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Governance

The current ITiCSE Steering Committee is

Past members

Overview

The activities and volunteers for all ITiCSE conferences are overseen by a five-member steering committee. The committee is responsible for steering the conference series, for setting the scope and focus of conference content, and for maintaining a high quality standard for the conference series. With membership that extends beyond a single conference, the steering committee can provide longer-term guidance and institutional memory for the conference, with the overall goal of ensuring that ITiCSE remains the premier international informatics education conference in Europe.

The shared governance between ACM SIGCSE, ACM Europe, and Informatics Europe is crucial to the goals and future of ITiCSE. The representatives from the three organisations market the conference to their members, with the aim of creating a unified, lively, active, and inclusive informatics education community across Europe and across the different membership organisations.

Steering committee membership and roles

Two members of the steering committee are appointed by the ACM SIGCSE Board, and at least one of these members should reside in Europe. ACM Europe and Informatics Europe each appoint one member. One member is a member of the ACM SIGCSE Board and serves as the liaison between the steering committee and the ACM SIGCSE Board. Each member of the steering committee is appointed for a three-year term, with a maximum of two terms. The terms of the steering committee members are offset so that no more than two people rotate off the committee at the same time.

There are several identified roles within the steering committee:

  • Chair: To be chosen by the committee after each ITiCSE conference and communicated by July 31st to the ACM SIGCSE, ACM Europe Council, and Informatics Europe Boards. The chair cannot be the ACM SIGCSE Board member.
  • Secretary: To be chosen by the committee after each ITiCSE conference and communicated by July 31st to the ACM SIGCSE, ACM Europe Council, and Informatics Europe Boards. The secretary cannot be the ACM SIGCSE Board member. After approval by the committee, the minutes of the ITiCSE steering committee meetings should be shared with the ACM SIGCSE, ACM Europe Council, and Informatics Europe Boards.
  • Site selection: At least three members of the steering committee should be identified as being willing and able to serve as a member of the site selection subcommittee. On any site visit, at least one site selection member should have previous site selection experience. There should be intentional training of new steering committee members so that there can be continuity of knowledge. Approval of site selection visits must be made by the ACM SIGCSE Board.

The role of the ITiCSE steering committee is:

  1. To ensure that ITiCSE runs as an annual international computing/informatics education conference in Europe.
  2. To define the scope of the content in the conference. This, at a minimum, should include content:
    • relevant to computing education in higher education and at the school level
    • of significance to researchers and practitioners at all education levels
  3. To define the format of the conference, which includes the length of the conference, types of sessions, and possible related activities.
  4. To ensure consistent, high-quality conference content, for example, by setting guidelines for the review process and minimum standards for acceptance of content.
  5. To monitor the quality of conference content and the conference experience for attendees and make adjustments where necessary.
  6. To conduct an open call for program co-chairs, conference hosts, and working group chairs. At present, the location determines one of the conference co-chairs, as a local person typically serves as the conference host.
  7. To select the location and dates of future conferences. It is expected that members of the site selection subcommittee will visit candidate sites after obtaining approval from the ACM SIGCSE Board and will report back to the steering committee. The steering committee then selects a future location to propose to the ACM SIGCSE Board for approval. Ideally, site visits should be identified and conducted three years in advance of the conference.
  8. To select and present for approval the program chairs, the working group chairs, and the supporter/exhibitor liaison to the ACM SIGCSE Board.
  9. To select other central and recurring roles on the organising committee, including the treasurer, the registration team, the submissions chair, the proceedings chair, and the web site chair.
  10. To collaborate with and support the ITiCSE conference committees. This includes providing guidance for the organisation and program of the conference, and putting in place mechanisms to accumulate and transfer experience between conference committees.
  11. To present to the ACM SIGCSE Board any changes to the structure of the organising committee.

The steering committee meets as needed. Typically the committee holds monthly virtual meetings and meets once a year face-to-face at the ITiCSE conference. The agenda and minutes of the steering committee meetings are circulated to committee members, and to the ACM SIGCSE, ACM Europe Council, and Informatics Europe Boards.

Steering committee members are expected to attend the conference at their own expense. In recognition of the work they put into the conference, they are given discounted registration. Expenses for site visits are covered by ACM SIGCSE. The steering committee is encouraged to minimise these costs by sending members resident in Europe and avoiding intercontinental travel where possible.

Organisations

The governance of ITiCSE is shared between ACM SIGCSE, ACM Europe Council, and Informatics Europe.

ACM SIGCSE is one of the oldest Special Interest Groups of the Association for Computing Machinery, founded in 1968. ACM SIGCSE provides a global forum for educators to discuss research and practice related to the learning and teaching of computing, the development, implementation, and evaluation of computing programs, curricula, and courses at all education levels, as well as broad participation, educational technology, instructional spaces, and other elements of teaching and pedagogy related to computing. ACM SIGCSE sponsors five conferences, including ITiCSE, and supports two annual doctoral consortia. ACM SIGCSE is managed by an elected Board of volunteers consisting of a chair, vice chair, secretary, treasurer, three at-large members, and the immediate past chair. ACM SIGCSE also provides grants for projects that benefit the broader computing education community, presentation of ACM SIGCSE conference talks at in-cooperation conferences, and travel grants to its flagship conference.

The ACM Europe Council aims to increase the level and visibility of ACM activities across Europe. The Council comprises European computer scientists committed to fostering the visibility and relevance of ACM in Europe, and is focused on a wide range of European ACM activities, from high-quality ACM conferences in Europe, to expanding ACM chapters, to encouraging greater participation of Europeans in all dimensions of ACM. The goals of the organisation are to: Join with other computing and scientific organisations in Europe to offer new programs and activities; Encourage nominations of ACM European members for the advanced member grades of Senior Member, Distinguished Member, and Fellow; Work with ACM SIGs to increase the number of ACM conferences in Europe; Increase the number of ACM chapters and level of chapter activity in Europe.

Informatics Europe represents the public and private research community of informatics in Europe and neighbouring countries. Bringing together university departments, research laboratories and industry, it creates a strong common voice to safeguard and shape quality research and education in informatics in Europe. With over 150 member institutions across 34 countries, Informatics Europe promotes concerted positions and acts on shared priorities in the areas of education, research, knowledge transfer and social impact of informatics. As a non-profit membership association, Informatics Europe activities are mainly performed by scientist volunteers, who commit personally to promoting the organisation’s mission and goals.