Policies & Procedures - 6.2 Fellow Evaluation Committee

- approved 01/99 , updated 02/08 -

The Fellow Evaluation Committee is responsible for the Society’s evaluation of Fellow nominations and the forwarding of the result of this evaluation, in a timely fashion, to the IEEE Fellow Committee. Presently this input consists of a rank order of the candidates and summary of the evaluation of each candidate.

According to ComSoc Bylaws, the committee is composed of at least 9 members in addition to the Chair.

The FEC Chair is appointed by the Communications Society President. The term of office is two years, starting January 1st of even years.

The usual term of office of committee members is three years. The Chair should appoint at least two new members each year.  If a member resigns in mid-term, or if the committee is expanded, the Chair appoints members who will be assigned to a particular term and serve the remainder of that term.  

Committee members should perform their duties in a fair and unbiased way.  They should also keep confidentiality concerning all of the documents which are made available to them as a consequence of their work in the committee.  The Chair is responsible for receiving the nomination documentation directly from the IEEE.

Most of the business of the committee should be conducted by electronic means or by conference call coordinated by the Chair. If in-person meetings are necessary, they should be also called by the Chair and should preferably take place during ICC (International Conference on Communications) meetings.

At any stage of the evaluation, each nomination must be reviewed by at least two members who will act as rapporteurs for that nomination. A rapporteur will be responsible for summarizing the accomplishments of the candidate and proposing a rating. The work of the rapporteurs will be the basis for a debate on the candidate’s credentials by the whole committee. Every committee member should be familiar with all nominations by the time the final rank order is prepared.

To enhance the quality of the evaluation Committee, members may seek information about the candidates with other distinguished members of the communications community. The Chair may also establish liaison mechanisms with Technical Committees and Sister Societies to obtain additional references about the candidates.

Upon request, the Chair may provide feedback to nominators concerning the reason why a particular nomination was not successful. This information shall be given only after the IEEE Board of Directors has made its final decision and should only contain information that can be used by the nominator in improving the preparation of a nomination in future years.

Committee members, as well as the Chair, should keep confidentiality concerning the debates and voting results that take place during the evaluation work. Results of the Society evaluation should not be released by any Committee member. The only official result of the evaluation is the one issued by the IEEE Fellow Committee after the whole process is completed each year.

The Chair shall submit budget input to the Vice President of Technical Activities (or its designee) for the following year for review and approval. (The approval should take place at the current year’s second semester OpCom, in accordance with the schedule and format set by general ComSoc policies and procedures.)

Typical budgetary items for this committee are communication costs, such as postage and phone calls. Other costs might be included in the budget and the use of such funds must be in accordance with IEEE and Communications Society policies for volunteers.

Any travel expense must be reported using the standard IEEE expense report form and procedures. All requests for travel support must be requested by the Chair at least thirty days in advance to the Vice President Technical Activities (VP-TA).

The Chair must provide all expense reports directly to the VP – TA for review and approval where appropriate.

The FEC Chair will recommend to the incoming Vice- President of Technical Activities at least one candidate to serve as successor prior to the expiration of his or her term of office.