SIG Governing Board Meeting

1.0 Welcome

1.1 Welcome Introductions (Altman)

Eric Altman welcomed the group and a microphone was passed around for those in attendance for introductions.

1.2 Welcome (Cerf)

Vint Cerf welcomed the SIGs expressing appreciation for the opportunity to address the SIG Chairs which are the heart of the organization.  Cerf explained that ACM has a growing range of inherently diverse groups with infrastructure to support more growth.  Cerf discussed the topic of open access with regard to longevity and all of the associated implications.  If we plan on having information available into the future, we must make sure it is permanently available. There is a challenge for SIGs in this space to contribute to participating in solving this problem.  Cerf explained that he would be eager to hear ideas.  He encouraged SIG members to email him.  In addition to presenting this challenge to the SIGs at ACM, he also has an opportunity to make this suggestion to the National Science Board.

2.0 Report from ACM CEO (White):

John White introduced himself and thanked Vint and others for discussing and thinking about the complex issues confronting ACM.  He explained that he will provide an update on the state of ACM, recent changes within Publications as well as the organizations’ priorities.

Membership: ACM has 107,000 members and over 700 chapters around the world.  This number has increased through efforts made with other organizations like CCF; ACM Membership is now included as part of CCF membership.  Over the last 10 years ACM membership has seen a shift with most new members being outside of the US making ACM an international organization.  50% of our members reside outside of the US.

International Initiatives in Europe: ACM Europe has been active not so much with membership but in the way of visibility.  We continue to collaborate with Informatics Europe on an education report and education conference.  The Ed Council is looking at a project similar to the US report “Running on Empty” as there is room and a role for an Ed Council presence in Europe.  SIGCSE is looking at participating.  There will be ongoing work looking at establishing formal CS Ed standards there and might involve working with the EU.  Plans are underway for the first ACM Europe Computing Research Congress (ECRC) which will be held in conjunction with CHI ‘13 in Paris May 2-4, 2013.   We held a successful ACM Europe Chapters workshop.

International Initiatives in India:  We continue to work with the India Council to enrich the Computer Science community there. The ACM India Council continues to focus on education initiatives and taking on a CRA-like role for India. We are moving forward with India-wide SIGs, using the regional chapter model.

International Initiatives in China: We continue to do a lot of work with CCF.  We have been sponsoring more speakers to present there and participating in the CCF’s CNCC.  We translate a section of the CACM for Regional Members in China.  We are considering a restructuring of the council for the future.

Education and Education Policy Initiatives:  Most initiatives are run by the ACM Ed Board and Ed Council and focus around CS 2013 and other major, multi-year events such as the 10K Project which is working to revise CS Ed standards with the help of 10,000 High Schools and 10,000 teachers.  ACM is increasingly involved and is co-leading this with the NSF.  We are also involved in the TauRus project which is surveying non-PhD institutions to determine what Computer Science courses they offer.  We continue to work to make these committees strong, keeping in mind the necessity of improving Computer Science Education.

Publications update:

White explained that he will review the changes adopted to the ACM Publishing Model; the principles behind these changes; the implementation and a deeper look at the costs of the publishing program and the DL.

The changes adopted in the Fall reflected thinking and discussions through September 2012. These changes are not the end of the story. Members of the Executive Committee, the Publications Board, and senior staff have been in constant conversation about the future of publishing in general, and the future of publishing for ACM.  These conversations have been informed by an almost daily stream of events and input surrounding open access.  As a result, our understanding and perception of the challenges ACM faces, the needs of our community, and the options we need to consider further are expanding on a daily basis.

The issue of granting authors the right to post “author versions” of accepted manuscripts on noncommercial repositories is still under consideration.  We have done a significant amount of work to understand the costs associated with the ACM publishing program that help highlight real costs and where they are. The EC will be organizing a retreat this summer with a small group knowledgeable in all dimensions of the future of publishing, and the needs of our community, to do some deep thinking about a long-term strategy and options for ACM.  Again, where we are today is not the end of the story.

The recent changes within Publications give authors three options for managing publication rights 1) Copyright transfer (current) 2) Exclusive license (new) where the copyright remains with the author and existing and additional author rights are incorporated.  The author grants ACM exclusive right to publish the work and the author authorizes ACM to act on their behalf to defend their IP. 3) Non-exclusive license (new) requires payment of an “article processing fee.” Author grants ACM permission to publish their article.   All other rights (and responsibilities) remain with the author. Once published, the article can be freely downloaded from the DL.

There are more options for SIGs to open conference proceedings. 1) Open Access During the Period Surrounding SIG Conferences.  With this, SIGs will have the option to make the proceedings from their conferences freely available via the ACM DL platform a one month period surrounding a conference.  2) Open Access for the Most Recent Instance of a SIG Conference.  With this SIGS will have the option to maintain tables-of-contents for the most recent instance of its conferences on the conference (or SIG) web site with Author-Izer links that provide free access to the definitive version of the article maintained in the ACM DL.

With regard to the principles behind these changes, what follows has been endorsed by ACM EC, Council, and Pubs Board.  ACM's mission is broader than its publications program, including a wide range of activities supporting the health of the profession, the education of its members, and service to society. The ACM Publications program must contribute to enabling the association to perform these functions and fulfill its mission.

Regarding the business model for publications, ACM principles are reflected in ensuring the long-term viability of an ACM publishing program; the pricing of products and services in ways that are not only fair and equitable, but which are significantly lower than other publishers.  For now, while numerous changes are being made and future changes are being considered, sustaining the publishing program by ensuring the DL is the sole source for the aggregated collection of full-text ACM content is consistent with ACM’s overall principles.

For Journals, existence of the three options will be clearly indicated on the Publications home page and in Manuscript Central. A simple, readable version of the new license agreements has been developed. For proceedings, all routes to publishing an ACM conference paper go through the ACM rights management system. At this “stage” the three options for managing publication rights will be presented.

We are managing the implementation of open access this way.  During the period surrounding SIG Conferences we will establish default decisions for each SIG.  Based on a SIG’s decision, automatically open (or not) content. Regarding open access for the most recent instance of a SIG Conference, we will establish a set of decisions to be made by each SIG.  I will be determined where it will go (multiple SIG sites or one conference site.)  Once decisions are established we will automatically build TOC and links and provide the designated SIG representative the TOC/links to move to the SIG site.

Article Processing Charge (APC) For Journal articles:  No ACM member authors: $1,700.  One or more ACM member authors: $1,300.  For Proceedings articles:  No ACM/SIG member authors: $1,500.  One or more ACM/SIG member authors: $1,100

Publications – Putting it in Context.  The DL surplus is used by SIGs to support SIG programs and contributes to the collective SIG Net.  It is used by ACM by supporting ACM’s mission of advancing computing as a science and profession.  Also: the broad ACM education agenda, the broad policy (technology and education) agenda, support for women in computing, support for underrepresented minorities, being international, subsidizing membership and the DL in developing countries, Volunteer Councils, Boards and Committees.  It supports staff and overhead costs of supporting this agenda. It contributes to the ACM General Net.

White reviewed the role of nets and fund balances. Nets are fundamental to building/maintaining fund balances.  Fund balances are fundamental to the operation of non-profit societies like ACM. Fund balances are the buffer to manage the ups/downs of operations. Associations do not take on debt. The DL has brought the diverse parts of ACM together. The SIGs run essentially all ACM conferences. Conference content dominates the ACM publishing program. But the publishing program is not an ACM General thing or a SIG thing; it is an ACM program. It is created and guided by ACM leadership (SIG and General). The publishing program is built by ACM with guidance and input from ACM leadership (SIG and General). It is aimed at serving the broad computing community. We are not 36 independent societies each with a different model and agenda. We are a single association; an association with 36 somewhat independent communities, but a single association. Leadership is drawn from across all parts of ACM.

And where we are today is not the end of the story. ACM leadership will spend time this summer continuing the conversation about the future of publishing, the future of membership organizations, and the future of ACM. We will visit and revisit every dimension of Open Access and the forces shaping the future of publishing. Consider what the future of ACM publishing could/should look like relative to journals and conferences. Explore what the community needs from its journals and conferences. Consider the “future paper” concept where we really try to break free of our print-based roots. We will review how our model of ACM membership fits in all of this.

3.0 Publications Board Report (Konstan/Davidson):

Konstan reported on SIG choices for the new open access options for conferences with most SIGs being in favor.  He asked attendees to share current issues or concerns with publications.  Many SIG leaders reported difficulty using Author-Izer.  The action item was to ask Wayne Graves to create a YouTube video and a link from the DL Author-Izor page to show people how to create their own comprehensive bibliography block.

Davidson talked about the HiPEAC / TACO journal-first publication model. HiPEAC is the conference, TACO is the journal; in this model, authors submit to TACO, and if their paper is accepted in time, it appears at HiPEAC.

4.0 CSTA (Stephenson)

CSTA is a membership organization that supports and promotes the teaching of computer science and other computing disciplines. CSTA provides opportunities for K-12 teachers and students to better understand the computing disciplines and to more successfully prepare themselves to teach and learn.

CSTA is an international membership organization of 13,000 members (we continue to grow at more than 20% per year).  We are a learning community and an advocacy organization.  CSTA is a provider of professional development for teachers CSTA is a research body.

CSTA also provides resources Knowledge for Today and Beyond. We consider it critical that students be able to read and write and understand the fundamentals of math, biology, chemistry and physics. To be a well-educated citizen in today’s computing-intensive world, students must have a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of computing as well.

Students from minority homes are far less likely to be exposed to computer science knowledge or to have rigorous computer science courses. Access to this privileged knowledge is the social justice issue of the 21st century.  CSTA’s funding from grants is encumbered money that can only be spent on certain research projects (though it does cover about 1/2 of staff salaries). Organizational funding from ACM supports the membership organization aspects; Board meetings, Council meetings, Work on projects such as Computing in Core and CSEdWeek. Much of the critical work we do cannot be funded by corporate sponsors or public or private grant funding: teacher certification; learning standards; white papers; federal and state advocacy.

CSTA Regional Chapters: Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York (3), North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas (2),

New computer science standards:  Introduces fundamental CS concepts to all students, beginning at the elementary school level; presents CS at the secondary school level in a way that can fulfill a CS, math, or science graduation credit. Encourages schools to offer additional secondary-level CS courses that will allow students to study CS in more depth and prepare them for entry into the work force or college; increases the availability of rigorous CS for all students, especially those who are members of underrepresented groups.

Standards: Running on Empty: Examines current learning standards in core subject areas in every state. Shows that roughly two-thirds of the country has few computer science education standards for secondary school education, and most states treat high school computer science courses as simply an elective.

Clarifying CS Teacher Certification: CSTA provides the only comprehensive information on CS teacher certification. CSTA created a multi-level model for certification for the four kinds of CS teachers. CSTA is now working on a new report that will include a state-by-state report card.

Support for ACM Projects: Helped create and now market and distribute the ACM Computing Careers and Degrees brochure. Co-wrote and published the Running on Empty report. CSTA is a founding member of Computing in the Core coalition with ACM. Serve on Ed Council and Ed Board. Hold in-conjunction events with SIGCSE. Serve on ACM Europe committee.

Addressing Core Equity Issues: An in-depth look at the barriers in our educational system; practical recommendations for solutions to address core equity issues; comprehensive recommendations for each stakeholder group; practical, achievable suggestions for working together to ensure that all students have the opportunities that rigorous computing provides.

SGB Funding for CSTA to Date: 2008–2009: $100,000, 2010–2011: $75,000, 2011–2012: $65,000, 2012–2013: $50,000, 2013–2014: $35,000

Stephenson asked the SGB to consider some ideas for future funding: Chapter mini-grant program that would provide small stipends for advocacy, PD, or to develop new resources ($60,000 per year). 100 toolkits for CSTA chapters that would include Bylaws templates, guidelines for elections and leadership development, ideas on how to run engaging meetings, a policies and procedures manual, the workshop toolkit, etc. ($20,000). A bank of assessment questions tied to the CSTA standards ($75,000). An advocacy fly-in to DC that would allow us to bring all our LC members in to visit their political reps in DC and advocate for computer science and the Computer Science Education Act ($100,000)

Altman indicated that the SGB would consider potential funding for CSTA over the next few weeks and get back to Stephenson with a decision.

5.0 IFIP (Turner)

Joe Turner addressed the group with an introduction to the International Federation of Information Processing (www.ifip.org) a Federation of ICT Societies representing countries with one member per country intended to serve as international representative of computing profession.  It is composed of a General Assembly, Executive Committee, Board, Technical Committees and Working Groups which provide strength.  IFIP has three major international conferences; financially the current portfolio totals about €2.2 million.  Annual dues range from €400 to €12K.  Currently, there are 44 full members and 13 Technical Committees. Presently ACM and IEEE represent the US.  Joe Turner is the ACM rep to IFIP General Assembly and also a Vice President.  SIGITE, SIGMIS, SIGCAS, SIGCHI provide travel support for attendance to Technical Committee meetings while other ACM participants receive no support.  Appointment to a TC can be made without support from a SIG.  Potential opportunities for ACM SIG members within IFIP participation include facilitating membership in TC working groups, building connections to researchers who are not ACM members, exposure to opportunities for joint international events.  ACM participation in IFIP potentially provides access to and influence in some activities where access and influence would otherwise be restricted.

6.0 ACM History Committee Report (Tao Xie)

Tao Xie is the ACM History Committee SGB Liaison.  He addressed the group on an update on the current activities of the History Committee documenting the founding dates of SIGs as well as archiving documents related to the history of a SIG.  Xie is seeking SIG founding materials that might be archived along with interviews and oral histories.

7.0 Viability Reviews

7.1 SIGDOC Viability Review (Pierce)

Robert Pierce presented an overview of SIGDOC’s growth and activities explaining that they have successfully created and managed change; improved communications and demonstrated prudent fiscal responsibility.  The SIG continues to look at how best to grow and continue positive visibility while the scope of the SIG continues to expand.

Membership updates and objectives: Promote membership growth and chapter creation.  Membership grew in 2012.  Locate conferences at Universities to increase graduate student participation; promote and support conference proposals and leadership for international locations and universities.  European chapter created in 2010 which had held successful workshops each year.  Efforts are underway to create AsiaSIGDOC and SIGDOC South America chapters.

Volunteer growth has been modest and the SIG continues to assess member needs through member-to-member interactions, town hall meetings and specific solicitations for feedback.  There is continued focus on serving members with both theory and practice opportunities and offerings.

Accomplishments and goals for visibility and engagement: We have clarified mission statement; improved website and newsletter; increase in industry participation by offering experience reports as part of CFPs; made all previous quarterly newsletters available in the DL; social networking presence more than doubled this year.  Our goals are to prudently support funding for sponsorships and other initiatives that increase visibility and lead to growth; continue to keep members informed by effectively using the SIG member list, the new quarterly newsletter and website.  We also plan to continue international and regional development and engagement by hosting conferences in diverse locations while supporting domestic conferences connected to universities.

Recommendation: The SGB EC congratulates SIGDOC on the positive progress they’ve made over the past year to engage in community outreach, define their community, determine which activities are valuable and work on volunteer development. Anxious to see this level of enthusiasm continue,  the SGB EC finds SIGDOC viable for the next 2 years with the understanding that an activity update report be provided to the SGB EC in one year.

Unanimous approval of the recommendation by SGB

7.2 SIGMICRO Viability Review (Bose)

SIGMICRO Goals: Provide a forum for discussing the state-of-the-art in computer microarchitecture and for stimulating the advancement of that state; Disseminate information from academic and industrial sources through focused sponsorship of flagship conferences, emerging interest workshops and minority outreach programs; Encourage interaction between researchers, educators, students and industry practitioners in the field.

Key Member Resources: Newsletter: http://newsletter.sigmicro.org/ Website: http://www.sigmicro.org/

Financial Viability:  Our financial health and outlook is very good. We currently have $121,235 in discretionary funds.  Our DL revenue has increased to $20,000 in 2012.

New Sponsorship Initiatives – Membership: SIGMICRO sponsored CRA-W with a minority mentoring workshop and provided travel grants.  Ongoing initiatives include MICRO ToT Award; Distinguished Service Award; sponsorship requests from a couple of emerging area workshops; membership drive; membership benefits upgrade proposals.  Membership is down but the loss is mainly student and affiliate members; professional membership has had very little change in 11 years.

Summary: SIGMICRO is financially healthy. We had a healthy surplus in FY 2012.  In FY 2012 we budgeted more for travel grants than in 2011 or in prior years. New awards and sponsorships include continuing and increasing student travel grants; sponsor best paper/best presentation and other awards. We plan to waive conference registration fee for ACM-W scholarship recipients for sponsored conference travel. We are in ongoing discussion with steering committee about continuing the Test of Time (ToT) award. New/revamped website, newsletter. Facebook/Twitter support in place. New membership drive; benefits upgrade proposal.

Recommendation: The SGB EC congratulates SIGMICRO on their program performance and finds it viable to continue its status for the next 4 years.

Unanimous approval of the recommendation by SGB

7.3 SIGMOD Viability Review (Ioannidis)

Yannis Ioannidis presented a review of SIGMODs activities.  Finances are strong; 2014 fund balance projection is $750K over requirement totaling $1.2M.  The sig has had healthy industry conference support (over $200K).  Conferences have been profitable.  The SIG has been able to offer travel fellowships for students and plans to do so for 70 students in 2013.

Membership and Benefits: 2012 membership increased from 2011 making SIGMOD ACM’s 6th largest SIG.  We have a robust awards program, outreach program and a thriving conference with accompanying scholarships and awards.  We co-sponsor meetings and workshops as well.

Content Benefits: Our quarterly newsletter “ACM Sigmod Record” has been revitalized (72,250 downloads last year, 7,650 within the last 6 weeks).  We have increased our on-line presence on the SIGMOD web site (RSS feed, Google analytics) and SIGMOD/PODS Social Media (Facebook, Google+).  A SIGMOD Blog has been started.  We have posted Video interviews.  We participate in the Digital Symposium Collection (DiSC) and are ready to launch section of DL.

Conferences & Workshops: SIGMOD/PODS 2012 had 697 attendees.  Paper acceptance rates were 17% for SIGMOD (48/289) and 26% for PODS (26/101).  We had 11 workshops, including a PhD Symposium and a database mentoring program.  SIGMOD/PODS 2013 will be in New York, NY.  For that conference, submissions are up.  We have 11 workshops planned (3 new compared to 2012).

Strategic Goals & Initiatives: continue and increase student support; encourage formation of local chapters and offer support; enhance and expand on-line services; increase participation in ACM educational activities (webinars, tech packs, …).

Recommendation: The SGB EC congratulates SIGMOD on their program performance and finds it viable to continue its status for the next 4 years.

Approval of the recommendation by SGB with 1 abstention.

7.4 SIGMM Viability Review (Nahrstedt)

Klara Nahrstedt presented an update for SIGMM beginning with a review of how the SIG accomplishes specific financial goals.  Due to a healthy fund balance they were able to establish new awards; SIGMM Technical Achievement Award, the SIGMM Best PhD Thesis Award, Nicolas Georganas Best Paper Award in ACM TOMCCAP.  We have also consistently awarded travel grants.  We have established strong women’s presence in SIGMM by participating in the organization of “Networking of Multimedia Women” events at ACM Multimedia conference every year and the ACM-W fellowship program.  We have also increased travel grants for female students to attend events organized by SIGMM Chapter in China.  Our history preservation committee is active with the preservation of SIGMM-sponsored events. We celebrated our 20th Anniversary of the ACM Multimedia conference which included an anniversary panel and special issue in TOMCCAP.

We are accomplishing member benefits by revitalizing the flagship ACM Multimedia Conference with rotating venues, stringent criteria, additional tracks, bundled registration fees and tutorials.  We have also established highly active information venues with the SIGMM Newsletter and Web Portal.  We have new conferences, MMSys and ICMR. We established a chapter in Beijing.  Our Educational Committee was created to track various educational activities, courses, materials and sharing.

SIGMM Membership increased from 400 to 930 (in 2012).  The increase is associated with more SIGMM Asian members (2012: 36% Asia members, EU 27%, USA 28%).  The chair visited Asian Universities and giving talks about SIGMM activities.  There has been a targeted effort of SIGMM officers to be Inclusive of Asian researchers in organizing and leadership of ACM SIGMM sponsored conferences and SIGMM awards committees (between 2007-2012).  The establishment of SIGMM Chapter in China also adds to the increase of membership. Visit/keynote of past and current SIGMM chairs at ICIMS. Combining SIGMM registration with ACM  SIGMM Multimedia conference registration.

Future member benefit goals and challenges: We plan to conduct successful SIGMM elections; increase presence on social media; increase participation from women; increase educational activities

Due to healthy SIGMM funds we plan to increase support for students attending SIGMM events; find a feasible way towards multimedia digital art being self-funded; investigate a process for supporting and sharing relevant SIGMM online resources (datasets, multimedia demos) related to papers presented at SIGMM events

Recommendation: The SGB EC congratulates SIGMM on their program performance and finds it viable to continue its status for the next 4 years.

Unanimous approval of the recommendation by SGB

7.5 SIGSAC Viability Review (Bertino)

Elisa Bertino presented the Viabilty Review for SIGSAC. SIGSAC's mission is to develop the information security profession by sponsoring high quality research conferences and workshops.

SIGSAC Conferences: ACM Computer and Communication Security (CCS). Started in 1993 and is the top conference in the security area with high attendance (about 500).  It Includes a poster and a demo program. It features a test-of-time paper award and several workshops co-located, including Workshop on Privacy in the Electronic Society (WPES), Cloud Computing Security Workshop (CCSW), Workshop on Security and Privacy in Smartphones and Mobile Devices (WSPM), ACM Symposium on Access Control Models and Technologies (SACMAT), started in 1995 by replacing the ACM RBAC workshop, ACM Symposium on Information, Computer and Communication Security (ASIACCS), ACM Conference on Security and Privacy in Wireless and Mobile Security (WiSec), ACM Conference on Data and Application Security and Privacy (CODASPY)

SIGSAC Finances and Membership: Healthy fund balance: $512K due to careful management of conferences.  Funds obtained to support student travels to CCS.  DL revenue increasing.  We are working on analyzing downloaded contents.  Membership is slightly declining to 884 members it was 982 in 2009.  Member retention and new member recruiting is a crucial challenge.

SIGSAC Awards: SIGSAC Outstanding Innovation Award, SIGSAC Outstanding Contributions Award, SIGSAC PhD thesis award

In-cooperation events: CFP: The Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference; IWIA: IEEE International Workshop on Information Assurance; ACSAC: Annual Computer Security Applications Conference; ESSoS International Symposium on Engineering Secure Software and Systems; SIN: International Conference on Security of Information and Networks; IFIP SEC: IFIP International Information Security Conference; NeFX: Northeast Forensics Exchange

New Goals for SIGSAC: Continue to support conferences; support a strong group of committees with many volunteers and high quality papers; establish a newsletter; establish a doctoral symposium to be associated with CCS and ASIACCS; establish security competitions; outreach to industry

Recommendation: The SGB EC congratulates SIGSAC on their program performance and finds it viable to continue its status for the next 4 years.

Unanimous approval of the recommendation by SGB

7.6 SIGSAM Viability Review (Johnson)

Jeremy Johnson delivered a viability review for SIGSAM, Special Interest Group on Symbolic and Algebraic Manipulation.  Since 1967 SIGSAM has been the largest international organization representing, promoting and supporting the computer algebra and symbolic computation scientific communities.

Our scope encompasses the design, analysis and implementation of algorithms and systems for symbolic and algebraic computation and their application to problems of science and broader society.

SIGSAM activities: Publishes the ACM Communications in Computer Algebra since 1965; sponsors conferences (such as ISSAC) also funds, and nominates for awards; informs members on computer algebra activities and events; website (77,517 visits), mailing lists (10 with 5,673 subscribers)

Conferences: ISSAC: The International Symposium on Symbolic and Algebraic Computation is the premier annual computer algebra conferences (since 1988) managed by a Steering Committee of six members (3 institutional, including SIGSAM and 3 elected at large).  Other conferences with SIGSAM involvement: SNC, ECCAD, PASCO, PLMMS

DL: 2,736 articles, 7,716 citings, 400,780 downloads

Awards include: Richard D. Jenks Memorial Prize for Excellence in Software Engineering applied to Computer Algebra which is awarded every two years (at ISSAC), selected by committee appointed by SIGSAM after a call for formal nominations and letters of support; ISSAC Prizes which is a distinguished paper award and student author award.  We successfully nominated Erich Kaltofen for ACM Fellow.

Financial Status: the SIG fund balance increased 10K from last year. Prize Endowment totaled $83,102 (ISSAC paper awards: $53,648; Jenks Prize: $29,454) Conference revenue: ISSAC 2011 ($24) ISSAC 2009 $615. Membership was at 233 in 2012 down from 259 in 2009.

Goals and Challenges: Add value to and increase membership; further support and promote CA community; support poster/software prizes; support students with more awards, competitions, travel grants and resources

Recommendation: The SGB EC congratulates SIGSAM on their program performance and finds it viable. The SGB EC congratulates SIGSAM on their continuing importance to the community, but has concerns about submissions and attendance at the ISSAC conference and finds SIGSAM viable to continue its status for the next 3 years.

Unanimous approval of the recommendation by SGB

7.7 SIGSIM Viability Review (Fishwick)

Fund Balance is approaching $300,000 – on a steady incline from 2006.

Member Benefits include the PhD Colloquium Winter Sim Conference registration waiver, 12 new travel grants ($1K each) for students.  Video tutorials and MSKR repository in revised SIGSIM web space: http://www.acm-sigsim-mskr.org/ (EIC and two associate editors). SIGSIM PADS conference (Montreal, Quebec, May 19-22, 2013). Simulation Archives ($5K per year) Copies of conference proceedings for WSC, PADS (now SIGSIM PADS), and DS-RT

Outreach: Video model simulation knowledge repository (MSKR): EIC with two associate editors. SIGSIM produced videos, M&S related videos http://www.acm-sigsim-mskr.org/Videos/videos.htm. Multimedia articles, book, conference, and Journal references.

Students: we encourage young members to participate in the modeling and simulation area.  Support is provided for the Phd Colloquium at Winter Simulation Conference (WSC): free registration and one lunch (costs shared with INFORMS-Sim), one year of free membership in SIGSIM as well as 12 $1K Travel Grants for the WSC conference, 5 $1K Travel Grants for the SIGSIM PADS conference.

Social Networking: 1st inaugural SIGSIM PADS Conference to be held in May 2013 in Montreal for which 80 papers have been submitted.  This conference leverages former PADS (Principles of Advanced Discrete Simulation) conference history. We participate in sponsorship of  SIGSIM PADS ’13 (100%), WSC ’12 (25%) (Berlin), DS-RT ’12 (10%), MSWIM ’12 (100%), PADS ’12 (34%).  We are currently participating in LinkedIn and will look into possibly joining Facebook and Twitter in the future.

SIGSIM Recommendation:  The SGB EC congratulates SIGSIM on their program performance and finds it viable to continue its status for the next 4 years.

Unanimous approval of the recommendation by SGB

Action: Frawley to update viability review schedule based on above.

8.0 SGB EC Administrative Reports

8.1 SGB EC Update (Altman)

Erik Altman introduced the members of the EC, Elisa Bertino, Barbara Boucher-Owens, Yannis Ionnidis, Patrick Madden, David Pennick, David Wood, Vicki Hanson, Brent Hailpern, Joe Konstan, Andrew Sears, Donna Cappo.

Erik gave a review of the activity of committee’s involvement in the changes in publications.  The work continues to evolve with focused consideration given to the financial impact associated with the changes and the long-term impact on the SIGS.

8.2 SGB Distinguished Speakers Update (Bose)

Pradip Bose provided an update on developments within the Distinguished Speakers Program (DSP) which works to present reknown leaders in academia, industry and government, speaking about topics that matter most in the computing and IT world today. ACM pays for part of the costs.  Lectures include a broad range of topics.  Speakers travel all over the world.  Nominations can be made at http://www.dsp.acm.org/nominate_form.cfm

8.3 ACM/AMIA Task Force Report (Konstan)

AMIA is the American Medical Informatics Association, although they have significant operations outside of the Americas, as we do. It is an organization that is already involved in creating conferences within the space of Medical Informatics and Professional Opportunities and has been a partner in the discussion in how we can work together to advance the fields and address the challenges of Computer Scientists who have had challenges publishing with credit in AMIA venues.

Efforts to meet regarding the chartering of a conference steering committee have been waylaid by cancelations and scheduling difficulties on both sides. We will continue to update as things go along.  At some future SGB meeting we will have an AMIA guest attend.

8.4 SIG Proposals/New Conferences (Wood, Maddden)

David Wood and Patrick Madden provided an update on the SIG status for SIGLOG which is not being pursued as a SIG at this time.

Additional Discussion

Will Tracz, SIGSOFT, updated the group on areas of opportunity for SIGS: identifying Webinar Speakers; serving as moderators for Webinars; and the development of Tech Packs.

Netiva Caftori, SIGCAS, requested to approach the group with the suggestion that the SGB endorse a pledge which serves as the building block for the organization which is called "The Pledge of the Computing Professional." The pledge was read aloud and distributed to the group while a discussion in favor and against the endorsement took place.  Those not in favor expressed concern that endorsement would be redundant as sentiment of the pledge is contained in ACM's mission statement. http://pledge-of-the-computing-professional.org/index.html

The SGB made no formal decision on endorsement.

Erik Altman closed the meeting

The next meeting will be held in the New York City area.  The event will include an orientation session on September 30 with the SGB meeting occurring on October 1, 2013.