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Updated UFFC-S Bylaws are Approved by IEEE

May 30, 2017 | Contributed By - Jian-yu Lu, Chair of the Bylaws and Constitution Review and Revision Committee
7 years 9 months ago
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[caption id="attachment_4409" align="aligncenter" width="264"]Jian-yu Lu Jian-yu Lu, Chair of the Bylaws and Constitution Review and Revision Committee[/caption]

The IEEE has officially approved the revised UFFC-S Bylaws.

So what are bylaws and why do they matter?

The UFFC-S works according to a set of established rules or bylaws that state, for example:

  • who does what on the UFFC-S administrative committee (AdCom),
  • how decision-making is conducted and how votes are held, and
  • UFFC-S Standing Committee responsibilities (Finance, Symposia...).

You may gather that it is not a document that you would want to take to the beach for light reading. The Bylaws are a great place to look, however, if you want to discover activities in the UFFC-S and get involved. They can also help understand how decisions are being made.

The revision process

It was necessary to bring the bylaws up-to-date with the evolving needs of the UFFC-S. Over time, AdCom decisions modify the roles of committees and other policies.  In addition, the use of e-mail communications to accelerate work has changed general practice. Furthermore, the original UFFC-S bylaws text contained some ambiguities. Regrouping information about practice and policy shifts and unclear parts of the text began in June of 2011. Under the leadership of Jian-yu Lu, the Bylaws and Constitution Review and Revision Committee circulated the first draft with amendments in December, 2015. Since then, the Committee produced and reviewed twelve drafts! Along the way, the Committee Chair recorded all the changes and the reasons for them. The AdCom approved the revised UFFC-S Bylaws on May 2, 2017. Then, the revised bylaws went to the IEEE for approval. The IEEE approved the revised IEEE UFFC-S Bylaws on May 18, 2017.

What has changed?

The new UFFC-S Bylaws contain many updates and clarifications relative to the version from 2011. The Bylaws are an important reference document for all UFFC-S members and, especially, for UFFC-S’s leaders.

Some highlights of the new UFFC-S Bylaws are:

  • The Bylaws now comply with the latest version of IEEE’s Governing Documents and Best Practices.
  • There are three new Standing Committees for "Education", "Women-in-Engineering", and "Chapters". (They began  as Ad Hoc Committees but now have a permanent standing.)
  • Duties and responsibilities are up-to-date for all 16 UFFC-S Standing Committees, UFFC-S Officers, AdCom Student Representatives, and AdCom Emeriti.
  • Duties and responsibilities of the Symposium General Chairs and the Symposium Finance Chairs are specified more clearly.
  • Procedures for nomination and election of UFFC-S Elected AdCom Members and President-Elect have been updated.
  • Email voting procedure has been modified.
  • The new Bylaws specify that any member of AdCom can make and second a motion. This ensures that even non-voting AdCom members can initiate proposals.
  • The manner in which AdCom and its Committees conduct meetings has been specified more clearly.

The UFFC-S will follow the revised Bylaws from now on. Have a look.