[eletter] Special issue eletter (message from CSS President)

[Jianghai Hu]

E-LETTER on Systems, Control, and Signal Processing
Special Issue
July 23, 2016

Editor:
Jianghai Hu
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Purdue University
465 Northwestern Ave.
West Lafayette, IN, 47907
USA
Tel: +01 (765) 4962395
Fax: +01 (765) 4943371

Welcome to the Special Issue of the Eletter (July 23, 2016), available
electronically at
http://ieeecss.org/publications/e-letter/archive/current
together with its pdf version

This is a special issue of Eletter containing the following message from
Frank Doyle, IEEE Control Systems Society President:

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Message from Frank Doyle, IEEE Control Systems Society President

Colleagues,

I am writing to you today about an urgent matter with far-reaching
ramifications for the future of both CSS and IEEE. There is a proposal
being advanced at the highest levels of the IEEE to modify the IEEE Board
of Directors (the so-called IEEE2030 initiative). This fall, there will be
a ballot on a constitutional amendment to modify/optimize the IEEE Board
Structure.

At the heart of the amendment is a modified/optimized Board structure,
intended to create nimble, flexible, forward-looking organization. However,
significant concerns have been raised by a number of CSS members who are
familiar with the initiative as well as by several other IEEE societies
that are concerned about whether this reorganization still offers the
societies a strong enough voice in IEEE Board decisions.  Specifically:

   - IEEE is a bottom-up member-run organization, run by volunteers. The
proposed structure appears to turn IEEE into a top-down organization, run
by a small Board of Directors with reduced input from members.

  - Members are represented by their Societies and in the existing
structure Societies have a strong voice in the decision making process
within IEEE. The Societies and sections generate 75%-80% of IEEE’s income.
Societies elect directors who represent their members on the Board of
Directors (BoD). It appears that the new structure will dilute this voice
and move Societies away from the decision process, especially because
Societies will no longer elect these Directors directly. They will elect
Delegates who will not serve on the Board of Directors but as members of a
new body called the Assembly.

  - Directors will now be elected by the entire IEEE membership and only
candidates that satisfy certain “diversity” conditions set by the BoD can
qualify to run.

  - The possible benefits of the amendment do not outweigh its risks. It is
uncertain how IEEE would be restructured if the amendment is approved. It
is premature to vote for something for which the underlying details are
still uncertain. The new bylaws are to be written and decided later by the
BoD, and will not require member vote.

A second concern that has been voiced by several other societies is that
some of the processes followed thus far in IEEE’s handling of the IEEE2030
initiative have strayed from the spirit of  IEEE Policy 13.3.A.2 that
states "It is the policy of IEEE to facilitate open discussion, including
opposing views, of issues and initiatives to appear on the ballot
(Constitutional amendment and referendum); this applies to those proposals
originated by the IEEE Board of Directors as well as those of other members
of IEEE.” For example, there have been accusations of censorship being
applied to the statements of those who oppose this initiative.

At the July 5, 2016 meeting of the CSS Board of Governors meeting in
Boston, after careful review of these and other considerations, the Board
voted unanimously on the following motion:

  •    Motion: The IEEE Control Systems Society BoG opposes the proposed
constitutional amendment and modified board structure on IEEE2030.  To
reflect this opposition, a statement of opposition will be posted on the
Society website and in editions of the E-Letter.

Many geographic units and the governing bodies of over 22 IEEE societies,
including the largest societies such as Computer, Communications, Power and
Energy, Signal Processing, Circuits and Systems, Electron Devices, Robotics
and Automation, and Solid-State Circuits have also voted against endorsing
the amendment. At least four past IEEE Presidents and other past IEEE
leaders have also spoken against the amendment.

It is very easy to ignore ballot initiatives, especially when there are not
familiar names on the ballot. In this case, there is a very important
element on the ballot, which you are urged to evaluate and vote upon. A
number of resources are available for you to review and make an informed
decision:

Additional reasons for opposing the constitutional amendment and proposed
restructuring may be found here:
https://ieee2016blog.wordpress.com

For background, the IEEE governing documents, including the Constitution
and Bylaws, can be found here:
http://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/index.html

The proposed changes to the Constitution can be found here:
https://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/election/2016_constitutional_amendment.html

In addition, the IEEEin2030 Ad Hoc Committee’s advocacy of proposed changes
to the IEEE's organizational structure is posted on an official IEEE
website here: https://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/ieeein2030_archive_m.html


Respectfully yours,

Frank Doyle
2016 IEEE Control Systems Society President
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