IEEE-SA Standards Board: RevCom

REVIEW COMMITTEE (REVCOM) CONVENTIONS

Changes approved by RevCom on 15 June 2011.

1. Confidentiality Statements and Copyright Notices on Communications
RevCom operates in an open manner. To that end, no material submitted to RevCom will be accepted or considered if it contains any statement that places any burden on the recipient(s) with respect to confidentiality or copyright. Any communication, including electronic mail, containing language with such restrictive wording will not be accepted or considered. Submittal packages containing such communication will be returned to the submitter. Resubmission must be in compliance with ordinary deadlines applicable to submittal packages.

It should be noted that this policy does not apply to IEEE copyrighted materials, such as draft standards. In the event that copyrighted materials are to be incorporated in an IEEE standard, an acceptable copyright release or assignment must be obtained from the copyright owner prior to approval of the standard by the IEEE-SA Standards Board.

2. Changes to Balloted Drafts Prior to IEEE-SA Standards Board Approval
If, during the review process, RevCom perceives that post-balloting changes are proposed (e.g., changes from mandatory coordination bodies) which are both non-editorial and required, the draft and proposed changes shall be returned to the Sponsor for appropriate action.

This convention will apply when these conditions are all met:

• Post-balloting changes are proposed
  (typically from SCC14, legal review, RAC, Staff, even the Sponsor)
• The changes are perceived by RevCom to be required
  (e.g., the Sponsor has agreed they are required, or a Coordinating body has 'required' changes and RevCom agrees)
• The changes are perceived by RevCom to be non-editorial
  (e.g., the Sponsor has stated they are technical, or Staff feels they are technical and RevCom agrees)

3. Conditional Approval Policy
Conditional approval of a proposed standard is sometimes granted by RevCom when documentation of an action is required of the Sponsor and it is not included in the submittal to RevCom. This is done when it seems that all of the requirements of the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual have been met with the exception of documentation of one or two actions. The conditional approval is granted by RevCom contingent on receipt by the RevCom Administrator that the Sponsor has completed the required action(s) in accordance with the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual.

The documentation must be received by the RevCom Administrator no later than the submittal deadline of the next RevCom meeting. If the documentation is not received by this deadline, the proposed standard is returned to the Sponsor disapproved, and a new submittal of the document will be required.

The official approval date will be determined by the date the information is received and/or once staff/RevCom review has been deemed complete.

4. Procedural Changes and Grandfathering for Proposed Standards
The IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws and the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual are regularly updated as necessary. While these changes may alter the procedures required to be followed during the standards development process, each separate action is grandfathered to the procedure in place at the time the action was initiated. 

Therefore, RevCom evaluates each action against the IEEE-SA Standards Board Bylaws and the IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual in effect at the time of the action.

5. RevCom Policy for Recirculation Ballots in Progress at the Submittal Deadline (25/15 Day Policy)
RevCom will consider recommending approval of a project if a recirculation is in progress at the submittal deadline provided the text of the recirculated draft and all documentation except ballot results of the recirculation are submitted by the submittal deadline. This shall include the recirculation package sent to the ballot group. The documentation must also include resolution of negative ballots resulting from prior ballots.

There shall be no negative votes on new issues, but additional negatives on prior issues are allowed, provided the 75% affirmative required for approval is achieved.

Projects that have not achieved the required approval, return, or abstention rates as of the last ballot conducted prior to the submittal deadline are not eligible for consideration under this convention.

The Sponsor shall review results of the recirculation ballot and, if the above conditions are met, may submit results of the recirculation ballot to the RevCom Administrator 25 days before the IEEE-SA Standards Board meeting. The submittal may be electronically transmitted.

The RevCom Administrator will transmit the results of the recirculation ballot to the members of RevCom no later than 15 days before the IEEE-SA Standards Board meeting. The information may be electronically transmitted.

RevCom will not consider a submittal if the recirculation commences after the submittal deadline. These submittals should be considered at a future RevCom meeting.

6. Resolution of Negative Ballots
A Sponsor commitment to make a change in a future revision to resolve a negative ballot will cause the submittal to be rejected.

If the Sponsor and negative balloter agree to consider the negative comments at the next revision without a commitment to make a change to the document under consideration, and the balloter then changes his or her vote to affirmative, no recirculation is needed since there is no commitment to revise the document.

If the Sponsor commits to make a future change to resolve the negative ballot, then RevCom should remind the Sponsor it cannot make such a commitment - only the future balloting group can make such a commitment. An informed negative balloter should recognize that the Sponsor has no authority to make such a commitment. A recirculation ballot is needed on the unresolved negative issue, including Sponsor rebuttal.

7. Mentored Project Submittals
For submittals that do not receive RevCom approval, a member of RevCom may be assigned to the Sponsor as a mentor. The mentor will assist the Sponsor in understanding the procedures of the IEEE-SA Standards Board and the RevCom conventions.

The mentor, acting as a representative of the Committee, will assist the Sponsor in understanding RevCom's reasons for not approving the submittal; will assist the Sponsor in implementing the action(s) that RevCom has suggested; and will attempt to ensure that actions taken conform to procedures.

The mentor will supply status reports to RevCom. If six months pass and there is no contact between the Sponsor and the mentor or if one year passes and the Sponsor does not take any action regarding the project, then the project will be dropped from RevCom's mentored projects list.

8. Definitions for Abstain and Recuse
Abstain: The term abstain only applies to the decision to not vote on the item by indicating that the individual abstains from the voting and does not address the individual's participation in discussion about the item. Thus, when an individual abstains on a committee agenda item, he or she indicates that he or she is not voting on the item but may participate in the discussion of the item.

Recuse: When an individual recuses from a committee agenda item, he or she does not vote on the item and takes no part in the discussion unless requested to provide clarification by the chair. Since the person may be considered a subject matter expert by other members of the committee, the chair may ask an individual that recuses to provide information with respect to the item under consideration. The person's vote remains recuse even if the person responds to a request for information.

9. Matching Requirements for Scope and Purpose
Match for the purpose of RevCom is a 100% match with the exception of:
- capitalization
- formatting
- editorial changes that:

• Sponsor agrees are editorial,
• IEEE staff have already deemed editorial as part of the RevCom submittal package, and RevCom agrees.

NOTE: This matching requirement only applies to projects where the PAR was approved after 1 January 2007 and sponsor balloting was initiated prior to 30 June 2011.