6.1 Awards Committee   - approved 4/99 -

1. Organization

1.0 The chair of the Awards Committee is appointed by the president.

1.1 The Awards Committee has 12 members. Each member has a term of 3 years and each year 1/3 of the new members should be appointed. The new members are appointed by the chair, considering a reasonably balanced distribution for the members among different technical areas, different regions and countries, and industry and academic sectors. Members with terms finished can be re-appointed when needed.

2. Functions

2.0 The functions of the Awards Committee include all issues/processes related to awards.

2.1 All available awards and the request for nominations for all awards should be openly announced to all members and non-members via Web, publications, and all possible means long enough before the nomination deadline.

2.2 The recipients for the ComSoc paper awards should be selected by the Awards Committee, and presented by the Awards Committee chair and the president in ICC each year. The candidate papers are in principle nominated by a Nomination Committee organized by the journals/magazines boards, but the Awards Committee also considers any other inputs/suggestions.

2.3 The recipients for the ComSoc career/service awards should be selected by the Awards Committee, and presented by the Awards Committee chair and the president in Globecom each year. The candidates for these awards can be nominated by all ComSoc members or non-members.

2.4 When not enough candidates are nominated for any award, the Awards Committee should solicit more nominations.

2.5 The selection of all award recipients and relevant discussions can be performed via e-mail, conference call or tele-conferencing, when a face-to-face meeting is not feasible. E-mail voting is a sufficient means for decision.

2.6 Any new ComSoc awards program should be first approved by the Awards Committee, then submitted to the Board of Governors.

2.7 The Awards Committee should participate in the nomination of candidates for IEEE Awards related to Communications Society.

2.8 The Awards Committee holds face-to-face meetings at each ICC/Globecom to discuss all relevant issues. Those members of the Awards Committee who can’t attend ICC/Globecom can participate in the discussions via e-mail alias group.

2.9 The Awards Committee should solicit inputs from the Technical Committees, including nominations for the awards and all relevant suggestions and comments.

3. Special Operational Principles

3.1 In any case any part of the nominations for each award should be kept strictly confidential. In any case any part of the discussions for the selection of the award recipients should be kept strictly confidential. Only the finally decided award recipients can be openly announced.

3.2 The Awards Committee chair should be able to identify any part of the information within the committee to be strictly confidential whenever necessary.

3.3 The E-mail group alias for Awards Committee is closed and limited to Awards Committee members only. No one outside the committee can subscribe to the group alias.

3.4 When an Awards Committee member (or his close associate) or his paper is nominated for an award, he should immediately withdraw from any information, discussions and selection processes for the relevant award.

3.5 The current president and vice presidents should not make formal nominations for any award, nor make any public endorsement for any award candidate.

4. Budget and Support Staff

4.1 A staff member at ComSoc Headquarter should be appointed to help the operations of the Awards Committee.

4.2 The budget of the Awards Committee is included as a part of the overall budget of the Vice President - Technical Activities.

5. Detailed Operating Procedures for ComSoc Paper/Career/Service Awards Processing

5.0 The schedule below is based on the reference date of June 1 for ICC and Nov 10 for Globecom. When the conference is to be held before the above dates, special efforts should be made to have all work done in time.

5.1 Paper Awards - Presented at ICC Each Year

5.1.1	December 1 Awards Chair	Journals/Magazines Boards contacted by Awards Chair reminding that nomination lists for Paper Awards are due by February 15.
5.1.2	January 15 Awards Chair	Reminder that nominations are due by February 15.
5.1.3	February 15 Journals/Magazines Boards	Nominations due.
5.1.4	March 1 Awards Chair	Nominated papers sent to Awards Committee members by Chair with April 10 deadline for balloting. Discussions regarding the selection start.
5.1.5	April 1 Awards Chair	Reminders sent to committee members regarding the due date.
5.1.6	April 10 Awards Chair	Ballots due.
5.1.7	April 20 Awards Chair	Awards recipients decided and notified. ComSoc Staff notified.
5.1.8	April 23 Staff	Award plaques and certificates ordered by staff. Staff contacts recipients to determine if they are planning to attend ICC Awards Luncheon or if they want their awards presented at some other venue or mailed to them. Also, for US citizens whose prizes include a cash award, Social Security numbers must be obtained.
5.1.9	May 1 Staff and Conference Committee	Staff contacts Conference Local Arrangements Chair regarding details of the award luncheon. It is suggested that the conference person should be in direct contact with the award recipients. Conference person should advise where and when recipients should meet prior to the luncheon, where they will get their tickets, whether guests/spouses will be hosted by the conference, seating arrangements for recipients and guests. Staff sends written details regarding names of awards, names of recipients, publication details on winning papers for luncheon program and scriptwriter, and works out what sort of table or platform will be required behind the podium to hold the award materials.
5.1.10	May 5 Staff	Staff orders checks for awards that include a cash prize.
5.1.11	May 20 Staff	Award checks due from NJ.
5.1.12	May 23 Staff	Award plaques and certificates delivered to ComSoc office.
5.1.13	May 29 Staff	Awards materials that will be distributed at conference should be shipped to the hotel.
5.1.14	Morning of Awards Luncheon Staff and Conference Committee	Staff delivers awards materials to room where luncheon is being held and runs through presentation details with Local Arrangements person.

5.2 Career/service Awards – Presented at Globecom

5.2.1	April-May Awards Chair	Call for nominations. Deadline: August 31.
5.2.2	August 31 Awards Chair	Nominations due.
5.2.3	September 5 Awards Chair	Nominations distributed to Awards Committee members by chair with Sept 30 deadline for balloting. Discussions regarding the selection start.
5.2.4	September 25 Awards Chair	Reminders sent to committee members regarding the due date.
5.2.5	September 30 Awards Chair	Ballots due.
5.2.6	October 5 Awards Chair	Awards recipients decided and notified. ComSoc staff notified.
5.2.7	October 6 Staff	Award plaques and certificates ordered by staff. Staff contacts recipients to determine if they are planning to attend Globecom Awards Luncheon or if they want their awards presented at some other venue or mailed to them. Also, for US citizens whose prizes include a cash award, Social Security numbers must be obtained.
5.2.8	October 10 Staff and Conference Committee	Staff contacts Conference Local Arrangements Chair regarding the details of the award luncheon. It is suggested that the conference person should be in direct contact with the award recipients. Conference person should advise where and when recipients should meet prior to the luncheon, where they will get their tickets, whether guests/spouses will be hosted by the conference, seating arrangements for recipients and guests. Staff sends written details regarding names of awards, names of recipients, publication details for luncheon program and scriptwriter, and works out what sort of table or platform will be required behind the podium to hold the award materials.
5.2.9	October 15 Staff	Staff orders checks for awards that include a cash prize.
5.2.10	October 30 Staff	Award checks due from NJ.
5.2.11	November 5 Staff	Award plaques and certificates delivered to ComSoc office.
5.2.12	November 6 Staff	Awards materials that will be distributed at conference should be shipped to the hotel.
5.2.13	Morning of Awards Luncheon Staff and Conference Committee	Staff delivers awards materials to room where luncheon is being held and runs through presentation details with Local Arrangements person.

6. Detailed Operating Procedures for Nominating Candidates for IEEE Awards

6.0 The scheduling and processing of all IEEE Awards are handled by IEEE. The most updated information is on IEEE’s Awards home page. In many cases the candidates can be nominated by any IEEE member, or even non-member. The role of ComSoc and its Awards Committee is to participate in the nomination processes.

6.1 IEEE’s Web site for open call for nominations should be posted on ComSoc’s Web page for Awards, and announced on ComSoc’s Electronic Newsletter whenever possible.

6.2 The support staff member at ComSoc Headquarter should provide any updated information for open call for nominations to the Awards Committee chair.

6.3 The Awards Committee chair should remind the Award Committee, the relevant ComSoc boards, councils, committees and officers for the nomination timelines and encourage their active participation in the nomination processes.