1. IEEE Fellow Elevation Process: Importance of Society/Technical Council Input
March 2016
Returned to academia after 23 successful years in industry
Signal Processing
Written successful nominations; served on my society’s fellow committee; been a Fellow Judge for 4 years
Amy R. Reibman
2016 IEEE Fellow Committee Chair
11/19/2018

2. Presentation Goals Communicate the IEEE Fellow process
Emphasize the importance of thorough Society/Technical Council (S/TC) evaluations.
Emphasize the importance of timely submission of S/TC reviews.
11/19/2018

3. The Fellow Elevation Process - Nomination
Nominee
An eligible nominee an IEEE member in good standing (i.e. dues current), an IEEE Senior member, and a member of IEEE for five or more years
Nominator
An eligible nominator need not be a member of the IEEE
Nomination Form
Description of Individual Contributions – a narrative!
Evidence of Technical Accomplishments – should be specific!
References from 5 to 8 IEEE Fellows
Endorsements (optional) from up to 3 supporting entities/individuals
Description of IEEE and non-IEEE Activities, e.g. Offices held, Conferences organized, Periodicals’ editorship….
I’m going to assume you all have a basic familiarity with the IEEE Fellow.
Nominee, nominator, nomination form.
Quick emphasis that the description is a narrative, tells a story, and is very important, and the evidence should be very specific
11/19/2018

4. Block diagram of the fellow process
References
Fellow Committee
Judge
Endorsements
Nomination
Society
Nomination
This slide is overview of the process.
Nomination is seen by everyone! 3 distinct audiences, which I’ll talk about next
Society “box” has 2 inputs and 3 outputs
The society-output is seen by the Fellow committee Judge, so it’s important to understand your audience.
April 15—
June 15
Before March 1
July 1 –
September 1
11/19/2018

5. Distinct independent roles
Letters and endorsements
Support from someone well-versed in the specific field
Chosen by the nominator to advocate
Society and Technical Council Fellow Committees
Comparative ranking from a group with a broader view of field
The S/TC is chosen by the nominator, but the committee members are not
Both an independent assessment and an advocate
IEEE Fellow Committee
Ranking across a wide range of disparate technical fields
Everybody reads the same nomination, but has different roles in the overall process.
11/19/2018

6. IEEE Fellow Committee: Composition
50 Judges plus Chair and Vice-Chair
All appointed by the IEEE Board of Directors
Balanced representation
Societies/Technical Councils
Regions
Academia/Industry/Government
Gender
Appointed for 1 year, possible renewal 2 more years
The fellow committee will read the output of the S/TC committees; so it’s worth considering who your audience is!
Educated, smart, but NOT necessarily in your field!
11/19/2018

7. Block diagram of the fellow process
points
Professional Activities 10
References
Strength of support of References & Endorsements 15
Fellow Committee
Judge
Endorsements
Nomination
Strength of support of S/TC 25
Society
Technical accomplishments (40 points) 40
Nomination
The fellow committee ranks on 4 items, shown on the right, with the indicated number of points.
Society influence is at least 25/90 points. Society influence is often broader, because the Judge may not be in the specific field.
Society input is more even-handed and less advocating; also helps to fit into a bigger picture than a reference might.
Effective Society input is therefore quite valuable.
April 15—
June 15
Before March 1
July 1 –
September 1
11/19/2018

8. Endorsements S/TC committees have access to the endorsements.
Endorsements are not restricted to come from fellows, and do not include an indication of support level (Extremely Qualified, Highly Qualified, etc).
Goal: To allow nominees from industry to create evidence of technical impact for contributions that may be proprietary and not available for citation in the open literature.
Industrial nominees may be less well known in their society, so endorsements may be especially important to assist a fair evaluation by the S/TC’s.
11/19/2018

9. Society/Technical Council: Evaluation
The Society/Technical Council Evaluating Committees’ “Society Evaluation” has significant impact on the Judge
Worth 25 points in the final evaluation
Can carry substantial influence on how the nomination is perceived
The Society/Technical Council provides the following nominee evaluation to the IEEE Fellow Committee
A rank order among all nominees evaluated by the S/TC
An “absolute” nominee score, 0-100
Three narrative answers:
What is/are one or two of the accomplishments or contributions identified? (200 word limit)
Characterize the evidence provided in support of the specific accomplishments (150 word limit)
Describe the impact of the nominee’s work (150 word limit)
11/19/2018

10. Society/Technical Council: Evaluation
Provides invaluable input to the Fellow Committee
Judges assess strength of support from S/TC
Remember: No one judge sees the narratives about all nominees from same S/TC
Ranks and scores from different S/TC are “integrated” using different strategies by each Judge
Big societies, and small technical councils must be fairly treated
S/TC committees with “grade inflation” and those who grade more “harshly” must be treated fairly
Even mid-range nominees can be elevated if they have solid support on S/TC evaluation
Remember who your audience is: educated, smart fellows from the diverse fields comprising the IEEE
They will rarely be from your S/TC, but they are technically educated
11/19/2018

11. Timeline: Society/TC perspective
Presidents identify the Fellow Chair of their Society/Technical Council: January 31
Nominations Submission Deadline: March 01
Evaluation by Societies/Technical Councils: April 15 - June 15
S/TC Fellow Chair orientations in late March or early April
S/TC Fellow Chairs inform their teams on the process
Repercussions for non-timely response
Fellow Committee Evaluation: July 01 – September 01
Fellow Committee Meeting: Early October
IEEE Board of Directors Approval: Mid November
11/19/2018

12. Summary of Recommendations
We expect reliable, independent evaluations from Societies/Technical Councils.
S/TC Fellow Chairs should attend orientation, understand the process and inform their teams.
S/TC evaluations of the nominees should be submitted on time (no later than 15 June).
The Society/Technical Council evaluation information carries significant impact for the Judge.
R10 to encourage quality nomination from the industry!
11/19/2018