Each Commission conducts twice a year open meetings in order to get fresh ideas, so it does not work in a vacuum. However, only the ten Commission members are entitled to decide and the Commission decision mode is by consensus. This decision making process takes place after the open meeting, preferably by email, phone, etc to allow members of the commissions not present at the meeting to participate in the decision. The rules to define the composition and role of the IAA commissions are defined on the IAA Bylaws as listed below.
Excerpt from Bylaws:
Section VII: ACADEMY COMMISSIONS, TASK FORCES AND STUDY GROUPS
7.1 In order to provide opportunities for initiation of focused activities, to facilitate and observe such activities, enable the exchange of ideas and information among interested members of the Academy and recommend appropriate measures relating to the establishment and activities of Program Committees and Study Groups to the Board of Trustees, six Academy Commissions shall be established, namely: Commission I on Space Physical Sciences; Commission II on Space Life Sciences; Commission III on Space Technology and System Development; Commission IV on Space Systems, Operations and Utilization; Commission V on Space Policy, Law and Economics; Commission VI on Space and Society, Culture and Education. The initial general scopes of responsibility of each of the Academy Commissions are shown for information in Appendix 1 of these Bylaws. The scopes may be amended by majority Board decisions in the future.
7.2 The officers of each Academy Commission shall be a Chairperson, a Vice Chairperson and a Secretary. They shall be appointed by the President upon recommendation of the Vice-President for Scientific Activities for a term of two years. The Vice Chairperson shall succeed the Chairperson at the expiration of his term of office. Each Academy Commission shall be composed of members appointed by the President upon the recommendation of the Vice-President for Scientific Activities. The Chairpersons of the relevant Program Committees and Study Groups shall serve as ex-officio members of the respective Academy Commissions. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons of the Academy Commissions shall be selected from among the Members of the Academy, the Secretary and other members of the Commissions may be either Members or Corresponding Members of the Academy.
7.3 Academy Commissions may establish ad hoc Advisory Groups to help in reviewing selected study topics.
7.4 Upon recommendation of the Vice President for Scientific Activities, the respective Chairperson of an Academy Commission or petition of at least 15 Members and/or Corresponding Members, the Board shall be empowered to establish appropriate Program Committees and Study Groups. Members and/or Corresponding Members wishing to organize a Program Committee or a Study Group shall submit their proposal to an Academy Commission with the most appropriate scope. Such proposal shall include the terms of reference of the body concerned, the length of time needed for completion of its task, proposed membership, secondary interest in another Academy Commission, if any, and other useful information. If endorsed by the respective Academy Commissions, the proposal shall be transmitted to the Scientific Activities Committee for its approval. The Vice-President for Scientific Activities shall inform the Board of Trustees of the establishment of all Program Committees and Study Groups and shall report on the progress of their work.
7.5 The Vice-President for Scientific Activities shall recommend to the President the appointment of the Chairpersons and members of the Program Committees and Study Groups. The Officers of the Program Committees and Study Groups shall be the Chairperson, one or more Co-Chairpersons and a Secretary. The Officers shall be either Members or Corresponding Members. They shall remain in office for the lifetime of the task concerned. The membership of Program Committees and Study Groups shall include Members and Corresponding Members, as well as non-Members who are distinguished in the respective subjects of interest of these bodies.
7.6 Each Program Committee shall focus on accomplishing specific assignments over a period of time and shall organize conferences, sessions or symposia of the Academy on particular topics. The Terms of Reference for all Program Committees are contained in the reports of the Board of Trustees.
7.7 The Study Groups shall aim at producing multidisciplinary time-limited studies on various topics, which should result in cosmic study reports and position papers. All such documents shall be subject to approval of the Board of Trustees before releases as official Academy documents. The Study Groups may also convene special symposia.
IAA Criteria and Rules for Commission Membership
The Academy commissions were created in 2001 under the leadership of former Vice-President Scientific Activities Gerhard Haerendel who created the initial set of rules.
- IAA Commission Membership Rules
During the past years, the membership rules have been regularly discussed, amended, voted by the Board and are in phase with the general principles of the Academy: the Vice‐President makes the final decision for the slate in any standing committee as self re‐nomination of any group is not acceptable, engage newly elected, fair geographical distribution and one third renewal of any group at each term. As one of the key elements of membership involvement in Academy committees is the active participation, priority is given to the active participants of IAA commissions, IAA program committees and conferences, IAA permanent committees and IAA studies.
1.1‐ The IAA commission vice‐Chair becomes automatically the Chair at the next term,
1.2‐ The IAA commission Chair remains one more term as past‐Chair, and can no longer be re‐nominated in any commission,
1.3‐ The IAA commission Secretary is not necessarily promoted to vice‐Chair,
1.4‐ Application of the general Academy rule of one‐third membership renewal, therefore each IAA commission must bring a minimum of new Academicians at each term,
1.5‐ Priority to nominate recently elected full Members. CM can eventually be proposed if they are on
current list for election as Member,
1.6‐ Inactive IAA Commission members are not renewed or may be dismissed before the end of term after two consecutive absences or missing to respond by email or vote.
IAA Commission Mandate Rules
1.10‐ Commissions oversee study groups, program committees and permanent committees
1.11‐ Study groups are in charge of the studies,
1.12‐ Program Committees are in charge of the Symposia, conferences,
1.13‐ Regarding the Commission Membership process, the Commissions provide proposals for membership nomination. The commission nomination is finalized by the Vice‐President Scientific Activities, presented to the Board for endorsement and appointment is made by the Secretary General.
- IAA Commission Leadership Duties (Chair, Vice‐Chair and Secretary):
The work of commission members cannot rely only on two online meetings per year. In order to support the work of the commissions throughout the year additional teleconferences may be added.
Commission leadership duties are as follow:
‐2.1 Have knowledge of all on‐going commission activities such as status on on‐going studies and conferences in their commission area,
‐2.2 Have knowledge of all IAA commissions, conferences and studies status and guidelines,
‐2.3 Manage all commission activities,
‐2.4 Ensure regular communications throughout the year with all IAA stand alone conference chairs and the IAA office,
‐2.5 Ensure regular communications throughout the year with all leaders of IAA symposia in various for a (such as COSPAR, IAC, ISPRS, etc.),
‐2.6 Ensure regular communications throughout the year with all study group leadership team (Chair,
co‐chair and secretary),
‐2.7 Work as a team with the IAA office and ensure regular proactive communications throughout the year. Communicate any issue as soon as they arise and not wait for teleconferences. An open commission meeting is not the place for an exchange on general internal administrative topic. That must be addressed directly to IAA office throughout the year as soon it arises,
‐2.8 In coordination with the IAA office, request all study group and all conference reports one months prior to commission meetings and for efficient meeting preparation distribute it among commission members and copy the IAA office,
‐2.9 Request PowerPoint presentations from all on‐going studies and past and future conferences at each meeting,
‐2.10 IAA templates for commission meeting (agenda, minutes, and PowerPoint presentations) are available at IAA office and are required for homogeneous presentations throughout IAA scientific activities.
In addition to the duties above, commission leaders must also fulfill the regular IAA commission member duties (see below).
- IAA Commission Member Duties (All):
Commission member duties are twofold: the studies and the conferences.
Regarding the studies, the commission member duties are to:
‐3.1 vote on new study proposals,
‐3.2 oversee commission ongoing studies,
‐3.3 read diligently the entire study final drafts prior to review and voting,
‐3.4 vote on study final draft for commission approval,
‐3.5 actively propose new study topics
For the conferences they are two types of IAA conferences: standalone conferences and IAA symposia in various fora (such as COSPAR, IAC, ISPRS, etc.). The dominant activity is the stand alone conferences totaling more than double of the IAA fora. Commission member duties related to the conferences are to:
‐3.6 oversee on‐going conferences related to commission area,
‐3.7 provide input when needed,
‐3.8 support conference program committees
‐3.9 actively propose new conference topics
Emails consultation and internal votes in commissions are a key contribution to the Academy and participation to those votes is mandatory.
- IAA Commission Duties (All):
Commission member unable to fulfill the above tasks are rotated at any time during the two‐year term
and are replaced by an active member.
IAA Scientific Activities Survey
IAA Newly Elected Members and Academicians were invited to participate as guest to any open meetings of the IAA Commissions. Open meetings of Commissions, by definition, allow access to all Members and Corresponding Members of the Academy as well as non IAA Academicians. Those meetings are excellent opportunities to get a broad overview of the Academy concrete activity in a given area. The commission work is mainly management related but real engagement expected from newly elected members is contributing or joining either a study group or/and a program committee of an IAA conference (either a standalone Academy conference, a Regional Meeting, an Academy symposium of the International Astronautical Congress or an Academy symposium of a Scientific Assembly of COSPAR).
As decided by the Board of Trustees (BOT), IAA survey forms were sent yearly to newly elected Academicians since 2006 and it has been sent also sometimes to the entire Academy. Decision to use data survey was left to the Commissions and the Study Groups leaders.