[computing] IUCr message to Commission on Crystallographic Computing

Mon May 29 12:29:40 BST 2023

*now with working links*

To:         Chairs and members of Commissions

IUCr Representatives on other bodies

Members of Executive Committee (for information)

From:    The Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Subjects:              I.            Suggestions for memberships of
Commissions

II.            First closed (business) meetings of Commissions at Melbourne

III.           Meetings of Commission Chairs and IUCr Representatives with
Executive Committee

IV.           Financial support for Commission Chairs and IUCr
Representatives at Melbourne

V.            Commission websites

VI.           Online dictionary

VII.         Annual Reports

VIII.        IUCr Journals

IX.           Communication within Commission and with CEO - Appointment of
a Secretary or Vice-Chair

I. Suggestions for memberships of Commissions

1.  In February 2022 the President invited suggestions for membership of the
Commissions.  I attach a list of suggestions for members of your Commission
submitted by National Committees for Crystallography.  Where available, the
Nomination Forms are attached. There are often more suggestions than
vacancies.

2. Each Commission has to decide how many and which of its present members
it wishes to recommend to the Executive Committee to continue.  The relevant
rules are in By-Law 7.3.  A General Statement of Principles regarding
Commissions is attached and is also available on the web
(http://www.iucr.org/iucr/commissions/principles).

The Executive Committee recommends that, in order to maintain the vitality
of Commissions, regular rotation of Chairs is necessary and inactive members
should be replaced.  Thus, the term of nine years (or 12 years if continuing
as Chair) should be regarded as a maximum (and should be regarded as
exceptional).  [Please note that a retiring Chair automatically becomes a
consultant.]

The Executive Committee will expect to see a proposed membership that has
balanced gender representation.  The Executive Committee appreciates that
this is not always possible in some subject areas and a suitable explanation
should be provided where this is the case.

In case it is of assistance, details of the present membership are included
with the attached list of suggestions.  The first year of election to the
Commission is included and any persons (if any) not eligible for re-election
are marked by asterisks.  [The present consultants are included in the list
for information - consultants who have proved active in working for a
Commission are good candidates for nomination as full members.]

3. Each Commission has to compile recommendations for its new Chair and
members and has to submit these in writing to the General Secretary at least
72 hours before the relevant voting session of the General Assembly (By-Law
8.3).  These recommendations shall be approved by a majority of the members
of the Commission and shall be accompanied by a written statement from the
Commission Chair that he or she has obtained the consent of the persons
recommended.  The Executive Committee considers these recommendations when
making its nominations to the General Assembly (at least 48 hours before the
voting session of the General Assembly).  This is the formal timetable.
However, the General Assembly appreciates as much advance notice as possible
of these nominations.  Furthermore, the Executive Committee likes to discuss
them with each Chair when it meets him or her to discuss the work of the
Commission prior to presentation of his or her report to the General
Assembly, which takes place at the first and second sessions.  This requires
each Commission to decide on its full slate of recommendations by postal or
email communications and ballots; this slate should be submitted to the CEO
by 1 July 2023. 

Chairs of all Commissions and the IUCr Representatives on other bodies must
attend the first and second sessions of the General Assembly on 23 and 24
August 2023, when the activities of the Commissions and other bodies will be
considered.  If you are unable to attend, please inform me and ensure that
an alternate attends on your behalf. 

4. At the General Assembly, a presentation will be made showing the top
three highlights for each commission. Please could you submit your
highlights via this form
<https://www.jotform.com/iucrceo/commissions-highlights> ?

II.  First closed (business) meetings of Commissions at Melbourne

If you wish your Commission to meet in Melbourne, please would you tell me
as soon as possible and, in any case, not later than 1 July 2023, since a
meeting room will have to be arranged.

III.  Meetings of Commission Chairs and IUCr Representatives with Executive
Committee

As mentioned above, the Executive Committee wishes to meet all Commission
Chairs (and Commission Chairs nominated for the coming triennium) to discuss
the work of the Commissions and the nominations for membership for the next
triennium.  These meetings and the meetings with the IUCr Representatives on
other bodies must be held prior to the presentations of the reports to the
General Assembly on 23 and 24 August.  Please reserve your timeslot on this
booking form <https://www.jotform.com/iucrceo/meetwith-ec-congress> .

IV.  Financial support for Commission Chairs and IUCr Representatives at
Melbourne

Because of the need for Commission Chairs (and incoming Commission Chairs)
and IUCr Representatives to arrive prior to the Congress to meet the
Executive Committee, the IUCr is pleased to offer a grant towards the
additional expenses.  Should you wish to accept this offer, please let me
know well in advance of the Congress how much you will require.

V. Commission websites

The basic information for each Commission is kept up to date by the CEO and
may be found by following the links at http://www.iucr.org/iucr/commissions

It is requested that the Commission-maintained web pages reached from these
sites are also kept up to date and each Commission should appoint a member
to be responsible for this. 

VI. Online Dictionary

Chairs, members and consultants for each Commission are requested to look at
the Online Dictionary. The Chairs are requested to bring any concerns about
definitions to their meeting with the Executive Committee in Melbourne.

VII. Annual Reports

In order to make the reports from Commissions more consistent, and to reduce
the editing time required in the Chester offices, we have removed the
requirement for a triennial report and have also introduced a suggested word
limit via an online submission form. If you have any feedback on this
process, I would be happy to hear.

VIII. IUCr Journals

The IUCr relies on income from its Journals in order to to fund its
scientific, educational and outreach activities. The commissions can support
the Journals by encouraging submission of articles in their scientific
areas.  The Journals wish to be responsive to the needs of the
crystallographic community, so the Melbourne meeting is an opportunity for
each Commission to inform the Executive Committee, the Editor-in-Chief and
Executive Managing Editor of any ways in which the IUCr Journals could
better serve the needs of their members.

IX. Communication within Commission and with CEO - Appointment of a
Secretary or Vice-Chair

The transparency of communication within Commissions is inconsistent, as is
the speed with which different Commissions have returned the requested
Annual Reports. To improve this, each Commission is requested to use the
moderated email list that has been provided for their use (details can be
obtained from the CEO if they are not currently known by the Commission
members) and each Commission is requested to appoint a Secretary or
Vice-Chair that can be a secondary point of call if the Chair is
incommunicado, and can motivate the Chair to be more active when the
Commission appears to be quiet.

Yours sincerely,

Alex 

Dr Alexandra Stanley

Chief Executive Officer

International Union of Crystallography

5 Abbey Square,

Chester

CH1 2HU

+44 (0) 1244 345431

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.iucr.org/pipermail/computing/attachments/20230529/16126bc1/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: CCC_members.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 108205 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.iucr.org/pipermail/computing/attachments/20230529/16126bc1/attachment-0001.pdf>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: CCC_Nominations2023.zip
Type: application/x-zip-compressed
Size: 688519 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.iucr.org/pipermail/computing/attachments/20230529/16126bc1/attachment-0001.bin>