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Constitution
Approved 1 July 2012
ARTICLE I - NAME, PURPOSE, TERRITORY
| Section 1. | The name of this
organization is the IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) (the Society). |
| Section 2. | The Society is
established as an entity of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
(IEEE), and its successor(s), and shall operate in accordance with the constitution,
bylaws, and procedures of the IEEE and the Society's Constitution, Bylaws and Policy and Procedures Manual. The Society is the successor to the IEEE Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing Society and its
predecessor, the IEEE Audio and Electroacoustics Group, and its predecessor, the IEEE Audio Group. |
| Section 3. |
The
Signal Processing Society is an international organization whose
purpose is to: advance
and disseminate state-of-the-art scientific information and
resources; educate the signal processing community; and
provide a venue for people to interact and exchange ideas. |
| Section 4. | The activities by which
the Society shall achieve its purposes shall include, but not be limited to, the
publication of refereed transactions and journals, of magazines and/or newsletters, and of
books; the sponsorship, co-sponsorship or other participation in the conduct of technical
meetings; and recognition of the achievements of its members. |
| Section 5. | The scope of the
Society is transnational, and members from all parts of the world are encouraged to be
active. The Society shall not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, national
origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or residence. The Society may engage in
activities that serve the interests and needs of members residing in a particular country
or area of the world, provided that such activities do not discriminate against nor seek
to gain unfair advantage over members from different countries or areas. |
| Section 6. | The activities of the Society are to be achieved through the voluntary, uncompensated efforts of its members. No individual shall receive any payment, gratuity, or other thing of value for service to the Society, either directly or through an intermediary, unless that individual is a salaried employee or contractor of the IEEE or the Society. Expenses incurred by individuals while engaged in Society activities shall be compensated to the extent provided by the Society's management, in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution, the Society's Bylaws, and the rules and practices of the IEEE. |
ARTICLE II - FIELD OF INTEREST AND VISION STATEMENT
The Field of Interest of the Society shall be: signal processing is the enabling technology for the generation, transformation, extraction, and interpretation of information. It comprises the theory, algorithms with associated architectures and implementations, and applications related to processing information contained in many different formats broadly designated as signals. Signal processing uses mathematical, statistical, computational, heuristic, and/or linguistic representations, formalisms, modeling techniques and algorithms for generating, transforming, transmitting, and learning from signals.
(Approved by the IEEE Technical Activities Board, June 26, 2010.)
VISION STATEMENT
The Signal Processing Society is a dynamic organization that is the preeminent source of signal processing information and resources to a global community. We do this by: being a one-stop source of signal processing resources; providing a variety of high quality resources to a variety of users in formats customized to their interests; adapting to a rapidly changing technical community; and being intimately involved in the education of signal processing professionals at all levels.
(Approved by the IEEE SPS Board of Governors, September 11, 2003.)
ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP
| Section 1. | IEEE members of any grade shall become Society members upon application and payment of the Society membership fee. The membership fee and the cost of publications and other considerations members receive for the membership fee, are to be set as part of the Society's annual budget. |
| Section 2. | Individuals who are not
members of the IEEE may become Affiliate members of the Society upon (a) meeting the
requirements established in the Bylaws for Affiliate membership; (b) by making proper
application for Affiliate membership; and, (c) by making appropriate payment for Affiliate
membership. Any other requirements for Affiliate membership shall be as established in the
Bylaws. Affiliate members have the rights and privileges of a Society member. An Affiliate member may serve in an appointive capacity that does not require IEEE membership as a prerequisite. |
| Section 3. | Special categories of membership, with appropriate fees, shall be as specified in the Bylaws. |
ARTICLE IV - FINANCES
| Section 1. | The Society may collect
dues and fees from its members as provided in the Bylaws. |
| Section 2. | The Society may charge
registration fees for its technical meetings. Registration fees for Society and IEEE
members should be lower than for non-members. |
| Section 3. | The Society may raise
revenues by other means, such as advertising, exhibits, publication sales, and requests
for donations, provided prior approval is obtained from the IEEE for those means not
explicitly permitted by the current rules and regulations of the IEEE and the Bylaws of
the Society. |
| Section 4. | The Society shall
conform to the rules prescribed by the IEEE, and its bylaws, and in accordance with the
budget adopted annually by the Society's Board of Governors (BoG) (SEE, ARTICLE V). |
| Section 5. | The fiscal year of the Society shall be the same as the fiscal year of the IEEE. |
ARTICLE V - ADMINISTRATION
| Section 1. | The Society shall be
governed by an administrative committee which shall be referred to as the Board of
Governors, and which shall comprise the Society's Officers, Members-at-Large and Regional Directors-at-Large. The Officers of the Society shall be the
President, the President-Elect, and the Vice Presidents. The Officers shall be elected by the Board of Governors and shall serve terms
and perform such duties as are specified in the Bylaws. |
| Section 2. | The voting members of
the Society shall elect Members-at-Large and Regional Directors-at-Large who shall serve on the Society's Board of
Governors. The number and method of election of Members-at-Large and Regional Directors-at-Large shall be as specified in
the Bylaws. |
| Section 3. | All Officers, Members-at-Large and Regional Directors-at-Large of the Society shall be members in good standing of the grades specified
in the Bylaws. |
| Section 4. | The Board of Governors
may appoint such Boards and Standing Committees as it deems necessary to meet the mission
of the Society. |
| Section 5. | The President shall be
an ex-officio member of all committees and boards of the Society. He/she shall serve as a
member of the IEEE Technical Activities Board and represent the Society to that body or
appoint an alternate to do so. |
| Section 6. | The
Society may use the services of IEEE Headquarters as bursar for Society funds or for other
purposes mutually agreed upon by the IEEE and the Society. |
| Section 7. | No member of the Society nor any officer or representative thereof shall have authority to contract debts for, pledge the credit of, or in any way bind the IEEE, except as approved in advance by the IEEE. |
ARTICLE VI - NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS
| Section 1. | The Board of Governors
shall submit, annually, to the voting members at least two candidates for each
Member-at-Large and Regional Director-at-Large position becoming vacant. |
| Section 2. | The election procedure
for Members-at-Large and Regional Director-at-Large of the Board of Governors shall provide for petition candidates. |
| Section 3. | Filling of vacancies for Member-at-Large and Regional Director-at-Large positions shall be as provided in the Bylaws. |
ARTICLE VII - BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEETINGS
| Section 1. | The Board of Governors
shall hold at least two meetings each calendar year. The last regularly convened meeting
of the year shall be the Annual Meeting. Provisions for additional or special meetings of
the Board of Governors shall be as stated in the Bylaws. |
| Section 2. | A quorum of the Board
of Governors shall be a majority of those members having voting rights |
| Section 3. | A majority of legal votes cast by those members of the Board of Governors present at a regularly convened meeting shall be necessary for the conduct of business, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution or in the Bylaws. |
ARTICLE VIII - TECHNICAL MEETINGS
| Section 1. | The Society may hold
technical meetings either alone or in cooperation with the IEEE or its entities, or with
other technical organizations, subject to the rules and procedures of the IEEE. |
| Section 2. | Technical meetings of the Society shall be open on an equal basis to all members of the IEEE. The Society may not sponsor or co-sponsor technical meetings that are subject to security/export clearance or any other restrictions of either governmental or industrial nature. |
ARTICLE IX - PUBLICATIONS
| Section 1. | Publications undertaken
by the Society shall be subject to IEEE and Society policies and regulations. |
| Section 2. | The duties of and regulations pertaining to Society publication editors shall be as detailed in the Bylaws. |
ARTICLE X - AMENDMENTS
| Section 1. | Amendments
to this Constitution may be initiated either by petition submitted in writing with the exact wording of the amendments to the President by a
minimum of one-half percent of the members of the Society or by a two-thirds majority vote
of the Board of Governors. Each proposed amendment will be transmitted for administrative
approval to the IEEE Technical Activities Board (TAB). If approved by the IEEE, the
proposed amendment shall appear in a Society publication normally reaching all members of
the Society, with notice that it shall be considered approved unless one-half percent or
more of the Society membership objects, in writing, within 30 days of publication. If such
objections are received, a copy of the proposed amendment shall be mailed with a ballot to
all members of the Society at least 30 days before the date appointed for return of the
ballots. The ballots shall carry a statement of the time limit for their return to the
balloting agency. Approval of the amendment by at least two-thirds of the ballots legally
cast shall be necessary for enactment. |
| Section 2. | Changes to
the Bylaws may be adopted by a two-thirds vote of the Board of Governors present at a
regularly convened meeting of the Board, provided that notice of the proposed bylaw or
amendment has been transmitted to each Board member at least one week prior to such a
meeting. In addition, a Bylaw or amendment may be adopted by a two-thirds mail vote of the
members of the Board of Governors, provided a 30-day period is allowed for such responses.
In either event, the proposed Bylaw or amendment shall be reviewed by the IEEE TAB
Secretary prior to its presentation to the Board of Governors. Following adoption by the Board of Governors, the proposed Bylaw or amendment shall appear on the Society's website. No Bylaw or amendment shall take effect until it has been published and has been mailed to the IEEE TAB Secretary and he/she has obtained any other necessary approvals. |
| Section 3. | All amendments to the Constitution or the Bylaws shall become effective 30 days after all necessary approvals and notifications, unless a later date has been specified at the time the vote is taken |