ as part of the official title of the society: ‘These Bylaws provide rules governing the internal rules of the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society (UFFC-S), and shall.....”
[Lu’s explanation on October 1, 2010:] In the pink paragraph above, the abbreviation “UFFC-S” is defined for use in later parts of the Bylaws.
[Gerry’s comments on August 20, 2010:] Section 1: 'A-ok'.
[October 7, 2001 IEEE-approved version:] 1. These Bylaws are intended to provide general, and in some cases explicit, instructions for the supervision and management of the affairs of the Society, in accordance with the Society Constitution and the IEEE Technical Activities Manual which includes the Constitution and Bylaws of the IEEE. Amendments to these Bylaws may be made by means of the procedures described in Article 9, Section 9.2 of the Constitution. Decisions on procedures made and voted by the AdCom as reported in its Minutes are binding as written and approved. Only the most important and time independent procedures shall be incorporated in the Bylaws.
2.Society Membership
2.1.Member
[Tentatively replaced by the pink paragraph(s) below] [November 14, 2009, proposed:] An individual who is an IEEE member and has paid the annual UFFC-S dues prescribed in Section 4 of these Bylaws, or a qualifying IEEE Life Member.
A UFFC-S member is an individual who is an IEEE member or IEEE Affiliate and has paid the annual UFFC-S dues prescribed in Section 4 of these Bylaws, or who is a qualifying IEEE Life Member as prescribed in IEEE Bylaws.
[Lu’s explanation on February 25, 2011:] In the pink paragraph above, “qualifying” is added since not all IEEE Life-Members are IEEE UFFC-S members as pointed out by Jackie in her comments on February 23, 2011. For your reference, I copied the relevant IEEE Bylaws (version February 15, 2010) as follows: “I-108. Dues, Assessments, and Fees. An individual who has had not less than five years of Society or IEEE-SA membership, immediately prior to attaining Life Membership, or completes such five-year period of membership while a Life Member, may continue a Life Membership in such Society or IEEE-SA, respectively, without dues payment. Life Membership in a Society or IEEE-SA entitles the member to receive, free of charge, the services and publication(s) provided for the basic Society dues or IEEE-SA dues, as the case may be, on the condition that the Life Member confirms each year that such services and publication(s) are still desired.”
[Jackie’s comments on February 23, 2010:] I object to the removal of the prior term “qualifying” – not all IEEE Life Members are automatically UFFC-S Members – where do we define which qualify and how? [October 7, 2001 version:] 2.2 Honorary Life Members. Such membership, exempt of the payment of the annual fee, shall be based on the recommendation of the Awards Committee and the approval of AdCom.
[Lu’s explanation on January 26, 2011:] In the pink paragraph above, “a qualifying IEEE Life Member” was changed to “an IEEE Life Member as prescribed in IEEE Bylaws”:“The designation ‘Life Member’ is applicable only to a member who has attained the age of 65 years and who has been a member of IEEE for such a period that the sum of his/her age and his/her years of membership equals or exceeds 100 years. The designation of ‘Life Member’ shall be effective on 1 January of the year immediately succeeding the year in which the requirement for the Life Member category has been satisfied.”
[Lu’s explanation on December 13, 2010:] In the pink paragraph above, “or IEEEAffiliate” was added during the committee meeting on October 10, 2010.
[Lu’s explanation on October 9, 2010:] In the pink paragraph above, Jackie suggested on October 9, 2010 to remove the second sentence to form a new Section 2.3.
[Gerry’s comments on October 7, 2010:] I do not understand Jackie's objection re the definition of "members" - hopefully Jan B. can elucidate this for the Bylaws.
[Lu’s explanation on October 1, 2010:] In the pink paragraph above, changes in the last sentence have been made according to Jackie’s revision on October 1, 2010.
[Jackie’s comments on October 1, 2010:] Note that this phrase only includes IEEE members of Member grade and above (i.e. not student members and affiliates). Students are not voting members of IEEE nor of the Society. We grant Affiliates additional rights they do not have within IEEE by making them voting members of the Society. As cited by Jian-yu: The IEEE Constitution defines a “voting member” as: “The term ‘voting member’ as used in this Constitution means those members of Member grade or above as defined in the Bylaws.” So my interpretation is not in line with Gerry’s – not all members are voting members.
[Gerry’s comments on September 5, 2010:] I believe all 'members' are "voting members", therefore there is no need for the additional statement. (Rather, insert AdCom into the 3.5. Section title - as I also mention below*.)
[Lu’s explanation on August 27, 2010:] For the pink paragraph above, we have the following references regarding the terminology of IEEE voting members: The IEEE Constitution defines a “voting member” as: “Sec. 3. The term ‘voting member’ as used in this Constitution means those members of Member grade or above as defined in the Bylaws.” To avoid any potential ambiguities in Section 3.5,Nomination and Election of Elected Members and Section 3.5.1,Nomination of Elected Members, the definition of UFFC-S voting member is given in this section. Also, in the IEEE Computer Society Constitution at it uses the term “voting members”: “Amendments to this constitution may be initiated by (1) a petition signed by two percent of the voting members of the society …”
[Lu’s questions on May 15, 2010:] In Section 4 of the Bylaws, a Society member is distinguished between regular member and student member. Does “Member” here refer to both regular and student members? If a petition is from a student member, does it count as from a regular member?
[Gerry’s comments on August 20, 2010:] Section 2.1. Member: I think "member" refers to both 'student' and 'regular' members. The only reason students are separately mentioned in Section 4. is for the purpose of a lower dues structure.
[Lu’s comments on August 27, 2010:] Gerry is right. I checked the IEEE Constitution and Bylaws, it states: “The term ‘member’ when printed without an initial capital, where used in this Constitution, includes all grades of membership.”
2.2. UFFC-S Affiliate
[November 14, 2009, proposed:] An individual who is a non-IEEE member, and has paid both the annual IEEE affiliate dues and the annual UFFC-S dues.
[Lu’s explanation on December 13, 2010:] The entire section “UFFC-S Affiliate” was removed during the committee meeting on October 10, 2010 because it has been included in Section 2.1 “Members” above.
[Lu’s explanation on October 9, 2010:] In the section title above, Jackie suggested below on October 9, 2010 to add “UFFC-S”.
[Jackie’s comments on October 9, 2010:] Don’t want to redefine an IEEE defined term here.
[Lu’s note on August 27, 2010:] In IEEE Bylaws, the Affiliates are defined as: “The designation ‘IEEE Society Affiliate’ refers to individuals who are not IEEE members but who are entitled to participate in certain activities of the Society. The Technical Activities Board shall establish the qualifications for Society Affiliates and the associated rights and privileges within the Society. Dues shall be established by the Board of Directors. Affiliates do not qualify for any special membership categories as defined in IEEE Bylaw I-102.1.”
2.2.Voting Member
As prescribed in Section 2.3 of the UFFC-S Constitution, the voting members of the UFFC-S (UFFC-S voting members) shall consist of IEEE voting members and Affiliates belonging to the Society.
[Lu’s explanation on February 25, 2011:] “UFFC-S” is removed in the title above for consistency as Jackie suggested on February 23, 2011.
[Lu’s explanation on January 26, 2010:] Jackie suggested on January 8, 2011 to change the paragraph above to “As prescribed in Section 2.3 of the UFFC-S Constitution, IEEE voting members and Affiliates belonging to the Society shall be voting members of the UFFC-S (UFFC-S voting members).” However, I feel the paragraph above emphasizes how we define UFFC-S voting members as in the UFFC-S Constitution, instead of defining IEEE voting members and Affiliates.
[Lu’s explanation on October 9, 2010:] Jackie suggested on October 9, 2010 to move the second sentence to form a new section here.The “voting members” are not capitalized in IEEE documents.
[October 7, 2001 IEEE-approved version:] 2.1 Regular Members. There shall be only one grade of Society membership available to all IEEE members, based on the payment of the annual fee prescribed in Section 4.1 of these Bylaws.
[October 7, 2001 IEEE-approved version:] 2.2 Honorary Life Members. Such membership, exempt of the payment of the annual fee, shall be based on the recommendation of the Awards Committee and the approval of AdCom.
[October 7, 2001 IEEE-approved version:] 2.3 Affiliates. No Societies are recognized for affiliate purposes. However, Affiliates may join in accordance with any other provision that may be incorporated in the IEEE rules and regulations.
[October 7, 2001 IEEE-approved version:] 2.4 Students. An exception to the annual fee shall be made for students, as prescribed by IEEE rules and regulations.
[October 7, 2001 IEEE-approved version:] 2.5 Voting Membership. The voting membership shall be constituted of Regular Members, Honorary Life Members and Affiliates.
3.Administrative Committee (AdCom)
3.1.AdCom Composition
[Tentatively replaced by the pink paragraph(s) below] [November 14, 2009, proposed:] Section 5.1 of the Constitution states that AdCom shall consist of not more than 12 elected Voting Members, plus not more than 12 ex officio Voting Members, plus additional Non-voting Members (see Standing Committees below) as specified in these bylaws.
Section 5.1 of the UFFC-S Constitution states that AdCom shall consist of not more than 24 Voting Members (including 12 Elected AdCom Members plus not more than 12 UFFC-S Officers), plus additional Non-Voting Members as specified in these Bylaws.
The Non-Voting Members of AdCom shall consist of: (1) the Standing Committee Chairs who are not UFFC-S Officers, (2) the Ad Hoc Committee Chairs, (3) the Student Representatives of AdCom, (4) the Transactions Editor-in-Chief (EIC), (5) the Transactions EIC-Elect, (6) the Newsletter EIC, (7) the Web EIC, (8) the General Chairs of UFFC-S-sponsored technical conferences for the past year and upcoming two years (in the event of a conference with General Co-Chairs, the corresponding Technical Standing CommitteeChair shall designate one of them to represent at AdCom), and (9) AdCom emeriti.
Other contributors to AdCom may include Vice Chairs, and members of various committees, Transactions Associate EIC(s), UFFC-S representatives, Officers of UFFC-S Chapters, Student Advisor, and selected IEEE Headquarters Officers.
[Lu’s explanation on April 15, 2011:] In the pink paragraph above, “the” before AdCom is removed for consistency based on Gerry’s suggestion on April 11, 2011.
[Lu’s explanation on April 10, 2011:] In the third pink paragraph above, “AdCom Associates are other contributors to AdCom. These” at the beginning of the sentence is replaced with “Other contributors to the AdCom may” according to the suggestion of the IEEE Headquarters on April 10, 2011: “The term ‘AdCom Associates’ is confusing with the IEEE Grade of Associate and may imply it is the grade requirement for those positions; therefore we recommend removing it. We suggest modifying the sentence to: ‘Other contributors to the AdCom may include Vice Chairs, and members of various committees, Transactions Associate EIC(s), UFFC-S representatives, Officers of UFFC-S Chapters, Student Advisor, and selected IEEE Headquarters Officers.’ (Note: IEEE may make specific recommendations in the future for such ex-officio positions to be included; right now we are OK with keeping it general as stated ‘selected IEEE Headquarters Officers’.)”
[Lu’s explanation on February 25, 2011:] In the first pink paragraph above, summarizing of the AdCom structure “states that AdCom shall consist of not more than 24 Voting Members (including 12 Elected AdCom Membersplus not more than 12 UFFC-S Officers), plusadditional Non-Voting Members as specified in these Bylaws” in the UFFC-S Constitution is provided to make it easier for readers of the Bylaws. The UFFC-S Constitution states: “5.1.1. The AdCom shall consist of not more than 24 Voting Members, including 12 Elected AdCom Members defined in 5.1.3. below, plus not more than 12 UFFC-S Officers defined in Section 5.1.2 below. There may be additional Non-Voting Members as specified in the Bylaws.”
[Jackie’s comments on February 23, 2010:] I am in favor of the November 14, 2009 version: [November 14, 2009, proposed:] Section 5.1 of the Constitution states that AdCom shall consist of not more than 12 elected Voting Members, plus not more than 12 ex officio Voting Members, plus additional Non-voting Members (see Standing Committees below) as specified in these bylaws.This is one case in which I think re-stating what is in the Consititution is necessary and useful as it provides an overview of the entire composition of AdCom. I do not like the Feb 14 2011 revision.
[Lu’s explanation on February 14, 2011:] In the first pink paragraph above, “AdCom voting members” is replaced with “AdCom Voting Members” to be consistent with the rest of these Bylaws.
[Lu’s explanation on January 29, 2011:] In the first pink paragraph above, the repetition portion of the UFFC-S Constitution “states that AdCom shall consist of not more than 24 Voting Members, including 12 Elected AdCom Members, plus not more than 12 UFFC-S Officers, plus additional Non-Voting Members as specified in these Bylaws” was removed for brevity during the committee meeting in Miami on January 29, 2011.
[Lu’s explanation on January 29, 2011:] In the second pink paragraph above, a new position called “EIC-Elect” is added. During the committee meeting in Miami on January 29, 2011, a phrase “(excluding those who are Voting AdCom Members as prescribed in Section 5.1 of the UFFC-S Constitution)” at the end of the first sentence was removed since it seems unnecessary and the phrase “who are not UFFC-S Officers” in Item 1 was restored.
[Lu’s explanation on January 29, 2011:] In the third pink paragraph above, the last sentence “AdCom Associates are not AdCom Members, except for those who are AdCom Members as specified above” was removed during the committee meeting in Miami on January 29, 2011 since it seems unnecessary.
[Lu’s explanation on January 26, 2011:] In the 2nd pink paragraph above, “(excluding those who are Voting AdCom Members as prescribed in Section 5.1 of the UFFC-S Constitution)” is added in the first sentence. This is necessary because some positions such as the Nominations Committee Chair and Chairs of Technical Standing Committees could be held by Voting AdCom Members. In the 3rd pink paragraph above, “except for those who are AdCom Members as specified above” is added at the end of the paragraph to avoid a conflicting designation when someone is both an AdCom Member and an AdCom Associate. Mike’s suggestion below has been incorporated in the phrase “(in the event of a conference with General Co-Chairs, the corresponding Technical Standing Committee Chair shall designate one of them to represent at AdCom)”
[Gerry’s comments on January 7, 2011:] “Feel it esp. imp. to change ‘of AdCom’ to ‘to AdCom’ so as not to imply Associates are members ‘of AdCom.’”.
[Mike’s comment on January 7, 2011:] I suggest changing “the conference shall designate” to “the conference Standing Committee Chair shall designate”. Co-chairs are usually associated with joint conferences, and neither “conference” is an entity that can designate.
[Lu’s explanation on December 13, 2010:] From the discussions below, I have made some change to the second pink paragraph above, i.e., the Non-Voting Members of AdCom shall include: “the General Chairs of the past year and upcoming two years of the conferences of the three respective Society technical areas (in a conference with General Co-Chairs, the conference shall designate one of them to represent at AdCom).” This modification might be good for a number of reasons: (i) allowing training and AdCom guidance for future general chairs; (ii) allowing the immediate past-year General Chairs to provide their experiences to future General Chairs; and (iii) allowing future General Chairs to present budges for AdCom approval at least one-year before the conference and the past General Chairs to give conference reports and/or financial reports to AdCom.