Policies and Procedures (approved 26 December 2019 )
SCOPE
The Communications Systems Integration and Modeling (CSIM) technical committee focuses its activities on methodologies, procedures and techniques for the performance evaluation, design and analysis of communications links, networks, services and their integration; including simulation, analytical tools and measurement techniques.
OBJECTIVES
- Promote knowledge and dissemination of knowledge related to the scope of the technical Committee
- Foster the development of new emerging topical areas related to the scope of the technical committee
- Provide technical support to the development of ComSoc conferences, publications,
standards, and educational activities
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
CSIM Technical Committee (TC) reports to the Technical Committes Board. CSIM TC membership and term limits shall be defined in the Bylaws.
The TC has two types of memberships. The first type is subscription, which is based upon subscription to the mailing list. The second type is TC membership. CSIM TC requires ALL TC members to be IEEE ComSoc members in good standing.
A TC Member shall:
. be anyone who has been actively participating in the committee activities at least for the past six months or those who have been active members in a time frame involving the previous three years.
. be ComSoc members in good standing
. cast informed votes on TC business
. be encouraged to assist in the conduct of TC business
. be eligible to run for TC officer positions
A TC member becomes an Active Member if he/she has attended (physically present or by teleconference) two or more of the prior five regularly scheduled TC meetings
Special Interest Groups may be formed by the TC.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs) help the TC foster the scientific and technological development in topical emerging technologies within the scope of the TC. SIGs may be created to promote activities in well-established technologies.
ACTIVITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The committee has the following three officers:
1. Chair
2. Vice Chair
3. Secretary
The committee has three elected officers: Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary. Each position is for a term of two years.
The Chair of the committee reports directly to the Vice President Technical Activities within the guidelines of ComSoc and represents the committee to TEAC and to any other ComSoc committee or board meeting which requires representation including Technical Committees Board. The Chair coordinates with ComSoc Staff in the conduct of his/her responsibilities. The Chair’s responsibilities include the support to ComSoc activities, the dissemination of relevant information as well as the promotion of ComSoc activities among its membership. The chair is responsible for planning the committee activities, including committee meetings, and is also responsible for managing the committee finances. The Chair shall propose changes to the committee policies and procedures to adapt the committee legislation to the dynamics of ComSoc. The chair shall actively promote membership programs. The Chair can replace the Vice-chair and the secretary upon approval of the membership at a committee meeting in case responsibilities are not carried out appropriately by these officers. The Chair also provides guidance and direction to Technical Committee members in the conduct of their responsibilities. Appoints Chairs of Subcommittees and Special Interest Groups as necessary. The Chair May assume leadership for specific projects, as delegated by the Technical Committee.
Vice Chair supports the Chair and the Secretary in conducting the committee’s business and assumes the Chair’s responsibilities in case of his/her absence. The Vice Chair is responsible for soliciting ComSoc Vice President of Technical and Educational Activities replacement of the Chair in case of unjustified or unacceptable prolonged absence.
The Secretary keeps a record of the committee meetings and minutes of the meetings, helps the chair to conduct his responsibilities and is responsible for maintaining the committee webpage and repositories. The secretary shall keep the membership list. Secretary of the committee will maintain an updated list of the committee membership. He/she will also maintain an attendance list for the members who participate in the committee meetings. This list will be considered a part of the minutes of the committee meetings. The secretary is responsible for soliciting ComSoc Vice President of Technical Activities replacement of the Chair and of the Vice-Chair in case of unjustified or unacceptable prolonged absence of both officers.
If position of an officer becomes vacant prior to the normal conclusion of his/her term, the position will be filled for the remaining term through a special election by the committee membership. However, if the position is not filled, for whatever reason, prior to or at the next regularly scheduled committee meeting, the Director-Technical Committees, in consultation with the current committee officers, shall appoint someone to serve for the remainder of the interrupted term.
The committee, at its discretion, may add additional elected and/or appointed (non-officer) positions for efficient operation of the committee.
In summary, officers duties include:
Chair’s duties:
– Plans and announces committee meetings;
– Conducts the committee meetings;
– Attend TEAC and TCB meetings as the committee’s representative as well as any other meeting requiring participation of the committee;
– Delegates responsibilities to other committee members;
– Manage the committee finances;
– Support ComSoc activities.
Vice-Chair’s duties:
– Assume Chair’s responsibilities in absence of chair;
– Work with the Chair to prepare agenda for the committee meetings;
– Advise Chair on issues related to the committee’s activities.
Secretary’s duties:
– Work with Chair to prepare meeting agenda;
– Take minutes and attendance at the committee meetings;
– Keep a record of meetings minutes;
– Maintain a list of the committee membership;
– Distribute information to the committee membership (by email or other means);
– Maintain information on the committee’s website;
– Maintain the committee’s electronic resource repository, where members of the community can contribute source code, algorithms and relevant material for the membership.
STEERING COMMITTEE
The committee shall have a steering committee composed of past chairs who will act as a consulting board to ensure continuity of the committee identity. Members of the committee are appointed by the chair.
AD-HOC COMMITTEES
The Committee chair can create and appoint members for ad-hoc committees which major responsibility is to advice the chair in specific matters. Ad-hoc committees should be published on the committee website.
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
Special Groups of interest can be created by the chair for the development of activities in specific areas of the committee charter. Groups of interest shall be leaded by a leader appointed by the chair. Active Special Groups of Interest are announced through the committee mailing list and published on the website.
LIASONS
Liasons can be created by the chair for interaction with other committees / working groups / other bodies operating in the specific areas of the committee charter. Each liason will have a reference person nominated by the Chair. The list of liasons should be published on the committee website.
ACTIVITIES AND PROGRAMS MANAGED BY THE TC
Nominations and Elections:
The term for the committee officers will be two years. Elections will be held every two years to elect officers for another term of two years. The term can be extended for at most one year upon consultation to the committee membership. For maintaining continuity in committee activities as the term of the committee officers expires, the normal procedure will be such that the actual Vice Chair of the committee assumes the Chair’s position, actual Secretary of the committee assumes the Vice Chair’s position. Nominations and election will be held for the position of secretary. Past committee chairs will assist in identifying candidates for the position of the Secretary.
Nomination Process
An ad hoc nomination committee will be appointed by the committee officers to seek nominations for the vacant committee position(s). The nomination committee will be established at the committee meeting prior to the one at which elections are to be conducted. The committee will consist of at least 3 and no more than 5 members. The nomination committee must include as many past committee chairs as available to serve. Additional members to the nomination committee may be added from the committee membership. The nomination committee will be given a task of identifying candidates for the vacant officer position(s). The names of potential candidates must be circulated among the committee membership at least 30 days prior to the committee meeting at which elections are to be conducted. All candidates must consent to their nominations and must show willingness to serve the committee, if elected. Eligible candidates for nominations for the committee officer position(s) are those who have been committee members at least for the past six months. Members of the nomination committee are not eligible to become a candidate. The nomination committee will be automatically dissolved after the election and installation of new committee officers.
Election Process
Elections for the committee officer positions will be administered by the committee’s Chair. In the case of Chair’s absence, Chair’s designee will conduct the elections. In the case of two candidates for the same position, election will be by a simple majority. In case there are more than two candidates, election will consist of a series of elections. At each stage of voting, the candidate gathering the fewest votes will be eliminated. This process will continue until only two candidates remain.
The voting process will normally be open. However, upon the request of any member, the election can be conducted by a secret ballot. Votes will be counted by at least two members of the nomination committee. The committee’s secretary will maintain a record of the election results. Election results shall be authorized by the Director of Technical Committees upon consultation with the VP-TEA. Upon authorization by the Director of Technical Committees, the election results shall be final and the newly-elected officers shall begin their terms. The Director shall provide notification of said authorization to the current Chair of the Technical Committee. If the Director – Technical Committees does not authorize the election results, the Director shall organize a new election on behalf of the TC.
Voting
Any member of the technical committee has the right of voting for officers. Normally, voting members in attendance at a meeting will be allowed to vote in elections as well as on other issues that need to be decided by a voting process. Electronic voting process will be implemented as soon as its details are worked out.
TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS
Technical Committee Meetings
Committee meetings will be scheduled twice a year at ICC and GLOBECOM conferences. Meeting announcements and agenda for the meeting will be distributed to the committee membership via email and posted on the web site at least two weeks prior to the meeting. The meeting times will also be posted on the committee website. Minutes of the meetings should be posted on the web site as well as distributed via the committee mailing list at most one month after the meeting. The committee always encourages conference participants to attend the committee meetings and join the committee membership.
Finances
The Chair is responsible for elaborating the budget and soliciting financial support for the committee activities. If approved, the funds will be used in accordance with the COMSOC procedures and the Chair shall provide to members a report of the committee finances at a committee meeting. The Secretary of the technical committee will maintain a record for the expenses.
The Technical Committee Workshop
The committee shall promote a workshop for disseminating the advances in the areas covered by the committee charter. The workshop should have a steering committee which will guide the conduction of the workshop by its organizers. The Computer-Aided Modeling, Analysis and Design of Communications Links and Networks (CAMAD) shall be the official committee flagship workshop.
Steering Committee Charter of IEEE CAMAD.
Sponsorship and Endorsement
The committee will provide technical sponsorship or endorsement to scientific initiatives in the specific areas of the committee charter. Initiatives considered for sponsorship or endorsement include: symposia, workshops, conferences, proceedings, special issues, book and book chapters, etc. in the specific areas reported in the committee charter. Approval of sponsorship or endorsement of initiatives is performed during a committee meeting. The list of sponsored and endorsed initiatives should be published on the committee website.
Electronic Newsletter
The committee shall have an electronic newsletter aimed at disseminating information of interest of the committee membership. The Electronic Newsletter shall have one co-editor from industry and one editor from academia. It shall be distributed on the mailing list as well as posted on the web page. Electronic Newsletter Editors are announced through the committee mailing list and published on the committee website.
Web site and email:
CSIM web site can be accessed at https://csim.committees.comsoc.org/. The web page shall contain information about officers and their contact information, the scope of the TC, TC P&Ps, subscription to membership, and minutes of meetings held.
Email to the list of members can be sent via csim@comsoc.org.
Awards
There are 4 categories of awards:
– Conference Best Paper Award;
– Best Paper Award;
– Distinguished Service Award;
– Career Achievement award.
The award includes a plaque and should be given at a CSIM TC meeting. For each award, the TC shall inform and get the approval of VP-TEA and TC Director
The periodicity of the issuing of award as well the CSIM TC meeting at which the award will be given shall be determined by the CSIM TC chair by consulting the CSIM Award subcommittee. The award winners should be listed in the CSIM Web page.
CSIM Award subcommittee
The award subcommittee is the body responsible for indicating to the CSIM TC chair those individuals to receive awards.
The award subcommittee should be composed by at least 3 and at most 6 CSIM members.
The award subcommittee shall have a chair responsible for conducting the selection process.
The award Subcommittee chair and members shall be indicated by TC chair and approved by the CSIM TC at the first CSIM meeting after the meeting the current chair was elected.
Any member of the CSIM award subcommittee can be replaced by the CSIM TC chair if not carrying out one’s responsibilities appropriately.
Eligibility
The CSIM TC chair is not eligible for any award.Any member of the award subcommittee nominated for an award shall not participate in the selection process.
The CSIM TC chair shall replace any member of the CSIM subcommittee award if the number of active members in this committee is less than 3.
Nominations
Nominations shall be solicited by the chair of the CSIM TC award subcommittee at CSIM meetings or via e-mail posted on the committee mailing list.
The solicitation of nominations for the awards via the CSIM mailing list and via the CSIM web page is mandatory and should detail the nomination process.
Except for the Conference Best Paper award it is recommended that nominations should include: Award name, Nominator name, affiliation, and contact info, Nominee name & affiliation, Up to one page supporting statement.
Selection Process
The CSIM Award subcommittee is responsible for indicating the individuals selected to receive the awards to the CSIM TC chair. Final decision shall be made by the award committee and approved by CSIM TC chair. Decision shall be made in a period which will make feasible the handling of the award at the designated CSIM TC meeting.
Selection criteria shall be established by the CSIM Award subcommittee chair.
The CSIM Award subcommittee chair shall discuss with the subcommittee members the criteria to be employed.
The reviews, voting and any deliberations of the award subcommittee shall stay strictly confidential. No correspondence will be sent to authors of the nominated papers, and no complaint will be considered during the election process.
Each award has its own selection procedure.
Procedures for Selection Process of each Award
Conference Best Paper Award
Basis for Judging:
– The topic must be consistent with the focus of the CSIM TC
– The quality of the paper must be outstanding
Eligibility:
Any paper published in the proceedings of an IEEE ComSoc- and/or CSIM- sponsored congress/conference/workshop/symposium, in the two years preceding the nomination.
Selection process:
– The chair of the event from which a paper will be selected shall indicate not less than 3 consistent within the scope of the CSIM TC
The chair of the conference should select the papers among the ones best ranked.
The chair of the conference shall not rank the selected papers when indicating them to the award subcommittee.
Best Paper Award
Basis for Judging:
– The topic must be within the CSIM committee scope
– The quality of the paper must be outstanding
Eligibility:
Any paper published in an IEEE ComSoc journal/magazine or in the proceedings of an IEEE ComSoc-sponsored conference/workshop/symposium, in the previous three years of the nomination.
At least three papers should be considered for selection.
Distinguished Service Award
Basis for Judging:
Exemplary service to CSIM TC over a sustained period of time.
Eligibility:
The nominee must have been a CSIM TC member for a sustained period of time.
Career Achievement Award
Basis for Judgement: outstanding contribution over a sustained period of time or a breaktrough contribution.
Certificates
The chair of the CSIM TC can issue certificates of appreciation to members who have contributed to committee activities.