1. 1. Purpose. The purpose of the International Conference on Software Maintenance and Evolution (ICSME) Steering Committee (SC) is to:
    • Provide a continuing committee to represent ICSME interests with the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE CS) and other groups
    • Improve organisation of ICSME, including preconference activities, conference itself and postconference activities, and adjust it as needed
    • Obtain feedback about ICSME for purposes of improving it
    • Assist as needed the current ICSME organisers
    • Start new ICSMEs (selecting General Chair(s), Program Chair(s) and locations of the conferences to come)
    • Hear complaints about the conduct of ICSME (the decision of Steering Committee is binding on the current ICSME)

  2. 2. Composition. The Steering Committee will have six members, who will elect from their membership a CHAIR, whose principal duty will be to chair SC meetings.
    The SC will also elect a SECRETARY from the membership of the SC, whose main duties will be:
    • Producing draft minutes of SC meetings and circulating to the committee for checking;
    • Issuing final minutes and ensuring actions are clearly identified;
    • Issuing a draft agenda for all SC meetings, and sending this to the Chair for approval. Issuing the approved agenda with supporting papers, in due time;
    • Maintaining the ICSME web site;
    • Adopting proper measures to ensure that the websites of previous ICSM(E) editions remain accessible in the future.

  3. 3. Member Qualifications. Each SC member must meet all these qualifications:
    • Have served for the current or previous ICSM(E) in any of the following roles: (i) Program Committee member of the main track; (ii) Program (Co-)Chair of the main track; (iii) General (Co-)Chair.
    • Subscribe to the SC code of ethics.

  4. 4. Code of Ethics. Each SC member shall follow these principles in SC matters:
    • Openness. Willing to receive input from anyone.
    • Response to inquiries. Will swiftly acknowledge inquiries and track them to their completion.
    • Non-ownership. Realize that SC members are not owners of ICSME, but caretakers of it for a limited time. ICSME decisions will be made in the best interests of ICSME, and not necessarily (i) to further the SC member's continuance as an SC member, or (ii) in the best interests of another conference or organization.
    • Courteous. Be courteous with other SC members and with those approaching them with SC matters.
    • Participation. Take SC duties seriously and perform them professionally. Take an active interest in SC matters and actively contribute inputs when requested. Respond to requests in a reasonable time. Agree to abide by the SC Charter. Attend all ICSME and the SC meetings during their term.
    • Disclosure of conflict of interest. When a matter arises before the SC that an SC member is a direct party to, or stands to personally gain or lose from, that member shall disclose that there is a conflict of interest and disqualify himself or herself from taking part in considerations of the matter.
    • Truthful and honest, in all SC dealings.
    • Confidentiality. On sensitive matters SC members will not disclose SC discussions unless authorized by the SC to do so. Will hold confidences when requested.
    • Commitment to ICSME. Believe in the worth of ICSME and will support its future.
    • Support of IEEE CS. Will be subject to rules and regulations of the IEEE Computer Society, as long as IEEE CS is a primary sponsor of ICSME.
    • No bribes. No SC member may receive any reward, payment, or other consideration in return for his or her voting in a particular manner on some issue.

  5. 5. Membership Terms. Each member of the SC is normally elected for a term of three years. Every year, two seats of the SC will be available for election. Terms begin on the day of election (held during ICSME) and end three years later on election day. No person may serve consecutively more than two terms.

  6. 6. Elections. Notification of election of Steering Committee members shall be made at each ICSME. During an open steering committee meeting all attendees of the current edition of ICSME can propose SC candidates. If another attendee seconds this candidacy, the candidate is requested to confirm his candidacy. All candidates get the opportunity to introduce themselves to the ICSME community and express their thoughts and ideas for improving ICSME to the general audience. After this, each attendee gets a voting ballot on which (s)he can note two candidates for the SC election.

    If qualifications of the proposed candidate could not have been verified during the elections procedure and the elected candidate does not meet the qualifications stated in Section 3 of this document, the elected candidate will be replaced by the proposed candidate that received less votes but meets those qualifications. If no candidate meets those qualifications or less than two candidates have been nominated Section 7 applies.

    Election of SC Chair. The SC Chair has a one-year term starting from the end of the committee meeting at which he or she is elected until the end of the corresponding meeting one year (approximately) later. The SC Chair shall be elected by the committee immediately following the open meeting at which new SC members are elected. The previous SC will designate a retiring SC member to co-ordinate the election of the SC chair. The SC Chair is elected by majority vote from the current SC. The IEEE Computer Society conference office will be told about the new SC Chair by that new Chair.

  7. 7. Replacements. Replacements of resigning or removed members are made by selection and vote of the SC, on or before one month after the resignation or removal is effective. The term of the replacing member is the same as the term of the replaced SC member. The SC Chair may be replaced by another SC member by vote of the SC. Replacement here means that the SC member is no longer SC Chair, not that the SC member is no longer a member of the SC.

  8. 8. Removal. A person may be removed from the SC for gross or consistent violations of the code of ethics, or for other reasons deemed conduct unbecoming by the SC. Removal is by vote of the SC, and is effective at the conclusion of the vote. Removed members must wait at least one full term (i.e., at least three years) before being considered again for SC membership.

    SC members are expected to attend all ICSME and the SC meetings during their term. If a SC member misses a conferences held during their term, without serious reason, they may be removed from the SC by the vote of the other SC members.

    If such a situation arises, the removed SC member will be notified by the SC Chair or Secretary.

  9. 9. Motions, Resolutions. Only the committee may collectively agree on policies, motions, and resolutions of the SC. There must be at least four votes cast on a resolution/motion for a vote's result to be binding. At least four votes are necessary to carry an item.

    All members must be allowed the opportunity to vote on changes in membership (including removal or replacement of a member) or changes to the Charter. An urgent motion is an item requested by an SC member for a quick SC vote. All SC members will be notified of the item and a vote will be made on the item within one month from when the item is received by the SC Chair.

    In absentia voting. In absentia voting in writing by SC members by electronic mail is allowed. The voting SC member's identity must be verified.

  10. 10. Communications. Most issues and votes will be handled through electronic mail. Each SC member must have an electronic mail address. The SC charter, motions, and resolutions made since the last ICSME shall be made publicly available at each ICSME. Apart from ICSME, people may request these from the SC archives.

  11. 11. Language. The official language of the SC will be English.

  12. 12. Meetings. Meetings shall be at least once a year, normally at ICSMEs or by SC agreement elsewhere. All SC members must be given reasonable notification (i.e., one month's advance notice) of a meeting. A meeting agenda will be sent by the SC Chair ahead of time and all SC members may vote on items in the agenda.

  13. 13. Steering committee membership list. Available on the ICSME website.

  14. 14. Records and archives. Records of the SC and ICSME will be archived with the IEEE Computer Society. Records are the joint property of the SC. The following information shall be publicly available at the ICSME website: (i) Steering Committee (names, affiliations, websites); (ii) Conference Organizing Committee; (iii) Program Committee for all tracks; (iv) SC Charter; (v) Agendas of the SC meetings.

    The following information shall be archived and available to the SC members: (i) Number of attendees; (ii) Conference summary report (by General Chair, if done); (iii) Conference evaluations (from attendees); (iv) SC meeting minutes; (v) Conference budget and the final balance sheet.

  15. 15. Records and archives. The formats for electronic copies of SC records will be in a platform-independent format.

  16. 16. Public point of contact. All SC members are public points of contact. The SC Chair should be sent copies of matters requiring full SC attention. All inquiries should be responded to.

  17. 17. Changes to Charter. Changes to the SC Charter are by vote of the current SC, with at least four votes cast. Approved changes are put into the SC archives.

  18. 18. Interpretation of the Charter's meaning. Whenever the Charter is found ambiguous or unclear, the proposed interpretation will be sent to the SC. The SC will establish within one month by vote an interpretation of the ambiguous Charter passage. The interpretation will be appended to the Charter.

  19. 19. ICSME Program Committee Officers. The Steering Committee appoints the general chair(s) and the program chair(s) of the main track and approves the appointment of other organisation committee members based on the suggestions made by the general chair(s). The guidelines to be used are available in the "Guidelines for Selecting ICSME Key Personnel and Conference Location" document.

  20. 20. Budget. The SC is self-supporting, through the donated time and money of its members. Should the responsibilities of the SC become financially onerous, the SC member may seek financial support for his SC activities. The support received should be unconditional relative to the SC member's duties.

  21. 21. Abbreviations and definitions.
    • Conference Committee: General Chair(s), Program Chair(s), Tutorial Chair, Local Arrangements Chair, Publicity Chair
    • ICSME: International Conference on Software Maintenance and Evolution
    • General Chair(s): General Chair or Co-chair
    • IEEE CS: IEEE Computer Society
    • Program Committee: Program Chair(s) and Program Committee members SC: Steering Committee
    • TCSE: Technical Committee on Software Engineering

  22. 22. Submission guidelines for organizing committee. The General Chair(s) and Program co-chairs shall not submit papers to the conference for the ICSME in the year for which they hold that office. Furthermore, students of the General Chair(s) and Program Chair(s) of the main track shall not submit papers to the conference for the ICSME in the year for which they hold that office with the exception of the doctoral symposium. Program chairs of additional tracks (e.g., ERA, Industry, Tool) as well as their students shall not submit papers to their tracks.

    Futhermore:
    • ICSME should be a selective conference i.e., all papers which are deemed to be of sufficiently high standard are accepted, i.e., on merit; there is no fixed proportion of the submission number to be accepted (maximum or minimum).
    • Names of PC members who do not meet their commitment must to be passed on to the succeeding program co-chairs.