Minutes of the July 22, 1999 SGB EC Conference Call

1) Review status of current action items - VC Chenais led discussion.

1) Action: Jean Loup Baer, SGB Secretary to revise the Operating Rules Policy to include a policy for disseminating seed money. This was reassigned to Rick Furuta:

2) Action: Baglio and DeLorenzo will prepare a report on the allocation assessment for grants over the past 2 years.

3) Action: The SGB EC Secretary will work with Baglio and prepare a complete set of milestones for the SGB Nominating Committee.

4) Action: SGB encourages SGB EC Operations Chair to place the sharing of SIG programs on the agenda at each of the meetings.

5) Action: Ellis will request feedback from the SGB on the current SDF and a possible SGB EC discretionary fund. She will suggest that they include a Special Project line in their FY'00 budgets as a source of funding for collective SGB/SGB EC projects.

6) Action: Ellis will work with the SGB on possible funding options for IFIP TC travel expenses.

7) Action: Cassel will work with SIGCAPH with regard to volunteer development. In addition, she will facilitate communication with ACM's Committee on Disability Issues in the hope of strengthening their ties.

8) Action: Baer will lead a committee consisting of Whitton, Baglio, Ryan and 2 SGB representatives (large and small SIG) to update the operating rules for the SIGs.

9) Action: Ellis will request 2 SIG representatives (large and small SIG) to participate in the operating rules rewrite committee.

10) Action: Baglio and staff will develop a list of the top 5 ACM HQ service issues, based on their most recent SIG experiences. She will present them to the SGB EC for further discussion.

11) Action: Cohoon will review the distribution of funds with regard to the conference proceedings.

12) Action: Cohoon will work with SGB to come up with top 5 publication/SIG issues. The issues will then be further reviewed and prioritized by the SGB for action.

13) Action: Cohoon will provide URL to the fact sheet on electronic publishing.

14) Action: Baglio will make a HQ service fact sheet available on the web.

15) Action: Baer will review the operating rules, make recommended changes and forward to the SGB EC for review.

16) Action: Furuta to put together a task force on the future and mission of the TSC. He will request participation from SIGCHI and SIGGRAPH.

17) Action: Baglio to place SIGIR program review on agenda of next SGB meeting.

18) Action: Cunningham to continue work on "Future of SDF" committee. Working with 2-3 SIG representatives he will put together a formal proposal to be presented at the next SGB meeting.

19) Action: SGB Leadership should forward candidates to Ellis for the Reviewer Database Committee to follow-up on this issue.

20) Action: SGB to send candidates to Baer for elections committee.

21) Action: Ellis to name Reviewer Database Committee based on suggestions from the SGB leaders.

22) Action: SGB leadership to look at bibliography resources that is already available and collect these and forward to Mandelbaum for archiving. (Baglio to establish an e-mail address)

23) Action: Alternate SIG Model committee to put together formal guidelines and proposal with regard to Societies and discuss electronically with the SGB for presentation to Council in May. this is to be presented during next SGB meeting. Broken into two committees, Soffa heading societies and L. Johnson heading Model committee

24) Action: Alternate SIG Model committee to continue discussions and prepare recommendations for next meeting of SGB.

25) Action: Baer to Chair committee on elections with regard to # of candidates for each position, term limits and electronic balloting.

26) Action: Notkin to investigate process of program review system.

27) Action: Notkin will work with Baglio on dates for the next set of conference calls.

28) Action: Baglio will find a location for the October SGB/SGB EC/Orientation meetings in NY for the weekend of October 1 - 3 or October 8 - 10. She will report to Notkin.

29) Action: Baglio to place program review discussion on July conference call agenda.

30) Action: Baglio to distribute call for agenda items for the October meeting.

31) Action: Baglio will review SIGAPL newsletter status with Associate Director Goetz and report back to SGB EC.

32) Action: Baglio will include $1,500 in travel funds in future SGB EC budgets for each TC Rep. This will cover travel of those individuals not covered by a SIG.

33) Action: Baglio will send Soffa the Zweben report.

2) Election Update - SIGDOC and SIGAPP -

VC Baer led discussion. The SIGDOC and SIGAPP election results were not publicized due to the small number of votes each received. Ellis contacted Kathy Haramundanis, Chair of SIGDOC (past and newly elected) and discussed the energy and commitment for the SIG. Ellis suggested that the leadership come up with some type of remedy and report on it during the February 2000 SGB meeting. There seemed to be a problem focusing on qualitative rather than quantitative issues.

Ellis discussed the SIGAPP election with the Chair and other members on the slate. The Chair believes there might have been a problem with the election mailing as he did not receive a ballot. She had no complaints from others on the slate. Only 5 votes were cast even though 8 individuals ran for office, meaning that not even potential officers voted. None complained of not receiving a ballot during the election.

Baer suggested validating the DOC election and advising them that during their Spring review they need to outline this issue and how they intend to remedy for the future. The SGB EC agreed that this was the option to take.

The SGB EC discussed options for the future of SIGAPP. They could:

hold another election
place the group in transition and request a program plan from leaders
accept results and schedule a program review for October
require representatives to present a review in October
hold another election and include a survey on the future of SIGAPP with the new ballot
reassign as a conference SIG.

The group reviewed SIGAPP's performance over the years and realized that they have had troubles with viability in the past. Several were frustrated that no action was taken based on the problems of the past including volunteer development, leadership responsiveness, newsletter timelines and general activity level.

Motion: Move to place SIGAPP in transitional status and request that the SIGAPP leadership (conference, EIC and SIG) come up with a new plan for the future of SIGAPP.
Chesnais, Baer
unanimous

Action: Ellis will inform SIGDOC of their election results and let them know that they should be prepared to discuss this issue and a remedy during their next program review.

Action: Notkin will contact the SIGAPP leadership and let them know that the SIG will be placed in transitional status and that officers will be named based upon the plan developed by the leadership to improve the status of the SIG. This is to include volunteer development, leadership responsiveness and general activity level.

Action: Notkin is to inform the SGB of the SGB EC decision to place SIGAPP in transition. He will also explain that the election result triggered this decision.

3) Award Procedure -

Secretary Furuta sent out 2 messages detailing the awards procedure. He recommended and the group accepted the following: After an award meets appropriate standards (e.g., completeness, sustainability, being in line with ACM policy, being in scope for the SIG, etc.), the VC for Emerging Technologies passes the proposal by the SGB as a whole in case any unexpected conflicts or concerns are raised by it.

Furtua sent the recent SIGART proposal through this mechanism and received two comments which he will address directly with the SIG Chairs that made them. He'll then pass the award to Mark Scott Johnson to bring to the awards Committee for final endorsement.

4) SIGNUM Dissolution -

Conference Advisor Cassel requested that this item be discussed during the August agenda.

Goetz informed the SGB EC that SIGAPL was back on track. There were some concerns raised about the '97 proceedings issue with regard to copyright. Eight selected papers were put together as an issue of APL Quote Quad. As an incomplete proceedings and a newsletter, the copyright is being retained by the authors. As a result these papers will not be placed in Digital Library. Cohoon is concerned about this. The leadership of SIGAPL is doing all they can to keep their schedule on track.

7) Update on Society Committee

This item was not discussed, it will be added to the August agenda.

8) Publications Update - Publications Advisor Cohoon will report on the activities in this area

Cohoon reported that the Publications Board isn't as active during the summer months. They are seeking new members for the Board and encourage 2 from the SIGs. The Publications Board Chair is very supportive of this.

9) Updating Program Review Procedures This item was not discussed, it will be added to the August agenda.

Action: Chenais will ask Notkin to begin an e-mail discussion with the SGB with regard to program review procedures.

10) SGB EC Member Reports - All EC members may provide a report if they wish to. It would be helpful if the following people could provide information: Baer - Election Task Force, Furuta - SIG Model Task Force and Technical Standards Committee and Awards Procedure

All EC Member items were covered in the agenda. No additional reports were made.

Action: Ellis will distribute new SGB EC assignments to the SGB.

Participants:

Jean-Loup Baer
Donna Baglio
Boots Cassel
Alain Chesnais
Jim Cohoon
Carla Ellis
Rick Furuta
Mark Scott Johnson
Doris Lidtke
Mary Whitton

Absent

David Notkin
Mary Lou Soffa