PROPOSAL FOR
CONSTITUTION OF INTERNATIONAL HYDROZOAN SOCIETY
Note: this is a draft which still needs to be accepted during an official founding act of the association.
Article I. Name
/*Section 1.*/
The name of this organization shall be The Hydrozoan Society
Article II. Objectives
/*Section 1.*/
The objectives of The Hydrozoan Society are to encourage research on Hydrozoa and stimulate others to participate and cooperate through informal meetings and correspondence; to provide a forum for exchange of ideas; to establish a means and an opportunity for personal contact and interaction in aiming for better mutual understanding; to serve as a liaison body among hydrozoologists; and to introduce new students to the workers in this field.
Article III. Membership and Affiliation
/*Section 1.*/
Members. Any individual who supports the objectives of The Hydrozoan Society and is willing to contribute to the achievement of these objectives is qualified for membership. Participants at the International Meetings automatically become members of the Society, thus payment of a registration fee for the Conference automatically enrolls that person in the Society until the next meeting (i.e. a member for 3 years).
Continuation of individual membership is contingent upon a valid e-mail address.
Members shall be eligible to hold elective positions in the Society and shall have the right to :
a. Vote for the President , Secretary-Treasurer, representatives fn the Advisory Council and to nominate additional candidates for these positions.
b. Vote on the recall of elective officers.
c. Vote on amendments to the Constitution and Bylaws.
d. Members may nominate and elect Honorary Members of the Society, these will be scientists who have made significant contributions to hydrozoan research.
e. Should a Councillor be unable to attend a Conference then he/she may nominate somebody else in writing to the President who is attending the meeting to represent the Councillor at the meeting.
/*Section 2.*/
The membership consists of all those on the President's list of participants enrolled for the previous International meeting, plus those persons becoming members upon application to the President.
/*Section 3.*/
Affiliations. The Hydrozoan Society may affiliate with other scientific associations upon approval of the Advisory Council. Suggestions for such affiliations may be made by any member to the Council.
Article IV. Officers
/*Section 1.*/
The officers shall be the President and the Secretary-Treasurer.
/*Section 2.*/
Duties :
a. The President shall preside at the business meetings, chair the Advisory Council, and represent the Society on appropriate occasions and undertake such other duties as may be associated with this office.
b. The Secretary-Treasurer shall produce an accurate membership list following each Conference, with supplements as necessary. A copy of this list shall be supplied to each member. The Secretary-Treasurer shall also supply to each member a copy of the minutes of the business meetings and a report of the Conference, maintain the official files of the Society, collect any prescribed dues and manage excess funds generated by the triennial meetings, and undertake such other duties as may be assigned by the President.
It is to be encouraged that any profits generated by a Conference be made available to the Organizing Committee of the following Conference to act as "seed money" for that Conference.
/*Section 3.*/
At the triennial business session at the International Conference, the officers shall be elected by the members of the Society present at the International Meeting from a list of candidates presented by the Nominations Committee. Additional nominations may be made by members present and/or by letter from members absent. The term of office shall bethree years for the President and six years for the Secretary-Treasurer.
Article V. Advisory Council
/*Section 1. */
Duties. The Advisory Council shall advise the President on matters he/she brings before it, for example, Conference site selection. It shall also serve as the Nominations Committee, act in the absence of the President, and elect a new President and/or Secretary-Treasurer if these officers resign or cannot serve.
/*Section 2. */
Membership. The advisory Council shall provide balanced representation among regions and shall consist of at least four members in addition to the President, Secretary-Treasurer, Past President and past Conference Host. The term of office shall be six years, with half of the membership elected each triennium. The representative for each country or geographical area (region) should be nominated by the hydrozoan workers from that country/area who are attending the meetings and workshops of the Hydrozoan Society and elected upon by members in that region and ratified by the delegates at the Conference. Meetings of the Advisory Council will normally only occur during an International meeting. The regions from which Councilors are elected may vary over time as the number of active hydrozoan workers varies.
/*Section 3.*/
The Advisory Council will meet every 3 years during the Conference and will communicate between Conferences by mail as required.
/*Section 4.*/
If members of the Advisory Council are unable to attend the Conference then a substitute delegate from that country/area may represent that country/area.
Article VI. Conference Host
/*Section 1.*/
The host country shall set up a program committee to arrange the scientific program for the triennial Workshop-Conference. The Workshop-Conference Host shall be the member of that committee who will be responsible for the domestic arrangements for the triennial Conference at the host institution.
/*Section 2.*/
Whenever possible, the program committee will be responsible for arrangements for the publication of the papers read at the Conference in conjunction with the Editorial Committee of the Society.
Article VII. Code of Ethics
/*Section 1.*/
In order to protect individual rights and to promote discussion it shall be an established requirement of each Conference that no information presented is to be used later in formal publication or formal presentation without permission from the individual making the contribution.
Article VIII. Amendments
/*Section 1.*/
Amendments to this constitution may be proposed by any member. Proposed amendments must be submitted in writing to the Secretary-Treasurer, at least 24 hours before the business meeting.
/*Section 2.*/
Voting on the amendments shall take place at a business session of the Conference or by mail, at the discretion of the President. If presented at a meeting, a proposed amendment shall require for its adoption a favorable vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the membership attending the business meeting. If presented by mail, a proposed amendment shall require for its adoption a favorable vote of a simple majority of the responding membership of the IPA. Protocol for selecting the venue for the following International Meeting. Members wishing to host a forthcoming workshop of the Hydrozoan Society should notify the president and prepare the following submission which would be presented initially to the Advisory Council and after discussion it would be presented to members and in the case of where more than one submission had been received the members would vote. The purpose of the submission being discussed with the Advisory Council initially is to ensure that sufficient information is available. It is to be recommended that a copy of the submission be mailed to all Councilors a month prior to the meeting so that they can discuss it with their fellow members who are unable to attend the meeting. The Submission should contain the following information as possible:- (although in all cases they will be very provisional). The Host sponsor, Conference venue, the facilities available in terms of lecture rooms, projecting facilities, location of posters, displays etc. Accommodation- the range available and the approximate costs and distance from the Conference venue, and means of transport. Special attention should be given to obtaining student housing for cheap affordable accommodation. Location of nearest International Airport and transport to Conference venue. The necessity for visas and the ease with which these can be achieved. Social events and likely costs. Field trips both mid week and post Conference tours, likely costs. Approximate costs for registration. Organizing committee and likely sponsors. Facilities available for assisting with the Conference, Institutional support. Timetabling for sending out notices. Publication, venue, Editor, mechanism of production of the Proceedings, Editorial Board. Mechanism for reviewing the papers, especially important for Non English speaking countries. Potential possible support for travel, student involvement. Proposed dates for meeting. Potential for specialized seminars or workshops prior to the meeting or after the meeting. Presentation of a draft budget for the Conference and publication of the Proceedings. While selection of a venue for the following Conference is not based on costs, some consideration of the likely costs, availability of student accomodation and access to student refectories etc will influence people's voting pattern.