ICIS Terms of Reference

1.  Nature of the International Conference on Information Systems  

(a)   The International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) is the premier annual global conference of the Association for Information Systems. ICIS enables scholars to publish, share, and discuss research and strengthen the global community of IS scholars.

(b)   ICIS is a conference under By-Law 12 of the Association for Information Systems.  As such, it is subject to the Articles and By-Laws of the Association for Information Systems.

(c)   In the event of a conflict between these terms of reference and the Articles and By-Laws of the Association for Information Systems, the latter shall prevail.

2.   Responsibility of the ICIS Executive Committee

The ICIS Executive Committee has overall responsibility for ensuring that ICIS is run cost-effectively and serves the goals of AIS and its members, consistent with the overall objective of the Conference and subject to the Articles and By-Laws of the Association for Information Systems.

3.  Accountability

(a)  The ICIS Executive Committee is accountable to the Council of the Association for Information Systems (AIS).

(b) The Chair of the ICIS Executive Committee is a member of the AIS Council as the ICIS Representative.

(c)  The ICIS representative shall report on ICIS Executive Committee activities at each meeting of the AIS Council.

(d) The President of AIS can also request that the ICIS Representative prepare a report on some aspect of the activities of ICIS at any time.  The ICIS Representative is responsible for preparing the report requested within the time frame given.

(e)  The President of AIS has the authority to access all records of the ICIS Executive Committee at any time.  The President may choose to make such records available to the AIS Council.

(f)  The President of AIS has the authority to request that the ICIS representative and the Vice President of Conferences provide a verbal report on any closed sessions of the ICIS Executive Committee.

(g) The AIS Council may revoke any decision of the ICIS Executive Committee.

4.   Membership Positions on the ICIS Executive Committee

(a)  The membership positions on the ICIS Executive Committee shall be:

• Conference Chair(s) of the Conferences in the current year, immediate past year, and the following year
• Program Chair(s) of the Conferences in the current year, immediate past year, and the following year
  
• Doctoral Consortium Chair(s) of the Conferences in the current year, immediate past year, and the following year
• Immediate Past Chair of the ICIS Executive Committee (non-voting)
• AIS VP of Conferences
• ICIS Executive Committee Secretary
• AIS Treasurer
• Executive Director of AIS (ex-officio)
• Chief Operating Officer of AIS (ex-officio)
• Chief Conference Officer of AIS (ex-officio)

(b)   Up to three persons can be appointed to the positions of Conference Chair, Program Chair, and Doctoral Consortium Chair.  Where two or three persons hold a position, they shall be known as Co-Chairs.  All other membership positions can be held by only one person.

(c)  The Chair of the ICIS Executive Committee shall be the Chair or one of the Co-Chairs of the Conference in the immediate past year.  If a site nominates Conference Co-Chairs in their bid to host ICIS, the bid document must specify which Co-Chairs will assume responsibility at the appropriate time for chairing the ICIS Executive Committee.

(d)  In the event the Chair of the ICIS Executive Committee cannot attend a meeting of the ICIS Executive Committee, the Executive Director of AIS will preside over the election of a chair for the meeting.  The election of a chair for the purpose of the meeting will be the first agenda item for the meeting.

(e)  The ICIS Executive Committee Secretary is appointed by the Chair of the ICIS Executive Committee whenever a new Secretary is required. The Secretary serves for 3 years and may be reappointed for additional terms.

(f)   The AIS Treasurer serves on the ICIS Executive Committee.

(g)   Any member of the ICIS Executive Committee can be removed via a resolution adopted by the AIS Council.

(h) To avoid governance issues, a conference chair (or co-chair) should not serve in the role of AIS Council President, President-Elect, Past-President, or VP of Conferences during the bidding process or when serving as a voting member of the ICIS Executive Committee. If a Conference Chair, Program Chair, or Doctoral Consortium Chair is a voting member of the ICIS Executive Committee and is serving as AIS Council President, President-Elect, Past-President, or VP of Conferences, the individual should rescind their role on the ICIS Executive Committee while serving in one of the AIS Council roles.

(i)   A member of the ICIS Executive Committee may be removed from the ICIS Executive Committee by a committee vote if they fail to attend two meetings of the Committee within one administrative year (September through August) and fail to fulfill the responsibilities of their position in a reasonable manner. 

(j)  A vacancy on the ICIS Executive Committee because of death, resignation, removal, disqualification, or otherwise may be filled based on the following guidelines. If the vacancy is by an individual who has a fractional vote on the committee, then the vacated vote will be given to the remaining co-chair of the position or will be shared equally by the attending co-chairs of the position. If the position is vacated by the ICIS Executive Committee Secretary, the ICIS Executive Committee Chair shall appoint a new secretary (with voting rights). If a position is vacated by an AIS Council member, the AIS Council will determine who will assume the position and will have the ability to vote rights on the ICIS Executive Committee.

5.  Site Selection

(a)  The ICIS Executive Committee is responsible for recommending the site and leadership team of a Conference based on the ICIS Site Selection Procedures and Criteria

(b)  At any time, the ICIS Executive Committee may recommend to AIS Council that a future location or leadership team be revoked. The decision of whether to revoke a location or leadership team would require a vote by AIS Council.

6.  Meetings

(a) The ICIS Executive Committee should hold at least one meeting each year at the time and the site of ICIS for that year, which may be an in-person, hybrid, or virtual meeting.

(b)  The Secretary may call special meetings of the ICIS Executive Committee at the request of the Chair or by any other two ICIS Executive Committee members. Such meetings may be held in-person, hybrid, or virtually.

(c)  Notice of any meeting must be given via electronic mail at least two weeks prior to the meeting.

(d)  A majority of the members (i.e., the number of individuals who serve on the ICIS Executive Committee) of the ICIS Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of the ICIS Executive Committee.

(e) Each of the following membership positions holds one vote:

• Conference Chair of the Conference in the current year
• Conference Chair of the Conference in the immediate past year
• Conference Chair of the Conference in the following year
• Program Chair of the Conference in the current year
• Program Chair of the Conference in the immediate past year
• Program Chair of the Conference in the following year
• Doctoral Consortium Chair of the Conference in the current year
• Doctoral Consortium Chair of the Conference in the immediate past year
• Doctoral Consortium Chair of the Conference in the following year
• VP-Meetings and Conferences of AIS Council
• ICIS Executive Committee Secretary
• AIS Treasurer

(f) If two or three persons hold a membership position, each will hold an equivalent fraction of a vote. In the case of an absence and a proper proxy designee has been registered, the designee's vote will increase by the fraction passed by the absent member. If the proxy has not been registered properly, the vote of the absent member will be given to the attending co-chair of the position or will be shared equally by the attending co-chairs of the position.

(g)  A member may register a vote by proxy by notifying the Secretary of the ICIS Executive Committee in writing or by e-mail at least one week before the start of a meeting.  The person must nominate another voting member to hold their proxy.  They may direct the holder of their proxy to vote in a particular way in relation to any or all of the agenda items for the meeting.  Alternatively, they may authorize the holder of their proxy to vote as the latter sees fit in relation to some or all of the agenda items for the meeting.

(h)  Except at the sole discretion of the Chair of the ICIS Executive Committee, all meetings of the ICIS Executive Committee shall be open to any current member of AIS.

7.   Compensation

Members of the ICIS Executive Committee shall not receive compensation for their services.

8. Records

The ICIS Executive Committee must keep and retain minutes of its proceedings. Once approved, meeting minutes should be accessible to members of the ICIS Executive Committee at all times, and meeting minutes should be provided to the AIS Council upon request.

9. Amendment to Terms of Reference

These terms of reference may be altered, amended, or repealed, and new terms of reference may be adopted by a majority of votes at any meeting of the ICIS Executive Committee, provided that at least fifteen days written notice is given of intention to alter, amend, or repeal and to adopt new terms of reference at such meeting.