The ACM SIGCHI Interactive Health Steering Committee is responsible for oversight of the annual ACM Interactive Health conference and related publishing efforts (e.g., special issues in journals, conference proceedings). The committee consists of elected officers.
The objectives of the Interactive Health Steering Committee (Interactive Health SC) are to:
Define and shape Interactive Health conference goals and direction and determine the overall strategy and vision for the Interactive Health conference series, including building and maintaining diversity, equity, and inclusivity (as reflected in the Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, and Access Handbook);
Promote the interests of the diverse range of members of the Interactive Health community, including needs that differ by geography, discipline, and career stage. The steering committee should also work to promote research with communities and regarding health topics that have been marginalized.
Be responsible for the Interactive Health community operations and finances;
Provide advice to the current and future chairs of the Interactive Health conference series;
Promote and maintain the Interactive Health conference, and related publication opportunities, as the premier international venue for researchers and practitioners interested in the intersection of human-computer interaction and health;
Assist the Interactive Health conference General Chair(s) in decision-making processes, while allowing responsibilities such as publicity and local arrangements (e.g., sponsorship, industry engagement) to lie with the conference organizers;
Select and confirm conference locations and dates, and approve appointments of the main conference chairs, such as General Chairs, Technical Program Chairs, and Papers Chairs;
Ensure the highest scientific quality of the Interactive Health conference, recognizing the variety of approaches and contributions within the Interactive Health community;
Approve the Program Committee for the upcoming conference with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusivity;
Provide history and continuity for the conference;
Create procedures and best practices for the Interactive Health conference to achieve further diversity, equity, inclusivity, and access;
Resolve general issues involved with the Interactive Health conference series.
The Interactive Health Steering Committee shall consist of representatives with interests aligned to the Interactive Health conference and related publications. The committee will represent the interdisciplinary nature of the conference and the community, including researchers and professionals across intersections of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and health.
The Interactive Health SC will consist of 7-11 members (inclusive of the roles named in Article 3 Section 1).
The Interactive Health SC will begin operating on April 3, 2025, with initial members: Roisin McNaney, Jessica A. Pater, Nova Ahmed, Qingyan Ma, Jason Wiese, Ignacio Avellino, Aneesha Singh, Sean Munson, Francisco Nunes, and Melissa Densmore who had been involved in gathering community input and initiating the conference proposal indicated their intention to become an active member of the Interactive Health SC.
(1) The SC shall issue an open call for membership for vacancies that will be created by expiring terms at least three months in advance. This call for membership shall be distributed broadly within the Interactive Health Community. The steering committee, as a whole or individually, may also strongly encourage individuals to apply, with a focus on diversity of geography, expertise, career stage, and background. Additionally, the SC should seek to bring in new members wherever possible and avoid a situation where membership is continually drawn from the same pool.
(2) Individuals may indicate their candidacy for a role named in Article 3 Section 1 and/or member-at-large.
(2) Individuals who submit their candidacy shall have their eligibility checked against the ACM Sanctions Database. Anyone who is prohibited from attending, publishing, or volunteering in ACM events or publications shall be ineligible for SC membership.
(3) In the event there are multiple candidates for a role named in Article 3 Section 1, voting will occur using the Schulze method of ranked choice voting among all candidates for that role, among members of the current steering committee. Members running for one of the named roles may not vote on candidates for that role. This vote shall occur, and results announced, before voting for members-at-large.
(4) Members-at-large must be confirmed by a majority of eligible voting steering committee members. In the event that more people apply than there are open positions, members will be selected as those who receive the most votes in approval voting. Expiring members may not vote on their own candidacy for member-at-large.
(5) If the above process leaves vacancies, the SC chair may appoint individuals to the vacant positions (pursuant to limits in Section 3.2), with approval from the majority of SC members.
(1) Membership of an SC member is terminated when they do not adequately perform assigned or delegated tasks (see Article 3).
(2) Each year, at the meeting preceding elections for new at-large members, the SC Chair and Vice Chair will check the activity status of each member during the last 12 months. The SC Chair will then report to the SC, which will vote on the membership conversion and termination. In addition, any SC member can report inactive SC members and call for a vote on their membership status.
(3) Before voting, the SC member in question shall first receive a written notice from the SC Chair explaining the reason(s) for the termination and shall be given an opportunity to challenge the proposed termination to the other SC members.
(4) SC membership termination requires a 2/3 majority vote of all eligible SC voters; an individual being considered for removal is ineligible to vote on their own removal.
(5) SC members can choose to voluntarily withdraw from the SC by notifying the SC Chair at any time.
(6) SC members who an investigation has determined to have performed conduct unworthy of Interactive Health such as corruption, research misconduct, sexual harassment or other serious misdeeds as outlined in the ACM policy against discrimination and harassment (https://www.acm.org/about-acm/policy-against-harassment) will be immediately removed from the SC.
(i) Anyone who is precluded from participating in ACM activities, including attending, publishing, or volunteering) may not run for the steering committee. If this determination is reached while they are on the steering committee, their membership will be immediately terminated.
(ii) Any SC member who is currently under investigation for misconduct must report this to the SC, regardless of the entity performing the investigation. The SC may vote through a >50% majority of eligible steering committee voters to suspend this individual from their SC position pending the outcome of the investigation. An individual under investigation is not eligible to vote on their own suspension.
The Interactive Health SC shall have members with the following roles:
SC Chair (Steering Committee Chair)
SC Vice-Chair (Steering Committee Secretary),
Publications Director
Site Selection Director
Student Representative
The rest of the members will have the title “member at-large”. The responsibilities of each role are listed in Section 3 of this article.
(1) A term as SC Chair or SC Vice Chair lasts two years, starting from the end of the current Interactive Health conference, to the end of the next relevant Interactive Health conference. After the first two-year term, an SC Chair or Vice Chair can be re-elected for a maximum of two more years (one term).
(2) Tenure as any of the other director roles lasts up to two years. After two years in the same role, the SC member who held that role can apply for another role or the same role, up to the maximum years of service (see Article 3, Section 2.4).
(3) General steering committee members-at-large remain members for three years. Members can be renominated up to the maximum years of service.
(4) A member of the steering committee is not to be expected to serve for more than 8 consecutive years. After eight years, steering committee members should not run again for a period of two years (though may be appointed by the steering committee chair to fill vacancies if needed).
SC Chair
Responsibilities:
Establishing objectives and procedures for the Interactive Health conference in cooperation with the other SC members
Ensuring that the mechanisms and documents for accomplishing these goals are put in place
Supporting general chairs and first point of contact for GCs with respect to the steering committee
Acting as a confidant for GCs in case of smaller disagreements among chairs, helping to resolve minor issues yet also helping to understand when to escalate to SC or SIGCHI Cares
Overseeing and coordinating the activities of the other SC members
Acting as the main contact point of the Interactive Health SC
Scheduling, preparing and chairing the SC meetings
Organizing the elections of the SC members
Keeping track of annual conference budgets, including gains and losses
Relating with ACM SIGCHI Executive committee, and participating in the SIGCHI Council of Steering Committee Chairs
SC Vice Chair
Responsibilities:
Supporting the SC Chair in their activities
Writing and distributing the meeting minutes within five working days after the meeting unless otherwise specified by the SC Chair in consensus with the rest of the SC members
Substituting the SC Chair if they are not present (if substituting the SC Chair, writing and distributing the meeting minutes will be delegated to another SC member)
Managing the engagement and recruitment of volunteers for the conference
Publications Director
Responsibilities:
Responsible for coordinating with partner journal(s), or other publication mechanisms, to ensure a smooth publication process for authors, including liaising with papers chairs and/or editors.
In partnership with papers chairs/editors and technical program chairs, update and oversee distribution of relevant calls for papers
Keep the steering committee informed of relationships with publication venues and investigate and present options for establishing new publication relationships or terminating existing ones
Ensure that the Interactive Health community is contributing to the reviewer pool for partner publications
Site Selection Director
Responsibilities:
Organizing a call for bids for hosting the next Interactive Health conference
Collecting and compiling all received bids and presenting them to the SC
Communicating the result of the host selection process to all bidders and the selected new host
Student Representative
Responsibilities:
At the time of election, this representative must be a student. They may continue to the conclusion of their term if this status changes during the term.
Ensure that the perspectives of students are included in steering committee conversations.
Propose initiatives that promote the development and engagement of early-career scholars in the Interactive Health Committee.
Members-at-Large
In partnership with the chair, vice-chair, and named directors above, members at large should allocate the following responsibilities, and any other emergent needs, among themselves:
Attracting and maintaining long-term sponsorship deals (in addition to one-time conference sponsors)
Fostering long-term external relations to industry and academia
Maintaining the Interactive Health website and social media accounts across the conference series
Maintain the Interactive Health community communication channels as decided upon by the steering committee (e.g., Slack, Discord, mailing list)
Assisting with hosting-related issues of Interactive Health
Updating the aliases redirections for the new committee every year
Keeping access to all Interactive Health web-based accounts and ensuring that at least two other SC members have access in the event of an emergency
Maintaining records of data related to submissions/acceptances, registration/attendance, and survey experiences
Maintaining records and documentation of specific roles/methods/processes
Establishing, updating, and making awards
There will be at least four SC meetings per year:
Meetings of up to 2 hours, will be scheduled a minimum of four times per year.
When scheduling meetings, the SC Chair should work to make the meeting at a time that is comfortable for everyone on the SC. If this is not possible, they should consider alternatives, including rotating meeting times, to ensure that no SC members are disproportionately disadvantaged based on timezone.
In years in which there is an Interactive Health conference, an SC meeting shall be held at the time and location of the current conference (before, during or after the conference).
In a meeting approximately six months before elections, the SC shall consider its membership, and make recommendations about any changes to the committee structure.
All meetings will be chaired by the SC Chair. A Vice Chair will be elected from the members of the committee as necessary when the Chair is absent. A majority (50%+1) of all SC members shall constitute a quorum for all meetings.
Meeting agendas and minutes will be provided by the SC Chair or SC Vice Chair, including:
preparing agendas and supporting papers
preparing meeting notes and information
SC members are expected to attend all SC meetings, either physically or virtually. All SC members will be consulted to find the most suitable date and time, and the SC Chair will make sure a moment is selected when as many SC members as possible can attend. Repeated and/or uncommunicated non-attendance can lead to exclusion from the SC (see Article 2, Section 4).
(1) Outcomes, decisions, and action items from SC meetings will be reported to the SIGCHI Council of Steering Committee Chairs (and by that to the SIGCHI Executive Committee, the Vice President for Conferences).
(2) The discussions and information from the general annual CSCC meeting will be reported by the person attending this meeting (SC Chair or substitute) at the next Interactive Health SC meeting, distributing brief meeting notes.
(3) Decisions and action items of concern for the current conference will be reported to the conference General Chairs of the current year.
(4) The SC Vice Chair is responsible for reporting outcomes from SC meetings to the rest of the SC and the Interactive Health community.
Any SC member can raise an issue by sending an email to the list of all SC members. Every SC member must reply to the mail on the list, describing their position within a week unless otherwise specified by the sender, with allowances for SC members who are out of the office.
If no consensus is apparent, the SC Chair will call for a formal vote via email. Every SC member has one vote. Every SC member must reply by sending their vote on the list within a week unless otherwise specified by the SC Chair (with allowances for SC members out of office).
A normal majority of votes will decide the result of the voting procedure unless otherwise specified by the SC Chair. If no vote is received from an SC member within the time specified, this will be counted as an invalid vote. If there is a tie, the SC Chair’s vote counts as double. A quorum of 50% (rounded up to the next whole number) eligible voters must be reached in order to accept the voting result.
Issues raised during an SC meeting will be voted upon by the present SC members (either physically or virtually).
A document repository will be maintained and shared with future hosts, recording the rules and procedures to ensure a consistent organization of the Interactive Health conference. Each steering committee should determine who is responsible for ensuring consistency and maintenance of this documentation.
The rules and procedures in this document can be changed at any time by a 2/3 majority vote of all eligible Steering Committee voters.
Please refer to ACM’s Code of Conduct.