Minutes of the October 3, 2004 SIG Governing Board Meeting

1.0 Welcome, Introductions, Voting Process (Bob Walker)

Konstan opened the meeting and welcomed the participants. Each of the attendees introduced themselves.

2.0 FCRC'07 (Dan Menasce)

Menasce, General Chair of FCRC'07 discussed the organization of FCRC'07. It will be held June 9-16, 2007 at the Town & Country Hotel in San Diego, California (same location as '03). This umbrella conference will be host to a number of co-located events including many repeat conferences from 2003: STOC, PLDI and ISCA. One of the issues with the hotel in '03 was their lack of wireless access. Menasce reported that the hotel will have wireless access available by the '07 conference. The conference organization will include centralized logistics such as publicity, food & beverage, audio visual, registration management and conference management. SIG leaders were encouraged to contact Menasce with ideas for workshops sponsored by their SIGs.

3.0 State of the ACM (John White)

3.1 Update

FY'04 proved to be an excellent year financially. This year, the SIGS were budgeted to lose $1.2 million; however, collectively they broke even due to the success of their conferences. Additionally, the SIGs received $928K from the ACM Digital Library revenue and are expected to receive even more in FY'05.

Overall ACM membership grew to 77K while the SIG membership dropped slightly. Future Initiatives include: increasing brand awareness and job migration - what does this mean for the IT industry worldwide? A task force will be appointed to determine what members find useful as well as to provide them with more accurate information.

3.2 Computer Science Teachers Association (White on behalf of Chris Stephenson)

In 1999 ACM formed the K-12 Task force which ultimately led to the CSTA. The motivation behind CSTA is comprised of 3 main points:

Crisis in the area of computer science at the high school level
Under-represented populations
NO national standards (Regulations in areas like math are strict with extensive requirements for such matters as teacher certifications. This is not the case in the area of computer science.

A Steering Committee has been formed as well as a 5 Year Plan including draft Bylaws. CSTA will continue with the K12 Curriculum project as well as JETT (Java Engagement Teacher Training). Furthermore they are continuing to work with other organizations (ie NCWIT - National Center for Women in Technology).

CSTA is coordinating financial support from corporations for a number of specific projects, however additional funding is required. ACM is making it the highest priority over the next 12 months. SIG Support is needed as well. To ensure that this is a success, it is estimated that $250K is needed annually for the next 5 years. ACM is willing to underwrite � of this amount and inquiring if the SIGs are able to contribute $100K annually (perhaps from the DL revenue).

In addition to the financial support needed, the CSTA will also benefit from promotional support. CSTA will affect the future of the IT industry.

There was some concern voiced by the SIGCSE and SIGITE leadership regarding overlap in mission with CSTA as well as communication between groups. The SGB did not feel comfortable making a funding decision during the meeting. The SGB Chair was asked to appoint a task force to make a recommendation on CSTA to include opinions from the leaders of SIGCSE and SIGITE. The task force is expected to make a concrete proposal regarding funding by late November.

Action: R. Walker to appoint a task force to put together a recommendation on CSTA to include opinions from the leaders of SIGITE and SIGCSE and make a concrete proposal to the SGB regarding funding by late November.

History Committee (Mark Scott Johnson)
Mark Scott is leaving his position on the committee and is requesting a replacement. The History Committee focuses on the history of the organization of the ACM. Anyone interested was asked to contact him.

4.0 Membership Services Board Reports (Joe Konstan)

The MSB is focused on guiding and advising ACM's Membership Services activities, including such areas as membership benefits, membership satisfaction, chapters (and the programs that serve them) and recruitment/retention. The MSB has active SIG leaders among its members.

The board is currently working on the "myacm.org" portal, the Chapters Advisory Group, the Distinguished Lectureship Program and the Professional Development Center. All of these activities relate to the SIGs. They are seeking nominations of field leaders who would be willing to serve on the DLP advisory group.

The MSB is eager to experiment with putting captured lectures and other conference events into the PDC and DL. They are particularly interested in capturing invited talks, short tutorials, and other broadly appealing content. The goal is to provide high-quality multimedia content that members can explore to further their professional development. The MSB will form a PD Committee with representation from the SGB and from the MSG to oversee the pilot test and fully develop the operational and budget models for the program.

Action: R. Walker to appoint SGB representative to PD Committee to oversee the pilot test and fully develop the operations and budget models for the PDC program.

The above summary was taken from Konstan's presentation and written report.

5.0 SGB Recommendations (Janice Sipior)

5.1 SIGACCESS

Sipior provided the SGB with a brief report on the recent activities of SIGACCESS and indicated that there was still concern about their financial situation. Hanson and the new team of leaders were praised for getting the SIG back on track with their programs and newsletter.

Motion: The SGB thanks the SIGACCESS EC for their efforts in moving the SIG toward viability. The SGB remains concerned about their budget and suggests that the SIG leaders make the newsletter available electronically rather than print. SIGACCESS will remain in transition and provide the SGB with an update before the SGB meeting in March'05.
Motion made by SGB EC and passed with 1 abstention.

Action: Hanson to provide a written update to SGB EC on status of SIGACCESS by February 25, 2005.

5.2 SIGBED

Sipior provided the SGB with a brief report on the activities of SIGBED. Based on their level of activity and ability to meet their member obligations she suggested that the SIG be moved out of transition and into permanent status.

Motion: The SGB congratulates the SIGBED EC for their efforts this past year and moves the SIG out of transition and into permanent status. SIGBED will be required to hold an election in Spring'05. SIGBED will be scheduled for their first viability review in Sept'06.
Motion made by SGB EC and passed unanimously by the SGB

Action: Baglio to inform appropriate HQ staff that SIGBED will have an election in '05.

Action: Sztipanovits to provide SIGBED Nominating Committee Chair contact information to Monique Chang at ACM HQ.

5.3 SIGGROUP (Bob Walker)

While the SIG has a good, healthy conference the SIG has been unsuccessful in volunteer development and unable to meet their membership obligations (newsletter). Mark Pendergast is the appointed VC and has done a wonderful job trying to get the SIG back on track but it's been a one man show for a long time. It's impossible for a SIG to continue like that and Mark agrees. Dechartering is the right thing to do at this point. Pendergast asked the SGB to continue the annual conference, a true value to the community. The SGB agreed that the conference would continue under the auspices of the SGB until one of the SIGs was tapped to sponsor it.

Motion: The SGB thanks Mark Pendergast and the SIGGROUP leadership for their efforts to revitalize SIGGROUP, and the Group conference leaders for organizing a successful conference, but feels that SIGGROUP is no longer a viable SIG. Accordingly, the SGB decharters the SIG, and directs the SGB EC to work out the details of informing the SIGGROUP membership, giving them membership alternatives, fulfilling any remaining membership commitments, distributing the SIG's assets, and helping SIGGROUP's conferences find a home in other SIGs (e.g., SIGCHI and SIGWEB). R. Walker, Chesnais
Passed (26,0,2)

Action: Baglio to inform appropriate HQ staff that SIGGROUP is to be dechartered.

Action: Baglio to work with the SGB EC to work out the details of dechartering to include informing the SIGGROUP membership, giving them membership alternatives, fulfilling any remaining membership commitments, distributing the SIG's assets, and helping SIGGROUP's conferences find a home in other SIGs.

5.4 SIGITE

Sipior provided the SGB with a brief report on the activities of SIGITE. Based on their level of activity and ability to meet their member obligations she suggested that the SIG be moved out of transition and into permanent status.Motion: The SGB thanks the SIGITE EC for their efforts this past year and moves the SIG out of transition and into permanent status. SIGITE will be required to hold an election in Spring'05. SIGITE will be scheduled for their first viability review in Sept'06.
Motion made by SGB EC and passed unanimously

Action: Baglio to inform appropriate HQ staff that SIGITE will have an election in '05.

Action: Baglio to schedule SIGITE viability report for September'06.

Action: Lawson to provide SIGITE Nominating Committee Chair contact information to Monique Chang at ACM HQ.

6.0 SIGS & ACM Fellows (Bob Walker)

The ACM Fellows program was established in 1993. The goal behind this program was to honor those individuals with exceptional and outstanding achievements in the area of computer science. The nomination process includes a number of guidelines and requirements. Walker indicated that it was the duty of the SIGs to endorse members of their own communities. He suggested that in addition to receiving the award at the annual ACM Awards Banquet, ACM might want to imitate the IEEE model, whereby the winners can choose a conference where he/she can be acknowledged as receiving the award.

Action: R. Walker to discuss recognition of Fellows that have SIG backgrounds with K. Gotlieb and J. Horning.

7.0 FY'04 Program Highlights

7.1 SIGCHI - Membership & Communications (Joe Konstan)

Konstan discussed some of the highlights of the SIGCHI community. The SIG is currently working on a Volunteer Development and Recognition program. One of the main objectives of the program is to improve the 'volunteer experience'. Highlighting the volunteers' efforts and promoting the various roles will hopefully provide the right incentive for future organizers/leaders. Additionally the SIG is working to redevelop online communications. By streamlining the various websites and mailing lists SIGCHI will be able to provide a more user-friendly electronic atmosphere for its members.

7.2 SIGGRAPH - arts.siggraph and SPACE (Alain Chesnais)

The Student Poster Animation Competition and Exhibition (SPACE) provided high quality submissions at this year's annual SIGGRAPH conference. The leaders are considering using ACM's International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) as a model to broaden the SPACE program. Furthermore by building onto the SIGGRAPH chapter program, it would provide for a nice event as well as attract people outside of the normal attendance. Finally this program structure allows for the development of regional and/or national level competition should this program increase in size and awareness.

The SIGGRAPH Art website is oriented towards the computer science community. A website was launched specifically for the 'creative' personality. It offers information and resources to the art community and allows for collaboration amongst groups/individuals interested and skilled in the same areas. There is a project with a Japanese art school to create a derivative of the SIGGRAPH logo (similar to how the Google logo continuously changes).

8.0 Conferences (David Patterson)

Patterson discussed the issues related to paper submissions for ACM conferences. Statistics show that more and more papers are being submitted yet acceptance rates are decreasing. This is resulting in a more 'conservative' outlook. He suggested that conferences try a 3 or 4 year experiment whereby the conference is able to attract more radical papers (Big Idea vs. New Direction). The program committee could be separated to judge each paper accordingly. For those who believe they will lose slots for good papers, perhaps a panel session or keynote speaker can be omitted to open up the space for a session where these additional papers can be presented.

Patterson proposed that a diverse AdHoc committee be created to discuss and report the various problems and possible recourses including new ideas as they relate to the paper submissions. The discussion will include best and worst practices. What has worked and what has not worked for various conferences.

Action: R. Walker to solicit names for and appoint task force to examine and produce a report for the spring 2005 SGB meeting on the large scale of conference submissions and recommendations on how to address the issues.

9.0 Viability Reviews

9.1 SIGMOBILE (Victor Bahl)

Bahl reported that SIGMOBILE has been in existence since 1997. The SIG has seen an increase in its publications, sponsored conferences, workshops, awards, community involvement and more.

The SGB is concerned that SIGMOBILE is not meeting its fund balance requirement, their leadership continues to be absence from SGB meetings and they do not submit their required annual reports. All SIGs have an obligation to participate in the governance of the organization as a whole and to provide an annual report on their activities. The SGB was unaware of SIGMOBILE's programs, their successes and their failures until this report was presented. It's unacceptable for the leadership not to participate in the governance of the organization. Every SIG has a voice as a member of the SGB and it is a disservice to the members of SIGMOBILE when the leadership doesn't take advantage of their ability to participate at that level. SIGMOBILE will continue their permanent status for the next year and will be required to have a viability review in September'05.

Motion: The SGB is very concerned about SIGMOBILE's financial situation, absence from SGB meetings and lack of annual report submissions. SIGMOBILE will continue its permanent status for the next year and will be required to have a viability review in September'05.
Motion made by SGB EC
Passed (27,0, 1)

Action: Baglio to schedule SIGMOBILE viability report for September'05.

9.2 SIGART (Maria Gini)

Gini reported that the SIG is currently maintaining a healthy financial status even after providing support to various community development initiatives. While many ART conferences are financially stable, the SIG membership is decreasing slightly. Leaders believe the lacking newsletter could be cause for the decreased membership.

Motion: The SGB finds SIGART viable and will continue its status for the next 4 years. Motion made by SGB EC and passed unanimously by the SGB

9.3 SIGECOM (Michael Wellman)

Wellman reported that SIGECOM has a current membership of 549 people. The annual conference was previously co-located with OOPSLA and most recently with the World Wide Web conference. The SIG leaders attribute the negative fund balance to poor financial results of the 2000 and 2001 conferences (the startup conference '00 and immediately following 9/11 in '01). The '03 and '04 conference ended with small surpluses and the SIG expects this to continue.

Motion: The SGB is very concerned about SIGecom's financial situation. SIGecom will continue its permanent status for the next 2 years and will be required to have a viability review in September'06. The SGB requests an update be given to the SGB EC at the Sept'05 meeting following the Ecom'05 conference.
Motion made by SGB EC
Passed (22,1,0)

Action: Frawley to work with the SIGecom leadership to provide an update to the SGB EC at the Sept'05 meeting following the Ecom'05 conference.

Action: Baglio to schedule SIGecom viability report for September'06.

9.4 SIGKDD (Gregory Piatetsky-Shapiro)

SIGKDD has a healthy fund balance with a number of SIG related benefits (ie annual conference, Exploration magazine, DVD sets etc�) Additionally; the leaders pride themselves on not increasing the conference registration fees since 1999. The SIG is planning 3 new programs for the future to encompass Curriculum, Standards and Chapters.

The SGB voiced concern about the SIG leadership not participating in SGB meetings. They have an obligation to their membership to be involved in setting policy and providing input to the higher levels of ACM governance.

Motion: The SGB is very concerned that SIGKDD has not participated in SGB meetings. SIGKDD will continue its permanent status for the next 4 years but is expected to attend SGB meetings. A program review will be scheduled earlier if attendance remains an issue. Motion made by SGB EC and passed unanimously by the SGB

9.5 SIGMOD (Marianne Winslett)

While SIGMOD has produced a financial surplus this past fiscal year, it recognizes that strict attention must be given to the maintenance of the surplus. The leaders have indicated a number of challenges due to the increased fund balance requirements. Membership benefits include a (successful) newsletter, Annual Compilation of conference proceedings etc� The SIG/conference organizers are communicating new ideas and initiatives as they directly relate to the extreme increase in paper submissions.

Motion: The SGB finds SIGMOD viable and will continue its status for the next 4 years. Motion made by SGB EC and passed unanimously by the SGB

10.0 FY'04 Program Highlights

10.1 SIGMIS - Model Curriculum for Education in IS (Janice Sipior)

Due to the increasingly new developments and changes within the area of computer science a joint task force was developed. This task force which includes representatives of various organizations and universities developed guidelines to maintain degree programs in Information Systems. The combined makeup of the task force allows viewpoints and requirements to be heard on both the industry and academic sides, thus providing optimal support to both industries.

10.2 SIGITE - Accreditation & Curriculum Comm. (Eydie Lawson)

Accreditation is used to assure quality in education institutions and programs. The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) is a professional accrediting organization that accredits programs. Currently, the Accreditation committee is SIGITE's main focus. This committee is working to develop accreditation for undergraduate information technology programs. The General Computing Criteria was approved for the 1st reading in the Fall.

The model curriculum will provide graduates with skills and the education necessary to advance in the IT field following graduation.

10.3 SIGCSE - Committee Initiative (Henry Walker)

The program encourages all SIG members to participate in various discussions about a number of different issues within the SIGCSE community. Specific topics are decided upon by the membership via a specially appointed list serv. Stemming from the various conversations and discussions and approved by the SIGCSE Board, committees are formed. Currently there are 2 committees within the SIG:

Committee on the Implementation of a Discrete Mathematics Course
Committee on Expanding the Women in Computing Community

10.4 SIGSOFT - Impact Project (Alex Wolf)

The Impact Project is an ongoing initiative whose goal is to determine the impact of software engineering research upon software engineering practice. The project organizes volunteers who are among the world's most eminent software engineering researchers and practitioners to develop solidly researched documentation that will aid future research, education, and technology transition.

The project is a special initiative of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group in Software Engineering (SIGSOFT). It is funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.K. Institute of Electrical Engineers.
The project has two organizational thrusts:

to seek, on a technology-by-technology basis, the sources of the ideas, designs, and working prototypes of widely used software technologies and
to examine the ways in which software engineering research directions and areas have been synergized into commonly used technologies.

The project's output will be a series of documents and briefings targeted to different audiences. One audience is software engineering researchers and practitioners, for whom the project should shed light on the effectiveness of past efforts to improve software utility and quality, and suggest how to improve future effectiveness. A second audience is the other disciplines of computer science and engineering, (such as programming languages, operating systems, databases, and theory), for whom the project should provide insights into the sources of current technology and approaches for making research more effective in influencing practice. A third audience is decision makers in both government and industry who set research investment priorities. The documents and briefings should help them render more informed and publicly defensible judgments by providing them with greater insight into the challenges, failures, and successes of technology transfer. Finally, project output will aid teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels, providing a solid historical basis upon which to develop exciting new course materials. This information was taken from SIGSOFT website.

Participants:

Donna Baglio, ACM Director of SIG Services
Victor Bahl, SIGMOBILE Chair
Alan Berenbaum, Past SGB Chair
Hans Boehm, SGB EC
Robert Brown, SIGAPL Chair
Barrett Bryant, SIGAPP Chair
Michael Burke, SIGPLAN Chair
Jamie Callan, SIGIR Chair
Alain Chesnais, SIGGRAPH Chair
Jim Cohoon, SGB EC
Erin Dolan, ACM SIG Services
Kemal Ebcioglu, SIGMICRO
Matthew Farrens, SIGARCH Secretary/Treasurer
Hal Gabow, SIGACT Chair
Maria Gini, SIGART Chair
Vicki Hanson, SIGACCESS Chair
David Hicks, SIGWEB Vice Chair
Ramesh Jain, SIGMULTIMEDIA Chair
Tom Jewett, SIGCAS Chair
Mark Scott Johnson, SGB EC
Joe Konstan, SGB EC and SIGCHI Chair
Eydie Lawson, SIGITE Chair
John McCormick, SIGADA Treasurer
Peter Nuernberg, SIGWEB Chair
Rob Paterson, SIGUCCS Chair
David Patterson, ACM President
Mark Pendergast, SIGGROUP Information Director
Gregory Piatetsky-Shapiro, SIGKDD EC
Darren Ramdin, Associate Director, ACM Finance Department
Jen Rexford, SIGCOMM Chair
Pat Ryan, ACM Chief Operating Officer
Janice Sipior, SIGMIS Chair
Scott Tilley, SIGDOC Chair
Emil Volcheck, SIGSAM Chair
Henry Walker, SIGCSE Chair
Robert Walker, SIGDA Chair
Michael Wellman, SIGecom Chair
John White, ACM Chief Executive Officer
Marianne Winslett, SIGMOD Vice Chair
Alex Wolf, SIGSOFT Chair