IEEE Governance Structure

IEEE VIS Charter

This document presents a governance structure for IEEE VIS to unify the three V-I-S conferences: VAST, InfoVis, and SciVis. It replaces the IEEE VIS Executive Committee (VEC) Charter of 2015. It is guided by the VIS Restructuring reports delivered to the Phoenix and Berlin meetings, the reVISe committee Amended Recommendations (Area Model, Governance, Keywords, Transition Plan) of October 2019 (presented in Vancouver) and subsequent work by the reVISe committee, which has delivered a series of concrete proposals for an area model and governance structure for the new conference. Later iterations of reVISe blended the responsibilities of VEC into VSC + GC.

I. Purpose of IEEE VIS

The objective of IEEE VIS is to provide the premier international forum for presenting innovations in visualization and visual analytics methods and applications across science, engineering, medicine, humanities, commerce, the arts and other areas.

From 2021, VIS consists of one conference spanning several areas, and associated symposia, workshops, tutorials and other events. The full name of the conference is “IEEE VIS: Visualization and Visual Analytics”.

The governance structure of VIS is based on several independent but tightly linked bodies:

• A VIS Steering Committee (VSC) oversees the scientific success, logistical planning, and community well-being of IEEE VIS.

• An Area Curation Committee (ACC) monitors, considers and proposes changes to the areas that are the focus of the research presented at the conference.

• A Paper Chairs Committee (PCC) consisting of area co-chairs and coordinated by overall paper chairs, conducts selection of full research papers for publication at the conference each year.

• A VIS Organizing Committee (OC) delivers an individual conference, as managed and coordinated by the General Chairs (GCs).

Each committee will maintain a single complete and up to date digital record of decisions and actions in a secure location that is accessible to all members.

All committees should be diverse in their membership in terms of research area, academic lineage, gender, geographic origin, sector (academia, industry, government), demographics, research disciplinary background, and other characteristics as they emerge.

The VSC will provide a dedicated channel for community motions. They will make an effort to table these motions and respond to them within a reasonable time frame, as permitted by workload.

The VSC will establish voting processes including quora, majorities - whether these are absolute, special or require unanimity - and ways in which votes may be cast (e.g. through teleconference). Initial procedures for decision-making are specified in Appendix III. These will be evaluated and adjusted as necessary to ensure that committees can operate swiftly (remotely and asynchronously) but fairly while achieving legitimacy, authority and transparency.

The functions of each committee are described in the following sections.

II. Sponsorship

The IEEE Computer Society’s Visualization and Graphics Technical Committee (VGTC) is the sponsor of IEEE VIS. Any change in sponsorship must be approved by the VSC, the VGTC Executive Committee, and the Vice President of Conferences and Tutorials of the IEEE Computer Society or his/her designee.

III. The VIS Steering Committee (VSC)

Purpose

The Visualization Steering Committee provides scientific and strategic oversight for IEEE VIS and supports the long-term organization, planning, success, and community well-being of the conference. The committee is responsible for guiding cross-year governance and policy decisions, ensuring continuity across conference cycles, and maintaining alignment with the evolving needs of the visualization research community.

This purpose aligns with the broader principles and values articulated in the VSC Mission Statement, which emphasizes transparency, effective communication, continuity, accountability, and community engagement as central to the committee’s role.

The remit of the VSC includes both recurring governance responsibilities that support the annual operation of the conference and broader policy, organizational, and strategic questions that span conference cycles. The VSC serves as a consultative and coordinating body for major initiatives arising from the General Chairs and the broader VIS community, particularly those with implications for scientific content, governance, organizational structure, or the long-term evolution of the conference. The VSC is also responsible for establishing clear mechanisms for communication and coordination across conference leadership and the community.

In addition, the VSC solicits and evaluates bids for future IEEE VIS conferences and oversees consideration of significant multi-year changes to the conference structure, organization, and policies.

Tasks

The main routine responsibilities of the VSC are:

• Scientific Oversight:

  • Appointment of:

    • ACC

    • PCC (OPCs and APCs)

    • Test of Time Committees

    • Chairs for specific content-related aspects of IEEE VIS, including short papers, posters, and doctoral colloquium

  • Ratification of and input into:

    • The full paper program committee and short paper program committee, proposed by PCC. The VSC initiates or performs ethics checks on the proposed committee members.

    • Best Paper Committees

    • Changes to the Call for Papers, proposed by the PCC

    • Area evolution proposals, generated by ACC

  • Strategic:

    • Scientific and operational relationship with other venues (TVCG, CG&A, and any others that may develop)

    • Initiatives that benefit the conference as the community and discipline develop

• Conference Oversight:

  • Multi-year operational aspects of VIS (finance, web, archives, etc.)

  • Decisions about future General Chair(s) and conference locations in line with IEEE VIS Bid Guidelines.

  • OC appointments which are not already appointed by GCs.

  • Oversight of long-term program components (e.g., Arts Program, Contests etc.)

• Community Well-Being

  • Oversight of the election process for elected positions—organizing the vote may be delegated to OC Elections chairs.

  • Annual review of the conference in collaboration with the GCs to discuss the successes and challenges of the existing conference structure, roles, and events as well as to reflect on any GC-initiated changes.

    • This meeting should happen as soon as possible after the completion of a VIS conference, such that the incoming GCs have the opportunity to adjust as needed.

    • Ideally, a report with quantitative and qualitative outcomes will be generated jointly by the GCs, with input from the OC, and reviewed by the VSC. The report should highlight what worked well, challenges encountered, lessons learned, and recommendations for future conferences, and be published on the VIS website.

  • VSC shall regularly establish a committee to review the efficacy of the governance structure and overall wellbeing of the community, along the lines of initiatives such as the VIS Restructuring report and the reVISe 1.0 and 1.1 committees. This committee will use the annual success and challenges reports above as the basis for reviewing and potentially revising aspects of the VIS governance structure and charter.

Composition

The VSC has 9 members, all serving 4-year terms. One member of the VSC is appointed by the VGTC ExCom chair (this could be the VGTC ExCom chair, but may change with a new chair). Four members are appointed by VSC. Four members are elected by VIS attendees and the community for a 4-year term.

Criteria for VSC members are: evidence of leadership; significant and continuing active contribution to VIS; outstanding proven track record as a responsive and engaged organizer; willingness to participate, lead and follow through by contributing to regular meetings and initiatives.

Collectively, the VSC should contain an overall mix of lineage, research area, geographic origin, sector, gender, career stage and other demographics

VSC members may not serve on the ACC during their term. This restriction also applies to VGTC Chair or their representative. Repeat appointments are possible following a four-year break from service on VSC and a two-year break from positions on the ACC.

Leadership

The VSC elects either a chair or two co-chairs from among its members to lead the committee. VSC members should be willing to take up a committee leadership position after 1 year’s service. Each co-chair serves for 1–3 years (default: 2 years) based on yearly approval by the committee. The VSC term limit of a co-chair can be extended by up to two years to ensure that both co-chairs do not rotate out in the same year.

Meetings

A VSC meeting is held at or around the time of each meeting of IEEE VIS. In addition, the VSC will meet several times per year by teleconference and decisions may be reached by email as and when VSC input is required. A representative of the current and incoming GCs will be invited to attend each VSC meeting. Members who attend less than half of the teleconference meetings held in any 6 month period without giving sufficient cause are considered withdrawn from the VSC, subject to review by the rest of the VSC.

Summary minutes, documenting all decisions, actions and topics discussed, will be taken by a member of the VSC designated by the chair. Minutes will be delivered to the VSC members for approval within 1 week of the meeting. The chair will maintain minutes of the past VSC meetings in a location accessible to all VSC members. A publicly accessible summary of issues discussed and decisions made will be made available within 1 month. This will omit any content that would create a privacy or confidentiality concern or is of a sensitive nature.

The VSC shall discuss and vote on motions that arise in line with agreed upon procedures for decision-making.

At each IEEE VIS conference, VSC will organize:

• an open ‘Town Hall’ style meeting to receive views on the conference from VIS attendees.
• a moderated panel composed of election candidates

IV. The Area Curation Committee (ACC)

Purpose

Monitoring the areas used as the focus of the research presented at VIS and proposing changes as the discipline develops.

Monitoring of areas and related topics such as keywords, proposing area-related motions to the VSC, and responding to recommendations made by the VSC. Multi-year data analyses of submission and reviewing patterns, and communication with the VSC will allow this group to understand and react to changing trends in the community. Analysis will culminate in proposals to adjust areas, as well as submission and reviewing processes, as part of an established conference organization process.

Tasks

The main routine responsibilities of the ACC are to:

• conduct the intellectual work of determining areas, driven by both ongoing data analysis and strategic concerns.

• collect and archive data needed for analysis of the area model and decision making on area evolution proposals, as well as data for analysis of submission and reviewing patterns.

• provide a forum for Associated Events to discuss their interaction with the main conference, as defined by the area model, and the topics represented by Associated Events, as well as other content-related conference arrangements.

• send out reviewer score cards to PC.

Composition

The ACC has 3-4 members, all serving 3-year terms. All members are appointed by the VSC. One to two members rotate on and off each year.

The committee should be broad enough in expertise to represent traditional areas, emerging areas, and adjacent communities. Criteria for all ACC members are: significant active contribution to VIS; proven track record as responsive and engaged organizer; analytical capability and technical data analysis skills.

ACC members may not serve on VSC during their term. Repeat appointments are possible, following a three-year break from the ACC and a two-year break from service on the VSC.

Leadership

Each year the ACC members will appoint a chair. All ACC members are eligible to serve as chair. The ACC chair can select one or more vice- or co-chairs to assist in ACC leadership activities.

Meetings

A joint meeting between ACC and VSC is held at least once a year. The ACC will operate in a mode and with a schedule of its own choosing.

Area Model Reports and Proposals

The ACC will prepare:

• a formal report on performance and state of the area model, and strategic considerations, published to the community, and

• a formal proposal to the VSC on any possible modifications to the area model in advance of every IEEE VIS conference. For this, the ACC operates within the initial framework: areas need to split/merge if submissions fall below a minimum or above a maximum, as determined appropriate by ACC, for several years in a row.

Both are due 15 months before the conference instance where the proposed changes would take effect. This timespan is selected because it allows incorporation of current submission data (taking place three months after submission), but also provides sufficient time for discussion and decisions (i.e., three months in advance of IEEE VIS, where reporting and decisions would be communicated).

Each proposal for area model modification should be accompanied by a rationale and include the main arguments reflecting discussion within ACC. Where possible, arguments should be supported by the data collected and archived by ACC.

During proposal preparation, the ACC will consult with the TVCG EIC to determine whether newly introduced areas are considered within scope, in line with agreements between the conference and TVCG.

Data Collection and Archiving

The ACC is collectively responsible for collection and archival of anonymized data that it requires for continued analysis of the area model and submission and reviewing patterns. ACC will receive these data from the Paper Chair Committee and the OC at regular intervals, typically immediately following the conclusion of both the IEEE VIS papers submission process, as well as following the review process. ACC will make this dataset publicly available together with the area model report.

V. The Papers Chair Committee (PCC)

Purpose

To select the full research papers for conference presentation and journal proceedings in each of the areas specified by the ACC.

Tasks

• Manage and execute papers selection process

• Propose Call for Papers to VSC

• Propose Best Paper Committee to VSC

• Propose Unified Program Committee to VSC

• Coordinate and support Programme Committee in its activity

Composition

The PCC is based on a two-tier structure: There are three overall papers chairs (OPCs) and two area papers chairs (APCs) per area. All are guest editors of the TVCG special issue that publishes the IEEE VIS proceedings.

The OPCs manage the papers process in the large (timeline, PCS operation, session planning, preface, etc.), provide assistance and oversight, and ensure consistency across areas. They are resources for APCs with questions about conference level issues - such as plagiarism, conflicts, etc. OPCs are also responsible for integrating APC materials into a unified call for papers, which they propose for ratification to the VSC. Once approved, they are responsible for its dissemination.

Criteria for Membership

For individual OPCs: Experience as a paper chair at IEEE VIS or comparable venues, with outstanding performance.

Collectively, the OPCs will need a balance of knowledge and experience across research areas. At least one OPC must have experience as a TVCG Associate Editor (or equivalent experience at a commensurate journal). An OPC cannot also be an APC in the same year; an OPC cannot be reappointed after their term (2 years typical, 3 years max).

For APCs: research excellence and impact; excellent service record as thoughtful reviewer and fair minded decision-maker on the PC; proven responsibility through previous OC jobs or equivalent experience;

Collectively, the APCs should exhibit diverse characteristics in terms of a mix of lineage, research area, geographic origin, sector, gender and other demographics. At least one APC in each area should be at a career stage typically expected for TVCG Associate Editors (post-tenure and h-index of 20+). An APC cannot serve for more than one area at any one time, and must take a break of at least one year before becoming APC again. The expected term limit for APCs is two consecutive years of service, with the option of an additional year as necessary to ensure continuity. Two chairs in the same area cannot be involved in a conflict of interest. A conflict includes co-authorship on publications in the past 5 years, in addition to the established VGTC conflict of interest criteria.

Meetings

The OPCs are responsible for consistency across areas and so meetings and teleconferences should be scheduled as required throughout the year. APCs of particular areas will need to communicate regularly to conduct the papers selection process.

A PCC meeting is held at or around the time of each IEEE VIS organized by the OPCs. The meeting is of informational and discussion character, and its main purpose is to facilitate continuity and raise issues to be forwarded to the VSC. During the paper handling cycles several virtual PCC meetings may be called by the OPCs.

VI. Constituting VIS

The VSC obtains, through open and informal solicitations, proposals for: VIS locations, names of individuals who are suitable to serve as VIS General Chair, and names of supporting institutions (if any).

This process is undertaken according to the separately documented IEEE VIS Bid Guidelines document, which includes a detailed timeline.

VII. The VIS General Chairs (GCs) and Their Organizing Committee (OC)

Purpose

To plan and operate a successful IEEE VIS conference for a given year.

Tasks

• The GCs are responsible for the overall running of the VIS and maintaining close communication with the VSC.

• The GCs will solicit open nominations for OC positions and may choose to appoint members of the OC as described in the subsequent section.

• Members of the OC are tasked with executing their content and/or operational responsibilities.

• The GCs and OC are encouraged to innovate and experiment with the structure and programming of the conference to ensure it remains fresh and appealing for attendees.

Composition

The GCs are selected by the VSC according to the IEEE VIS Bid Guidelines. The GCs will be ex-officio members of the OC the year before leading it. The OC also includes the liaison of any associated event, but no other members of co-located symposia are members of the OC.

The structure of the OC is determined by the GCs with the advice of the VSC as described in the Responsibility Matrix found in Appendix IV. The goal will be to appoint committee members who are able and reliable, and attentive to diversity across a range of characteristics including career stage, past organizational experience, demographics, geography, and disciplinary background.The Matrix is a living document that changes at the discretion of the GCs and VSC.

Each OC role should be filled by a minimum of 2 individuals. Except for select “longer-serving” roles (e.g., Finance), most OC roles operate as a 2-year term and follow a rotation model: every year, each role will have at least one opening created as a consequence of member(s) with the longest service record in the role rotating off.

PCC and other key content-related posts are appointed by the VSC.

The GCs have the option to appoint open OC positions that cover conference operations as well as select content roles (workshops and panels). The VSC can offer GCs advice on how to conduct this process and on potential candidates, in order to better account for long-term considerations (including consistency and checks on favoritism, diversity, reliability etc.).

Should the GCs choose to not conduct OC appointments (either in entirety or for select OC roles), they should communicate with the VSC, who will then be responsible for appointing open positions.

The OC for year t should be finalized by the start of the conference for year t-1.

Leadership

The GCs serve as the chairs of the OC and have final decision-making power over changes to the conference that have only short-term consequences (i.e., OC positions that they have appointment powers for) and do not impact content authors. The VSC should advise GCs on such changes, but formal VSC ratification is not required.

For any other changes GCs wish to experiment with that have longer-term consequences or affect content authors (e.g., modifying paper talk times, switching conference modalities, etc.), these changes must be ratified in one of two ways to ensure continuity and to dampen the impact of rapid shifts on submitters and attendees:

• The GCs of the subsequent year’s conference agree to continue with the proposed changes.
• The VSC votes to give formal consent.

Meetings

The GCs have full discretion over OC meeting structure and organization but should convene the full OC at a regular cadence to keep members updated about the development of the conference.

The GCs will also be invited, as ex-officio members, to VSC meetings to facilitate tight feedback loops and close communication as well as to engender trust and mutual respect.

VIII. VSC Elections

A. Elected members of VSC are chosen by the VIS community in a free and open election, following the timeline specified in Appendix I. Terms of elected members begin at the conclusion of the VIS conference, and the election process is conducted in the year leading up to and including the conference. Anyone who has participated in any past VIS conference, whether by attending, authoring a paper, giving a talk, serving as an organizer, or providing financial support, is eligible to vote. Participation in the current year does not count toward eligibility. Furthermore, any person can self-declare as a member of the community. VSC may opt to review eligibility in these cases.

E. The VSC shall identify and announce positions open for election on VSC and solicit nominations. Nominations are expected to include a brief statement on the qualifications and goals of the nominee. Self-nominations are permissible. Nominees will be vetted by VSC to ensure that committee eligibility criteria are met, and vetting results are communicated to the nominees. If rejected by these criteria, a nominee will be notified. VSC will announce vetted candidates and election modalities.

F. Elections shall be held in electronic form. VSC will ensure that election results are announced to the community at VIS.

G. VSC may delegate organization of voting procedures (voter eligibility, voting process,vote count) to Elections Chairs, who are appointed to coordinate this activity and thereby join the OC.

IX. Financial Matters

A. The IEEE VIS budget will be developed by the General Chair and Finance Chair and approved by the VGTC Chair. The General Chairs and Finance Chair will then submit the budget for approval by the IEEE CS no later than nine months prior to the VIS. The budget must be approved by IEEE CS prior to the distribution of any publication of registration fees.

B. VIS accounts shall be closed within 120 days following the completion of IEEE VIS. At that time, all surplus funds shall be distributed to IEEE CS. A final report and the closing bank statement must be submitted to IEEE CS no later than 120 days after an IEEE VIS meeting by the General Chair and Finance Chair. IEEE CS will receive a list of IEEE VIS attendees with names and full address information no later than 120 days after the VIS meeting.

C. Contracts that require IEEE CS review, approval, and signature are: all hotel and exhibit facility contracts and all conference service or management contracts. Members of the OCs are not authorized to sign these contracts.

X. Intellectual Property

This section describes the ownership of the VIS name, slogan, copyright for publications, and/or logo ownership. Note Section 6.17 of the IEEE Computer Society’s Policies and Procedures Manual. IEEE will hold the copyright on the conference proceedings. The proceedings shall carry the names, logos, and addresses of the IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. The disposition of rights and permissions, and the maintenance of the authors’ copyright assignments, rests solely with the copyright holder. The revenue from the dispensation of rights and permission shall be the sole property of the rights owner. Requests for reprint or re-use from third-party material will be handled according to the existing reprint policies of the copyright holder. The VSC shall ensure that the Publication Chair is collecting copyright release forms prior to publishing the proceedings. The VSC shall ensure that an electronic version of the proceedings is forwarded to the IEEE Computer Society. The IEEE Computer Society shall include an electronic version of the proceedings in its Digital Library.

XI. Termination of VIS

The termination of the IEEE VIS may be proposed by the VSC or by IEEE CS, and will be approved by the IEEE Computer Society’s Visualization and Graphics Technical Committee (VGTC) and IEEE CS. In the event of a termination, the IEEE CS VGTC and IEEE CS will assume any assets and liabilities of IEEE VIS.

XII. Amendments

Amendments to this charter of the IEEE VIS and the associated Letter of Agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) require the approval by two thirds of the VSC members (two-thirds absolute majority).

Appendix I. Elections Timeline

May 1
VSC announces to-be-elected positions on the VSC that will become vacant at the next VIS and calls for nominations in an open and community-wide manner, including any relevant open mailing lists (e.g. ieee-vis) and web pages (ieeevis.org).

Nominations are to include a brief statement on qualification and goals, following the requirements for the respective body. Self-nominations are possible and invited.

Jun 1
Call for nominations closes; VSC begins vetting nominees according to formal requirements.

Jul 1
VSC announces vetting results to nominees. In case of negative vetting, candidates can request a formal statement detailing the reasons for rejection.

Aug 1
VSC announces vetting results and final list of candidates for the VSC, as well as detailed information about the voting procedure, on relevant open mailing lists, social media and web pages. Rejected nominees can request the inclusion of their vetting rationale statement, which is not included by default.

Sep 1 – one week before VIS
Voting is conducted electronically.

at VIS Closing
Announcement of election results; start of electees’ terms.

Appendix II. Procedures for Decision-Making

The VSC shall conduct votes among members to reach decisions about major proposals.

All votes require an absolute majority, involving more than half of the committee membership.

Votes may be cast at meetings, or subsequently by communicating with the chair up to an agreed time following the meeting at which a proposal was voted upon.

Appendix III. Transition to Unified Governance Committee

The VSC and VEC will be merged following this transition composition structure:

• 1 VGTC ExCom
• 3 current VSC members, each with 1, 2, and 3 years of service left
• 3 current VEC members, each with 1, 2, and 3 years of service left
• 2 new VSC members (one elected, one appointed)

This transition will occur over 2025–2026, with the new unified governance in place by Spring 2026 in time to begin planning VIS 2027.

Appendix IV. Responsibility Matrix

Other speciality chairs may be appointed each year at the discretion of the GC, in addition to those listed above. For instance, if the GCs wish to plan a conference with an offsite component (e.g., hybrid or satellite events), it may make sense to appoint speciality chairs to manage this piece.