Selecting Chairs

The coordinating committee formed by the ACL exec is responsible for selecting General Chair and Program Chairs.

Selecting a General Chair

The General Chair of the main ACL conference should have:

  • experience from at least one (preferably two) of the following conference chair roles:
    • Program Chair of a major international conference in Computational Linguistics or a related area
    • Local Arrangements Chair of an international conference in Computational Linguistics or a related area
    • General Chair of an international conference in Computational Linguistics or a related area
  • a proven capacity for leadership, including good organizational, collaborative and communicative skills.

When appointing a General Chair, the coordinating committee should in addition consider the following:

  • ACL wants to promote equality and diversity in the selection of conference chairs.
  • The General Chair should normally have an affiliation in the geographical region where the conference takes place.
  • Candidates who have already been General Chair of the main ACL conference should normally not be considered again.
  • Candidates with experience only from conferences in related areas, not Computational Linguistics, should normally not be considered.

NB: As major CL conferences are counted ACL, NAACL, EACL, AACL, IJCNLP, COLING, LREC and EMNLP.

Conferences in related areas include, for example, IJCAI, AAAI, NIPS, ICML, ICWSM, CHI, and CSCW.

For information about roles and responsibilities, see General Chair duties.

NB: ACL is committed to promoting equity and diversity at all levels of the organization. Everyone involved in nomination and selection procedures is therefore encouraged to consult our page with resources for Promoting Diversity and Avoiding Bias.

Selecting Program Co-Chairs

The Program Committee of the main ACL conference is chaired by two or more Program Co-Chairs. The Co-Chairs should have:

  • experience as Area Chair for a major conference in Computational Linguistics or a related area,
  • standing as an internationally recognized researcher in Computational Linguistics or a related area,
  • good organizational, collaborative and communicative skills.

When appointing Program Co-Chairs, the coordinating committee should in addition consider the following:

  • ACL wants to promote equality and diversity in the selection of conference chairs.
  • The Program Co-Chairs should have complementary profiles, scientifically as well as socio-geographically
  • Candidates who have already been Program Co-Chair of ACL should normally not be considered for the same conference.
  • Candidates with experience only from conferences in related areas, not Computational Linguistics, should normally not be considered.

NB: As major CL conferences are counted ACL, NAACL, EACL, AACL, IJCNLP, COLING, LREC and EMNLP. Conferences in related areas include, for example, IJCAI, AAAI, NIPS, ICML, CHI, and CSCW.

For information about roles and responsibilities, see Program Chair duties.

*NB: ACL is committed to promoting equity and diversity at all levels of the organization. Everyone involved in nomination and selection procedures is therefore encouraged to consult our page with resources for Promoting Diversity and Avoiding Bias.