Area Chair Role Description

The Role of the Area Chair is to represent all Sections within their Area to the IEEE Canada Executive Committee (ExCom) and to represent the ExCom to the Sections between IEEE Canada Board meetings (basically this should be any meeting where the Section Chairs are not in attendance).

To facilitate the regular communication flow between ExCom and the Sections, the Area Chair shall conduct a minimum of six (6) Area meetings during the calendar year.  These meetings should be a minimum of 7 days in advance of a monthly ExCom.

During the Area meeting, an Area Chair shall capture section issues, activities, action items, requests (training needs for example) and motions. To ensure the information reported by sections during Area meetings is accurate, the Area must take meeting minutes. Once the Area Chair has received approval of the meeting minutes from the section chairs, submit these minutes to the IEEE Canada Administrator in advance of the monthly ExCom call, who will make sure they are distributed and archived.

At each Area meeting, the Area Chair should report out the issues, activities and actions taken by the ExCom to the Section Chairs since the last Area Meeting.  The Report shall also include a summary of upcoming IEEE Canada events.  In addition, if there is any urgent information that needs to be conveyed or input required from the section chairs, the Area Chair will report such out within one week of the ExCom Meeting and may use e-mail or other electronic means to do so.  Immediate notification will be important when important events, like training sessions pulled together to cover new policies or tools, arise or when feedback is required by the ExCom or SteerCom to address unexpected urgent matters, such as our policy or position on Humanitarian or Technology issues that must be quickly conveyed to a legislative body.

Every January, the Area will support Region operations by reminding the Sections in their Area to: submit a Section Executive Roster for calendar year, attend the IEEE Canada Board Training Sessions and to update their Section Web Pages if applicable.

Area Chairs are expected to attend all ExCom meetings, including the Fall (usually held in September) ExCom “Face to Face Meeting”, all IEEE Canada Board Meetings, and all Nomination and Appointment Committee meetings.

Additional duties include:

• Serving as a member of the IEEE Canada Nominations and appointments Committee.
• Working with Section Chars to identify and nominate potential volunteers to serve in IEEE Canada Positions
• Working with Section Chairs to Identify and nominate potential Award recipients to the IEEE Canada Awards and Recognition Committee.
• Lead or organize cross-section activities (such as distinguished lecturer tours, workshops, etc.) planned by Sections within the Area.

Time commitment estimates:

1. Meetings:
   1. IEEE Canada Board – 2 (V)F2F at 20 & 16 hours, 1 V @4 hrs —————– 40 hours per year
   2. IEEE Canada Executive Committee – 12 at 1.5 hours each ——————— 18 hours per year
   3. IEEE Canada F2F ExCom ———————————————————————— 12 hours per year
   4. Area – 6 at 1 hour each (minimum amount) —————————————— 06 hours per year
   5. Nominations and Appointments – 2 to 4 hours/month ————————— 36 hours per year
2. Reports/Meeting minutes
   1. IEEE Canada Board – 2 reports ————————————————————— 08 hours per year
      & one budget submission
   2. Area meetings – 6 meetings —————————————————————— 12 hours per year
   3. Annual training sessions – 3 at 2 hours ————————————————– 06 hours per year
3. Emails – 2 to 4 hours per month ——————————————————————— 36 hours per year

Total: (minimum) ———————————————————————– 168 hours per year —— 21 days/year