Communications Society (ComSoc)

During its 26 May 2016 meeting, the IEEE Communications Society’s Board of Governors carefully reviewed and considered the proposed  IEEE Constitutional Amendment change that will be on the IEEE members’ ballots with the start of the IEEE Election on August 15th. As a result, the Communications Board of Governors unanimously passed this motion:

“The BoG of the IEEE Communications Society opposes the proposed constitutional amendment and modified board structure.”

The reasons behind the position include the following:

The problem statement that the proposed amendment is attempting to solve is not well-defined and the proposed solution adds complexity
The existing IEEE Constitution offers alternative, less complex ways of accomplishing the intended improvements;
The risk associated with a major constitutional change is not clearly outweighed by its possible benefits.
There are serious risks that the Bylaws changes induced by the Constitutional Amendments will reduce the visibility and control of IEEE societies and geographical regions on key strategic decisions made by the IEEE Board of Directors for the future of the IEEE.
There is a risk that the proposed changes, like the Constitutional Amendment, will shift too much power from IEEE members to IEEE Corporate Staff.

The IEEE Communications Society BoG wants Society members to be fully informed voters, so this motion was also unanimously passed:
“It was moved for the Society to create and communicate a balanced view of the pros and cons of the constitutional amendment to the membership of the Society and to inform members of the Society on the BoG position about the Constitutional Amendment.”

We urge you to read about the proposed changes, make up your own mind about them, and dutifully exercise your right to vote to influence IEEE’s future.

For background, the IEEE governing documents, including the Constitution and Bylaws, can be found here:
http://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/index.html

The proposed changes to the Constitution can be found here:
https://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/election/2016_constitutional_amendment.html

Similarly, you can learn more about the IEEEin2030 effort to evolve the IEEE organizational structure here:
https://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/ieeein2030_archive_m.html

And those opposing this amendment have set up a web site with information as to why they are opposed and which can be found here:
Opposing the 2016 IEEE Constitutional Amendment

However you decide to vote, please vote.   Recent IEEE votes have only had around 17% of the voting members participating.  Your vote, whether yes or no, does count.

• Opposition Statements
• Societies