Note that the following are legacy procedures for the SJTAG Initiative Group.
For the System Test Access Management study group, guideline procedures are drawn from the P1838 WG P&P.
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1 General
2 Membership
2.1 Gaining Membership
2.2 Voting Privileges
2.3 Eligibility for Voting
2.4 Proxy Attendance
2.5 Excused Absence
2.6 Core Members
2.7 Officers
2.7.1 Offices of the Group
2.7.2 Election of Officers
2.7.3 Reaffirmation of Officers
2.7.4 Addressing Concerns About Performance of Officers
3 Communication
3.1 Website
3.2 E-mail
3.2.1 Working Group E-mail
3.2.2 Interest Group E-mail
3.3 Minutes
3.4 Content
4 Meetings
4.1 Conference Calls
4.2 Face to Face Meetings
4.2.1 Public or "Fringe" Meetings
4.2.2 On-site Working Group Meetings
4.2.3 Special Working Sessions
4.3 Structure
4.4 Quorum
4.5 Conduct
4.6 Order of Ascension
5 Voting
5.1 Informal Voting
5.2 Formal Voting
6 Amendments
These procedures are available to download in PDF format: Procedures.pdf
1 General
Unless otherwise specified herein, SJTAG Working Group will be run in accordance with Test Technology Standards Committee Policies and Procedures (http://standards.ieee.org/board/aud/C-TT.pdf).
In the event of conflict, this document will prevail unless disallowed by the IEEE.
2 Membership
Membership of the Working Group is open to all, but voting rights must be gained and maintained.
2.1 Gaining Membership
Gaining membership begins with a direct request to the chair or by submitting a request using the contact form on the SJTAG website (http://www.sjtag.org/contact.html). The chair may request that the new member completes a questionnaire in order to determine any existing knowledge of SJTAG and how that may be best utilised within the Working Group.
The new member will then be added to the e-mail reflector and invited to join subsequent meetings.
Members will be responsible for creating their own logins and profiles for the forum and wiki sections of the SJTAG website (section 3.1).
2.2 Voting Privileges
All members are entitled to participate in voting of the Working Group, provided:
- That the member has met the rostering criteria set out in Eligibility for Voting (section 2.3) and
- That where more than two members represent the same company or organisation that no more than two votes are cast amongst them, and in this event the affected participants shall advise the chair which of their members shall carry the voting privileges.
2.3 Eligibility for Voting
Eligibility to participate in voting shall be determined by meeting attendance. Attendance at three consecutive meetings is required for a member to be added to the roster. Subsequently, the member shall retain voting rights provided that they do not miss more than two consecutive meetings. Voting rights shall be revoked if three consecutive meetings are missed and the member will need to meet the eligibility requirement again before being re-rostered. This may be set-aside by request of excused absence as described in Excused Absence (section 2.5).
Eligibility will be determined at the conclusion of the meeting: Attendance for 50% or more of the meeting duration or contribution by e-mail proxy (section 2.4) shall be counted as attendance for the purposes of rostering.
2.4 Proxy Attendance
Where non-participation in a meeting is known ahead of time, the member may request that they participate by e-mail proxy. The chair will provide the proxy with an advance draft of the meeting minutes which the proxy must review and e-mail back their comments to the chair prior to the following meeting so their comments can be incorporated into the formal minute. If the proxy feedback is not received by the chair prior to the following meeting proxy attendance will be revoked. Participation by e-mail proxy is considered as an attendance for the purpose of Eligibility for Voting (section 2.3), with the exception of approval of meeting minutes.
Proxy attendance will only be considered:
- Where attendance is unreasonable due to differences in time zones, or
- The participant is pivotal to the subject of the meeting and is unable to attend due to business or other commitments, or
- Where other extenuating circumstances exist (as may be determined by the officers of the Working Group).
2.5 Excused Absence
For personal or business reasons, from time to time, a member may have to miss meetings. With a request to the Working Group, any member may request, in advance, a specified number of absences from consecutive meetings. If such requests are made in advance, they are assumed to be granted. However, they are requests and, at the motion of a member, they may be put to a vote and thereby potentially denied. If sufficient time permits, this vote must be taken before the first meeting to be missed, otherwise it must be taken during the first meeting to be missed. In the case of denial, then eligibility for voting will be determined in accordance with Eligibility for Voting (section 2.3).
Excused absences shall neither count towards gaining voting rights nor towards the loss of voting rights.
2.6 Core Members
Core members are recognised for their consistent contribution to the activities of the Working Group. Core membership is determined at the end of each calendar quarter, and each member who has attended at least 25% of the meetings in the preceding quarter shall be accorded Core Member status. Proxy attendance (section 2.4) shall count towards core membership while excused absence (section 2.5) shall be considered non-attendance and shall not count towards core membership.
2.7 Officers
2.7.1 Offices of the Group
The Working Group shall have the offices of Chair, Vice-chair, Secretary and Editor and the positions are held in perpetuity, subject to annual reaffirmation (section 2.7.3). The roles of Secretary and Editor may be combined or undertaken by the Chair and Vice-chair.
2.7.2 Election of Officers
The election of one or more new officer(s) can be initiated upon the approval of a properly seconded motion. Simple majority of the voting-eligible membership (section 2.3) is sufficient to both approve the motion and for election to office.
Candidates for office must first signal their availability to serve, and be proposed and seconded by rostered members.
2.7.3 Reaffirmation of Officers
Incumbents shall each be reaffirmed in role on an annual basis by an informal vote (section 5.1). Nominally, reaffirmation will take place during January of each year, but may be advanced or delayed by one month to accommodate extenuating circumstances.
Should it be necessary to replace any officer following the reaffirmation vote, then the formal election process of section 2.7.2 shall be followed.
2.7.4 Addressing Concerns About Performance of Officers
If any member of the Working Group has concerns about the performance of any of the officers, an attempt shall be made to resolve such concerns or conflicts with the respective officer(s). If the Working Group member does not feel comfortable addressing the concerns directly with the respective officer or any other Working Group officers, the issue should be brought to the TTSG chair (http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/ttsg/). If the concerns cannot be resolved, a Vote of No Confidence can be initiated at any time upon the approval of a properly seconded motion.
3 Communication
3.1 Website
The SJTAG website (http://www.sjtag.org) is the official repository and location for announcements. All parties interested in SJTAG should be directed to the website. The website will have public and private areas. Anyone may have access to the public areas, including the discussion forums and wiki. Only Working Group members will have access to the private areas. The private area is reserved for:
- Material in preparation by the Working Group which is not considered fit for public circulation, or
- Material related to the management and administration of the Working Group and the website.
Email addresses posted on the website will be obfuscated to protect members from unwanted, automated emails (SPAM).
3.2 E-mail
3.2.1 Working Group E-mail
An e-mail list and/or e-mail reflector will be set up. This will be the standard conduit for e-mail communication to the membership. Inclusion on the e-mail list is obtained by a request to the chair or by obtaining membership of the Working Group (section 2.1).
3.2.2 Interest Group E-mail
An opt-in e-mail list shall be offered to non-members, in order that they may be advised of the activities of the Working Group. This e-mail list shall be used only for communications sanctioned by the officers of the Working Group.
3.3 Minutes
At every meeting, minutes will be taken. The minutes will record attendance, motions, votes, and will capture summarized discussion. At request, any personal reference in the minutes will be removed. Meeting minutes will be sent out by e-mail shortly after the meeting.
At the following meeting, the minutes shall be subject to review and approval. Approval requires the agreement of at least 50% of the rostered voting eligible participants in the meeting under consideration, the chair only voting in the event of a split decision. In the event that the following meeting does not have attendance to support this approval requirement, consideration of these minutes shall be deferred to a subsequent meeting or taken to an email vote in which only the rostered voting eligible participants to that meeting pertain.
Following approval, the minutes shall be made publicly available on the website at the earliest practical opportunity.
3.4 Content
Except as noted in the private exclusions stated in section 3.1 a) and b) all material related to SJTAG will be made available to the public on the SJTAG website, including, but not limited to:
- The SJTAG White Paper
- All publicly presented materials (for instance at the ITC and BTW open meetings)
- Membership information
- Mail-list subscription procedures
- Meeting announcements
- On-line discussion forums
- This Policy & Procedures document
- Other documents as the Working Group decides to release them from time to time
4 Meetings
The SJTAG Working Group will generally have two types of meetings, conference call and face-to-face.
4.1 Conference Calls
Conference calls are scheduled and posted on the website with appropriate contact information and agenda (section 4.3) provided by e-mail at least one day in advance of the call. Conference Call attendance will be limited to the number of slots made available by the company donating the call bridge.
4.2 Face to Face Meetings
4.2.1 Public or "Fringe" Meetings
The SJTAG Working Group hosts a meeting each year at ITC and additional meetings may be arranged as suitable host events are identified. These meetings are fixed with the release of the preliminary program of the event with specifics of time and place available on the SJTAG website approximately 1 month in advance. These are public meetings and not considered to be part of the normal business of the SJTAG Working Group and attendance shall not count towards voting eligibility (section 2.3) or core membership (section 2.6).
4.2.2 On-site Working Group Meetings
From time to time, the Working Group may convene one of the regular scheduled meetings as a face to face meeting, provided that suitable online or dial-in conferencing facilities can be provided for those members unable to travel. Such meetings are considered to be part of the normal business of the Working Group and all normal procedures relating to voting eligibility (section 2.3) or core membership (section 2.6) shall apply.
4.2.3 Special Working Sessions
On occasion, the Working Group may find it necessary to meet face to face for a special brainstorming session where the members can focus on issues at hand. These meetings last for longer periods than a general Working Group Meeting and do not require online or dial-in conferencing facilities. The purpose of these special meetings is to resolve specific issues in a short time period where the participants may interact in an efficient and timely fashion. Such meetings are not considered to be part of the normal business of the Working Group and normal procedures relating to voting eligibility (section 2.3) or core membership (section 2.6) are not applicable.
4.3 Structure
Meetings will generally follow the outline agenda:
- Roll Call
- Review of previous minutes
- Review of outstanding actions
- Discussion
- Date of next meeting
- Any other business
- Summary of new actions
4.4 Quorum
Quorum must be established in the meeting for the conduct of any business to which voting (section 5) may pertain. Quorum shall be considered to be established when at least 50% of rostered voting eligible members are present.
4.5 Conduct
Conduct will be handled informally until informality no longer works. When informality breaks down, conduct will be in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order in increasing strictness until order is re-established.
Any Working Group member may invoke this formality at any time.
4.6 Order of Ascension
In the case of absent officers, the order of ascension is: Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Editor. If all are absent, prior to the time of the meeting any officer may delegate their position to a voting member for that meeting.
5 Voting
5.1 Informal Voting
Voting may be conducted informally by a simple call for dissent, for routine matters such as approval of minutes, setting meeting dates, and the like. In general, at least 50% of the rostered voting eligible members should approve such matters, but note the special considerations for the approval of minutes (section 3.3).
5.2 Formal Voting
The order of events for the conduct of formal voting is:
- Meeting achieves consensus that formal voting is required.
- Proposer makes a motion describing the proposition.
- The chair announces voting using the e-mail reflector, declaring the schedule for conduct of voting and submission of proxy votes. Typically, votes will be counted at weekly meeting coinciding with the voting closure, with live votes made during the meeting being added to any proxy votes submitted by e-mail.
- The chair reviews the votes cast and declares the result.
6 Amendments
From time to time, this document may be found lacking in substance or clarity.
At those times, amendments may be proposed and incorporated following a successful formal voting (section 5.2).
Issue 3, June 2012
