IEEE Sections Congress 2008 Recommendations

Every member to have an annual entitlement to a limited number of free IEEE Xplore downloads.

Category: Member Benefits
MGA Board assignment: TAB liaison to MGA Board

IEEE eBook Classics were launched in April 2010.  IEEE members now have access to more than 240 eBooks from the IEEE Press collection through IEEE Xplore.  The eBook collection spans a number of today's technologies across 15 different content areas.  This collection of eBooks is offered to members at no additional cost.  Newer eBooks will be added every year.

Members of the MGA Board and the Technical Activities Board conducted a detailed analysis of this proposal.  This analysis determined that implementation of this recommendation would result with a revenue loss of US$1.4M to $4.0M to IEEE.  Based on this assessment, it was concluded that IEEE will not be able to act upon this recommendation due to the projected negative impacts on revenue to IEEE.

Payment Flexibility - Members, especially students and those in developing countries who do not have credit cards, need flexible payment methods

• regardless of location and banking methods;
• supporting aggregated payments in local currency;
• minimizing transaction costs and processing overheads. 

Category:  Business/Financial Operations
MGA Board assignment: MGA Treasurer

Students in India were the group selected to implement this feature as access to payment options in US currency is difficult and costly to acquire. A pilot program for selected student branches was initiated in January 2010 to certify the payment process and confirm the capability of the vendor.  The program was put into full operation in October 2010 for the 2011 renewal cycle.  Results from the full renewal cycle were presented to the MGA Board in June 2011.  No other countries have expressed a need for this option.

Provide "Leadership Training Handbook (Text and Multimedia) for Section Officers,” to include:

• Volunteer Recruitment;
• Roles and Responsibilities of Section Chair and Section Committee;
• Presiding at Meetings;
• Documentation - Websites and Forms;
• Time Table for Elections and Other Formal IEEE Required Activities;
• Transfer of Responsibilities to Incoming Officers.

Category: Member Growth and Development
MGA Board assignment: MGA Vice Chair - Geographic Unit Operations

This recommendation has been implemented.  The IEEE Center for Leadership Excellence (CLE) was established in 2009.  The MGA Board has also created an organizational structure to support it by establishing an MGA Committee which is responsible for training activities.  The CLE addresses the training needs for volunteers (and members) to perform their roles and acquire skills that will help them in their professional career and in their IEEE leadership positions.  In addition, it will provide the one source for all volunteer training needs, and, when fully implemented, the framework for all volunteers to identify training options for the area of development needed. 

QuickStart Training modules are available for various IEEE volunteer positions.  New content is continually being added, and all training material presented at Sections Congress 2011 will be accessible via the IEEE CLE portal.

The MGA Board to assign staff to develop a user-friendly system and support to enable Sections, Chapters, and Affinity Groups to deliver, at low cost, teleconferencing, collaborative technologies, and webinars, as a free member benefit. 

Category: IT Operations
MGA Board assignment: MGA Vice Chair - Information Management

This recommendation has been completed.  MGA provides a Web Conferencing service to geographic organizational units for online meetings, webinars, trainings, demos, and presentations.  The service is also available to MGA Board members and MGA Board Committees, as well as Region and Section Executive Committee officers.  To access this and other volunteer tools, visit IEEE vTools.

For digital libraries: develop additional, smaller tiered packages (10, 20 items, etc.) which allow members to purchase defined quantities of digital content without expiration.  Provide members permanent electronic access to previously purchased content. 

Category: Member Growth and Development
MGA Board assignment: TAB liaison to MGA Board

This recommendation has been completed.  Launched in September 2010, Member Digital Library Basic allows members lower cost access to IEEE content (US$15 per month for three articles per month; unused articles roll over through the end of 12 months, for a total of 36 articles per year).  Any articles members download can be stored for future use, provided they maintain their subscription.  Although this project is complete, MGA will continue to work with IEEE Publications to assess the product to ensure that it continues to add value to IEEE membership.  IEEE members are eligible for a free 30 day trial to Member Digital Library, and first year renewing higher grade members are offered a three month free trial to Member Digital Library Basic.

Improve the implementation of recommendations identified at Sections Congress. 

Category: Operations
MGA Board assignment: Past MGA Board Chair

This recommendation has been completed.  The MGA Board took a proactive approach in reviewing and revising the recommendation reporting process.  The MGA Board made all of the recommendations a priority by incorporating each recommendation into the MGA project list.  A specific MGA Board member and MGA staff member were assigned to each recommendation.  Progress on recommendations has been reported via various sources.

There are a good number of IEEE member benefits that are relevant or accessible to Regions 1 - 6 members only.  IEEE should implement similar benefits of local relevance across all Regions. 

Category: Member Benefits
MGA Board assignment: MGA Vice Chair - Member Development

This recommendation has been completed.  The Globalization of Professional Activities Committee was formed, and the following programs have been implemented:
• expanded the use of the IEEE Job Site by members and companies in India, Singapore, and Australia.  Results being evaluated for possible next steps;
• implemented a portable RSS feed capability to aggregate and feed webinars from the IEEE-USA site to myIEEE;
• expanded the distribution of eBooks, webinars, and the IEEE Job Site;
• implemented and promoted IEEE-USA webinar and eBook access to all members from IEEE memberNet.

As new member benefits are developed, they are made available to as many members as possible.  Several discount programs were added in 2009 and 2010 that are available in multiple countries (e.g., MOZY.com, DELL in 57 countries). 

Learn more about these technology discounts for IEEE members

Sections and Chapters need a web-based payment solution for small local events that is: (a) low cost; (b) secure and immediate; (c) capable of depositing into a concentration banking account or international equivalent with event and payer identification. 

Category: Business/Financial Operations
MGA Board assignment: MGA Treasurer

This recommendation has been completed.  In the fourth quarter of 2010, MGA added Credit Card Processing functionality to the vTools.Meetings tool.  A joint project between IEEE Financial Services and MGA has been successfully completed and functionality has been enabled for all Sections, Chapters, and Affinity Groups in Regions 1-7 that are using vTools.Meetings and Concentration Banking. A solution for Sections, Chapters, and Affinity Groups in Regions 8-10 is being actively investigated with anticipated pilot program launching in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Provide support and tools for the creation and maintenance of easy to update Section Web sites with “single sign-on” authentication via IEEE web accounts, featuring at least blogs, meeting calendars, and member surveys.  Use commonly available best practice technologies not requiring programmer support for day to day use. 

Category: IT Operations
MGA Board assignment: MGA Vice Chair - Information Management

This recommendation has been completed.  The MGA vTools team has made available the following tools:

• vTools.WebInABox
• EWH 2.0 (WordPress) and EWH 1.0 (HTML)
• vTools.Meetings
• vTools.Surveys

Implement sustained membership options for all membership grades exclusive of Student grade:
• Single dues payment for multiple years/life-long membership;
• Increasing benefits in proportion to the length of renewal;
• Lowers IEEE administrative expenses related to “annual” membership cycles."

Category: Membership
MGA Board assignment: MGA Vice Chair - Member Development

The project was separated into two phases. 

Phase I – Completed in 2010.  A Pilot Loyalty Program was launched in March 2010 to provide free access to five eLearning tutorials to first year full grade renewing members. The program was upgraded to include access to ten eLearning tutorials and three months free access to MDL Light, and relaunched to first year higher grade renewing members for the 2011 renewal cycle, beginning in October 2010.  Results of that launch are being evaluated, and the viability of loyalty programs offered to other categories of members will be considered as future options.

Phase II – A non-discounted two and three year IEEE membership option was developed and approved in concept by the MGA Board in 2009.  The MGA Board further requested the development of a multi-year Society membership option and a five year discounted membership option.  In addition to these multi-year membership options, straw proposals to allow for automatic renewal and monthly payment of renewal bills were also requested.  A survey is being conducted and implementation of any of these options will be deferred until the new membership system is operational in 2012.

The following recommendations were ranked during IEEE Sections Congress 2008, but did not make the top ten list. 

11. Public Awareness and New Technology - Develop IEEE Brand awareness globally through marketing and communicating the value of IEEE and its professions to industry, schools, and the public.
12. Business/Financial Operations - IEEE should provide tools that interface with Concentration Banking to enable: electronic bill payment, electronic funds transfer, budget tracking with common financial programs, L-50 interface.

13. Recruitment/Retention (Membership) - Research, implement, and communicate IEEE benefits and engagement opportunities across the member life cycle, with emphasis on the needs of young members (in collaboration with Student Activities and GOLD). Report by 2Q2009.
14. Recruitment/Retention (Membership) - To improve support from member employers: Develop technical and professional tutorials and training (e.g., Expert Now) to match member employer needs. Survey membership to prioritize content. Content should be made free or at reduced cost to organizational units. Highlight employer while increasing publicity of member’s IEEE contributions. Initial report 1Q2009 and review annually to ensure currency with members technical needs

15. Membership - Create a volunteer recognition program to acknowledge volunteer service by having MGA send a service pin and certificate to volunteers at five year milestone intervals, allowing members to display their IEEE service. Each milestone item shall be uniquely designed to display length of service.
16. Membership - Present new members with modular, online/computer-based training upon completion of application process. Training shall introduce all aspects of IEEE, particularly a member’s role within MGA model. Training resources should show how to leverage IEEE membership for the benefit of the member, IEEE, and society.
17. Operations - The MGA Board and the Technical Activities Board to review the issues among Sections, Societies, and Chapters associated with conference planning and management. In particular this would include early information exchange, shared knowledge, cooperation, and resources to clarify the expectations of any of these units in conducting conferences.
18. Member Benefits - To promote involvement in accordance with the core goals of the IEEE, provide free membership in one Technical Society for a limited number of years after first paying full dues.
19. Member Growth and Development - Gather and supplement the best resources of all appropriate entities (including IEEE-USA, Technical Management Council, Region/Society LD Committees, and EA) to establish a curriculum of standardized leadership training with appropriate metrics to empower IEEE leadership with skills needed to foster the engagement, life cycle support, and growth of the member.
20. Public Awareness and New Technology - Be a leader in sustainable development, i.e., development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
21. Public Awareness and New Technology - Create a program that addresses problems and issues of a global nature by improving collaboration between IEEE and stakeholders.

On Monday, 22 September 2008, the Primary Section Delegates prioritized 21 recommendations that were developed during the issue caucuses.
The recommendations were presented to the IEEE Board of Directors in November 2008.

The MGA Board has taken ownership of each recommendation.  An MGA Board member is responsible for working with other IEEE Organizational Unit(s) in providing a response to each recommendation.

At each MGA Board meeting (February, June, and November), a response summarizing the action being taken or justification for why action was not taken will be provided.  At the same time, each organizational unit liaison to the MGA Board will be provided with a status report on the recommendations, and updates will be provided to each Regional Sections Congress Coordinator.

The MGA Board will also provide status reports on the recommendations to all SC08 attendees on a regular basis.  A final report on the top ten recommendations will be completed by December 2010.

• Final Report - May 2011 (PDF, 162 KB)
• Progress Report - November 2010 (PDF, 39 KB)
• Progress Report - June 2010 (PDF, 477 KB)
• Progress Report - November 2009 (PDF, 372 KB)
• Progress Report - May 2009 (PDF, 124 KB)