IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual
4. IEEE SA Standards Board and committee procedures
4.1 IEEE SA Standards Board
4.1.1 Transaction of business
Except as specified in the IEEE SA Standards Board Bylaws and these procedures, business of the IEEE SA Standards Board meeting will be conducted in accordance with the latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order.
4.1.1.1 Agenda
4.1.1.1.1 Regular meetings
A preliminary agenda for each regular meeting shall be prepared by the Secretary and sent to the members of the IEEE SA Standards Board, including liaison representatives, at least two weeks prior to the meeting date. The preliminary agenda shall also be sent to the IEEE SA Board of Governors (BOG).
A final agenda shall be presented at the time of the IEEE SA Standards Board meeting. Recommendations to the IEEE SA Standards Board from the committees of the IEEE SA Standards Board shall be contained in an agenda item known as a “consent agenda.” Prior to approval of the agenda, any member may request that an item on the consent agenda be removed and considered separately as part of the agenda. Adoption of the consent agenda as modified constitutes approval of all included items by unanimous consent. The balance of the agenda normally includes the Chair’s report, the Secretary’s report, action items, information and discussion items, committee reports, and new business.
4.1.1.1.2 Special meetings
An agenda for each special meeting shall be prepared by the Secretary and sent in conjunction with the meeting notice, to all voting members of the IEEE SA Standards Board and the IEEE SA Board of Governors; the IEEE SA Standards Board Chair shall determine the extent to which the agenda shall be further distributed.
4.1.1.2 Minutes
The minutes of each meeting of the IEEE SA Standards Board shall be distributed by the Secretary to voting members, liaison representatives, the IEEE SA BOG, those present at the meeting, and anyone involved in an action of the IEEE SA Standards Board within four weeks following the meeting. In reporting an official action of the IEEE SA Standards Board, the minutes shall, on request of dissenters, contain a record of the dissenting votes. In addition, a listing of resolutions of each meeting of the IEEE SA Standards Board shall be publicly distributed by the Secretary within four weeks following the meeting.
4.1.1.3 Project Authorization Requests (PARs)
PARs that have been submitted by Standards Committees to the Secretary of the IEEE SA Standards Board by the established deadline shall be submitted by the Secretary of the New Standards Committee (NesCom) for review. Notification of this distribution shall be given to all members of the IEEE SA Standards Board. (For additional information on the procedures of NesCom, see 4.2.2.)
4.1.1.4 Submittal of proposed standards
Proposed standards, together with the required documentation, that have been submitted by Standards Committees to the Secretary of the IEEE SA Standards Board by the established deadline shall be submitted by the Secretary to the Standards Review Committee (RevCom) for review. Notification of this distribution will be given to all members of the IEEE SA Standards Board. (For additional information on the procedures of RevCom, see 4.2.3.)
4.1.1.5 Confidentiality Statements and Copyright Notices on Communications
The IEEE SA Standards Board and its committees operate in an open manner. To that end, no material submitted to the IEEE SA Standards Board or its committees 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.
It should be noted that this policy does not apply to IEEE copyrighted materials, such as draft standards, or to materials to or from IEEE counsel appropriately classified as attorney-client privileged. 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.
4.1.2 Liaison representatives
The Secretary of the IEEE SA Standards Board shall circulate the following information to the liaison representatives for review and action:
a) Each IEEE Project Authorization Request (PAR) submitted for approval. The liaison representative is expected to review each request to see if his or her organization has a substantial interest in the project.
b) Agenda for each IEEE SA Standards Board meeting. This should be reviewed to determine if there is any item on the agenda of substantial interest to the organization. The liaison member should be present, if necessary, to support the interests of the organization.
c) Minutes of meetings of the IEEE SA Standards Board. This shall include action taken on PARs and draft standards.
d) Notice of assignment of a standards project. When the IEEE SA Standards Board, on its own initiative, agrees on the need for a standard, a request to develop the standard shall be sent to the liaison representative of the Society having primary interest in the subject. The liaison representative is expected to assign the project to the appropriate technical unit as a Standards Committee for the development of the standards project.
e) Status Reports. The liaison representative shall review any sections of the project reports that may be assigned to his or her organization and notify the Secretary of the IEEE SA Standards Board of any corrections and revisions. The liaison representative should ensure that action is taken to revise all standards assigned to the Society within ten years of the date of approval. The liaison representative should monitor work being done on all standards projects and report any changes in the status of the standards to the Secretary of the IEEE SA Standards Board.
4.2 Standing committees of the IEEE SA Standards Board [2]
This committee shall review proposed modifications to the IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual and the IEEE SA Standards Board Bylaws and submit its recommendations for a vote of the IEEE SA Standards Board. It shall hold meetings as the need requires.
This committee shall review proposed modifications to the IEEE Standards Style Manual (PDF) and submit its comments to IEEE SA Staff.
This committee shall examine Project Authorization Requests (PARs) and make recommendations to the IEEE SA Standards Board regarding their approval. Such forms shall be reviewed in detail to make certain that all necessary information has been properly provided.
This committee acts in an advisory capacity to the IEEE SA Standards Board by making recommendations on the approval or disapproval of standards submitted for IEEE SA Standards Board approval or adoption.
Approval or adoption of a standard requires a consensus of RevCom that the requirements of the procedures of RevCom and those of the IEEE SA Standards Board have been satisfied. Specifically, this means that the final results of the Standards Association ballot and statements submitted by balloters who participated in the development of the standard indicate that consensus has been achieved and unresolved negative ballots have been properly considered, together with reasons why the comments could not be resolved.
4.2.3.1 RevCom agenda
A preliminary agenda for each RevCom meeting shall be prepared by the Secretary of the IEEE SA Standards Board or a designated person and distributed to RevCom members at least 30 days[3] prior to a scheduled meeting of RevCom. Included with the agenda shall be a list of all proposed standards to be presented to the IEEE SA Standards Board for approval. At the same time the agenda, without supporting documentation, shall be sent to all members of the IEEE SA Standards Board, liaison representatives, and other organizations and persons. The agenda is to be sent to all persons and organizations that have expressed an interest in the standards activities of the IEEE.
4.2.3.2 Review of draft standards
The RevCom Administrator shall distribute a copy of each proposed standard to the members of RevCom, together with the submittal form and any other pertinent information, for review. An IEEE SA Standards Board member or the liaison representative may request a copy of the proposed standard from the RevCom Administrator. RevCom members are responsible for reviewing the documents and submitting comments to the RevCom Administrator. All comments and objections with reasons shall be distributed by the RevCom Administrator to RevCom members and the liaison representative of the Standards Committee.
All requests for approval of a standard shall be reviewed by RevCom to ensure that the submittal is complete and that appropriate IEEE procedures are followed completely and correctly (see the IEEE SA Standards Board Working Guide for Submittal of Proposed Standards).
Examples of some of the points that must be carefully analyzed are given in the following paragraphs:
- Title of Document. The title on the draft document and submittal form shall be within the scope as stated on the most recently approved PAR, or action(s) shall be taken to ensure this.
- Coordination. Mandatory coordination comments shall be addressed. If the Standards Committee believes that satisfying specific mandatory coordination comments will impede the utility of the draft standard, appropriate documentation of this position shall be presented to RevCom.
- Standards Association Ballot Summary. A ballot summary of the vote of the members of the Standards Association balloting group is required, e.g., showing the classification of members and including comments accompanying unresolved negative ballots. For complete details, see 5.4.1 and 5.4.3.
- Standards Association Balloting Group. The Standards Association balloting group shall be formulated according to 5.4.1.
- Classification of Standards Association Balloting Group. Classification of the Standards Association balloting group shall be in accordance with 5.4.1.
- Standards Association Ballot Comment Responses. All Standards Association ballot comments shall receive consideration and response in accordance with 5.4.3.
4.2.3.3 Standards Committee representation at RevCom
At the suggestion of the Secretary, the Standards Committee may send a representative to the RevCom meeting at which a proposed standard having unresolved negative comments is to be reviewed. The Secretary shall ensure that the representative receives a copy of all comments, objections, and negative RevCom votes with reasons. The Standards Committee representative shall be given an opportunity to discuss them at the meeting.
4.2.3.4 Proponents and objectors to actions before RevCom
Proponents and objectors to actions before RevCom may attend meetings to present their views. When negative comments are received in advance from RevCom members, the Standards Committee shall be invited to send a representative(s) to the RevCom meeting to answer questions and help resolve issues.
4.2.3.5 Dissenting opinions
At the request of any member of RevCom, a recommendation may be accompanied by a statement in disagreement with the recommendation. While there seldom is a “minority” position, the IEEE SA Standards Board shall be informed of significant controversies.
4.2.4 Audit Committee (AudCom)
This committee shall make routine reviews and inspections to assure that each standards-developing entity, through its Standards Committee and Working Group policies and procedures (P & P), is adhering to the procedures described in the IEEE SA Standards Board Bylaws and the IEEE SA Standards Board Operations Manual. It will make recommendations as appropriate to advise the standards-developing entities of changes that are needed. The committee shall periodically issue reports to the IEEE SA Standards Board, summarizing its findings and making recommendations as appropriate for Standards Board action.
The committee shall develop sets of basic Standards Committee and Working Group operating procedures for standards development and shall use such operating procedures as a baseline when performing audits of P & P.
4.2.4.1 AudCom review of Standards Committee P & P
AudCom recommends to the IEEE SA Standards Board the following actions concerning IEEE SA Standards Committee P & P:
— Accepted
— Not accepted
— Visibly under development
A Standards Committee’s P & P shall be determined by AudCom to be visibly under development or accepted by AudCom before performance of any standards work (including but not limited to: PAR actions, Standards Association ballot actions, etc.) by that Standards Committee is authorized by the IEEE SA Standards Board to commence.
After a Standards Committee’s P & P have been submitted to AudCom and an AudCom member is assigned as mentor to review the document, the P & P may be determined by AudCom to be visibly under development. The P & P will remain in such a state until AudCom is either satisfied that they are complete and acceptable or that the Standards Committee is no longer responsive to AudCom and that the P & P are not acceptable.
AudCom will ensure that each standards-developing group has based its P & P on the appropriate baseline procedures (e.g., individual, entity, etc.) available from the IEEE SA.
Standards Committee P & P shall be subject to review by AudCom every five years to ensure currency. However, if a Standards Committee revises its P & P prior to its next scheduled AudCom review, the Standards Committee shall immediately submit its revised P & P to AudCom for review and acceptance.
The Standards Committee P & P document accepted by AudCom shall be the official policies of that Standards Committee and shall reside online on the IEEE SA Standards Board AudCom website. No other copy shall be designated as the official copy. Links to the IEEE SA Standards Board AudCom website are encouraged.
4.2.4.2 AudCom review of Working Group P & P
It is the responsibility of the Standards Committee (see 5.1.2) to approve the P & P of its working groups involved in the technical development work of a standard. However, at any time, AudCom may select a working group on which to conduct a WG P & P audit, from the various working groups that the Standards Committee has active at the time. At least one of a Standards Committee’s WG P & P shall be subject to review by AudCom every five years to ensure currency. AudCom will conduct the review based on comparison to the then-current baseline WG P & P available from IEEE SA.
AudCom will review the WG P & P of the selected working group and, if no issues are found, will report this to the IEEE SA Standard Board. If issues are identified with the selected WG P & P, AudCom will suggest revisions. AudCom may also require review of additional WG P & P of other working groups for the Standards Committee. If issues are not resolved in a reasonable time, or significant issues are found among the WG P & P of several working groups, AudCom may recommend to the IEEE SA Standards Board that the Standards Committee’s Working Group P & P be considered “not accepted”, and that the Standards Committee’s standards development activities be stopped. If issues exist but progress is being made, AudCom may recommend to the IEEE SA Standards Board that the Standards Committee’s Working Group P & P be considered “visibly under development”.
Stopping of standards development activities includes PAR submissions, Standards Association ballot activities, etc.
This committee reviews patent letters of assurance and other patent information submitted to the IEEE Standards Department. It examines issues brought to its attention regarding IEEE Standards development and patents, and makes recommendations as appropriate.
4.2.6 Continuous processing of IEEE SA Standards Board and committee agenda items
In order to reduce the time involved in standards development, the IEEE SA Standards Board and its committees may use continuous processing through electronic technologies to consider appropriate agenda items. Each agenda item to be considered under this methodology shall be carefully appraised as to its suitability for this process. The IEEE SA Standards Board and its committees should establish means for continuous processing according to their unique needs. These methods are publicly available by contacting the Secretary of the IEEE SA Standards Board.
Any votes taken by the IEEE SA Standards Board during continuous processing are subject to the provisions stated in subclause 5.1 of the IEEE SA Standards Board Bylaws.