IBS Council Circular 2003/01

INTERNATIONAL

BIOMETRIC

SOCIETY

COUNCIL CIRCULAR 2003/01

1.      ISSUE FOR BALLOTING. Biometrics Book Review Editor

Biometrics Book review editor Martin Ridout (British Region) has served a three-year term (January 2000-December 2002) and needs to be replaced. The Editorial Advisory Committee recommends the appointment of Iris Pigeot (German Region) for the period January 2003-December 2005. Iris is willing to take on this task and the Executive Committee is delighted to bring this proposal before Council for approval. (Biographical information is attached, appendix 1)

For your information, the legislation (bylaw 9.3(a)) reads as follows:

Biometrics shall have three editors and a book review editor. Ordinarily, each of the three Editors shall serve a term of three years in a rotating system, with one Editor being replaced at the end of each calendar year. The Editors shall appoint the Associate Editors. The Book Review Editor shall serve a term of three years. The Editors shall select a Senior Editor who will have a "chair" role and also be the "Editor" representing Biometrics where a single representative is required (see bylaws 3.1, 8, 9.5 and 9.6).

2.      ISSUE FOR BALLOTING. Bylaw Change Regarding Honorary Life Membership

Soon, the Society will be putting out a call for proposals for Honorary Life Members (to be awarded during the IBC2004 in Cairns). The current legislation states that a proposal needs to be supported by five or more members, including at least two from outside the candidate’s Region. When read literally, it means that members from National Groups or At-Large members could not be nominated. This is clearly not the intention and in an effort to keep the bylaws accurate, we propose the following change.

Current wording of the bylaw:

2.2(d) Honorary Life Members - Regular Members may be elected by Council through the following selection process as Honorary Life Members of the Society. Honorary Life Members have all the rights and privileges of a Regular Member. In the first issue of the Biometric Bulletin in each year preceding an International Biometric Conference, the Editor shall publish a call for nominations for Honorary Life Member. This shall stipulate that nominations should be submitted to the General Secretary by July 31. Each nomination must be sponsored by five or more Members, including at least two from outside the candidate's Region; a statement of support of the nomination should be submitted by the sponsors. In September of such year, the General Secretary shall inform the Council of all valid nominations received before the end of July. Current Council Members are ineligible for nomination. The General Secretary shall be responsible for conducting an election. In this election each Member of the Council may support any number of candidates but no candidate shall be elected to Honorary Life Membership unless supported by at least three quarters of Council, and provided that no more than one Honorary Life Member can be elected in any two year period. The President shall have power to resolve any problem arising from a tie in the number of votes. The announcement of the newly elected Honorary Life Member, if any, shall be made by the President at the next International Biometric Conference.

Proposed wording of the Bylaw:

2.2(d) Honorary Life Members - Regular Members may be elected by Council through the following selection process as Honorary Life Members of the Society. Honorary Life Members have all the rights and privileges of a Regular Member. In the first issue of the Biometric Bulletin in each year preceding an International Biometric Conference, the Editor shall publish a call for nominations for Honorary Life Member. This shall stipulate that nominations should be submitted to the General Secretary by July 31. Each nomination must be sponsored by five or more Members, including at least two from outside the candidate's Region (if the candidate belongs to a Region) or National Group (if the candidate belongs to a National Group); a statement of support of the nomination should be submitted by the sponsors. In September of such year, the General Secretary shall inform the Council of all valid nominations received before the end of July. Current Council Members are ineligible for nomination. The General Secretary shall be responsible for conducting an election. In this election each Member of the Council may support any number of candidates but no candidate shall be elected to Honorary Life Membership unless supported by at least three quarters of Council, and provided that no more than one Honorary Life Member can be elected in any two year period. The President shall have power to resolve any problem arising from a tie in the number of votes. The announcement of the newly elected Honorary Life Member, if any, shall be made by the President at the next International Biometric Conference.

3.      ISSUE FOR BALLOTING. Awards Fund Committee

At the end of 2002, the terms of the Chair, Julio A. Di Rienzo (Argentinean Region) and members Anna Bartkowiak (Group Poland), Kenneth J. Kopecky (WNAR), Saskia le Cessie (the Netherlands Region), G.K. Shukla (Indian Region) and John Reynolds (Australasian Region) ended. It is proposed that the Chair, Julio A. Di Rienzo (Argentinean Region), serves another two-year term (01/2003-12/2004), while members Anna Bartkowiak (Group Poland), Kenneth J. Kopecky (WNAR) and Saskia le Cessie (the Netherlands Region) are prepared to serve another four-year term (01/2003-12/2006). In addition, Alison Smith (Australasian Region) is proposed as a new committee member, in replacement of John Reynolds from the same Region, and also for the term 01/2003-12/2006. As a note of clarification: committee chairs typically serve two-year terms, while committee members serve four-year terms.

4.      ISSUE FOR DISCUSSION. Special Circumstance Countries

It has always been a complicated matter as to how to define Special Circumstance Countries (SCC). The only place within the Society’s legislation where mention is made of Special Circumstance Countries is in relation to the Awards Fund Committee:

“Awards Fund Committee - The Awards Fund Committee shall seek to promote Biometric activity in those areas of the world approved by Council as Special Circumstance countries. The Committee may seek support of Biometry by various means (…)”

The other place where the concept of Special Circumstance Country ought to feature prominently is in relation to (reduced) membership dues. However, Bylaw 12.1 reads:

“12.1 International Dues - The dues of all Members - Regular, Institutional, Corporate - and Associates - Associate and Student Associate - are fixed by the Council from time to time, and may be varied on a geographical basis. Members receive those publications as specified for each membership category (see Bylaw 2). An Associate may become a Regular Member upon payment of the annual dues of a Regular Member. Regular Members may choose to change their status to Associate. Honorary Life Members of the Society shall be exempt from the payment of annual dues. For an Institutional Member or a Corporate Member, one half of their dues shall be allocated to the Region or National Group as selected by the Member.”

Thus, obviously, the bylaws are rather vague in this respect. The Finance Committee has carefully considered this issue and come up with the proposal to follow the approach of the Institute for Mathematical Statistics (IMS). IMS, in turn, follows the World Bank proposal. The context for IMS was the determination of those countries eligible for a reduced fee. We would like to consider (1) a definition of Special Circumstance Country and (2) the issue of reduced fees, as two separate matters. Let us first consider the IMS proposal:

Begin IMS Proposal. The reduced dues countries be henceforth those defined by the World Bank as "developing countries". The World Bank calculates per capita Gross National Income and then every economy is classified as low, middle or high income. It calls low and middle income economies "developing".  For IMS to use the World Bank classification has two advantages:

(i) the groups are updated annually by the World Bank,

(ii) this definition is that used by some other societies for the same purpose (SIAM explicitly, and apparently also AMS).

The World Bank definitions can be seen at

http://www.worldbank.org/data/databytopic/class.htm

and the current data at

http://www.worldbank.org/data/wdi2001/pdfs/tab1_1.pdf

As a practical matter, it is undesirable for our dues structure if countries swap categories frequently. So we propose also the convention that a reduced dues country passes to regular dues only after three consecutive years of ceasing to be a "developing country". End IMS Proposal.

The Finance Committee and the Executive Committee would like to add that there is no such thing like an ideal solution to the problem of defining SCC. For example, there is often a lot of variability within a country, and this can never be captured by a summary at country level. We are in need for a system that is consistent, as fair as possible, and easy to implement.

It is therefore proposed to follow the IMS proposal, including the last part that countries retain their Special Circumstance Country status until it ceases to fit the definition for three consecutive years.

Regarding the definition of SCC, we propose the following addition to the Bylaws, at the end of Bylaw 5:

Special Circumstance Countries.  Special Circumstance Countries are defined according the World Bank classification. The World Bank calculates per capita Gross National Income and then every economy is classified as a low, middle (split into upper and lower middle) or high income. Countries classified as low or middle-income country are considered Special Circumstance Country by the International Biometric Society. A country loses its status of Special Circumstance Country if it ceases to be in the low or middle-income category for three consecutive years.

A spreadsheet is attached, for your information, showing which countries are identified within each of the categories.

The current Bylaw 12.1 is devoted to International Dues and reads as follows:

12.1 International Dues - The dues of all Members - Regular, Institutional, Corporate - and Associates - Associate and Student Associate - are fixed by the Council from time to time, and may be varied on a geographical basis. Members receive those publications as specified for each membership category (see Bylaw 2). An Associate may become a Regular Member upon payment of the annual dues of a Regular Member. Regular Members may choose to change their status to Associate. Honorary Life Members of the Society shall be exempt from the payment of annual dues. For an Institutional Member or a Corporate Member, one half of their dues shall be allocated to the Region or National Group as selected by the Member.

The following change is proposed:

12.1 International Dues - The dues of all Members - Regular, Institutional, Corporate - and Associates - Associate and Student Associate - are fixed by the Council from time to time, and may be varied on a geographical basis, according to whether or not countries within a Region or National Group have Special Circumstance Country status. When reduced dues are set for Special Circumstance Countries, members residing in such countries have the right to opt for such reduced dues. Members receive those publications as specified for each membership category (see Bylaw 2). An Associate may become a Regular Member upon payment of the annual dues of a Regular Member. Regular Members may choose to change their status to Associate. Honorary Life Members of the Society shall be exempt from the payment of annual dues. For an Institutional Member or a Corporate Member, one half of their dues shall be allocated to the Region or National Group as selected by the Member.

The implications of this change are that the definition of special circumstance country ceases to be a matter of continuous debate within the Society. Of course, if deemed necessary, the definition can be changed through the regular channels (Finance Committee and Executive Committee deliberations, followed by a Council Ballot).

In addition, it is possible for multi-country Regions or National Groups to set differential rates for different countries within the Region or National Group.

5.      FOR INFORMATION. 

The Finance Committee has accepted the proposal, although reluctantly and in view of the Society’s financial situation, to revert to electronic-only publication of the Biometric Bulletin.

Also related to the financial situation, the Finance Committee is currently discussing another increase of the membership dues. Any views on this issue are welcomed.

Appendices:    1) Iris Pigeot - Biographical information

                           2) SCC listing - spreadsheet