Open Session, July 26, 2023

The July 2023 monthly open meeting covered a variety of topics.

Abhinav gave us a sneak preview of the new website that he is designing, going over the motivations underlying design decisions. There were questions re: accessibility that Abhinav addressed. We are looking to launch this site before the end of the year.

Naveena went over changes to the SIGCHI Development Fund and how it has been integrated with the Conferences Fund, most recently. The SDF is now the sole portal for all grant types, including our specialized conferences, chapters, sustainability activities, and all community events. There are dedicated budgets and reviewers from the EC. The goal is to increase navigability, and afford transparent and equitable review.

Naveena went over the new SDF guidelines. We plan to iterate on the guidelines over the next three months. These guidelines are not requirements.

Naveena also gave updates from the Futuring SIGCHI Committee and the projects they are working on: the Emerging Scholars Event for CSCW 2023, Diversifying Knowledge Formats, and Global HCI Awareness.

Pejman went over the publications appeals process to present the revisions. There was some Q&A with members re: the appeals process, how conflict of interest plays a role in decision-making on appeals, and also data re: the success rate of appeals across the community. Pejman communicated that the SIGCHI EC would not have any power on making appeals decisions. There was also a question about the timelines within which the decisions could expect to be made. Another community member participated to point out that the appeals processes were not communicated to them, making the process of seeking an appeal quite traumatizing.

Catia talked about her goals of (a) refining the Volunteers Handbook to inform about volunteering principles, rights, and responsibilities, and (b) formulating the Volunteering Agreement/Articulation to formalize volunteers' roles and responsibilities, including required knowledge about SIGCHI and ACM policy. She also presented the Open Call for Volunteers form (on sigchi.submittable.com) and pointed out that the Asia and Education committees were actively recruiting.

Recording, Zoom.