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I. General Assemblly | 1.1 | The agenda of business to be transacted by the General Assembly shall be determined by the Executive Council and shall be announced by the Secretary or his/her representative to the Members of the General Assembly and the Commissions at least one month before the meeting of the General Assembly. | | 1.2 | Any Commission may propose business to be transacted at a General Assembly. Proposals shall reach the Secretary or his/her representative at least ten weeks prior to the meeting, and shall be included in the agenda of the General Assembly. | | 1.3 | General Assembly determines the date and place of the next meeting of the General Assembly. | | 1.4 | Chairpersons of Commissions need not be delegates from an Adhering Body. They may not vote in the General Assembly, unless they are also serving as delegates, and exercising the individual voting rights allocated by their respective Adhering Bodies. | | 1.5 | At the invitation of the President, individuals who are not delegates may be invited to address the General Assembly, may participate in discussions, but shall have no voting power. | | 1.6 | Delegates representing each Adhering Body are determined by the governance body of the Adhering Body. | | 1.7 | Each Adhering Body shall notify the Secretary or his/her representative of its intention to be represented, at least four weeks prior to the meeting of the General Assembly, in order to assist the prediction of achieving a quorum. | | 1.8 | The number of delegates representing an adhering body is subject to limitations set by the General Assembly, but the total number of votes for each Adhering Body is determined by Article III.A.5 of the Statutes. | | 1.9 | Application for adherence to the International Union of Materials Research Societies is made to the Executive Council through the Secretary or his/her representative. The Executive Council will refer the application to a Commission, created for this purpose, for evaluation and recommendation. If the application is in conformance with the statutes of the IUMRS (Article II.B.), the proposal for adherence is placed on the agenda of the next General Assembly meeting. Proposals for adherence have the first priority as business of the General Assembly. Adherence is conferred by a simple majority of the voting power of all Adhering Bodies. | | 1.10 | Delegates of an Adhering Body may not vote on any matter concerning its own individual membership in the IUMRS. | | 1.11 | Minutes of the meetings of the General Assembly shall be made. Draft minutes will be prepared for approval by the Executive Council. Minutes approved by the Executive Council shall be distributed to all IUMRS Members. After approval of the minutes at the next General Assembly, these minutes shall be placed on file with the Secretary of the IUMRS or his/her representative as part of the official archives of the IUMRS. |
2. Executive Council | 2.1 | The Executive Council shall meet at each General Assembly. | | 2.2 | Between the meetings of the General Assembly, the Executive Council may conduct its business by telephone conference, postal vote, or other electronic means. | | 2.3 | The Executive Council shall set the agenda for the General Assembly meetings (see paragraph 1.1.). | | 2.4 | In the event of the resignation, death or disability of the President, the first Vice-President shall assume the office of the President until the close of the next ordinary General Assembly. In the event of the resignation, death or disability of the first Vice-President, the Executive Council may, paragraph 2.5 notwithstanding, appoint one of its members to act as first Vice-President until the close of the next ordinary General Assembly. In the event that the Secretary or Treasurer cannot carry out his/her duties, the Executive Council shall appoint a delegate from the General Assembly to complete the term of office of the incumbent. Until the Executive Council has made such an appointment, the Treasurer or Secretary, respectively, shall carry out the duties of the vacant office. | | 2.5 | No individual may hold simultaneously more than one office on the Executive Council. | | 2.6 | The President on his/her own initiative or at the request of the Executive Council, may invite any individual to be present at a meeting of the Executive Council; such an invited guest may take part in the discussions but shall have no voting power. | | 2.7 | A quorum of the Executive Council shall consist of four of the six officers, and decisions shall be decided by a simple majority vote of those participating. All officers have an equal vote. In the event of a tie vote, the issue shall be decided only by vote of all six officers. In this case, a simple majority is required for passage of a motion. | | 2.8 | Meetings of the Executive Council will normally be held either in person or by telephone conference call. Binding votes may be made by conference call. Binding votes may also be held by postal vote or other electronic means. | | 2.9 | At the request of two members of the Executive Council, a postal vote shall be deferred until the next meeting or conference call of a quorum of the Executive Council. | | 2.10 | At the request of two members of the Executive Council votes shall be by secret ballot. | | 2.11 | The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping minutes of Executive Council meetings. After approval by the President, these minutes shall be distributed to all IUMRS Members. | | 2.12 | The Executive Council with the approval of the General Assembly may appoint a General Secretary to execute the day to day business of the Union, such as Union and membership records, arrangements for Union meetings, publications, financial records and reports, and other activities designated by the President of the Union. The General Secretary shall report to the President and shall be a non-voting ex officio member of the Executive Council. The appointment of General Secretary requires the approval of the General Assembly every four years. The General Secretary may be removed from office by a simple majority vote of the Executive Council followed by a simple majority vote by the General Assembly. Such a General Secretary position derives its duties through delegation from the officers of IUMRS, severally and individually, who are themselves so charged by the statutes and by-laws of the Union and who remain responsible for the proper execution of those duties and responsibilities. Authority and resources judged adequate to perform delegated duties shall be granted to the General Secretary position as documented and requested by the General Secretary from time to time. |
3. President and First Vice-President | 3.1 | The IUMRS President chairs both the Executive Council and the General Assembly of IUMRS. In the absence of the President, the first Vice-President shall act as President. | | 3.2 | The President is an ex officio member, with voting power, of all Commissions. The President may delegate this function to an Officer, at his/her discretion. |
4. Secretary | 4.1 | The IUMRS Secretary serves as secretary of both the Executive Council and the General Assembly of IUMRS. In the absence of the Secretary, the President shall designate another member of the Executive Council to serve temporarily as Secretary. | | 4.2 | Secretary is an ex officio member, with voting power, of all Commissions. | | 4.3 | The Secretary, directly or through his/her representative, is responsible for conducting the ordinary business of the Executive Council and the General Assembly, with the exception of the financial administration, and for keeping its records. |
5. Treasurer | 5.1 | The Treasurer, directly or through his/her representative, is responsible for the financial administration of the IUMRS and for keeping all financial records and accounts. | | 5.2 | The Treasurer is an ex officio member, with voting power, of all Commissions. | | 5.3 | The Treasurer, directly or through his/her representative, shall prepare an annual, written financial report for the delegates of the General Assembly. The financial report will be placed on the agenda for discussion at the last meeting of the General Assembly in a calendar year. | | 5.4 | The fiscal year shall begin on January 1 of each year and end on December 31 of the same year. | | 5.5 | Membership fees of each Adhering Body, as determined by its Category of Participation, are due on January 1 of each year. Such a fee entitles the Adhering Body to membership in IUMRS for that calendar year. Late payments will not be pro-rated unless the Adhering Body is joining IUMRS part way through the current year. Only after full payment has been received by IUMRS may the Adhering Body register any votes in General Assembly meetings or elections, or receive other member benefits and services. |
6. Commissions | 6.1 | The Executive Council is responsible for the establishment and oversight of Commissions having special functions integral to the work of IUMRS. (See Statutes, Articles III B 6,7,8) | | 6.2 | The Chairperson of each Commission shall be appointed by the Executive Council. Members of Commissions shall be appointed by the Executive Council for two year terms which may be renewed. | | 6.3 | Each Adhering Body is entitled, if it wishes, to designate one representative as a member of each Commission. | | 6.4 | Each Commission should be composed of members who, as far as practical, represent the full range of Adhering Bodies and scientific disciplines in the International Union of Materials Research Societies. | | 6.5 | The Chairperson of each Commission shall report annually to the Executive Council and the General Assembly on the activities of the Commission. | | 6.6 | The budget for the activities of the Commission will be allocated by the Executive Council. The Chairperson of the Commission shall submit an annual financial report on the expenditure of these funds to the Treasurer or his/her representative. | | 6.7 | The term of a Chairperson shall be two years, and no person may serve more than two consecutive terms as Chairperson of the same Commission without approval of an exception to this paragraph by the General Assembly. No person may serve as a member of a Commission for more than three consecutive terms. | | 6.8 | In the event of the resignation, death or disability of the Chairperson of a Commission, the Executive Council shall appoint a member of that Commission to serve as Chairperson until the close of the General Assembly following this appointment. | | 6.9 | In the event that a Chairperson fails to fulfill the duties required of this position, he or she may be replaced by the Executive Council. | | 6.10 | The explicit duties and responsibilities of each Commission will be determined by the Executive Council, and they will be published in various forms, including the IUMRS Web site. |
7. Nomination and Election of Officers | 7.1 | Election of the officers for each year shall occur at the last meeting of the General Assembly prior to the calendar year in which their 2-year terms of office begin on January 1. | | 7.2 | The Executive Council shall submit nominations to the General Assembly for the officer positions of IUMRS. The Executive Council shall solicit nominations from a Nominations Commission, or the Executive Council shall poll all adhering bodies for nominations of candidates for each office. The slate of candidates for officers should, as far as is practical, be selected so that, over a few years, the ensemble of nominees is representative of the full range of Adhering Bodies and scientific disciplines of the International Union of Materials Research Societies. | | 7.3 | Each nomination must be accompanied by a brief statement of the qualifications of the nominee for office, (which may include a policy statement by the nominee). | | 7.4 | No officer, except the Secretary or Treasurer, can be nominated to succeed himself or herself for the same office. The Secretary and/or Treasurer can succeed themselves for only one additional term of office. | | 7.5 | The Executive Council must notify all delegates of their nominations for each office at least five weeks prior to the session of the General Assembly in which the election will be held. | | 7.6 | The full slate of candidates for each office, together with statements of their qualifications, shall be posted by the Secretary or his/her representative four weeks before the session of the General Assembly at which the election of officers will be held. | | 7.7 | The election of officers shall be governed by the same rules of quorum, proxy representation and voting power as those defined in the Statutes for all General Assembly actions. | | 7.8 | In voting, each of the offices shall be taken separately and in the sequence: First Vice-President, Second Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. Voting shall be by secret ballot. A simple majority of the votes cast shall be required for election. | | 7.9 | In the event a candidate for each office does not attain a simple majority of votes, a second secret ballot shall be taken between the two nominees with the highest number of votes. This procedure shall be repeated until a single nominee has been elected for each office by majority vote. | | 7.10 | No Adhering Body may be represented by more than two officers on the Executive Council. With the sequential election of officers, once any single Adhering Body is represented by two officers, other nominees from that adhering body are no longer eligible for election to office. | | 7.11 | In the event that a currently serving officer is nominated for another office, either by the Executive Council or by delegates to the General Assembly, the Executive Council shall also include a nomination for the office which would be vacated if the election to the other office occurs. If the election to the other office does not occur and if the officer’s term has not expired, the nomination to the office which would have been vacated shall not be considered. | | 7.12 | Any parliamentary contingency arising during the balloting shall be resolved, after consultation with the Parliamentarian, by a ruling of the President. This ruling shall be final. |
8. By-Laws | 8.1 | The By-Laws may be amended by a simple majority vote of the votes allocated to the Adhering Bodies present at the meeting where the amendment motion is considered. | | 8.2 | The present English text shall be considered the authoritative text in the interpretation of these By-Laws. In disputes concerning the interpretation of the By-Laws, the matter shall be decided by the General Assembly, or during the periods between General Assemblies, by a ruling of the President. | | 8.3 | The language of the By-Laws shall not be used to restrict in any way the participation of any person in the affairs and activities of the IUMRS on the basis of gender, race, religious affiliation, or nationality. |
9. Financial Expenditure Procedures Every expenditure of IUMRS funds must be appropriately identified with a specific expenditure item or category that appears in the prevailing IUMRS budget most recently approved by the General Assembly. Each IUMRS budget will contain an allocation intended to enable IUMRS to proceed with reasonable unexpected expenditures for unfunded needs that may arise during the year. This "Contingency" allocation will constitute a maximum total amount available for all un-budgeted expenditures over the entire year, without specific new approval by action of the Executive Council. The Treasurer, or the Secretary-General acting on his/her behalf, will receive and implement payment requests from Officers, Commission Chairs, and external suppliers that are consistent with the current budget. 10. Relationships between Adhering Bodies. Mutual Courtesy. IUMRS expects that all Adhering Bodies will maintain courteous and cooperative collegial relationships with each other in all matters in which one Adhering Body's international interests and activities may impact the 'nation or geographical region' formally attributed to another Adhering Body. Such possibilities could arise in relation to technical meetings, publications, membership activities, collaborations with other institutions, etc. In such cases, constructive collaboration, from concept to implementation, is strongly advocated. Timely notification of intentions, consultation, and the opportunity to cooperate as joint organizers, are considered to be minimal requirements of IUMRS ethics, in such inter-regional enterprises. 11. Responsibilities and Performance Requirements for Officers and Commission Chairs Appointment of Officers and Commission Chairs assumes their personal commitment to diligence in discharging their responsibilities. All are expected to provide timely communication related to their activities and plans, including e-mail discussions, phone conferences, and voting. Officers are expected to participate consistently in all activities of the Executive Council and General Assembly. If, for a period of six months or more, there is apparently a sustained absence of performance by an individual, an inquiry may be requested in confidence by an Officer, an Adhering Body representative, or a Commission Chair. If such default is confirmed, without extenuating circumstances, by the Secretary-General's inquiry, the Secretary-General will notify the subject about the event, requesting the subject to consider vacating their position unless they expect the situation to change. If the problem then continues for three months, the General Assembly is empowered to enact termination of tenure of that position. In the case of an Officer, the replacement procedure of Article 2.4 will apply. In the case of a Commission Chair, the Executive Council will make a new appointment.
Amended October 23, 2008. |
