From Our Outgoing Division II Director Pierre Thollot
Two years ago you elected me to represent you on the Board of Directors (BOD). A lot has occurred during these last two years and I truly appreciate the opportunity you provided me. As you may have heard and read recently, many exciting things are happening throughout the IEEE. Let me highlight a few of the more significant items currently in the works based on events through late November '96.
Member Choice
At the December 1995 meeting of the BOD the following motion was passed "it is resolved that the BOD directs the Implementation Committee on Structural Reorganization (ICSR) to prepare among its other considerations, recommendations specifically including, to the maximum extent feasible, choice for members to choose and pay for the programs and services of interest and benefit to them, recognizing that core services and benefits for all members will require certain minimum levels of dues and fees to be charged to all members" At its November 1996 meeting in Denver the ICSR approved recommendations and a time table to be brought to the BOD meeting in December. These recommendations, if approved, would begin the process of identifying services, products, and benefits that can be classified as either a core item (mandatory), or a choice item (optional). I predict the membership will, in a few years time, begin to see and exercise more "choice" in their IEEE "purchases". In this area, as well as in the Organizational Improvement and Operational Efficiency areas discussed below, I am seeing a really genuine and positive move in a direction which can only be categorized as "in the best interests of the membership."
Organizational Improvement
In order to prepare the IEEE for the 21st century the leadership of IEEE began a reorganization investigation a little over two years ago. As you might well imagine many differing views were put forth as to what direction to take. The options ranged from "It's OK as is, leave it alone," to "Need a major restructure of everything." Study teams came up with five alternatives which were reviewed and condensed into three models. These three models were presented to the BOD in 1995 which in turn approved taking initial action on the first step of an integrated model. During this past year all entities of the IEEE began the process of preparing for adoption of the first step in 1997. The essence of this first step is to place the responsibility and accountability for each entity's operation down at the lowest possible level. In so doing each entity (i.e., standards, publications, regional activities, technical activities, etc.,) was required to draft bylaws governing their operation. Because of the autonomy it offered, each entity eagerly undertook the task which put them in control of their own destiny. The entire process is being monitored by the Implementation Committee on Structural Reorganization which met with each entity in November. Amazing progress can be reported, in that all but one entity has what appears to be acceptable bylaws, (to be sure work is yet to be done to fine-tune some of the details). If all goes as planned, the BOD will be presented with these bylaws in December, approve them, and the first step will be implemented beginning in January 1997. In the mean time, the ICSR has begun work on the second step of the process of reorganizing for the 21st century.
Operational Efficiency
As a member of the committee which drafted the new Technical Activities Board bylaws, I can attest to the fact that "operational efficiency" is built in. As an example, to the maximum extent practical, autonomy will be pushed down to the Society level, (each of the entity levels are being encouraged to do likewise). Additionally, an attempt is being made to consolidate the committee structure and do away with some of the overhead. The effort involved with drafting the new TAB bylaws was so successful that after informational presentations, the TAB Society Presidents Forum approved placing the bylaws on the consent agenda of the formal TAB Business Meeting. There should be no problems in gaining BOD approval in December. The entire process of preparing the new TAB bylaws was led by Pete Morley who deserves the lion's share of the credit for success. As punishment for his outstanding contribution, Pete was elected VP of TAB for 1997 and will now have the honor of putting them into practice. At the Piscataway staff level great strides have also been made. As was reported in the Institute, it's no secret that the membership renewal cycle of 1994 was far from cost effective or responsive to member needs, but thanks to the hard work of many folks in Piscataway, the 1995 cycle improved and the 1996 cycle was excellent. Beyond the renewal cycle, operational efficiency of the entire "product and services" process appears to have gotten better and continues to improve each month. We can all be proud of our improved and evolving IEEE.
Adieu, mes bons amis
Goodbye, for now, my good friends of Division II. I plan to remain active in the IEEE, but for now do not exactly know in what capacity. I leave you in good hands with Robert (Bob) Voller, your new Division II Director.
Pierre Thollot, a-epsat@ix.netcom.com
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