About SIGCHI

What is SIGCHI?

SIGCHI is the premier international society for professionals, academics and students who are interested in human-technology and human-computer interaction (HCI). We provide a forum for the discussion of all aspects of HCI through our conferences, publications, web sites, email discussion groups, and other services. We advance education in HCI through tutorials, workshops and outreach, and we promote informal access to a wide range of individuals and organizations involved in HCI. Members can be involved in HCI-related activities with others in their region through Local SIGCHI chapters. SIGCHI is also involved in public policy.

Who are members of SIGCHI?

Many of our members are involved in the design, implementation and use of interactive computer-based systems in the broadest sense, ranging from desktop computing, to interactive TV devices. Other members are researchers seeking to understand human-technology interface from many perspectives, including psychology, sociology, anthropology, industrial design, and ergonomics. Still others are educators, training tomorrow's professionals and providing knowledge of HCI to those who might need it within their own profession. Students also take an active part in SIGCHI and enjoy a number of services designed specifically to meet their needs.

Members work in fields as diverse as user interface design, human factors, computer science, psychology, engineering, graphics and industrial design, entertainment, and telecommunications. From the design of new input devices, to the implementation of the most advanced virtual reality systems, we contribute to the leading edge of current practice and research that shapes the present and the future of HCI.

Why should I join SIGCHI?

Join SIGCHI to open the door to a wealth of HCI resources and people. We provide a connection to colleagues around the world through the SIGCHI web site, email lists, the annual CHI conference, co-sponsored conferences, and a range of publications essential to keeping you up-to-date.

Every year the CHI conference attracts over 2500 attendees and presents an exciting program of up-to-the-minute tutorials, workshops, technical presentations, demonstrations and much more. Examples of SIGCHI-sponsored conferences include CSCW (Computer Supported Cooperative Work), UIST (User Interface Software and Technology), DIS (Designing Interactive Systems), and ACM Multimedia. Registration rates are discounted for members for all of these events.

Our flagship publication is interactions, which provides newsworthy information and feature articles on HCI topics in a magazine-style format. The Bulletin is a supplement to interactions that keeps members up to date on SIGCHI happenings. Both of these periodicals are included with your membership. Transactions on Computer Human Interaction (TOCHI) is a journal focusing on research on HCI and is available to members at a discount.

Whatever your level of background in HCI, no matter what type of organization you work in, SIGCHI will connect you to colleagues who share your interests and relish the opportunity to share their enthusiasm for HCI with you.

Where can I be active in SIGCHI?

Attending SIGCHI-sponsored conferences in an excellent way to get involved, extend your network of associates, and discuss the latest develeopments in the field. At Local SIGCHI chapter meetings, members can take advantage of presentations by experts in the many related fields of HCI, local networking, job banks, and short courses. There are local SIGs in most parts of the world.

More on SIGCHI ...

• Read what people are saying about ACM SIGCHI!
• Explore the ACM SIGCHI website to learn about the group's many benefits and activities.
• Join ACM SIGCHI today!
• Learn more about SIGCHI's early history

Document Actions

• Send this

Document Actions

• Send this

Contents

• Article 1. Name and Scope
• Article 2. Purpose.
• Article 3. Charter.
• Article 4. Officers
• Article 5. Membership, Dues, and Voting Privileges.
• Article 6. The Executive Committee.
• Article 7. Standing Committees.
• Article 8. Ad Hoc Committees and Adjunct Chairs.
• Article 9. Membership Publications.
• Article 10. Meetings.
• Article 11. Reports and Records.
• Article 12. Financial Operations.
• Article 13. Elections.
• Article 14. Vacancies, Appointments, and Removals.
• Article 15. Amendments.
• Article 16. Dissolution.
• Article 17. Consistency.
• Article 18. Implementation of Amendments of 2003

Article 1. Name and Scope

(a) This organization shall be called SIGCHI, the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction.

(b) The scope of SIGCHI is the study and practice of the design, implementation, use, and evaluation of interactive computing systems. The focus is on human communication and interaction with computer systems. SIGCHI is a worldwide organization that provides a forum for the exchange of ideas among all people interested in the roles computing technology plays in human activity, including computer scientists, behavioral scientists, system designers, interaction designers, usability professionals, and end users. It will also serve its members, ACM, organizations concerned with the manufacture, distribution, and use of interactive systems, and the public at large as a clearinghouse of information for the field of human-computer interaction and as a voice supporting the design and deployment of systems mindful of human-computer interaction concerns.

Article 2. Purpose.

SIGCHI is organized and will be operated exclusively for educational, scientific and technical purposes.

It is the mission of SIGCHI to advance the state of knowledge and practice in the field of human-computer interaction.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to::

1. human factors in the interaction process
2. The role of computing and communications technology in social organizations and processes.
3. The technology of developing user interfaces.
4. design methods directed towards the improvement of the user interface
5. Understanding the relationship between studies of users, human factors, and behavior, and the technology of computing and systems design.
6. Understanding the relationships among interface design, user experience, performance, and business or organizational goals.
7. The evolving role of technology in the lives of humans and issues related to the ethics and impact of deploying technology for human use.
8. Technical and social issues related to the design, development, and evaluation of interactive systems.
9. The state of professional practice, education, and training related to human-computer interaction.
10. Improving communication among the diverse set of individuals involved in human-computer interaction, including computer scientists and software engineers, behavioral and cognitive scientists, usability professionals, designers, and end users.

SIGCHI's activities will include:

1. Promoting and providing facilities for the exchange of information.
2. Collecting and disseminating information through printed and/or electronic membership publications.
3. Sponsoring and promoting conferences, symposia, tutorials, and workshops.
4. Overseeing the operations of SIGCHI-sponsored conferences.
5. Supporting and overseeing the operation of SIGCHI-affiliated chapters.
6. Overseeing the selection and publication of papers through SIGCHI-sponsored conferences and publications.
7. Organizing working groups to address issues related to HCI education, research, and practice.
8. Organizing and funding initiatives to benefit the membership and to further develop the field of HCI worldwide.
9. Advocacy to support the advancing the field and the practice of HCI worldwide.
10. Collaborating with ACM, its other special interest groups, and other societies worldwide on technical activities such as lectureships, joint conferences, professional development seminars, and curricula.
11. Recognizing contributions to the field of HCI and to SIGCHI through achievement and service awards.
12. Serving as a source of technical information for the ACM Council and other subunits of ACM.
13. Serving as an external technical representative of ACM when authorized by the Council or the Executive Committee of ACM.

Article 3. Charter.

Article 4. Officers

(a) SIGCHI's Elected Officers are the President, the Executive Vice-President, the Vice-President for Membership and Communications, the Vice-President for Finance, and two Vice-Presidents At Large. SIGCHI also has four appointed officer positions: The Vice-President for Publications, the Vice-President for Conferences, and the Vice President for Chapters, and the Vice-President for Operations. All officers must be members of SIGCHI and of ACM. The Elected Officers are elected for three-year terms beginning July 1 of the election year. Appointed officers are appointed in a manner specified below. No elected officer may hold the same office for more than two consecutive terms. There is no term limit for appointed offices.

(b) The President is the principal officer, being responsible for leading SIGCHI and managing its activities. To ensure continuity of leadership, the President serves as Past President during the tenure of the succeeding President. The duties of the President include:

• Conducting SIGCHI activities in accordance with the policies of ACM.
• Appointing committee members, filling vacancies, and appointing adjunct chairs as authorized herein.
• Representing SIGCHI in meetings of the ACM SIG Governing Board, at other ACM meetings, and in meetings with other organizations.
• Chairing the SIGCHI Executive Committee.
• Calling and presiding at SIGCHI Business Meetings.
• Submitting SIGCHI's annual report of activities to ACM.

The President shall have the power to delegate specific responsibilities to the Executive Vice-President and other officers as appropriate. The President is an ex officio member of all committees except for the nominations committee.

(c) The duties of the Executive Vice-President include :

• Assisting the President in leading and managing SIGCHI
• Carrying out such duties as are delegated by the President.
• Assuming the office of President, should that office become vacant.

(d) The duties of the Vice-President for Membership and Communications include:

• Keeping and distributing minutes of the Business and Executive Committee meetings.
• Maintaining the records and correspondence of SIGCHI.
• Maintaining communication with SIGCHI's membership, including welcoming new members, notifying the membership of important information, and tracking membership correspondence.
• Overseeing membership benefits and services, including conducting periodic membership surveys.
• Overseeing SIGCHI's volunteer development program.
• Filing official notification to ACM of changes in the officers of SIGCHI, and such other reports as required by ACM.

(e) The duties of the Vice-President for Finance include:

• Managing SIGCHI finances in accordance with ACM policies.
• Preparing SIGCHI's annual budget.
• Monitoring SIGCHI disbursements for adherence to the budget, and monitoring SIGCHI's fund balance for adherence to ACM guidelines.
• Preparing periodic financial reports for the Executive Committee.
• Preparing an annual report on SIGCHI finances for the membership, tobe presented at a SIGCHI business meeting as well as published for the membership in a membership publication.
• Assisting in the review of financial plans and reports of SIGCHI-sponsored conferences and SIGCHI-affiliated chapters.

(f) The duties of the two Vice-Presidents At Large shall be decided by the Executive Committee. These duties are expected to change in response to issues facing SIGCHI. A Vice-President At Large may be appointed to one of the appointed officer positions, in which case that individual holds both titles. Should such an officer subsequently resign or be removed from the appointed position, he or she retains the position of Vice-President At Large.

(g) The Vice-President for Publications is appointed by nomination of the President and approval of the Elected Officers. The duties of the Vice President for Publications include:

• Serving as Chair of the Publications Board.
• Representing SIGCHI in discussions with ACM on proposals to add, change, or remove publications related to human-computer interaction.
• Working with the Editors of SIGCHI membership publications to monitor the effectiveness of editorial goals and policies.
• Working with the Editors of other ACM publications relevant to SIGCHI to monitor the effectiveness of editorial goals and policies.
• Oversight of SIGCHI's archival publication series, including development of standards for conferences seeking to include papers in the archival publication series.
• Working with the Vice-President for Conference on issues related to the paper review process for archival conferences.
• Making recommendations to the Executive Committee on future directions for SIGCHI publications, including alternative modes of publication.
• Conducting periodic review of publication packages offered to members.

The Vice-President for Publications shall have the power to delegate specific responsibilities to other members of the Publications Board.

(h) The Vice-President for Conferences is appointed by nomination of the President and approval of the Elected Officers. The duties of the Vice-President for Conferences include:

• Serving as Chair of the Conference Management Committee.
• Overseeing all aspects of SIGCHI-sponsored conferences.
• Making recommendations to the SIGCHI Executive Committee on matters such as future CHI conference sites, CHI conference chairs, and CHI conference-related policies.
• Making recommendations to the President on requests from conferences for SIGCHI sponsorship, co-sponsorship, and in-cooperation status, and on budgets and other conference requests requiring SIGCHI approval.
• Making recommendations to the Executive Committee on policies affecting SIGCHI-sponsored, co-sponsored, and in-cooperation conferences.
• Report to the Executive Committee periodically on the programmatic and financial status of the CHI conference and all other SIGCHI-sponsored and co-sponsored conferences.
• Working with the Vice-President for Membership and Communications to coordinate volunteer development, and to coordinate conference attendee/membership surveys.
• Working with the Vice President for Publications on issues related to the paper review process for archival conferences.

The Vice-President for Conferences shall have the power to delegate specific responsibilities to other members of the Conference Management Committee. The President shall have the power to delegate conference sponsorship, budget approval, and/or contracting decisions to the Vice President for Conferences. All such delegations shall be reported to the Executive Committee, recorded in the minutes, and relayed to the appropriate staff at ACM.

(i) The Vice-President for Chapters is appointed by nomination of the President and approval of the Elected Officers. The duties of the Vice-President for Chapters include:

• Overseeing and promoting the SIGCHI Chapters program, and the relationship between SIGCHI and its Chapters. SIGCHI Chapters are ACM Professional Chapters or ACM Student Chapters that have chosen to affiliate themselves with SIGCHI.
• Serving as the liaison between the Executive Committee and the ACM Chapter Support Staff.
• Serving as the liaison between the Executive Committee and the Council of Chapters.
• Providing information and assistance to SIGCHI members considering forming chapters.
• Making recommendations to the Executive Committee concerning its recommendations to ACM on the establishment, operation, and dissolution of SIGCHI-affiliated Chapters.
• Reviewing copies of all reports from Chapters and making recommendations to the Executive Committee on these reports.
• Compiling a regular report of Chapter activities.
• Making recommendations to the President and the Executive Committee on policies and proposals relating to cooperating society agreements with external organizations.

(j) The Vice-President for Operations is appointed by the nomination of the President and approval of the Elected Officers. The duties of the Vice-President for Operations include:

• Overseeing all operational aspects of SIGCHI's electronic infrastructure, including: e-mail lists, web sites, and databases.
• Serving as, or designating a volunteer to serve as, SIGCHI's information director and liaison with ACM's technical staff.
• Coordinating operational aspects of SIGCHI's publicity program, outreach activities, and other activities.
• Recruiting and managing volunteers to maintain SIGCHI's electronic and physical infrastructure.

Article 5. Membership, Dues, and Voting Privileges.

(a) SIGCHI is an open organization and membership is available to anyone.

(b) An eligible person becomes a member only after enrolling and paying the required dues. The dues for SIGCHI are determined by the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall have authority to specify discounted dues levels for students, retired persons, and persons from soft-currency countries.

(c) All voting members of SIGCHI may vote in any ballot of the SIGCHI membership conducted within SIGCHI.

(d) The membership records of CHI will be maintained by ACM Headquarters.

Article 6. The Executive Committee.

(a) The Executive Committee comprises the elected and appointed officers and the Past President. The editor of each membership publication and the ACM program director serve as non-voting, ex officio members of the Executive Committee. No person may hold more than one vote on the Executive Committee at a given time.

(b) All the major management policy decisions of SIGCHI must be approved by the Executive Committee, except for the appointment and removal of officers, which is reserved for the Elected Officers. Each member of the Executive Committee, except for ex officio members, has one vote in such decisions. Except where specified otherwise otherwise in these By Laws, action by the SIGCHI Executive Committee shall require a majority vote of all Executive Committee members eligible to vote.

Article 7. Standing Committees.

(a) SIGCHI shall have the following standing committees: Conference Management Committee, Publications Board, and the Council of Chapters. Each standing committee shall maintain minutes of its meetings, and shall provide those minutes to the Vice-President for Membership and Communications for distribution to the Executive Committee and for publication to the membership.

(b) The Conference Management Committee is responsible for assisting the Vice-President for Conferences in overseeing management of the CHI conference and other sponsored and co-sponsored conferences, in auditing conference operations, in recommending conference-related policies to the Executive Committee, and in such other aspects of the position as designated by the Vice-President for Conferences. The committee shall contain between four and six voting members, including the Vice-President for Conferences, who serves as the committee chair. Members of the committee shall be appointed by nomination of the SIGCHI President, and approval of the Executive Committee, for four-year terms of office, with such terms staggered such that no three members have terms expiring in the same year. The committee may invite such non-voting members to participate in its meetings as it deems appropriate.

(c) The Publications Board is responsible for assisting the Vice-President for Publications in overseeing the management of the archival publication series, reviewing the quality of review processes for archival conferences, and monitoring the effectiveness of SIGCHI's research publications. The committee shall contain between seven and nine voting members, including the Vice-President for Publications, who serves as the committee chair. Members of the committee shall be appointed by nomination of the SIGCHI President, and approval of the Executive Committee, for four-year terms of office, with such terms staggered such that no three members have terms expiring in the same year. The committee may invite such non-voting members to participate in its meetings as it deems appropriate.

(d) The Council of Chapters is responsible for representing and fostering the interest of SIGCHI-affiliated Chapters. The Council of Chapters shall be empowered to construct its own By-Laws, subject to consistency with SIGCHI and ACM By-Laws, and to approval by the SIGCHI Executive Committee. The Vice-President for Chapters shall serve as the Executive Committee's liaison to the Council of Chapters, but need not be its chair or a voting member.

Article 8. Ad Hoc Committees and Adjunct Chairs.

(a) The SIGCHI President shall create and appoint members and a chair to ad hoc committees and designate adjunct chairs for specific purposes within SIGCHI. Ad hoc committees shall have a specific charge and shall be dissolved after the Executive Committee accepts their report. Adjunct chairs shall have a specific responsibility, and their position shall report to a specific officer. Adjunct chair positions terminate at the end of the President's term, at the completion of the specific responsibility, or at the discretion of the President. The rest of this article specifies certain commonly-recurring ad hoc committees and adjunct chair positions. Adjunct chairs, committee chairs, and committee members may be invited to participate in Executive Committee meetings, but these positions carry no vote.

(b) The nominating committee is appointed every third year as specified in the Elections article of these Bylaws.

(c) One or more awards committees shall be appointed every year to select candidates for SIGCHI's achievement and service awards.

(d) Curriculum committees are appointed periodically to develop and revise SIGCHI's recommended curriculum documents.

(e) An adjunct chair for volunteers, who usually reports to the vice-President for Membership and Communications, may be charged with carrying out volunteer development efforts.

(f