Introduction

A. Serving All Chapters

The IEEE Computer Society Distinguished Visitors Program (DVP) was initiated in 1971 by Dr. Stephen Yau. It is a popular offering of top quality speakers serving IEEE Computer Society professional and student chapters. The DVP owes its success to the many volunteers and staff members of the Computer Society who generously contribute their time and talent.

Each year, you will find new Distinguished Visitors (speakers) and new topics, to help maintain renewed interest even by those chapters that have already taken advantage of the program. You will also find that the email request and approval system can expedite the response to your DVP visit requests. The policies and procedures contained herein should clarify and address commonly asked questions raised by program participants. If you have any suggestions or comments about program policies and procedures, please send them to dvp@computer.org.

B. Questions, Answers and Correspondence

All correspondence for the Distinguished Visitors Program should be sent to dvp@computer.org.

DVP Services
c/o IEEE Computer Society
2001 L Street, N.W., Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036 USA
Phone: 202-371-0101

Policies

The DVP caters to existing Computer Society professional and student chapters. Chapters are strongly encouraged to cooperate with neighboring chapters in order to share the services of a speaker within a given trip, thus reducing average traveling costs per visit. The following information provides an outline of general policies and procedures.

A. General

• The Distinguished Visitors Program (DVP) consists of the DVP Chair, DVP Committee, and the Member & Geographic Activities Specialist (Computer Society staff) to facilitate implementation of the program. All DVP correspondence should be directed to dvp@computer.org.
• The program year is 1 January – 31 December.

B. Visit Requests

• Requests Per Year — A chapter may arrange up to three DVP visits per calendar year. Approvals must be obtained in advance. Requesting chapters are strongly encouraged to arrange to have a speaker visit a number of chapters in their geographical area on one trip, to greatly reduce the total traveling expenses as well as the average cost per visit. Collaboration between neighboring chapters to arrange DVP visits is encouraged, as it promotes networking opportunities within local areas. Additional visits can be requested subject to availability of funds, with preference given to those chapters who have shared previous speakers, or who have not requested a speaker during the program year.
• E-mail Requests — Requests and other information submitted through e-mail are preferred and encouraged, as long as all required information is included in the submission. Copies will automatically be distributed to the appropriate people for approval. Submit visit requests, follow-up evaluations, nominations for speakers, comments and questions to dvp@computer.org.

C. Approval in Advance Required

• All DVP visits must be approved in advance by the DVP Chair. The Computer Society reimburses up to a maximum of $1,000 US for inter-city travel for approved visits to Computer Society professional and student chapters. Local expenses are paid by the local chapter. Arrangements made by speakers, chapters, and/or others outside of DVP policies and procedures are not the responsibility of the Computer Society, and these engagements will not be reimbursed.

D. Reimbursement for Travel

• Traveler’s Responsibility — Speakers should purchase economy class round-trip tickets, and schedule travel during cost-saving days whenever possible, to stay within the $1,000 US reimbursable limit. Speakers should also be conscientious of not exceeding local expenses as agreed to with the host chapter.
• Maximum Approved –The cooperation demonstrated by Computer Society chapters in previous years in terms of combining speaking tours allows us to maintain the inter-city traveling cost per chapter at a maximum of $1,000 US. Larger allocations will be considered and may be approved, on an exceptional basis. Local expenses are the responsibility of the host chapter.
• Covered Expenses?
  • “Inter-city Traveling Costs” are defined as reasonable expenses incurred traveling from the speaker’s home or office until arrival at the host chapter’s city, and departure from the host chapter’s city until arrival at the speaker’s home or office (normal coach class airfare, bus fare, train fare, parking at home airport, mileage or nominal gas to and from the speaker’s home airport). The use of advance purchased tickets is encouraged whenever practical and agreed upon by the speaker and the host chapter. These expenses are to be submitted by the speaker to DVP Services for reimbursement.
  • “Local Expenses” are defined as reasonable expenses incurred after arriving in the host chapter’s city (hotel, meals, rental car, limousine or bus from the airport to the hotel or meeting location, etc.). These expenses are to be submitted by the speaker to the host chapter for reimbursement, and should be agreed upon by the speaker and the host chapter in advance.

Procedures

The procedures to request the services of a Distinguished Visitor are as follows. The DVP serves all Computer Society professional and student chapters.

1. A chapter should consider speakers from the current on-line catalog only.
2. A chapter should contact the speaker directly to set up a tentative date for the visit. Both chapter and speaker should provide each other with estimates for inter-city travel (within the $1,000 limit) and local expenses. chapters are strongly encouraged to arrange to have a speaker visit a number of chapters in their geographical area on one trip.
3. After setting a tentative date with the speaker, the chapter should submit the DVP Request Form included in this catalog, to DVP Services as early as possible, but at least 6 weeks before the scheduled visit. This will allow for a minimum of 21 days between the approval date and the scheduled visit date, so that speakers may take advantage of advance purchase tickets at lower fares, and the variable schedules of DVP request reviewers are taken into account. Request via email is preferred.
4. The Member & Geographic Activities Specialist forwards the visit request to the DVP Chair. Staff will inform the chapter of approval/disapproval, with a copy to the speaker. Approval of trips will be based on the availability and fair distribution of funds. Chapters requesting their first speaker will be given priority over those requesting a second or third program speaker. The IEEE Computer Society will not be responsible for and will not reimburse the expenses of any travel that has not received prior approval, and/or has not complied with program policies.
5. The chapter provides the speaker with details of presentation site, expected attendance, and other arrangements. The speaker provides the chapter with travel arrangements and presentation needs (audiovisual, helpers, materials, etc.).
6. During the presentation, the chapter officer should keep a record for the Follow-up Form of the topic, total attendance, and notes on technical content, oral, and overall presentation.
7. After a visit, the chapter should fill out the Follow-up Form, and send it to DVP Services as soon as possible, but no later than one month after the visit. A chapter’s history of consistent and timely submission of the Follow-up Form may be considered when making the decision to approve future visits.
8. The speaker should invoice local expenses directly to the host chapter, and submit inter-city travel expenses WITHIN 60 DAYS OF VISIT DATE, with original receipts to the Member & Geographic Activities Specialist for review and reimbursement. Deviation from the original approved request amount for inter-city travel, and/or request for reimbursement above the expense maximum as defined under Policies, will require an appropriate explanation for consideration by the DVP Chair. If the deviation is due to an emergency or unusual, unforeseen circumstances, approval for the higher amount will be up to the discretion of the DVP Chair upon review of the circumstances. Reimbursement requests should be sent to: The Distinguished Visitors Program (DVP), c/o IEEE Computer Society, Member & Geographic Activities Specialist, 2001 L Street, N.W., Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036-5104. Phone: 202-371-0101

Selection of Speakers

Speakers are selected by the DVP Committee headed by the DVP Chair. The DVP Chair may appoint members to the DVP Committee for a total of up to 9 members, including the DVP Chair, as deemed necessary to carry out the selection process. Nominations for new speakers are formally solicited by the Chair in the Spring of each year, but are accepted any time throughout the year. The selection of speakers is in accordance with the following guidelines:

1. Speakers are recognized authorities in their respective fields as indicated by the following criteria with respect to their chosen topics: 1) a record of public speaking at conferences or technical meetings, 2) articles in technical or trade journals, and 3) books published.
2. Speakers offer topics of interest to the general Computer Society membership as determined by the following criteria: 1) topics represented in publications, trade journals, and books; and 2) reader/member interest surveys.
3. Speakers’ schedules permit them to respond positively to requesting chapters.
4. Speakers have the support of their employer to participate in the DVP.
5. Speakers are invited to contribute their time and talent for a period of up to three years. An ex-speaker may be re-nominated after being out of the program for a period of at least two years. Any exceptions to this rule must be approved by the Computer Society President upon recommendation by the DVP Committee.
6. A speaker may exit the program during the three years for personal reasons or may be terminated at the discretion of the DVP Chair with the concurrence of the DVP Committee.
7. Current target representations are 67% academia and 33% industry. These targets are considered a goal for the program in order to encourage an acceptable representation between academia and industry, while also recognizing the value of academic research to practicing engineers. If a nominee’s group is under-represented, priority consideration will be given to the group that is below its target.
8. Speakers must be members of the Computer Society.

Recommendations for new speakers, as well as suggestions for desired topics, are welcome at any time. New speaker reviews and approvals are made within a week of receiving the nomination.

*We accept nominations on a rolling basis.

Please submit nominations, including the nominee’s biographical information and two or three abstracts of proposed topics, (use the entries in the current catalog as a reference for text length).