As approved by the USENIX Board of Directors on May 26, 2026; amended on June 15, 2026

Goal

The goal of this document is to define a common set of guidelines for establishing membership of the steering committees (SC) for USENIX conferences. These guidelines are designed to ensure the long-term continuation of USENIX values as well as the identities of individual conferences. Simultaneously, it regularly brings in new voices to allow the conference to adapt to the changing needs of the respective conference community and avoid the perception that a conference is being controlled by an insular group.

Scope

These guidelines are intended to apply to all "well-established" USENIX conferences, where "well-established" means that a conference:

  • Has held at least 5 conference events in total since being established as a USENIX conference
  • Has at least 8 SC members

Structure

Each SC shall consist of the following membership:

  • USENIX Representative: USENIX Executive Director (ED) or designated appointee on the USENIX staff
  • USENIX Board Representatives: Any members of the USENIX Board of Directors from the conference's community who choose to participate in the steering committee
  • Emeritus SC Members: One or two individuals who have served for at least five years, whether consecutive or not, to provide long-term perspective. For larger steering committees, two individuals are recommended.
  • Rotating SC Members: Six or eight rotating members. An even number of members is required for the rotation policy (see below).

The SC shall have a designated SC Chair who must be a member of the SC. The SC Chair shall be determined by asking individuals, who may decline, in the following order:

  1. USENIX Representative
  2. A USENIX Board Representative on the SC
  3. A Rotating SC Member or an Emeritus SC Member selected by the USENIX Representative

The Emeritus SC Members consist of former Rotating SC Members and former USENIX Board members who previously served on the SC. These members are invited by the USENIX Executive Director. The USENIX Executive Director should re-evaluate each Emeritus SC Member every two years, e.g., asking if they want to continue and checking conference attendance status. The USENIX Executive Director may also replace an Emeritus SC Member at their discretion, though doing so at two-year intervals in alignment with Rotating SC Member elections, as outlined below, is recommended.

Rotating SC Members serve for two-year terms (except for special cases enumerated below) with a lifetime maximum of three terms as a "Rotating" Member. Rotating SC Members are expected to attend the conference at least once every two years. Failure to do so may impact their eligibility in future elections.

Rotating SC Member Composition

The SC nominates and votes for Rotating SC Members. At its first implementation of this new process, the SC will determine the total number of Rotating SC Members, which shall be either six or eight. The SC must vote on any change to this number in future terms.

Any SC member may nominate one or more individuals in a given election. The SC member should confirm that the potential nominee is willing to serve if elected before nominating them. The list of nominees will typically include:

  • Any current Rotating SC Members whose term is ending and wish to continue (self-nominations are expected here)
  • Program co-chairs from the recently concluding conference
  • Other individuals from academia, industry, or government with significant experience in the conference community

The terms of Rotating SC Members shall be staggered such that half the rotating members have terms ending in the same year.

Two-per-Organization Rule: The Rotating SC Membership shall consist of no more than two individuals with the same primary employment affiliation (e.g., university, institution, or company). If employment changes within a term result in more than two individuals from the same organization, the individuals will complete their term and the rule will be enforced during the next election. Note that organizations of USENIX Board members and Emeritus SC Members do not count towards the two-per-organization rule; however, the SC is encouraged to not have more than two members per organization overall.

First Implementation: When this new process is first implemented, the SC Chair should first ask existing SC members if they would like to continue. Of the remaining SC members in the Rotating SC Member pool, the SC Chair should designate a "term end" of either "in one year" or "in two years" for each member to ensure the staggered renewal. The "in one year" designation shall be assigned to SC members who have been on the SC the longest. All limits on terms begin at this time, though SC members are encouraged to phase out according to the spirit of this document.

Voting for the Rotating Members

A Rotating SC Member vote will be conducted each year. With two-year terms, half of the Rotating SC Members should go up for election each year.

By default, the vote will occur during an SC meeting held at the conference event. Votes will be electronic, therefore non-attending SC members may vote. If the conference has multiple events per year, or if a vote at the conference event does not make sense, the SC and USENIX Executive Director should identify a mutually acceptable time for the annual vote when the SC transitions to this new process.

Election Official: Either the USENIX Executive Director or the designated USENIX Representative will act as the Election Official. The USENIX ED may serve as the Election Official even if they are not the USENIX Representative on the SC.

Voting SC Members: The voting SC members include current Rotating SC Members, Emeritus SC Members, and USENIX Board Representative(s). The USENIX Representative may not vote in the election.

Candidate List: Voting SC members must officially nominate candidates to the Election Official by a means and time determined by the Election Official. The Election Official must approve all nominations. On the rare occasion that the Election Official does not approve a nominee, the Election Official must inform the nominator(s) of the reason why. The Election Official should make efforts to raise concerns about individuals before official nominations are made.

Voting Process: Each voting SC member shall provide the Election Official with a confidential rank-ordered list of the nominated SC Rotating Members. The Election Official will combine the rank-ordering of all SC members, and the highest-ranked nominees will be appointed to the SC for the following term, up to the number of available positions. In the event of a tie, the Election Official breaks the tie at their discretion.

Mid-Term Vacancy

If a vacancy occurs mid-term, the position will remain vacant until the next election under normal circumstances. If more than half of the SC Rotating Members leave mid-term, an impromptu election will be conducted by holding a virtual meeting to discuss nominations, followed by a vote.

Mid-term vacancies may require non-standard term lengths to ensure that in the future each election cycle votes on half SC Rotating Members positions. When elections are for more than half of the SC rotating members, the Election Official will assign an initial term duration of no less than one year and no greater than three years to one or more of the new members of the SC.

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