Committee Procedures

Meeting Procedures

The goal is group consensus and the input and endorsement of imaging community stakeholders on major decisions.

• When participation at a given meeting is not open to all committee members, (e.g. it takes place at an “invitation-only” face-to-face event and remote access is not provided for the committee meeting), that meeting will not be considered an official meeting of that committee. No official decisions will be made and attendance will not count toward or against voting privileges.
  • Typically, Secretariat staff are present at meetings and capturing attendance. If staff is not present, the chair will need to ensure that attendance records are captured and submitted to Secretariat staff.
  • If possible, it is still desirable for minutes to be recorded, but the unofficial status will be noted

A record of committee decisions and rationale is necessary to be effective and learn.

• Secretariat (RSNA) records minutes (call summaries) for committee meetings
• Secretariat maintains rosters for each committee indicating which members currently have Voting Privileges
  • Members who believe their attendance record is in error should contact the secretariat, preferably before the meeting

Voting

Procedural decisions (such as whether to send a document to ballot) are voted on during meetings

• Chairs accept motions, seconds, discussion, and then call for a vote (see Roberts Rules if you need to get more elaborate)
• Members who have Voting Privileges count towards quorum and may vote
• Chairs resolve negative votes and large numbers of abstentions per the consensus process
  • details of the resolution discussion in the minutes is desirable
• Secretariat records the motion, tally of those against/abstaining/in-favor, and the details of negative votes in the minutes

Email Ballot

Some decisions are put to ballot. This allows more deliberation on the subject material than a vote in committee.

• Chairs submit the ballot question and length of the ballot period to the Secretariat
  • The ballot period may be specified by the particular procedure that calls for a ballot
  • It is generally not less than 14 days to allow for members away on vacation
  • If reviewing lengthy documents or collecting feedback within member organizations is involved 30 days or more is better
• Secretariat emails the ballot to all members with Voting Privileges on the committee making the decision
• Secretariat emails a notification of ineligibility to the rest of the members of the committee making the decision
  • Members who do not have Voting Privileges will thus be aware of the ballot and are still permitted to submit comments
  • Members who believe their attendance record is in error can review of their attendance with the secretariat and if they are found to be eligible will be sent a ballot
• Secretariat compiles the ballot responses and comments for the Chairs
• Chairs ratify the resulting tally in the next committee meeting
  • this includes resolving negative votes and large numbers of abstentions per the consensus process
• Secretariat records resolution results/rationale in the minutes

Consensus Process

As a group setting standards on behalf of a community, QIBA Committees actively pursue Consensus.

• strictly speaking a vote/ballot can pass with a quorum of votes and a majority in favor, BUT
  • a negative vote results in further discussion
    • understand the reason for each negative vote and attempt to find a compromise or resolution that often allows everyone to vote in favor
    • if after due diligence exploring compromises it is not possible, the chairs can accept the majority finding and the negative voters have had a chance to have their say and register their issues into the minutes
  • a large number of abstentions also warrants discussion; it can indicate many people have:
    • misgivings
    • not been able to adequately evaluate the question

Committee Leadership

• Coordinating Committees, Biomarker Committees and Task Forces are encouraged to have 2 or 3 leaders who are preferably drawn from diverse backgrounds (Researchers, Clinicians, Physicists, Vendors, Regulators, etc.)
  • If not possible, committees are permitted to have some concentration but should discuss plans to expand stakeholder representation at least annually

See Also

• QIBA Committees