ACM Volunteer
Structure
Vicki Hanson
Chair, SIG Governing Board (SGB)
Goals for this Session
• Overview of volunteer leadership structure for
all of ACM
• know where decisions are made
• know where to go with ideas/needs
• know how things work to explain to your
members
• Specific details on the SGB and SIG governance
• how to get things done
Starting at the Top
• ACM Council
• Council is the final authority on all ACM policy
decisions, approves all major new initiatives,
approves the annual budget, etc.
• ACM Executive Committee
• ACM EC is charged with operational governance
ACM Council Members
• Five ACM EC members
• President
• Alain Chesnais
• Vice-President
• Barbara Ryder
• Secretary-Treasurer
• Alex Wolf
• Past President
• Wendy Hall
• SGB Chair
• Vicki Hanson
• Three SGB-elected reps
• Scott Owen
• Andrew Sears
• Doug Terry
• Seven at-large members
• Publications Board Chair
• Two ex officio
• ACM CEO (John White)
• ACM COO (Pat Ryan)
ACM Boards and Councils
• Boards
• SGB
• Publications
• Practitioners
• Education
• Councils
• ACM-W
• USACM
• Regional
• ACM Europe
• ACM India
• ACM China
Committees
• ACM Council
• Audit Committee
• Awards Committee
• ACM EC
• Coalition to Diversity
Computing (CDC)
• Computers and Public
Policy
• Constitution and Bylaws
• Nominating
• ACM EC (cont.)
• Elections
• Committee on
Professional Ethics
(COPE)
• ACM International
Collegiate Programming
Context (ICPC)
• History
• Investment
When is ACM Council Involved?
• Some SIG/SGB activities go to the ACM EC or
Council for approval
• some by-laws changes
• annual budgets (in aggregate)
• large actions (e.g., large conference budgets,
SIG dissolution)
• named awards
When Are Other Boards /
Committees Involved?
• Some activities relevant to SIGs are actually
done by, or are best coordinated with, others
• journals and magazines (Pubs Board)
• public policy (USACM)
• awards (Awards Committee)
• Many value SIG participation
SIG Governing Board (SGB)
• Who
• the leaders of each SIG
• supported by SIG Services (Donna Cappo)
• What
• collective governance
• setting policies
• SIG allocation
• distribution of DL revenue
• creation/review/oversight of SIGs
• How
• weighted voting
• 1 vote plus 1 per 1000 members
• Transitional SIGs not eligible to vote
SGB EC
•
Publications Advisor
• Joe Konstan
•
SIG Development Advisor
• Dave Pennock
•
New SIG Advisor
• Janice Sipior
•
SIG Viability Advisor
• Barbara Boucher Owens
•
SIG Conference Advisor
• Klara Nahrstedt
•
SIG Awards Advisor
• Erik Altman
Director of SIG Services
• Donna Cappo
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Past Chair
• Alex Wolf
•
VC for Operations
• Andrew Sears
Chair
• Vicki Hanson
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Members at large
Role of the SGB Chair and EC
• Administrative and oversight of SGB decisions
• Prepare agendas and (sometimes)
recommendations for SGB meeting
• Handle a wide range of “routine” requests
specifically delegated to Chair or EC
• replacement of officers for some SIGs
• by-laws change review
• Task forces
• Plus whatever else is needed
SGB Collective Governance
• Examples
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SIG allocation
DL revenue and its distribution
viability reviews
new SIGs
best practices
SIG Allocation
• One collective obligation of the SIGs is to pay for a
portion of ACM’s operating costs (cost of doing
business)
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Support for conferences
Financial support
Publications support
Volunteer activities
Information services
Administrative support (legal, elections etc)
• Total amount for FY 2012 is $2.835M
• Allocation formula is a sliding scale
• based on expenses per SIG
• $10K minimum per SIG
Digital Library Revenue Distribution
• SIG content is major component of the DL
• Conferences and newsletters
• Revenue-sharing arrangement where SGB
receives a percentage of DL revenue
• budgeted estimate for FY 2012 is $2.66M
• Collective decision to divide this based on
downloads, but with a $10K minimum per SIG
Viability Reviews
• Each SIG faces regular program reviews
• SIG prepares a 5-slide summary of activity and vision /
goals
• SGB EC performs an initial review and makes a
recommendation
• SGB which makes final decision
• Opportunity for collective advice and guidance
• recent examples
• concerns about volunteer development
• concerns about member benefits
• working with related organizations
Best Practices
• At each SGB meeting there is time set aside for
sharing successful practices
• Many SIG leaders find this to be the most valuable
part of the meeting!
• Examples
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Volunteer development
Governing structure
Attendance at Business Meetings
Experiences with holding conferences outside US
Openness in nominations and finances
Other Responsibilities to Take Seriously
• Annual reporting
• Setting membership benefits and dues
• Volunteer and leadership development
• Community building
• Sustainable excellence