Bylaws of the Asia Committee
ARTICLE 1 MISSION
The Asia SIGCHI Committee (ASC) was established in 2022, as an arm of the ACM SIGCHI EC (Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group for Computer-Human Interaction Executive Committee).
Mission
The Asia SIGCHI Committee (ASC) seeks to increase the capabilities of HCI research and education in Asia.
We will work closely with the SIGCHI Executive Committee (EC), SIGCHI Chapters, SIGCHI members, and community partners to:
identify issues in HCI research and education in Asia,
co-develop and implement events and solutions to address these issues in the Asian context,
facilitate connections and collaborations among HCI people—especially across countries in Asia and beyond.
ARTICLE 2 MEMBERSHIP
Section 1: Members
The Asia SIGCHI Committee shall comprise 10-12 members who are dedicated to realizing the Committee’s Mission and Vision. The Asia SIGCHI Committee aims to maintain approximately two members representing each of the following sub-regions of Asia according to the United Nations geoscheme: East, Southeast, South, Middle-east, and Central.
Additionally, the Asia SIGCHI Committee includes up to two members as liaisons with the SIGCHI EC (see Article 3 Section 1).
All members are voting members.
Section 2: Appointing Regular Members
Any members of an active SIGCHI chapter in Asia are eligible to apply to volunteer in the Asia SIGCHI Committee. People from countries without an active SIGCHI Chapter may also apply to volunteer by providing three references. Each referee could be (1) a member of SIGCHI EC or its committees or (2) a reputable person from an HCI community in their country. The Regular Members shall not hold two consecutive terms. Applications will be solicited through an open call process in which the selection criteria are made available to candidates. Criteria will be based on the values and the mission outlined in Article 1. The applicant will be interviewed by the ASC chair and one or two EC members. Current members will vote to approve each applicant by a 2/3 majority (>66%) vote, and the list of approved applicants will be submitted to the SIGCHI EC for appointment. Following the procedures set forth by the SIGCHI EC, the ACM violations database will be checked prior to making any new appointments or reappointments to ensure compliance.
Open calls will be held for approximately half of the Committee member seats at 18-month intervals, such that three-year terms are staggered and continuity is maintained across SIGCHI Executive Committee transitions. Committee elections will be held to fill any vacated Chair, Vice Chair, and Web/Communication Chair positions.
In the case that a member leaves before the end of their term, the Chair of the Asia SIGCHI Committee will decide whether to fill the seat immediately via appointment or wait to fill the seat via the regular open call process. The filled seat will inherit the remaining term duration of the member who left.
Section 3: Termination
Membership of a Committee member can be terminated when they are inactive or do not adequately perform or abandon their assigned tasks (see Article 4) and have not informed the Chair or Vice Chair of extenuating circumstances, disability leave, sick leave, etc. In addition, all members must adhere to the ACM Code of Conduct. Upon learning of non-compliance with the code of conduct, Committee membership can be terminated immediately without a vote.
On an annual or semi-annual basis, the Chair and Vice Chair(s) will evaluate member activity status for potential termination. Members identified as inactive or inadequately performing duties shall first receive a written notice from the Chair explaining the reason(s) for the proposed termination. Committee members may choose to voluntarily terminate their membership by notifying the Chair at any time. The voting process is as follows:
The Chair will report the termination recommendations and reason(s) to the members
Those who are being considered for termination shall be given an opportunity to rebut the proposed action to the other members
A vote will be called amongst members, excluding those currently under consideration for termination
A 2/3 majority (>66%) vote is required for termination
Section 4: Bootstrapping the Committee
Members of the Asia SIGCHI Committee 2022 shall continue their membership as the part of the first cohort. Their term starts at the beginning of the month after the SIGCHI EC approves this bylaw. Half of them shall end their term after 18 months, and the rest shall end their term after 36 months.
ARTICLE 3 MEMBER ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Section 1: Roles and Responsibilities
The Asia SIGCHI Committee shall aim to have members with the following roles:
Chair
Ensure committee seats are filled through appointments and committee roles are filled through elections
Organize meeting agendas and chair meetings
Support the Vice Chair in virtual and physical meeting logistics
Conduct succession planning to support continuity and avoid extended vacancies
Prepare the annual budget to align with the Committee’s Mission
Configure Working Groups to align with the Committee’s Mission
Oversee the timely completion of tasks by committee members and Working Groups
Delegate specific responsibilities to the Vice Chair and other committee members as appropriate
Serve as an ex officio member of all Working Groups on the committee
Vice Chair
Schedule virtual and physical meetings
Facilitate the logistics for virtual and physical meetings
Chair meetings when the Chair is unable to attend
Ensure meeting minutes are taken during meetings
Ensure meeting agendas, minutes, and recordings are disseminated in a timely manner
Keep track of Working Groups’ plans and current progress towards goals
Monitor the activity status (see Article 2) of members and report inactivity to the Chair
Liaisons to SIGCHI EC
A liaison to the SIGCHI Executive Committee and a liaison to the SIGCHI Global Committee both serve as members of the Asia SIGCHI Committee. These roles are appointed by the SIGCHI Executive Committee. Their responsibilities include:
Liaise with the SIGCHI Executive Committee and the SIGCHI Global Committees to communicate and achieve mutual goals
Communicate the ASC's annual budget plan to the EC
Web/Communications Chair
Manage the Asia SIGCHI Committee content in SIGCHI’s webspace and ensure it is up to date
Communicate Committee updates regularly via SIGCHI Communications Committee
Monitor social media for topics that need to be considered by the Committee
Engage the SIGCHI community on social media and arrange other communication forums around accessibility topics, as needed
Join monthly SIGCHI Chapters meeting
Work with the SIGCHI Vice-President for Chapters and Communications to complete duties
The remaining Committee members will have the title of Regular Member.
Section 2: Filling Roles
The Regular Members of the committee will be appointed as described in Article 2.
Except for the liaisons to the SIGCHI EC, all other roles on the Asia SIGCHI Committee are elected by a simple majority (>50%) vote of the current Regular Members of the Asia SIGCHI Committee and then approved by the SIGCHI EC. Qualified candidates should preferably, but not necessarily, have served on the Committee as a member for at least one year immediately preceding the assumption of the role. Each of these positions may optionally be staffed by two members acting as Co-Chairs. Voting will take place within the first two months of each cycle of Regular Member appointment, as needed, to fill vacant Chair positions.
Section 3: Terms
The Regular Members of the committee are appointed to three-year terms. The Regular Members shall not hold two consecutive terms.
Tenure in all Chair roles is, by default, one year. At the term ends, the Committee member who held that role can apply for another role or re-apply for the same role. There is a limit of two consecutive terms for all Chair roles.
Section 4: Working Groups
Members will carry out work towards the Committee’s vision and mission through a recurring process of Working Group development.
Working Groups
Working Groups, or subgroups within the Committee that work on a specified task, may be organized to fulfill the goals of the Strategic Plan. The Chair, Vice Chair, and any other members in Chair positions may sit on one or more Working Groups in addition to their leadership duties. Working Groups can be created, staffed, and dissolved at the discretion of the Chair.
ARTICLE 4 MEETINGS
Section 1: Frequency & Attendance
A monthly virtual all-hands Committee meeting will be held, totaling up to 12 meetings per calendar year. For these meetings:
The recurring schedule will be set at the beginning of each new cohort to accommodate incoming members’ schedules, and it may be adjusted as needed throughout the year.
An open agenda will be maintained and shared in advance of the meeting, to which committee members may contribute.
In the event that the Chair and Vice Chair(s) are unable to run the meeting, a designated Committee member will be asked to step in.
Additional meetings, such as Working Group meetings, may be held on an as-needed basis. Attendance at these meetings is strongly encouraged but not required to maintain the membership status (see Article 2, Section 3).
In the event the Committee decides it is beneficial to hold a physically collocated all-hands Committee meeting, attendance will be optional. Additionally, members may choose to synchronously join the meeting remotely.
Section 2: Participation & Transparency
If a vote is cast during a meeting, Voting Members who are not present will be given an opportunity to vote remotely, with votes due within 48 hours of the meeting minutes being shared. Any decisions or votes taken by e-mail or individual calls must be reported at the next all-hands Committee meeting and recorded in the minutes of that meeting.
Committee members shall be able to asynchronously access meeting records––meeting agendas, minutes, and video recordings––within one week of the meeting’s conclusion.
The Asia SIGCHI Committee shall publish an annual report detailing its activity for the past fiscal year. The report shall be made available to SIGCHI members and archived on the Asia SIGCHI Committee website. The Asia SIGCHI Committee shall present the report in an Asia SIGCHI Committee meeting before the end of each fiscal year.
ARTICLE 5 COMMUNICATION AND DECISION PROCEDURES
Section 1: Raising Topics
Any Committee member can raise a topic by adding items to future meeting agendas, sending an email to the mailing list of all Committee members, or by communicating with the Chair or Vice Chair.
Section 2: Voting on topics
If no consensus on a raised topic is apparent, the Chair will call for a formal vote, either online or in person. Every Voting Member has one vote, which can be “yes,” “no,” or “abstain.” Every member should vote within a week for virtual votes, and immediately in person, unless otherwise specified by the Chair. A simple majority (>50%) vote will decide the result of the voting procedure unless otherwise specified by these bylaws. If no vote is received from a Committee member within the time specified, the vote will be finalized. If there is a tie, the Chair’s vote counts as double. A quorum of 50% (rounded up to the next whole number) of votes from Voting Members must be reached in order to accept the voting result.
Topics raised during an all-hands Committee meeting will be voted upon by the present Voting Members (either physically or virtually) and made available to those not in attendance (see Article 4, Section 2). Any vote (physical or virtual) can be made by secret ballot at the discretion of the Chair, if requested by a Voting Member.
Section 3: Document Repository
A document repository will be maintained and shared with future Committee Chairs and members to maintain continuity across terms. At a minimum, the following must be maintained in the repository. Maintenance responsibilities for these records follow from the roles and responsibilities outlined in Article 3. Timeframes for maintaining records are as follows:
Maintained ~1-2 years into each new Chair’s term, then purged for privacy:
video recordings and transcripts (Committee Chair)
Maintained indefinitely:
Working Group plans and progress (Vice Chair)
open calls and selection criteria (Committee Chair)
membership, roles, and Working Group composition (Committee Chair)
budgets and spending (Committee Chair)
meeting agendas and minutes (Vice Chair)
policies, contracts, guidelines, assessments, presentations (all members)
Sensitive information that is collected in the course of Committee work that can be traced back to individual SIGCHI or Committee members, must be deleted within the period specified by the member, or, in the absence of member input, within one year of data collection.
Section 4: Changing Committee Bylaws
The rules and procedures in this document can be changed by a 2/3 majority (>66%) vote, first within the Committee and, upon passage, within the SIGCHI Executive Committee.
ARTICLE 6 ETHICS AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The Asia SIGCHI Committee follows the ACM Bylaws Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
Page History
15 May 2023 The first version of the bylaw, approved by the SIGCHI EC, is published on the ASC webpage
5 July 2023
Amendment to allow applicants from countries that do not have SIGCHI Chapters to apply. (Art. 2, section 2)
Minor typos and grammatical corrections