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Constitution of the International Chinese Statistical Association
ARTICLE I. NAME
The name of this organization is the International Chinese Statistical Association, hereafter called the Association.
ARTICLE II. OBJECTIVES
The Association is a non-profit organization. The Association is organized, and will be operated, for educational, charitable, and scientific purposes only. Its objectives are:
- to promote the theory and applications of statistical disciplines through scholarly activities, including publication of journals in statistics and probability, scientific meetings, and other educational programs
- to broaden applications of statistical techniques in all areas of society, including industry and government
- to promote better understanding and interest by the general public in statistical methodology and related applications
- to promote better communication through the development of standards and common terminology
- to foster cooperative efforts among educational, research, industrial, and governmental personnel in statistical activities
The objectives are pursued without regard to race, creed, color, sex or nationality.
ARTICLE III. MEMBERSHIP
The Association may have different categories of members, including but not limited to individuals and organizations. An individual or organization interested in the objectives of the Association may apply to become a member. The right to vote, to sign referendum petitions, to hold office, and to sign nominating petitions shall be limited to individual members
ARTICLE IV. SECTIONS AND CHAPTERS
Sections and Chapters shall be encouraged to develop and explore ways to vigorously pursue the objectives of the Association, including meeting on matters of specialized interest such as current research and findings in a specific area, expository sessions on a single topic, or in-depth discussions of applications in a new field or of a new type.
(i) Sections: Sections may be established by the Board of Directors as provided in the By-Laws in order to promote the objectives of the Association. Each Section shall cover a field of statistical methods, theory, or applications which is sufficiently broad to represent active interests within the scope of the Association. Each member may belong to one or more Sections.
(ii) Chapters: Chapters may be established by the Board of Directors as provided in the By-Laws. All individual members residing in the area served by a Chapter shall be eligible for membership in that Chapter. Other members may join the chapter as local associates.
Only a member of the Association can hold membership in a Section or a Chapter.
ARTICLE V. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Board of Directors is the policy-making and legislative body of the Association. Its actions are subject to the referendum of individual members as indicated in the By-Laws. The Board of Directors shall consist of at least nine (9) but no more than twenty (20) voting members, including the President, President-Elect, Past President, and one representative from each Section; hereafter the members of the Board will be called the Directors and the representative Director from a Section will be called “Board of Directors Representative”. The Executive Director and Treasurer shall serve as non-voting ex-officio members of the Board.
ARTICLE VI. OFFICERS
The officers of the Association shall be the President, President-Elect, Past President, Executive Director and Treasurer. Executive Director and Treasurer are appointed by the Board of Directors and shall be eligible for immediate reappointment after completing a full term as described in Article VIII.
The officers of each Section shall be the Chair, Chair-Elect, Past-Chair, and Secretary-Treasurer and Board of Directors Representative.
The officers of each Chapter shall be the Chair, Chair-Elect, Past-Chair, and Secretary-Treasurer.
ARTICLE VII. METHOD OF ELECTION
Only individual members of the Association may become candidates for offices and Directors. All individual members shall be eligible to vote for the positions of President-Elect, President and Directors for the initial term or if such nominations are made under provisions of the By-Laws. Only the individual members in each Section/Chapter shall be eligible to stand for election and to vote for the officers and Director of that Section/Chapter.
ARTICLE VIII. TERMS OF OFFICE
Once elected to the position of President-Elect, the incumbent shall serve a three-year term. The first year the incumbent shall serve as President-Elect, the second year as President, and the third year as Past President. No Past President shall be eligible for immediate re-election to the office of President-Elect or President after the completion of the term.
Approximately one third of the members of the Board of Directors, excluding the President, President-Elect, and Past President, shall be elected annually to serve a three-year term with the exception that the Board of Directors may provide initial terms of one or two years in order to facilitate election of an approximately equal number of such Directors. The Board of Directors Representative for a Section shall serve a three-year term as a Director. Directors completing a full term shall not be eligible for immediate re-election to the same office.
The Board of Directors shall determine terms of office of five years or less for the Executive Director and Treasurer. The Chair-Elect of each Section or Chapter shall serve a three-year term, the first year as Chair-Elect, the second year as Chair, and the third year as Past Chair. The Secretary-Treasurer of each Section or Chapter shall serve a two-year term, the first year as Treasurer and the second year as Secretary. No chair shall be eligible for immediate re-election to the office of Chair-Elect of the same Section/Chapter and no Secretary-Treasurer shall be eligible for immediate re-election to the office of Secretary-Treasurer of the same Section/Chapter.
Terms of office shall end, and new terms shall begin on January 1, but each office holder shall serve until a successor takes office. No individual may serve in two capacities on the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE IX. COMMITTEES
The Committees of the Association shall consist of the Standing Committees, which are named in the By-Laws, and Ad Hoc Committees which may be established or dissolved by the President with the consent of the Board of Directors as the situation warrants.
ARTICLE X. PUBLICATIONS
Publications of journals and other periodicals, reports, proceedings or other publications may be authorized in the By-Laws or by vote of the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE XI. MEETINGS
The Association shall have at least one membership meeting each year held at a time and place designated by the President with the consent of the Board of Directors.
Each Section and Chapter shall also have at least one Section/Chapter meeting each year held at a time and place designated by the Chair with the consent of the Section/Chapter officers.
For a Section/Chapter meeting that is not open to all members of a Section/Chapter, the minute of the meeting shall be provided to members through Internet or regular mails within one-month of the meeting.
ARTICLE XII. AMENDMENTS AND REVISIONS
Amendments to and revisions of the constitution may be proposed by the Board of Directors or by a petition signed by ten percent (10%) of the Association’s individual members. An amendment or a revision originated by petition shall be referred to the Board of Directors for its recommendation as to ratification.
Following action by the Board of Directors, the Executive Director shall publish a copy of the proposed amendment/revision and the results of the Board of Directors’ vote on recommending ratification in the next issue of a newsletter, inviting comments. At least 30 days shall elapse between publication and the vote on an amendment. If, during this period at least 50 individual members of the Association so petition, the amendment shall be submitted to the individual members for voting. A two-thirds affirmative vote of the members voting shall be required for ratification, provided that the number of affirmative votes exceeds twenty percent (20%) of the Association’s individual members. If no such demand for a membership voting is received, the amendment may be ratified or rejected by the Board of Directors. Ratification shall occur whenever two-thirds of the members of the Board of Directors have submitted an affirmative vote within a period determined by the Board of Directors.
By-Laws of the International Chinese Statistical Association
ARTICLE 1. MEMBERSHIP
1.1 Members. Members are classified into the following categories:
Individual Members. An individual member shall be a person interested in the objectives of the Association whose application for membership is approved by the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors may delegate the function of approval.
Organizational Members. Institutions, corporations and other organizations interested in the objectives of the Association may be admitted to organizational membership by vote of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors may delegate the function of approval.
1.2 Membership Year. Membership shall be effective after the application and membership dues have been processed and confirmed, and shall last for twelve months.
1.3 Termination of Membership. Privileges of membership in the Association shall be automatically suspended if a member has failed to pay his/her dues following two weeks after the e-mailing of the second renewal notice. Membership may be terminated upon a finding by a two-thirds vote of all the members of the Board of Directors that a member has acted in a manner detrimental to the Association, provided that prior to voting the Board has given written notice to the member describing the charges against the member, and there has been due opportunity for the member or his/her designee to respond and a hearing by a committee appointed by the Board of Directors has been conducted.
ARTICLE 2. FINANCE
2.1 Dues and Subscriptions. The Board of Directors shall have the responsibility of determining the schedule of membership dues (both individual and organizational) and subscription rates. This schedule may provide for a special rate to students for a limited number of years, to members fully retired from employment, to married couples or domestic partners in case they agree to receive a single copy of publications and notices, and to such other groups as designated by the Board of Directors. Any new schedule of dues and rates shall be announced in a newsletter and shall become effective at the beginning of the next calendar year unless, within a period of four weeks after the mailing of a newsletter, a referendum is requested as provided in ARTICLE 4 of these By-Laws.
2.2 Fiscal Year. The fiscal year shall be the calendar year.
2.3 Financial Authority. All funds of the Association shall be deposited with the Treasurer, who shall make disbursements therefrom under regulations of the Board of Directors. With the approval of the Board of Directors, the Treasurer may delegate to an assistant the powers aforementioned as well as the power to sign checks, and access to safe-deposit boxes.
2.4 Publication of Financial Reports and Audit. The Treasurer shall submit to the Board of Directors, within one month of the end of each half fiscal year, a statement of the Association’s current financial condition, including assets, liabilities, income and expenditures. This may be done at a meeting or by mail. The Treasurer shall also make a financial report to the Board of Directors within two months after the end of each fiscal year. This annual report shall be audited by a professional accountant selected by the Board of Directors. The auditor’s report shall be published with the Treasurer’s report in the next available newsletter.
2.5 Financial Relationship with Members or Units of the Association. The Association shall not be responsible for the debts or expenditures of any of its members or units (e.g., Sections, Chapters, etc.) unless such debts or expenditures are authorized by the Board of Directors.
2.6 Financial Relationship with Cooperating Societies. The Board of Directors may delegate to the Executive Director or Treasurer the authority to negotiate financial arrangements with cooperating societies in connection with publications or other joint activities, subject to approval by the Board of Directors within the limitations provided in ARTICLE 5, Section 5.3 of the By-Laws.
ARTICLE 3. ELECTION OF OFFICERS
3.1 Quorum. Only active members with no overdue membership fees can participate in voting and only active Section or Chapter members with no overdue membership fees can participate in voting of that Section or Chapter. All voting will be conducted online with a set deadline and all valid ballots received by the deadline shall be counted and considered a quorum.
Before the annual meeting, the Executive Director shall send a ballot to individual members for the election to office along with a brief biographic sketch of each nominee.
3.2 Balloting. If an election involves two candidates, the voter may cast only one vote for each position. If an election involves more than two candidates, the system known as approval voting will be used.
For election of Directors, under approval voting the voter may vote for any number of candidates regardless of how many positions are to be filled, but may not cast more than one vote for a candidate. Except for elections of Board members, the winning candidate(s) shall be those with the highest number of votes. For the election of Board members, winning candidates shall be those with the highest numbers of votes, after taking into account the requirement that at all times at least 25% of all elected members of the Board must hold a primary appointment in academia and at least 25% of all elected Board members must hold a primary appointment in non-academia. In the event of a tie, the Board of Directors decides by a vote who will be declared elected.
ARTICLE 4. REFERENDUM
Upon petition of at least 50 individual members of the Association, any action of the Board of Directors shall be subject to a referendum of the membership. The proposed referendum shall be published in a newsletter. Within 30 days after publication, a ballot on the referendum shall take place and a majority of those voting shall be needed to pass the referendum.
ARTICLE 5. ASSOCIATION WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
5.1 Definition. A cooperating or associated society is a nonprofit organization interested in the objectives of the Association and concerned with the advancement of the statistical methodology or of its application.
5.2 Procedure. The Board of Directors of the Association may enter upon cooperative working arrangements with such organizations for promoting the objectives of the Association. Such cooperative working arrangements may include:
a. The assignment of Association representatives to an allied body composed of two or more societies including the Association;
b. Cooperative, administrative, secretarial, financial, conference and publication functions, and other cooperative working arrangements.
5.3 Limitations on the Procedures. No cooperative working arrangement may be entered into by the Board of Directors which:
a. Results in the Association losing its identity as a separate organization;
b. Violates any article of the Association’s Constitution or By-Laws;
c. Requires the Association to allocate more than 5 percent of its annual revenue during any calendar year without receiving the equivalent in goods and/or services.
ARTICLE 6. OFFICES
Three months before the annual meetings, the Nominating Committee shall:
a. Submit at least two nominations for President-Elect and, if the current President-Elect office is vacated before February 1, two nominations for President. The nominations should reflect the membership composition to ensure fair representation of the academia and non-academia sectors, e.g. adopt a three year cycle with Year 1: two candidates from academia, Year 2: two candidates from non-academia, Year 3: no restriction.
b. Submit at least twice as many nominations as the number of members to be elected to the Board of Directors, the number of which shall be determined by the current Board of Directors under the provision of the Constitution, Article VIII. The nominations should reflect the membership composition to ensure adequate representation of the academia and non-academia sectors. For election of Directors, with the exception of the Board of Directors Representative from each Section, at least 25% of the nominated candidates should hold a primary appointment in academia and at least 25% of the nominated candidates should hold a primary appointment from non-academia.
The Nominating Committee is charged with full responsibility of the submission of nominations as described in the preceding paragraphs. Additional candidates on the ballot for any elected office may be made by a petition signed by at least ten percent (10%) of the Association’s individual members.
The Chair and Chair-Elect of each Section/Chapter shall submit at least two nominations for each office position that are due for election.
The Executive Director, the Treasurer and the Editors of each periodical shall be appointed by the Board of Directors. If an initial procedure is required for a new office, the Board of Directors shall determine the procedure for nomination and election for initial terms.
6.2 Vacancies in Office. Except as provided for below, or in ARTICLE 6, Section 6.1, the Board of Directors shall fill any vacancy on the Board which occurs between elections.
If a vacancy occurs in the office of President, the President-Elect shall become President for the remainder of the current term as well as for the entirety of the succeeding term. If a vacancy occurs in the office of President and there is no President-Elect at the time, the Board of Directors shall choose a President from among the Directors to serve for the remainder of the current term and an election will be held for President for the following term.
If the office of President-Elect is vacated prior to February 1 and is not due to the President-Elect assuming the office of President, a new President and a new President-Elect shall be chosen as part of the annual election. Unless conditions occur as described in the preceding paragraph, if a vacancy occurs on or after February 1, and is not due to President-Elect assuming the office of president, the Board of Directors shall choose a President-Elect from among the Directors, who will then become President for the succeeding term.
If a vacancy occurs in the office of Past President, the office shall remain vacant for the remainder of the term.
Each Section and Chapter shall set up its own rule to fill a vacant position and such rules shall be submitted to the Board of Directors for approval.
6.3 Duties. The President is the chief officer of the Association and shall preside at all Association membership meetings and at all meetings of the Board of Directors. Except as provided otherwise by the Constitution or the By-Laws, the President shall appoint the members of the committees of the Association and determine which member of each committee shall serve as its chair. All appointments shall be made prior to February 1. No appointment shall be made on or after February 1 without the consultation of the President-Elect.
The Past President shall serve as a special advisor to the President and a member of the Board of Directors. The President-Elect shall serve as a member of the Board of Directors and shall act as President in the event of the latter’s absence or inability to serve.
The Executive Director and Treasurer serve as non-voting ex-officio members of the Board of Directors. They shall be responsible for the duties assigned by the constitution and the By-Laws and for carrying out the policies determined by the Board of Directors. The Executive Director shall assume responsibility to ensure proper conduct of elections and to report election outcomes to the Board of Directors. In addition, the Executive Director shall prepare two reports each year for publication in the ICSA Bulletin on the activities of the Association as a whole.
ARTICLE 7. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
7.1 Members. Members of the Board of Directors shall be chosen as provided for in ARTICLE 6 of the By-Laws.
7.2 Meetings. The Board of Directors shall meet at least once a year. Meetings shall be held at the call of the President or on written petition signed by at least five members of the Board of Directors. The Executive Director should mail the agenda of a meeting to the Directors at least one week prior to the meeting date.
7.3 Powers and Duties. Except as otherwise provided by the Constitution or the By-Laws, actions of the Board of Directors shall require a majority of those voting and the presence of a quorum. The quorum for the Board of Directors is a majority of its members. If a Director is unable to attend a meeting, he/she should appoint a current member of the Association to be his/her designee at the meeting, and communicate the name of the designee to the Executive Director at least two weeks prior to the meeting date.
As the policy-making and legislative body of the Association, the Board of Directors shall make all decisions of policy. It shall adopt rules for the conduct of its business in accordance with the Constitution and the By-Laws; shall appoint representatives to cooperating societies and other agencies; shall schedule scientific meetings and other activities of the Association.
ARTICLE 8. SECTIONS AND CHAPTERS
8.1 Sections. Sections may be established by the following procedure: Any group of 50 or more individual members of the Association (hereinafter called the sponsors) shall prepare a proposal for the formation of the new Section. This should include a charter and a documentation of purposes for the new Section.
The proposal and petition will be submitted to the Board of Directors for review and comment. The Board will then sent the proposal to each existing Section for comment.
Following review by the Board and receipt of comments from the existing Sections, the proposal will be returned to the sponsors for possible revision. The Board of Directors must consider the final proposal for approval or disapproval. If approval is not granted, the Board should provide guidance as to the reason for this action. If approval is given by the Board, at the time of the next annual election, the members will be asked to designate whether they desire to be members of such a new Section by signing a petition to that effect. (The petition will be prepared by the sponsors.) If at least 10 percent of individual members sign such a petition, a new Section shall be created as of the beginning of the next calendar year. Only individual members of the Association can join a Section and serve as Officers of that Section. The President, with the consent of the Board of Directors, shall appoint the officers of the Section to serve until officers are elected by the Section members at the time of the next annual election.
The Board of Directors may dissolve a Section if (a) it has become inactive, (b) the membership is less than 5 percent of the total membership of the Association, (c) at least 25 percent of its members request dissolution, or (d) it is determined by the Board of Directors that its continuance would be detrimental to the best interest of the Association.
8.2 Chapters. Chapters may be established by the same procedure as for Sections. Each Chapter shall be governed by a constitution which is consistent with the Constitution and By-Laws of the association and provides for an annual meeting and annual election of officers. An electronic copy of the Chapter constitution together with all subsequent amendments must be filed with the Office of the Association.
All individual members residing in the area served by a Chapter shall be eligible for membership in that Chapter. Other persons may join the chapter as local associates. Only individual members of the Association may serve as Officers of a Chapter.
The Board of Directors may dissolve a Chapter if (a) it has become inactive, (b) the membership is less than 5 percent of the total membership of the Association, (c) at least 25 percent of its members request dissolution, or (d) it is determined by the Board of Directors that its continuance would be detrimental to the best interest of the Association.
ARTICLE 9. COMMITTEES
9.1Types of Committees and Terms of Memberships. The Committees of the Association shall consist of the Standing Committees as provided by the By-Laws and Ad Hoc Committees which may be established or dissolved by the President, with the consent of the Board of Directors. Ad Hoc Committees may be established in order to carry through one project or to give voice to the Association in areas of special interest. Each committee shall prepare an annual report to the Board of Directors. Current Committees established in accordance with this article may be dissolved at any time by majority vote of the Board of Directors.
The terms of membership on Standing and Ad Hoc Committees, when not specified in these By-Laws, shall normally be three years. Except for ex-officio members, no member may serve on a committee for more than six consecutive years without Board approval. Members of committees shall serve until their successors are appointed or elected.
Each Committee shall be governed by a Chair or Co-chairs appointed by the President. All members of Standing and Current Committees shall be individual members of the Association.
9.2 Standing Committees. The Standing Committees are listed below.
A. Executive Committee. Its membership consists of the Officers (President, President-Elect, Past President, Executive Director, and Treasurer).
B. Program Committee. The Program Committee for a given year shall consist of the last, current and incoming ICSA representatives to the Joint Statistical Meeting Program Committee, the last, current and incoming chairs of Applied Statistics Symposium Committee and one additional member appointed yearly by the President. Prior to and during the year in which the International Conference takes place, the committee will have the last and current chairs of the International Conference Program Committee as additional members.
One of the members will be appointed yearly by the President as the Chair of the committee. The Committee shall assist the Annual Meeting Committee for planning the annual meeting, recommend symposium and conference sites including candidates for their chairs and recommend general policy for all meetings, subject to approval by the Board of Directors.
C. Finance Committee. The Finance Committee shall consist of the Treasurer as Chair, past treasurer, and the Applied Statistics Symposium Treasurer. The committee shall oversee the budget and financial matters including IRS income tax filing, and recommend long-term financial planning including the investments of the Association’s assets, subject to approval by the Board of Directors.
D. Nominating and Election Committee. The Nominating and Election Committee shall consist of six members appointed by the President with equal representation among academia, industry, and government when possible and with the consent of the Board of Directors. The Committee shall make nominations for office as provided in ARTICLE 6 of the By-Laws. As needed, the Committee may also concern itself with developing mechanisms to ensure proper conduct of elections. The six members shall serve staggered two-year terms and the chair of the committee shall serve a one-year term. No member completing a full term shall be eligible for immediate reappointment.
E. Publication Committee. The Publication Committee shall be constituted as described in ARTICLE 10 in the By-Laws.
F. Constitution Committee. Not more than eight years after the adoption of the Constitution and By-Law, a Constitution Committee shall be appointed by the President for the purpose of reviewing the Association’s Constitution and By-Laws, and preparing a revision if necessary, to be submitted to the Board of Directors not more than ten years after the adoption of this Constitution. In the event that a major revision of the Constitution and By-Laws is considered by the Constitution Committee, requiring a great deal of time, the Board of Directors may extend the life of the current Constitution and By-Laws for one year at a time.
ARTICLE 10. PUBLICATIONS
10.1 Editorial Boards. Each periodical published by the Association shall have an Editorial Board, consisting of all its Editors and such other personnel as may be designated by each Editor. The terms of Editors shall be determined by the Publication Committee.
10.2Publication Committee. The Publication Committee shall consist of the Board-appointed Editors of each periodical published or co-owned by the Association, the Executive Director (ex-officio), and non-editor members of the Association at least equal in number to the number of editors. The non-editor members shall be appointed by the President with the consent of the Board of Directors and one of these members shall be designated as Chair. The non-editor members shall be appointed for three-year terms, with one-third of these members retiring at the end of each year. Proposals for the publication by the Association of periodicals, directories, special reports, books or other professional material, or for publication in cooperation with other societies or organizations of such materials, shall be referred to the committee for its recommendations, prior to action by the Board of Directors. The Committee shall generally supervise the publication policy of the Association and make recommendations to the Board of Directors with respect to the editorial policy of the Association’s various publications.
10.3 The Constitution and the By-Laws of the Association shall be published on the website of the Association. A full list of names of all officers and Board members will also be posted on the website of the Association.
ARTICLE 11. RESOLUTIONS
11.1 In no case shall the name of the Association be used in connection with any partisan or political issue, except insofar as the resolution of the Association refers solely to a matter involving the interest and objectives of the Association. Such a resolution shall require a favorable vote by at least two-thirds of the entire Board of Directors before it may be released for publication or transmission outside the Association. When there is doubt as to whether an issue is to be considered partisan or political, a majority vote of the entire Board of Directors shall be required to declare it neither partisan nor political.
11.2 Resolutions and recommendations of Districts, Sections or Committees of the Association shall be so phrased as not to commit the Association or its membership.
ARTICLE 12. AMENDMENTS AND REVISIONS TO BY-LAWS
12.1 Proposal. Amendments to and revisions of the By-Laws may be proposed by the Board of Directors or by a petition signed by at least ten percent (10%) of the Association’s individual members. An amendment or revision originated by petition shall be referred to the Board of Directors for its recommendations as to ratification.
12.2 Ratification. Following action by the Board of Directors, the Executive Director shall publish a copy of the proposed amendment/revision and the results of the Board of Directors’ vote on recommending ratification in the next issue of a newsletter, inviting comment. At least 30 days shall elapse between publication and the vote on an amendment. If, during this period at least 50 individual members of the Association so petition, the amendment shall be submitted to the individual members for voting. A two-thirds affirmative vote of the members voting shall be required for ratification, provided that the number of affirmative votes exceeds twenty percent (20%) of the Association’s individual members. If no such demand for a membership voting is received, the amendment may be ratified or rejected by the Board of Directors. Ratification shall occur whenever two-thirds of the members of the Board of Directors have submitted an affirmative vote within a period determined by the Board of Directors.