Why Have the Governing Bodies Ofso Manysections, Societies, and Councilsvoted to Oppose

Why Have the Governing Bodies ofSo ManySections, Societies, and CouncilsVoted to Oppose the Proposed 2016 IEEE Constitutional Amendment?

You may have read statements about the proposed amendment facilitating a more flexible, responsive, and strategic IEEE.

Opponents statethat the problem the proposed amendment is attempting to solve is obscure, the proposed solution adds unnecessary complexity and risks, and the nature of IEEE as a bottom-up organization run by volunteers is threatened to change, drastically. The existing IEEE constitution offers alternative, less complex ways of accomplishing the promised improvements, while maintaining members at the core of the decision making process.

Manysections and the governing bodies of over 24 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 voted against endorsing the amendment. At least four past IEEE Presidents and other past IEEE leaders have also spoken against the amendment. Unfortunately, the current IEEE leadership has interpreted electioneering rules in a manner that restricts opponents. For this reason, we are reaching out to you, and asking for your help with propagating this message.

The risks associated with the proposed amendmentand restructuring include the following:

a) The amendment gives the IEEE Board of Directors (BoD) the power to re-organize and restructure IEEE without the need to seek member approval.IEEE is a bottom-up, member-run organization. The amendmentcouldturn IEEE into a top-down organization, run by a small, less diverse Board of Directors (BoD)with limited input from members.Membership can be bypassed, and the BoD alone will be able to make changes to the structure of IEEE.

b) Required technical and geographic representation will be removed from the Board of Directors. Today, members are represented by their sections and their technical societies, whichhave a strong voice in the decision making process within IEEE.Section members elect regional directors, andsociety members elect divisiondirectors, to serve on theIEEE BoD. The new structure couldeliminatethis representation, andgreatly reduce the input of the sectionsand societies in the decision-making process.

c)The BoD could be controlled by special interest groups.If the amendment is ratified, each director couldbe elected by the entire IEEE membership.This raises some serious issues. Sections and societieswith a smaller number of members maysee their level of representation diluted or eliminated. Many members may not be familiar with the candidates, nor the candidates familiar with them, and their needs.

The “diversity”conditions that the BoD will be using to approve candidates to serve as directors in the BoD are not defined. Candidates’qualifications may be set by the BoD each time there is an election.It is not difficult to envision situations where these qualifications can be manipulated to promote or discourage candidacies,depending on current BoD composition.

d) The visibility and influence by IEEE sectionsand societies on key strategic decisions made by the BoD will be reduced. At present, 75-80% of IEEE’s income is generated by societies and sections. The greatly diminished ability of these units to control their destiny will adversely affect the drive and morale of volunteers at all levels: chapters, sections and societies. Volunteer devotion is a strength of IEEE and should be encouraged, not discouraged.

In contrast, the role of the staff executive director (ED) will be significantly strengthened. In addition to sitting on the BoD, the ED will be a voting member of a proposed new board that will oversee the budgets of regional and technical activities.It is not appropriate to increase executive staff influence and at the same time reduce volunteer influence in a volunteer-based organization.

e) The possible benefits of the amendment do not outweigh itsrisks.It is uncertain howIEEE 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.

In summary, IEEE today is a highly successful $450M non-profit corporation that provides unparalleled technical leadership.Theefforts of our VOLUNTEER leaders in the technical societies, regions, sections, and chapters are responsible for that success.Most of IEEE’s revenues are generated by the volunteers’ collective work, especially withpublications and conferences. If we diminish the voices of volunteers in managing IEEE, we risk discouraging them and losing their support.

We urge you to do your own research and reach your own conclusion about the proposed amendment. It is very important that you vote in this critically important juncture for IEEE.

Additional reasons for opposing the constitutional amendment and proposed restructuring may be found here:

For background, the IEEE governing documents, including the Constitution and Bylaws, can be found here:

The proposed changes to the Constitution can be found here:

In addition, the IEEEin2030 Ad Hoc Committee is proposing changes to the IEEE's organizational structure stemming from the amendment. The details may be seen here:

The Technical Activities Board formed a TABin2030 Committee to consider the amendment’s

implications. Additional materials to pro and con and the TABin2030 webinars and analyses are here: You may need to log in with your IEEE Account to access.