5.14.1 Operating Procedures for a Standards Development Sponsor   -

Preface
These Operating Procedures shall be used by a ComSoc Technical Committee or the Standards Committee whenever they sponsor standards development activity. If the Technical Committee (TC) already has existing formal Policies and Procedures (P&P) for conducting its overall more general technical work, then those clauses noted below as "Required for a Standards Development Sponsor" may be added to the existing P&P to form a set of Operating Procedures for a Standards Development Sponsor. If the existing P&P do not include text to address Clauses 1, 4.3, 4.5, 6, 7.2, 7.3, and 8 below, these clauses shall be followed.

Introduction [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
These Operating Procedures outline the orderly transaction of business of this committee. For the development of standards, openness and due process must apply, which means that any individual with a direct and material interest has a right to participate by:

a) expressing a position and its basis,
b) having that position considered, and
c) appealing if adversely affected.

Due process allows for equity and fair play. In addition to openness, due process requires balance, i.e., the standards development process should have a balance of interests and shall not be dominated by any single interest category.

These Operating Procedures outline the orderly transaction of business for this committee. Several documents take precedence in the following order:

New York State Not-for-Profit Corporation Law
IEEE Certificate of Incorporation
IEEE Constitution
IEEE Bylaws
IEEE Policies
IEEE Board of Directors Resolutions
IEEE Standards Association Operations Manual
IEEE-SA Board of Governors Resolutions
IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws
IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual
ComSoc Policies and Procedures
Policies and Procedures of the Technical Committee or Standards Committee that established or is serving as this Sponsor
Robert's Rules of Order (Revised)

IEEE Sponsor Scope [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
The scope of the IEEE Communications Society includes publications, conferences, educational programs, local activities, and technical committees that:

1. Foster original work in all aspects of communications science, engineering, and technology.
2. Encourage the development of applications that use signals to transfer voice, data, image, and/or video information between locations.
3. Promote the theory and use of systems involving all types of terminals, computers, and information processors; all pertinent systems and operations that facilitate transfer; all transmission media; switched and unswitched networks; and network layouts, protocols, architectures, and implementations.
4. And strongly advance developments toward meeting new market demands in systems, products, and technologies such as personal communications services, multimedia communications systems, enterprise networks, and optical communications systems.

The scope of the ComSoc Standards Committee is to encourage, nurture, and guide ComSoc standards initiatives and the resulting Working Groups.

The scope of each ComSoc Technical Committee is available on the TC's web site, which is accessible from the list of links at http://www.comsoc.org/socstr/org/operation/techcom/committees.html.

1.0 Organization of the Sponsor
The Committee shall consist of a Chair, Secretary, and members. A Vice Chair is optional. A Treasurer is required if significant funds are involved in the operation of the sponsor and/or its subcommittees.

When staff resources permit, the Sponsor shall be supported by a Standards Staff Liaison. The Standards Staff Liaison may perform, as a service, administrative work including:

1. Secretarial services
2. Making meeting arrangements
3. Preparation and distribution of meeting notices, agendas, minutes, ballots, and draft standards
4. Maintenance of adequate records, including the Committee roster

2.0 Responsibilities of the Sponsor [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
The Sponsor shall be responsible for the following:

1. Developing proposed IEEE standards within its scope
2. Voting on approval of proposed IEEE standards within its scope
3. Maintaining the standards developed by the Sponsor in accordance with the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual
4. Responding to requests for interpretations of the standards developed by the Sponsor
5. Acting on other matters requiring Sponsor effort as provided in these procedures
6. Cooperating with other appropriate standards development organizations
7. Protecting against actions taken in the name of the Sponsor without committee authorization

3.0 Officers [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
There shall be a Chair and a Secretary. A Vice Chair is optional. A Treasurer is required if significant funds are involved in the operation of the sponsor or its subcommittees. These officers shall be appointed or elected in accordance with the procedures of the ComSoc entity that established the Sponsor. In the absence of such procedures, the Chair and Vice-Chair shall be elected by the members of the Sponsor, and the Secretary and Treasurer shall be appointed by the Chair. They may serve consecutive terms.

The Chair shall be a member of any grade of the IEEE and a member of the IEEE-SA and shall organize the Sponsor, oversee the committee's compliance with these procedures, and submit proposed standards approved by the balloting group with supporting documentation for IEEE-SA Standards Board review and approval as IEEE standards.

The Vice-Chair shall carry out the Chair's duties if the Chair is temporarily unable to do so.

The Secretary shall record and have published minutes of each meeting.

The Treasurer shall maintain a budget and shall control all funds into and out of the sponsor's bank account.

4.0 Membership

4.1 Voting Membership [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
Voting Membership in the Sponsor shall be in accordance with the procedures of the entity that established the Sponsor. However, for a Standards Development Sponsor, voting membership is open to any materially interested individual who notifies the IEEE-SA Standards Department of his/her interest, provides and maintains contact information, and conforms to the committee rules for attendance and balloting.

4.2 Application [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
A request for membership shall be addressed to the Chair, indicating the applicant's direct and material interest in the Committee's work, qualifications and willingness to participate actively. Please note that all IEEE Standards meetings are open to anyone who wishes to attend.

4.3 Review of Membership
The Chair shall review the membership list annually. Members are expected to fulfill the obligations of active participation. When a member is found in habitual default of these obligations, the Chair shall consider the matter for appropriate action, which may include termination of membership.

4.4 Interest Categories [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
All appropriate interests that might be directly and materially affected by the standards activity of the Committee shall have the opportunity for fair and equitable participation without dominance by a single interest. Members shall propose their own interest categories as appropriate. The interest categories shall be established or revised by a vote of the Committee.

If the Sponsor constitutes the balloting group for the purpose of voting on standards, each member shall be classified relative to the scope of the standards activity. No classification may consist of 50% or more of the balloting group membership. Care shall be taken to assure all interest categories are represented to the extent possible (see Clause 7).

4.5 Membership Roster
The Secretary shall maintain a current and accurate Sponsor roster and shall distribute it to the members upon request or at least annually. All changes to the roster shall be forwarded to the Chair immediately. The roster shall include the following:

1. Title of the Sponsor and its designation
2. Scope of the Sponsor
3. Officers - Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer
4. Standards Staff Liaison
5. Members: for all, list name, address, and business affiliations; for Designated Representatives (DR) and alternates (DRA) from organizations outside ComSoc, list as DR or DRA and identify IEEE Society or other organization (as applicable), together with organization address
6. Interest category of each member
7. Tally of interest categories - total of voting members and subtotals for each interest category
8. For each subgroup - title, chair, and names and addresses of all members

5.0 Subgroups Created by the Sponsor
For a TC the following two sub-clauses are required only for subgroups engaged in standards development work.]

5.1 Subgroups of the Sponsor [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
When one or more subgroups (subcommittees, working groups, technical subcommittees, writing groups, etc.) are formed specifically to expedite the standards development work of the Sponsor, their formation (and later disbandment) shall be in accordance with the procedures of the entity that established this Sponsor. In the absence of such procedures, the following shall apply:

1. Formation (and later disbandment) of such standards development subgroups requires approval by a majority vote of the Sponsor. The Chair of such subgroup shall be appointed by the Chair of the Sponsor. The scope and duties delegated to such subgroup shall be approved at the time it is formed, and subsequent changes in scope or duties shall also require approval. The scope, duties, and membership of all standards development subgroups shall be reviewed by the Sponsor annually.

2. The charge to any subgroup engaged in standards development shall clearly state which of the following is appropriate:

a. The subgroup is responsible for the definitive content of one or more standards projects and for responding to views and objections thereon. Such subgroups shall maintain a membership roster and shall comply with the provisions for voting on the standard(s).
b. The subgroup is responsible for assisting the Sponsor (for example, drafting all or a portion of a document, drafting responses to comments, drafting positions on standards, or other purely advisory functions).

5.2 Balloting Group [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
For approval of proposed standards, the Sponsor shall form a balloting group. This group may be the Sponsor, provided that it meets the criteria for Composition given in sub-clause 5.4.1 of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual. The Sponsor may also delegate balloting to a specific balloting group in accordance with sub-clause 5.4.2 of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual.

6.0 Meetings
Sponsor meetings shall be held, as decided by the Sponsor, the Chair, or by petition of 5 or more members, to conduct business, such as making assignments, receiving reports of work, considering draft standards, resolving differences among subgroups, and considering views and objections from any source. A 30-day notice, including an agenda, shall be distributed to all members, observers, and experts. Meetings of subgroups may be held as decided upon by the members or chair of the subgroup.

The Sponsor may charge a meeting fee to cover services needed for the conduct of the meeting. The fee shall not be used to restrict participation by any interested parties.

6.1 Quorum
There shall be a quorum for conducting business at a meeting. If a quorum is not present, actions may be taken subject to confirmation by letter ballot, as detailed in Section 7.2. See Robert's Rules of Order (revised). A quorum is considered to be 50% of the voting members of the Sponsor. If a quorum is not present at a meeting, the chair may choose to conduct certain business of the meeting via email, fax, or letter vote as appropriate.

7.0 Vote

7.1 Balloting Positions [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
Each voting Sponsor member shall vote one of the following positions:

1. Approve (Affirmative). This vote may be accompanied by comments suggesting corrections and improvements. Action on such comments is left to the discretion of the Sponsor.
2. Do Not Approve (Negative). This vote must be accompanied by one or more specific objections with proposed resolution in sufficient detail in a legible form so that the specific wording of the changes that will cause the negative voter to change his or her vote to "approve" can readily be determined. The Sponsor shall encourage the submission of comments with all negative ballots. If a negative vote unaccompanied by comments is received despite these instructions, the vote shall be counted in the total tally of votes as a "negative without comment". The Sponsor is not required to conduct a recirculation ballot of "negative without comment" votes.
3. Abstain. This category is provided to allow for ballot returns from members who do not wish to review the document because of conflict of interest, lack of expertise, or other reasons.

7.2 Voting By Ballot
The Sponsor shall be allowed to conduct Sponsor business between meetings at the discretion of the Chair by use of a letter or electronic ballot.

7.3 Actions Requiring Approval by a Majority
The following actions require approval by a majority of the membership of the Sponsor either at a meeting - provided that notification of the action has been included on the distributed agenda for the meeting - or by letter or electronic ballot:

1. Formation of a subgroup, including its procedures, scope, and duties
2. Disbandment of subgroups
3. Approval of minutes

7.4 Actions Requiring Approval by Two-Thirds of Those Voting [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
The following actions require a letter ballot or an equivalent(1) formal recorded vote with approval by at least a majority of the membership and at least two-thirds of those voting, excluding abstentions:

1. Adoption of Sponsor procedures, interest categories, or revisions thereof
2. Position Statements for Standards
3. Approval of change of the Sponsor scope
4. Approval of termination of the Sponsor

7.5 Actions Requiring Approval by Seventy-five Percent of Those Voting [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
Approval of a new or revised standard project or a reaffirmation of an existing standard shall require a 75% return of ballot and approval by 75% of those voting affirmative or negative. All negatives must be recorded and an attempt made to resolve them.

8.0 Communications
All Sponsor officers should use the Sponsor letterhead if available, or email notification, when corresponding on behalf of Sponsor activities.

8.1 Formal Internal Communication
If correspondence between subcommittees or between working groups of different subcommittees involves issues or decisions (that is, non-routine matters) affecting other subcommittees, copies shall be sent to all affected subcommittee chairs, the Secretary, and the Sponsor officers.

8.2 External Communication
Inquiries relating to the Sponsor should be directed to the Chair, and members should so inform individuals who raise such questions. All replies to inquiries shall be made through the Chair.

9.0 Interpretations [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
The policies of subclause 5.9 of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual shall be followed.

10.0. Appeals [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
The Sponsor recognizes the right of appeal. Technical appeals are referred back to the Sponsor. Every effort should be made to ensure that impartial handling of complaints regarding any action or inaction on the part of the Committee is performed in an identifiable manner and in accordance with Subclause 5.4 of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws and with subclause 5.8 of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual.

11.0 Parliamentary Procedures
On questions of parliamentary procedure not covered in these Procedures, Roberts Rules of Order (revised) may be used to expedite due process.

12.0 Position Statements for Standards [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
All communications shall comply with subclause 5.1.4 of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual. These procedures apply to communications with government and intergovernment bodies.

12.1 Committee Position Statements [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
Committee position statements shall not be released without prior approval by the Committee, which requires two-thirds vote per Section 7.4 of these procedures.

12.2 Subgroup Position Statements [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
Subgroup position statements shall not be released without prior approval by a three-fourths vote of the subgroup. Such position statements may proceed unless blocked by a Committee vote at a Committee meeting. For position statements not presented for review at a Committee meeting, members shall be provided a review period of at least five (5) days. If, during that time, a motion to block the position statement is made, release of the position statement shall be withheld pending disposition of the blocking motion.

Subgroup position statements shall be identified in the first paragraph of the position statement as being specifically the position of the subgroup. These statements shall be issued by the Subgroup Chair and shall include the Sponsor Chair in the distribution. Such statements shall bear neither the IEEE nor the IEEE Sponsor logos.

12.3 Informal Communications [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
Informal communications shall not imply that they are a formal position of the Committee, subcommittee, nor the working group.

12.4 Position Statements to be Issued by Other Entities [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
If the Committee wishes to go to another IEEE entity (as defined in Section 15 of the IEEE Policy and Procedures) to have that entity offer a position statement on a standards matter, they shall do so after agreement from the IEEE-SA Standards Board and after informing the IEEE-SA BOG. Therefore, proposed position statements that need to be issued by other IEEE entities shall be forwarded to the IEEE-SA Standards Board Secretary for further action.

13. Standards Publicity [Required for a Standards Development Sponsor]
The Committee is encouraged to prepare press releases and other forms of publicity to promote their activities. Please see subclause 5.1.5 of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual for further instructions.

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(1) "Equivalent" refers to some identifiable method of tallying the votes and addressing the comments.

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