Standing Orders of ISCAR
March, 2003
July, 2005 (revised)
September, 2005 (approved)
November, 2017 (approved)
I. Name and Place of Residence of the Association
II. Purpose and Means of the Association
III. The Members of the Association
Standing orders for Article 6
Admission to membership is open to any person who supports the purpose and object of the Association, and pays the annual contribution determined through Article 10.
Persons who want to be members must communicate that fact according to the procedures published on the ISCAR website.
If the member contribution is not paid within 6 months from when a new membership is requested, then membership will be considered resigned.
Membership will be carried automatically from one Association year to the next. A member will be considered resigned if the membership contribution is not paid after the first 9 months of the Association year.
Any member can be considered for removal if a written request (including an explanation of and argument for the reasons for removal), is submitted to the President by any member of the Association. The Executive Committee must vote on this request within 30 days from its receipt by the President. The Executive Committee can solicit additional information if deemed necessary. Membership is removed if at least 75% of the Executive Committee votes for removal.
IV. Contributions of the Members
V. Structure and Functioning of the Association
Standing orders for Article 11
The Association has no working groups or committees.
THE MEMBERS’ MEETING
Standing orders for Article 12
The Members’ Meeting must be announced in all the communication forms used regularly by the Association, including, but not limited to its website, mailing list to members, and any form of regular newsletter (where its publication schedule permits).
Standing orders for Article 13
A member may appoint another member as his/her representative to vote in a specific Members’ Meeting by providing a signed letter that (a) explains his/her absence and (b) gives explicit permission to the other member to vote on his/her behalf at the given meeting. A member can not represent more than three votes, including his/her own.
Members that bring ‘representative letters’ must present them to the Secretary before the start of the Members’ Meeting. The Secretary should be at the meeting location at least 15 minutes before the announced meeting time for this purpose. For each member with ‘representative letters’, the Secretary must record the name of member and the total number of ‘representative letters’.
Standing orders for Article 14
- The Members’ Meeting is open to the voluntary participation of the members attending an international congress of ISCAR.
- When members want to request an Extraordinary Members’ Meeting, they must send their request to the Executive Committee together with an agenda, suggestions for a meeting place, and a possible date. A list of requesting members must also be provided. This list can be made with handwritten signatures, email signatures, or a combination of both.
The Executive Committee and the petitioners must come to an agreement about the agenda, meeting place, and date, after which the Executive Committee must inform all the members of the Association about the Extraordinary meeting.
The Executive Committee will inform the rest of the members of the Association about the Extraordinary meeting, the agenda and the date.
If the Executive Committee does not respond to the initial request for an Extraordinary Members’ Meeting after 20 days, then the petitioners can inform the rest of the members about the proposed meeting, agenda, date, and place.
The Extraordinary meeting will be conducted according to the standing orders for Articles 16 and 17, with the additional possibility that the meeting can be co-lead by one representative from the members who requested the meeting.
In order for the Extraordinary meeting to be valid, at least 30% of the members of the Association and more than half of the Executive Committee must be present.
Standing orders for Article 16
There must be consensus in the decisions taken in a Members’ Meeting. If there is not consensus, then a voting process can be organized. Normally, a voting process will be public, and conducted by raising hands. A proposal can be settled by raising hands, either for, against, or abstain. The meeting leader and the meeting secretary must evaluate which alternative received the most raised hands.
If there is an explicit demand for a recorded valid vote, then arguments must be presented for why this is needed, after which a decision to hold this vote can be decided by consensus or by raised hands.
A recorded valid vote must be held by secret written ballot.
The Secretary is responsible for organizing the voting processes and for counting any written votes. The Secretary can ask the meeting to elect one or more members to help organize and/or count the written votes. The Secretary must preserve the records from a recorded valid vote.
Standing orders for Article 17
The Members’ Meeting is lead by the President of the Executive Committee, or the Vice-President in the President’s absence. If neither the President or Vice-President can be present, then the President must appoint a meeting leader from among the members of the Executive Committee. The meeting must begin with a presentation of the meeting agenda and the participants must be asked about any changes or additions they consider necessary.
Every point of the agenda must be discussed and the decisions taken according to the procedures described in the standing order for Article 16.
THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Standing orders for Article 20
The Executive Committee can be composed of 9-12 members. An Executive Committee election must be held in connection with the Association’s international congress.
Prior to this election, as part of the announcement of the Members’ Meeting, the Executive Committee must describe the regions for which Executive Committee members will be elected, and any criteria that must be fulfilled. The regions must include all the nations for which there are ISCAR members.
At the Members’ Meeting, persons from each region will meet together to decide, by consensus, who should be the coordinator from their region. If it is not possible to reach a consensus, then the members of the region should ask the newly-elected Executive Committee for help to organize a decision procedure.
A member may be in the Executive Committee for no more than 12 years total, and for no more than 6 years in a row. The Secretary is responsible for maintaining the Committee’s membership record.
If a member of the Executive Committee cannot complete the elected term, then this member can be replaced with another member from the same region by a procedure decided by the Executive Committee.
Standing orders for Article 21
All members are eligible to be on the Executive Committee.
Standing orders for Article 22
After an Executive Committee is elected at a Member Meeting, a constitutive meeting must be held to identify the President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer (hereafter called a ‘position’). The President of the previous Executive Committee (or a person appointed thereby) leads the meeting. The meeting leader cannot be a member of the new Executive Committee.
Members of the new Executive Committee indicate to the meeting leader, in writing, which positions, if any, they would like to fill. If there are no candidates for a position, then the meeting leader will appoint one of the Executive Committee members to hold this position until such time that the Executive Committee can elect a member. If only one person has requested a position, then this person will get this position, unless at least three members of the new Executive Committee object. This will be determined by having each member of the Executive Committee submit a written indication of accept or reject to the meeting leader. If more than one person indicates an interest to hold a position, then an attempt will be made to select one of the candidates by consensus. If the meeting leader judges that a consensus will not be reached, after a significant effort, then the position will be decided by secret ballot, where the selected candidate must have a simple majority. In the case where there are more than two candidates, and none gets a simple majority, then a new vote will be taken, excluding the candidate who had the fewest votes in the previous vote.
A member of the Executive Committee may hold any position during their tenure on the Executive Committee.
Standing orders for Article 22 (New version November 2017)
Each ISCAR Region appoints a Coordinator, who becomes a member of the Executive Committee, liases between the Committee and regional members, and coordinates regional activity in periods between ISCAR Congresses. The Coordinator is determined at a Regional Meeting at each ISCAR Congress, held prior to the Member’s Meeting. All Congress delegates are eligible to attend one Regional Meeting. This is normally based on their country of work (or residence for those not formally employed by a university). Delegates with multiple affiliations or residences may choose one region to belong to. Where nominations are contested, a private ballot will be conducted, chaired by a member not seeking election to the position. Candidates must be nominated by another member, or receive support of another member if they nominate themselves. Each candidate will be given opportunity to make brief comments, followed by questions from members, and concluding remarks by candidates. Ballots will be counted by the chair and an additional member not seeking election, and the result announced by the chair. In the event of the tie, consensus may be reached by alternative methods, or members of the region should ask the outgoing Executive Committee for help to organize a decision procedure. Efforts should be made to reach a decision prior to the Member’s Meeting.
Standing orders for Article 23
One or more Executive Committee members may be appointed, by a simple majority vote, to represent the Association for a specific business matter. The power of representation concludes with the termination of the matter, as specified by the Executive Committee.
Standing orders for Article 25
The Executive Committee appoints an ISCAR member to conduct the election process. The appointed member cannot be a member of the current Executive Committee. The appointed member should then follow, as closely as possible, the election procedure described in the standing orders for Article 22.
Standing orders for Article 28
Any member of the Executive Committee may submit a written request to the President for removal or suspension, including an explanation of and argument for the reasons. In the case of suspension, a specific proposal must be made about the length and terms of the suspension. The Executive Committee may discuss the written request, and must vote on the request within 30 days from its receipt by the President. The President must decide whether the vote within the Committee is open or secret. The proposal for removal or suspension is accepted if at least 75% of the Executive Committee vote in favor of the proposal.
The occurrence of a vote may only be communicated outside of the Committee in the case of a favorable vote; no other information may be given about the vote. The removal or suspension must be communicated to the membership through the communication forms used regularly by the Association, no later than 14 days after the suspension or removal comes into effect.
Standing orders for Article 32
The Association has no committees.
VI. The Finances
VII. Articles and Standing orders
Standing orders for Article 44
An Executive Order is a written statement about a procedure that is relevant for the Association’s functioning or administration. The Executive Committee may issue an Executive Order, provided that at least two thirds of the Executive Committee agree with its formulation. An Executive Order can not contain formulations or stipulations that run contrary to the Association’s Articles and Standing Orders. All Executive Orders must specify the date on which they take effect, and be communicated to the members through the Association’s normal communication media (e.g., newsletter, website), no later than one month after that date.
All Executive Orders expire automatically three years after the date on which they took effect. The Secretary is responsible for noting when an Executive Order expires. The Executive Committee may rescind an Executive Order at any time, provided that at least two thirds of the Executive Committee agree. When an Executive Order expires or is rescinded, it must be communicated to the members through the Association’s normal communication media (e.g., newsletter, website), no later than one month after that date.
When appropriate, the Executive Committee should try to incorporate the Executive Order into the Articles or Standing Orders.
VIII. Dissolution of the Association
ISCAR Business