Restricted Organizer List

Purpose

Definition

The Restricted Organizer List (ROL) is a list of people and organizations that are not permitted to take part in the organization of conferences that have any form of sponsorship by IEEE. This list can include:

• individuals (both IEEE members and non-members) and
• organizations (including, but not restricted to, individual conferences/conference series, and third-party organizations such as companies, academic institutions, and associations).

In the case of organizations, the restriction applies both to the organization as an entity and those individuals who currently hold or held significant leadership roles in the organization at the time of the activities that led the organization to be placed on the ROL took place. It does not, however, apply to members of the organization who do/did not have any significant leadership role or involvement with those activities.

The restriction prohibits taking part in the organization or promotion of a conference (e.g., being a member of the organizing or steering committee, session or topic chairman, or participation in the review or program determination process), activities involved with obtaining approval for IEEE sponsorship, and being a part of a conference exhibition. It does not, however, prevent individuals from being a “normal” attendee to the conference (i.e., submitting papers to the conference and/or attending the conference).

Deciding Body

The decision to place individuals and/or organizations on the ROL is made by the IEEE Conferences Committee (ICC) – Subcommittee: Conference Quality Committee (CQC), who will also determine the length of time they will spend on the ROL and any measures (e.g., training) that can be a condition for removal from the ROL or reduce their stay on the ROL.

Process Overview

The following outlines the steps involved in the ROL process.

Referrals

The process begins with a referral to the CQC. Referrals can be made by the Chair of the CQC or the Chair of any of its subcommittees (standing or ad hoc), as well as by senior IEEE Meetings, Conferences, and Events (CEE) staff members (the Managing Director of CEE or any Senior Director of CEE). There must be evidence or strong suspicion of significant wrong-doing for a referral to be made. The referral should include a description of the individuals/organizations involved, the actions that they are accused of doing, the IEEE policies and procedures that were not followed, and the implications of those actions.

Preliminary Recommendation

The Chair of the CQC will appoint a body to investigate the allegations and make a Preliminary Recommendation. The body will usually be the Conference Organization Integrity (COI) subcommittee of the CQC, but can also be an ad hoc body appointed by the CQC Chair that has a minimum of two CQC members on it. The investigation should involve the IEEE volunteers and OUs that are closest to the complaint, typically the senior volunteers of the IEEE OU that sponsored the conference. They will endeavor to understand the facts behind the complaint, which (if any) IEEE policies and procedures were not followed, and the degree of responsibility (if any) of the individuals and organizations involved. If fault is found, they will also recommend what actions should be taken, such as time on the ROL or mandatory training. Reasonable precautions against conflict of interest should be taken, and in particular, individuals suspected of misconduct should not be involved in the determination of fault or the actions that should be taken.

Given that many of the CQC subcommittees (especially the COI) investigate conference-related incidents and that there is a desire to avoid duplication of effort, a Preliminary Recommendation can also be an outcome of these CQC subcommittee investigations. In other words, CQC subcommittee investigations can be treated as a ROL investigation, provided that the CQC Chair approves and that appropriate processes are followed.

Final Determination

After the Preliminary Recommendation, the CQC will make the final determination of fault and actions to be taken, such as time on the ROL or mandatory training. The CQC role is to ensure that the investigation was performed appropriately, that the evidence was convincing, and that the actions to be taken are uniform. Individual CQC members who were involved in the Preliminary Recommendation must recuse themselves from the final determination, and must not be present for the final discussion and voting by the CQC. However, they can (and should) present information about the investigation and the reasoning behind their recommendation.

Appeal

For external organizations and for individuals who were not members of IEEE at the time that activities in question took place, the decision of the CQC is final. IEEE OUs and individuals who were IEEE members at the time that the activities in question took place can appeal the decision to the IEEE Conferences Committee (ICC) Chair. In order to make this appeal, the individuals / OUs must receive the support of the appropriate Division/Region Director of IEEE. In all cases, the decision of the ICC Chair is final.

Communication

The decision to place individuals and/or organizations on the ROL will be communicated to the restricted parties in a timely manner, as will be the outcome of their appeal (if appropriate). They will also be informed about which IEEE conference-related activities are forbidden to them while they are on the ROL, and that participating in forbidden activities may result in further actions. If they can reduce the length of time they will spend on the ROL via training or some other measures, they will also be given the appropriate information.

Utilization

The ROL will be maintained and updated by CEE staff, who will use it when conferences are initiated to verify that people and/or organizations on the ROL are not involved with the organization of the conference, and to verify post-initiation that members of the ROL remain uninvolved. CEE staff will also ensure that the decision is entered into appropriate clearinghouses for ethics violations within IEEE (e.g., Ethics Point). While the information on the ROL may also be used for other purposes, the identity of the people and organizations on the ROL and the investigation details are confidential and will be treated as such. Access is on a need-to-know basis, with permission granted by the ICC Chair or the CEE Managing Director.

We Are Here to Help

If you have questions about the Restricted Organizer List, please contact the CEE team.