MINUTES OF THE USENIX BOARD OF DIRECTORS' MEETING

Ellie Young ellie at usenix.UUCP
Sat Dec 2 12:20:54 AEST 1989


The following is a Summary of the USENIX Board of Directors'
Meeting which was held in Vienna, Austria on September 17 
and 19, 1989.  This summary has also been published in the 
most recent issue of ;login:, which was mailed to the 
membership this week.


Summary of Board of Directors' Meeting
Vienna, Austria, September 17 and 19, 1989

Attendance:  Stephen Johnson, Marshall Kirk McKusick, Sharon Murrel, Michael
O'Dell, Alan Nemeth, John Quarterman, Deborah Scherrer, Ellie Young, John Don-
nelly, Daniel  Klein, Judith DesHarnais, Ernst Janich, Johan Helsingius, Rick
Adams, Alain Williams, Philip Peake, Neil Todd.

Workshops

Systems Administration III.  Donnelly reported that the dual track format of
the tutorials was well received.  Attendance figures:  219 total; 183 for tu-
torials; 199 technical sessions only; 20 tutorials only.

Distributed Systems.  O'Dell said  there were good papers, and this topic
might become a recurring workshop.

C++ '90 Conference.  Young reported that a program committee was formed, and
the Call for Papers had been mailed.

Security '90.  Nemeth would contact Matt Bishop with recommendations for for-
mat guidelines, and he volunteered to serve as board liaison.

Software Development Environments Workshop.  Nemeth reported that he had
received a favorable reply from the technical head of the SIGMA Project in
Japan, regarding co-sponsorship of an international workshop to be held in the
Fall of 1990.

D.C. '90 Conference

     Klein reported that 83 submissions were received and 27 papers had been
accepted.  He felt that extended abstracts worked very well.  A panel on eth-
ics in the computer industry would be offered.

     Quarterman wanted to advertise daycare as available in D.C.  It was de-
cided to allocate $5,000 to offer and possibly underwrite this service to in-
terested participants.

Abolish Winter Conferences

     Quarterman said he put this item on the agenda because it was perceived
that there was a problem of a weak technical program at the recent confer-
ences.  Nemeth said that perhaps we've really switched to having ten confer-
ences per year (e.g., workshops have increased).  O'Dell felt that the paper
quality isn't the issue, that the problem is one of drawing conclusions, and
our need for strategic planning as an organization. Nemeth stated that we need
risk profiles in order to ascertain loss of income and possible penalties. A
subcommittee of Johnson, O'Dell, and Nemeth was formed to discuss this issue.

Professional Development Seminars

     Donnelly stated that the first one would be held in Chicago and consist
of three sessions.  He was optimistic about enrollment.

Standards

     Quarterman reported on the activity of the ISO/1EC JTC1 SC22 WG15.  John-
son wanted to know why we are supporting this activity.  Quarterman replied
that it is an attempt to prevent standards from prohibiting innovation.

Vendor Sales at Conferences

     Young went over our attorney's findings that the general policy prohibit-
ing vendors from making sales at the conferences is unnecessary from a tax
perspective, and asked if there would be another reason for prohibiting sales
on the floor.  It was decided to allow selling on the floor, and that Donnelly
should continue to screen vendors and be the regulator of taste.

Executive Office Report

     It was suggested that we post on the net the dates of the upcoming board
meetings with a set of topics, and suggest that members contact board members
with input.

Budget - Revised Projections for 1989

     Young went over the budget which provided an overview of the current fi-
nances as of July 1989, as well as projections for where we'll stand in
November.  In most expense categories we had realized savings.  The board had
also earmarked $162,500 in discretionary funds during this fiscal year.

Proposed Budget for 1990

     The board went over Young's list of assumptions in preparing the budget
for next year.  This led to a discussion about making adjustments in compensa-
tion, fees, and offering discounts. The speakers' compensation committee would
meet again,  and Young would prepare a proposal for discounts.  It was also
decided to leave the projected net change figure for next year in place sub-
ject to getting a risk profile.  The budget was approved.

EUUG Relations

     Johan Helsingius ran through the structure of the EUUG boards.  Their
governing board consists of two representatives, who are board members of a
national group in each country (approximately 20 countries).  They give direc-
tion to the executive committee, and strategic/overall planning for the EUUG
as a whole.  The executive group is a subcommittee of the governing board that
handles the day-to-day matters and is self-elected.

EUUG Executive Board:
        Neil Todd  (events/tutorials)
        Ernst Janich (events)
        Kim-Biel Nielsen (pr)
        Teus Hagen (co-chair)
        Michel Gien (co-chair)
        Nigel Martin (finances)
        Daniel Karrenberg (networks)
        Philip Peake (publications)

Co-opted members (on trial):
        Johan Helsingius
        Norman Hall
        Francis Brower

Conference Chair Proposal

     Quarterman's proposal for a model for assignment of conference chairs was
approved, as follows:

  1. Assign no chair to any conference without a specific item for that pur-
pose on the agenda of the board meeting.

  2. Place assignment of the chair for any conference without a chair on the
agenda of the board meeting 18 months before the conference.

  3. State reasons in the minutes of the board meeting when assigning a chair
to a conference more than 18 months in advance.

  4. Require anyone who asks to chair a conference to submit a written
proposal, and assign a chair to a conference without a written proposal only
in exceptional cases with reasons stated in the minutes.

  5. Post (in ;login:, on Usenet, and in posters) a request for proposals to
chair a conference to coincide with the conference 24 months in advance of any
conference that needs a chair.

     Quarterman provided a sample proposal with various points.

     It was also agreed that while the board liaison must be an actual member
of the Board at the time that the proposal is accepted, and the chair ap-
pointed, he/she may continue to be liaison even after retiring from the board.

Joint Workshop - EUUG and USENIX

     The EUUG representatives expressed their desire to hold a joint workshop
with USENIX in Europe at a location without a national group, some time in the
near future.  The primary goal would be to get technical developers together
to exchange ideas and bring people in that are more leading edge.  It was
agreed to extend to EUUG an expression of interest in a joint workshop, the
topic, date and location to be established by joint subcommittees of each
group, and that we allocate up to $10,000 to be expended in matching funds
with EUUG in the planning and preparation for this event.  Any profit or loss
will be split between each group.  Nominal time frame would be Fall of 1990.

Public Domain UUCP Implementation

     It was decided to allocate $2,500 to pay for the cost of generating a
full proposal for the implementation, management, and production of a public
domain version of UUCP, and that USENIX would proceed unilaterally, but would
be willing to work jointly with EUUG.  Johnson volunteered to collect informa-
tion.

Next Board Meeting

     It will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Janu-
ary 21, 1990, and continuing on January 22.

                                                                            EY



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