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Proceedings of the 18
th
International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013
Appendix B GUIDELINES FOR ISSMGE TECHNICAL
COMMITTEES
(September August 2013)
The guidelines provide a framework for the functioning of
Technical Committees (TCs) within the ISSMGE. They should
be read in conjunction with ISSMGE statutes and by-laws,
extracts from which are given at the end of this document. The
ISSMGE has between twenty and thirty technical committees,
each dealing with specific subject areas in the field of
geotechnical engineering.
The mission of the technical committees is to provide a
forum for active participation by the individual mem-bers of
ISSMGE, and to promote the objectives, activities and results of
the technical committees throughout the ISSMGE membership.
The committees are a meeting arena for discussing, developing
and applying specialist geotechnical knowledge related to the
behaviour of geo-materials, geotechnical engineering and
engineering for society..
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of a technical committee are to:
Objective 1: Disseminate knowledge and practice within the
TC’s subject area to the membership of the ISSMGE.
Objective 2: Establish guidelines and technical
recommendations within the TC’s subject area.
Objective 3: Assist with technical programs of international
and regional conferences organized by the ISSMGE.
Objective 4: Interact with industry and overlapping groups
working in areas related to the TC’s specialist area.
CREATION AND DISSOLUTION OF TECHNICAL
COMMITTEE
Technical committees are created at the behest of the President
of the ISSMGE. At the commencement of the Presidential term,
the President reviews the list of technical committees and may
create of dissolve some of the committees. The topics and
number of TCs are set to meet the perceived needs within the
geotechnical community. ISSMGE members may also request
the President to consider the formation of a new technical
committee.
The activities of the TCs and the Chair of the TC continue
their work independently of the election of the ISSMGE
president. The Chair continues his work through the change in
ISSMGE President, until otherwise directed by the President.
The ISSMGE President has the power to create or dissolve a
TC, but the life of a TC is disconnected from the term of the
ISSMGE presidency.
A new TC can be proposed by ISSMGE members and/or
Member Societies at any in time, and not just at the start of a
new ISSMGE presidency.
The ISSMGE President may elect to dissolve any technical
committee whose mandate has been fulfilled or one that is
perceived as being inactive.
MEMBERSHIP
All office bearers and members of TCs must be members of the
ISSMGE and must remain in good standing throughout their
term of service. Exceptions can be made in cases where
particular expertise outside of soil mechanics and geotechnical
engineering is required for continued knowledge development
of a TC. Such exceptions must be approved by the TOC.
An ISSMGE member can belong to more than one TC.
TC Chair and Secretary
When creating a TC, the President invites a Member Society to
take responsibility for the specific committee and will normally
suggest who should chair the committee. The TOC suggests to
the President the host country and the chair for each committee.
The Member Society takes responsibility for providing the
Chair and the necessary administration to ensure efficient
operation of the committee. The ISSMGE President will
consider regional rep-resentation in the choice of the host
country.
The choice of a suitable Chair is crucial to the good
operation of the committee. The chair should have suffi-cient
knowledge of the subject area, should be well respected in the
geotechnical community and should have a firm commitment
and the necessary capacity to organize the activities of the TC.
The term of a chair is 4 years, and can be renewed.
Normally, the number of terms is limited to two or three. At the
end of the term of a Chair, the Member Society hosting the TC
can propose to the President a new chair from its country. An
out-going Chair, the TC’s Chair is to suggest to the TOC and
the ISSMGE President one or several candidates to take over
the TC chairmanship.
The Chair selects the Secretary for the TC. The Chair can
nominate the Secretary and/or a Co-Chair from an-other
Member Society.
In some instances, it may become necessary to appoint a
new Chair partway during the term of a ISSMGE President. The
ISSMGE President and the TOC should be advised of such
circumstances as soon as they become apparent.
The TOC may suggest to the ISSMGE President to replace
a Chair who is “not active”. Only the President can replace a TC
Chair. The Host Member Society may also be changed by the
President. The term “not active” means one not responding to
queries by the ISSMGE President, Vice-Presidents, Secretary
General or the TOC, not showing satisfactory progress, not
following the guidelines for the TC’s or not responding within
agreed deadlines.
Membership
The Chair can nominate up to four members of the TC, and the
TOC can nominate up to four members. The Chair and the TOC
submit the nominations to the President for approval. The
Secretary General then invites each Member Society to
nominate up to two (2) members to serve on the TCs.
Nominations should be sent to the Secretary General
accompanied by a brief (maximum one (1) page) CV and
confirmation by the Member Society that the nominee is a
member of the ISSMGE. Only those Member Societies in good
standing with the ISSMGE may submit nominations.
The Chair of the TC reviews the list of nominees and invites
individual members to join the TC. Reasonable effort should be
made to include one nominee from each Member Society unless
the Chair regards the nominee as unsuitable.
The Chair submits the list of TC members to the Secretary
and President of the ISSMGE. The President may intervene if
he/she regards the selection of members to be inappropriate.
The Chair then sends an invitation to each TC member to
confirm their availability and their willingness to join the TC.
Thereafter, the Chair advises the Secretary General of the final
composition of the TC. The process of forming the TC should
generally be completed within three months of the appointment
of the Chair. The Secretary General advises all Member
Societies of the composition of each of the TCs.
The TCs can have Corresponding Members. A
Corresponding Member of a TC is a member appointed by the
TC Chair solely to help the TC to execute technical activities.
The member will have a specific task defined by the TC. Once
the task is completed, the Corresponding Member will be
removed from the status of the corresponding member. The
Corresponding Members can attend TC meetings but do not
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