International Abalone Society Constitution 

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Amended May, 2018

 

NAME

Article 1:

The name of the Society shall be: International Abalone Society (IAS). 

OBJECTS

Article 2:

The objectives of the Society shall be:

a) the promotion of abalone research;
b) distribution of information on abalone;
c) international cooperation among abalone researchers and people in the industry; d) host international and regional abalone symposia.


Article 3:

The objectives of the Society shall be attained by the following means:

a) electronic publication of newsletters, blogs and articles;
b) establishment of committees for specific investigations or administrative purposes; c) cooperation with national abalone organizations;
d) engagement in other activities consistent with the objectives of the Society.


MEMBERS 

Article 4: 

Membership to the IAS shall be of four types. 

a) Ordinary Membership shall be granted to any person by applying to the Treasurer and will become effective following payment of membership;
b) Student Membership may be granted by the Treasurer, to full-time, degree-seeking students after they submit documentation by the relevant university authority, to be effective following payments of membership dues;
c) Retired membership may be granted by the Treasurer to individuals who have retired from their productive or academic activities after submitting retirement documentation to be effective following payments of membership dues;
d) Honorary Membership may be granted by the Executive Committee to persons for outstanding contribution or service related to abalone in science, industry or Society.
Past and Present Presidents of the IAS shall be granted Honorary Membership. 

All members shall have the right to participate in the business of the Society. Upon joining the Society, new members shall be granted access to the members-only section of the IAS website. 

GOVERNMENT 

Article 5: 

The Society shall be governed by an Executive Committee (EC) of four elected ordinary, retired or honorary members. Of the four members, one shall be elected as President, one as Vice-president/President-elect, one as Secretary and one as Treasurer. All individuals shall be in good standing and elected during the IAS General Meeting. The outgoing President shall be a non-elected Executive Committee member for one term. Past presidents may be invited by the EC, if they are still active in the IAS community, and in consideration of the importance of their ongoing contributions to IAS activities. 

Article 6: 

The term of office shall be of three years and officers may serve not more than two full terms consecutively. Vacancies created by resignation, incapacity or death shall be filled by the Executive Committee from members of the Society until the next regular election.

a) The President shall be the presiding officer of the Executive Committee. Ad hoc committees may be appointed by the President as deemed necessary, with the approval of the Executive Committee.
b) The Vice-president will assist the President in conducting the business of the IAS and shall be the next President of the IAS. A vacancy in the office of President created by resignation, incapacity or death shall automatically be filled by the Vice-president. A new Vice-president shall then be appointed by the EC until the next regular election.
c) The Secretary shall maintain the appropriate files of the Society, including the database of members, draft all meeting minutes of General and EC meetings and keep records of the agreements reached including action items discussed. The Secretary shall keep a copy of all financial reports submitted to the IAS Membership by the Treasurer during the IAS General meetings.
d) The Treasurer shall be responsible for the collection, keeping and disbursement of all funds. The Treasurer may organize procedures to make the collection of dues possible from different countries and currencies and outside the regular payment period (during the IAS General Meeting year). The Treasurer shall submit a financial report to the Executive Committee, every three years to be presented at the IAS General Meeting. 

Article 7: 

A Nominating Committee (NC) of three members shall be appointed by the President at least two months before the next election of the EC. It shall be the duty of the Nominating Committee to coordinate the announcements and procedures for nominations, to process all nominations received from the membership and to prepare a list of nominees to be presented to the EC at least one week before the next election.


Article 8: 

Nominations for Executive Committee members may be made by any member of the Society to the Nominating Committee, and should include a brief description of the merits of the candidate for the suggested position. The final list of candidates shall be selected by the Nominating Committee with the approval of the Executive Committee, so as to reflect the international nature of the Society and the diversity of interests.

The election of the EC members shall be by simple majority in an open election from members at the IAS General Meeting and the results of the election should be included in the minutes of the IAS General Meeting and published in the IAS website. The EC might consider other procedures for this election if for some reason the above mentioned procedure is deemed not possible. 

MEETINGS 

Article 9: 

The General Meeting of the IAS shall be held every three years concurrent with the International Abalone Symposium. If this is not possible then the General Meeting of the IAS will be held at a time and place to be determined by the EC. 

The functions of the IAS General Meeting are: 

a. To receive and approve reports from the members of the EC;
b. To approve amendments to the Constitution;
c. To discuss other issues proposed by the EC;
d. To elect the new Executive Committee.

Only members shall be allowed to vote at the IAS General Meeting. 

Meetings of the Executive Committee shall be held at a time and place determined by the President at which three members, including the President, shall constitute a quorum. Business of the Society and of the Executive Committee ordinarily shall be transacted by electronic correspondence. 

AMENDMENTS 

Article 10: 

Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed by any member of the Society and must be submitted in writing to the Executive Committee. Each proposal shall be considered by the Executive Committee and, if accepted, referred to the membership for consideration. In order to become effective, a proposed amendment must be submitted to the membership and approved by a simple majority at the next General Meeting. 

REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES 

Article 11: 

The EC shall appoint Regional Representatives of the IAS from different countries or regions (groups of countries).
Regional Representatives shall be members of the IAS, involved in abalone research or production in their countries with numerous contacts of their colleagues within their country or region.
The functions of the Regional Representatives shall be established by the EC including but not limited to keeping an updated database of colleagues, sharing this database with the EC and distributing information from the IAS to people and organizations working on abalone in the country or region.

DUES 

Article 12: 

Membership dues shall be paid by each member except honorary members. The amount of the ordinary member dues, student member dues and retired member dues shall be determined by the EC, subject to ratification by the next IAS General Meeting. Dues shall be paid every three years and, if possible, included in the registration fees of the International Abalone Symposia. Alternatively, dues can be paid directly to the Treasurer or to regional representatives following guidelines set by the EC. 4 Members failing to pay dues shall cease automatically to be members. Members may be reinstated by applying to the Treasurer and paying the membership dues. 

WEBSITE AND PUBLICATIONS 

Article 13: 

The main source of information from the Society to the membership shall be the IAS website, which shall include the Constitution and other official documents, information on office bearers, publications and/or news on abalone from different countries, and other contents determined by the EC. It shall have a section available only for members. In addition to the IAS website, the EC may issue newsletters or other special publications. 

SYMPOSIA 

Article 14: 

The IAS shall hold an International Abalone Symposium, covering multiple aspects of biology, fisheries, genetics and aquaculture of abalones, at times at places determined by the EC. If possible these symposia shall be held every three years and the host country should rotate.
These symposia shall be under the jurisdiction of a Local Organizing Committee (LOC) from the host country consisting of a Chairperson and a minimum of three members, with the collaboration of an International Steering Committee which shall include the President of the IAS and at least two members of IAS.
The EC of the IAS will provide the LOC with minimum guidelines for organizing this symposium, and will review the final program before its publication.
The EC may also consider organizing regional symposia and other kinds of scientific meetings. 

AWARDS 

Article 15: 

An IAS award shall be granted for distinguished members of the Society. Awards for presentations at the symposia may also be granted. The procedures to follow for award nominations and award decisions shall be set by the EC. 

OTHER ISSUES 

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Article 16: 

 

Issues not included in this Constitution shall be discussed and debated by the EC. If deemed necessary, the EC will bring the issue or issues up for discussion at the next General Meeting.