Report from Division II Director Bob Voller
Bob Voller, IEEE Division II Director
The February series of IEEE board meetings has just concluded. All six boards (Technical Activities, Regional Activities, Standards, Education, Publication, and US Activities) as well as the IEEE Board of Directors (BOD) met and conducted the business at hand. As a general observation, the IEEE is alive and well.
As I ponder what is of interest to the members of Division II, I realize the lack of timeliness of this report. It is written three times a year after each of the Board Series, sent to your respective publications, and queued for the next publication date. The news will be three months old at best. THE INSTITUTE (that news letter packaged with the SPECTRUM magazine each month) consistently reports on the major policies and programs implemented at each Board Series. Therefore, I think you will be better served if I report only on the unusual or society specific events.
Reorganization
Past Division II Director Pierre Thollot has informed you about the progress of the reorganization of the various boards. During the last series of meetings, most of the boards adopted new bylaws. The goal is to make each board more efficient by pushing decision making down to the lowest level of each organization. The Technical Activities Board (TAB) has adopted a new set of bylaws, but is continuing to study further changes to the operation.
Technical Activities Board (TAB)
Hal Flescher of Raytheon Engineering has been elected to chair the TAB Strategic Planning and Review Committee. The noteworthy thing about this election is that Flescher, as the previous chair of the TAB Liaison Committee, determined that his committee was unnecessary, and worked to abolish it and his job. Now that is a good mindset for the new Strategic Planning Committee Chair to have.
Both TAB and the Regional Activities Board (RAB) passed motions asking IEEE Staff to investigate the feasibility of collecting IEEE dues and other payments in local currency. Staff is asked to report the financial implications to the BOD. If implemented, this will be a help to our members in Regions 8 through 10.
IEEE Board of Directors (BOD)
It was reported that IEEE Member Services was much improved in the last year. This is monitored by the Executive Director, Dan Senese, with BOD oversight. There is an Ombudsman phone number in each issue of the INSTITUTE for your use if you have problems with IEEE services. If this proves unsatisfactory, contact me with the details.
The BOD spent considerable time reviewing the report of Charlie Robinson, Chair of the Membership Development Committee. In general, IEEE membership lost a few percentage points in the US and gained in regions 7 through 10. Student membership has also slipped. Expect more attention here this year. The simple solution is for each of us to recruit one new member.
The BOD voted to continue Approval Voting as the IEEE standard. This is the method whereby you can vote for or APPROVE OF, more than one candidate. The person with the most votes wins. This works if you have more than two candidates. It appears that we will have three candidates for IEEE President Elect this year. I personally prefer Plurality Voting, one vote and the one with the majority of the votes wins. Let me know of your individual preference.
In 1996, only 17.2% of Division II members voted , as compared to 19.6% of IEEE members in general. This year, read the voters pamphlet and cast your votes. There will not be a Division II Director election, but half of your Regions will be voting for Director Elect and of course, we will all be voting for IEEE President Elect.
Bob Voller
Vanalco, Inc., PO Box 9805
Vancouver, WA 98666 USA
TEL +1-360-696-8614
FAX +1-360-696-8775
e-mail: r.voller@ieee.org
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