You will soon receive a booklet from IEEE containing information relating to the 2001 Annual Election. In this booklet you will see candidate biographies, statements and rebuttals relating to the election, among others, of the Division IV Delegate-Elect/Director-Elect, 2002. The successful candidate will also serve as Division Delegate/Director for 2003-2004. These statements and rebuttals are severely restricted in length and this society has graciously allowed the three candidates to present expanded statements in these pages.

Members of Division IV clearly recognize the benefits of belonging to its member Societies in terms of the exchange of technical and employment information, keeping up with trends in the profession, and access to the journal archives. In addition, IEEE provides additional value in the form of publication and conference services, the regional organization, and its Financial Advantage program. In the area of publications, for example, members now have access to information services such as the IEEE, region, and section websites, IEEE Xplore, and the like. IEEE finds that most of its members are generally “satisfied” with their membership (The INSTITUTE, May, 2001). But what about those who are qualified but choose not to join or drop out?

The IEEE is currently experiencing significant financial difficulties. The leadership of IEEE has provided excellent and needed services to its members. However, it has not faced up to the costs, either by fiscal restraint or by increasing its income. The problems relate to ambitious and valuable initiatives in services to members, in publication - to the transition from paper to electronic distribution of technical information – and to aggressive budgeting. The result has been the complete drawing down of the IEEE Corporate reserves and a significant drain on those of the Societies, which is expected to continue. It is essential that the IEEE bring its finances into balance. This may require the elimination of some services, streamlining of the remaining operations, and increasing the income from activities seen to be essential.

It has been proposed that some services be unbundled, so that members may opt in or out of them. This may make the IEEE more affordable for some members and may lead to the elimination of some programs not seen to be of value. Whether this can be a major contributor to the solution of our fiscal problems is quite uncertain. There is also a philosophical question relating to the responsibility of members to support the range of IEEE activities.

It is of utmost importance for the IEEE Directors to carefully consider these questions. In addition, the Institute must improve its operating model to take account of current membership trends:

• As indicated in the May issue of The INSTITUTE, U.S. membership is falling and non-U.S. membership is growing and is poised to exceed U.S. membership by the end of the decade.
• Electronic distribution of technical information is changing the relationship between the IEEE and the practicing engineer who now may have access via his employer’s site license.

Stanley Charap, Professor Emeritus, Electrical and Computer Engineering, can be reached at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Carnegie Melon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213; Phone: +1 412 268-3563; Fax: +1 412 268-3497; E-mail: charap@ece.cmu.edu.

Harold L. Flescher

Position Statement

Harold L. Flescher Candidate for Division IV Director-Elect

I have served the IEEE for nearly thirty years at many levels in most IEEE organizations. A few leadership examples: Vice Chair of IEEE-USA policy committee, Conference General Chair, RADECS Steering Committee (international conference), Society President, several Technical Activities Board (TAB) chairmanships, current TAB Treasurer. I’m well attuned to the issues and the challenges facing our Societies, Division IV and IEEE in the fields of publishing, membership, globalization and finances. My work shows that I am a firm believer in leading by example in trying to affect change.

Our societal publications are first-rate by any standards; highly respected and widely referenced. They are so good that they have brought direct challenges from for-profit publishers like Elsevier. We’re facing business model changes due to electronic publishing and the rapid movement toward electronic media in preference to paper, which are changing our revenue mix. We must find new ways to maintain and increase our revenues through this technological changeover, and to take advantage of the new electronic opportunities.

Our societies offer great value to our members and to the general scientific community. That IEEE’s organizational structure has created strong societies has been extraordinarily beneficial. Our volunteers run important conferences/meetings that continually gain strength, as do our publications. The strength and independence of our societies must be maintained for our collective future success.

It is critically important that we improve our relationships with our sister entities like RAB. We are all quite insular in looking at IEEE; i.e. we look at what we are involved with. For me this has been societal, yet around 40% of IEEE members have not chosen to join societies. Their value is with other areas of IEEE. All of us have a vested interest in the continued success of the whole. We literally can’t survive without each other, and everyone must remember this.

As the current TAB Treasurer, I’ve had the opportunity to study IEEE finances first hand and, quite frankly, I’m concerned, or more accurately increasingly concerned.

IEEE is extremely successful. We are the largest scientific society in the world with over 350,000 members and annual revenues of $199M. We are a big business, however across the Institute we don’t do a good enough job of maximizing our revenues, husbanding our reserves, or prioritizing our expenses. Our technical societies do a far better job of this than the other parts of the Institute, but we have done so wearing relatively narrow blinders; maximizing our service and profitability as societies without fully considering the bigger whole.

The most damaging problem we have collectively faced recently is that IEEE doesn’t even run a balanced budget because of decisions made by our past Boards of Directors; we have had several years of deficit budgets. Because our finances have been heavily reliant on investment income from reserves to show positive numbers, last year’s bear market cost our Societies 12% of their reserves, and in 2001 we may lose another 25%. Our strong societies that have been a primary driver for IEEE’s past success are under attack by the deficit spending habit and poor financial decisions of the past. This must change!

I’m working hard to change the financial landscape of IEEE using my knowledge of IEEE and experience gained through a long technical/managerial career in industry. I’m an IEEE Fellow and have managed organizations of over 600 people. We need business models that let us run our societies in a predictable manner without last minute unknown changes.

Every Division Director has a vote on the Board of Directors (BOD) and thus an opportunity to impact the big picture of how IEEE is governed and managed. I’ll work to implement business methodologies that will support the continued health and growth of our Division and our Societies. Each business unit of IEEE must prioritize their activities and we must fund only those of highest value while maintaining a balanced budget.

There is little hope of changing things unless we elect people to the BOD with a common perspective on the need for better business practices. This change to a more businesslike and value driven approach will not be easy. Difficult and sensitive decisions will have to be made, and a smooth and realistic transition plan will have to be designed and put into place. I need your vote to carry on this task to meet your needs, the needs of our societies and those of our broader scientific community. I’m available to discuss these issues at: h.flescher@ieee.org . Thanks in advance for your vote.

Harold Flescher can be reached at the Raytheon Company, 528 Boston Post Raod, M/S 5-2-567, Sudbury, MA 01776; Phone +1 978 440-3648; Fax +1 978 400-2229; E-mail: h.flescher@ieee.org