1. Membership1.1. The term of membership covered by payment to the Association is one calendar year period (see paragraph 1.5).
1.2. Branches shall transmit the total of annual dues collected from their membership by April 1st. The total fee from national branches is based upon membership figures from the previous year. If, by that date, they have not been received, a memo will be sent to advise the branch that its members will no longer receive IASPM information or be eligible to submit paper for the biannual conference. Branches who fail to meet their international membership payments must repay the arrears within three years from the time of the original deficit. Branches are expected to immediately notify and enter into negotiations with the executive in cases of financial hardship. In the interests of transparency membership payment lists will be made available on the IASPM list.
1.3. Payments received from individual members, institutions and organisations will be credited for the current calendar year; they may opt to pay for a second year in advance.
1.4 Membership dues are not refundable.
1.5. On the establishment of a centralised payment system, the period of membership of IASPM is always one calendar year, from January to December. Members joining part way through a calendar year must pay for the remainder of that calendar year on a pro rata basis per quarter plus the following full calendar year (inclusive of the current quarter at time of joining).
1.6. Certain sections of the IASPM web site are restricted to members. They are made available via password access.
2. Voting procedures
2.1. General Meeting
2.1.1. Members of the Association may vote at the General Meeting. Each is entitled to one vote. Those unable to attend may vote by proxy.
2.1.2 Institutional members shall be represented by delegates of their own choice, including delegates attending in their capacity as individual members. Individual members may be represented by other members of the Association if this representative produces a written and signed mandate before the electoral or voting procedure. Each member attending the General Meeting cannot represent more than one institutional member or two non-attending members.
2.1.3 Decisions on the Association’s general policy, the Treasurer’s financial statement and proposed budget, the appointment of auditors, the approval of the Secretary’s report and general plan of activities are by a simple majority of voting members represented in person or by proxy.
2.1.4 Nominations for the Executive Committee and for auditors should be submitted to the Secretary at least 1 month before the General Meeting. The Secretary communicates nominations to the Association’s members immediately following the closing date for nominations and makes a full list of nominations available at the General Meeting.
2.2 Executive Committee
2.2.1 The Executive Committee decides by a simple majority of expressed votes. Each member has one vote.
2.2.2 The Executive Committee may use telecommunications to hold meetings and consultations if such means are more feasible than meeting in person. If voting proves necessary on such occasions, members of the Executive Committee shall confirm their votes in writing and send them, duly signed, to the General Secretary.
2.2.3 The executive posts the conference program two months before the conference.
2.3 Rules of order
2.3.1 The Chairperson shall call upon speakers in the order in which they signify their wish to speak.
2.3.2 The Chairperson may limit the time allowed to each speaker if the circumstances make this desirable.
2.3.3 Supporting members (see paragraph 2.1.2) may address the meeting with the prior consent of the Chairperson.
2.3.4 At the request of any member, supported by two other members, discussion of any substantive motion, resolution or amendment shall be suspended until the text is circulated to all members present.
2.3.5 Part of a proposal shall be voted on separately if a member requests that the proposal be divided.
2.3.6 When an amendment to a proposal is moved, the amendment shall be voted on first. When two or more amendments to a proposal are moved, the General Meeting shall first vote on the amendment deemed by the Chairperson to be furthest removed in substance from the original proposal, and then on the amendment next furthest removed therefrom and so on, until all the amendments have been put to the vote.
2.3.7 If one or more amendments are adopted, the amended proposal shall then be voted upon as a whole.
2.3.8 A motion is considered an amendment to a proposal if it merely adds to, deletes from or revises part of that proposal.
2.3.9 If two or more proposals relate to the same question, the Committee shall, unless it decides otherwise, vote on the proposals in the order in which they have been submitted. The Committee may, after each vote on a proposal, decide whether to vote on the next proposal.
2.3.10 A proposal may be withdrawn by its proposer at any time before voting on it has begun, provided that the proposal has not been amended. A proposal withdrawn may be reintroduced by any member.
2.3.11 During a discussion, any member may raise a point of order; such point of order shall be immediately decided upon by the Chairperson.
2.3.12 An appeal may be made against the ruling of the Chairperson. Such appeal shall be put to the vote immediately and the Chairperson’s ruling shall stand unless overruled.
2.3.13 During the discussion on any matter, a member may propose a procedural motion: suspension or adjournment of the meeting, adjournment of the debate or closure of the debate.
2.3.14 During the discussion of any matter, any member may move the suspension or adjournment of the meeting. Such motions shall not be debated but shall be immediately put to the vote.
2.3.15 During the discussion of any matter, any member may move the adjournment of the debate on the item under discussion. On moving the adjournment the member shall indicate whether he moves the adjournment sine die or to a particular time which he/she shall specify. In addition to the proposer of the motion, one speaker may speak in favour of, and one against, the motion.
2.3.16 A member may at any time move the closure of the debate, whether or not any other speaker has signified his/her wish to take part in the discussion. If application is made for permission to speak against the closure, it may be accorded to not more than two speakers. The Chairperson shall then put to the vote the motion for closure and, if the General Meeting is in favour of the motion, he shall declare the closure of the debate.
2.3.17 The following motions shall have precedence in the following order over all other proposals or motions before the meeting:
- suspension of the meeting;
- adjournment of the meeting;
- adjournment of the debate on the question under discussion;
- closure of the debate on the question under discussion.
2.3.18 The text of each decision shall be adopted at the end of the discussion of the agenda item.
3. Financial Regulations
3.1 The financial resources of the Association are chiefly derived from:
- membership dues established for each category of members by a decision of the General meeting;
- grants, awards and donations;
- the payment of work undertaken by the Association
3.2 The membership fee scale is gradated according to the following criteria:
- waged, unwaged / students, institutional, supporting and honorary members;
- individual and regional branches members.
3.21 Changes to the membership fee scale are proposed by the Executive Committee and approved by the General Meeting by a simple majority. The Membership Fees for new branches are fixed until the next General Meeting by the Executive Committee taking in consideration the fees for similar branches.
3.22 Prospective members in countries with no branch are encouraged to join a branch in a nearby country or region. If they chose not to do this they choose to affiliate to IASPM centrally. The membership fee for these members is decided by the executive committee with reference to the current membership fee scale.
3.3 A branch of the association is entitled to decide on an extra membership fee for its purposes and to develop criteria for this.
3.4 The Treasurer manages the Association’s international finances. At the General Meeting two persons are appointed to audit the trasurer’s report, which is then approved by the attending members.
3.5 Costs for the meetings of the Executive Committee (travelling, lodging, logistics, communication), if and to the extent to which they are not covered by external institutions, shall be covered by the Association’s international finances.
4. Modification of the Statutes
Modification of the Statutes and Rules of Procedure must be approved by the General Meeting (majority required: two thirds of the votes expressed). Proposals for such modification are sent to the General Secretary at least one month before the General Meeting. The General Secretary communicates proposals of modifications to the Association’s members immediately following the closing date for proposals of modifications and makes a list of proposals for modification available at the General Meeting.
5. Dissolution
A dissolution of the Association can only be pronounced by the General Meeting (majority required: two thirds of votes expressed). The proposal of dissolution shall be sent to the General Secretary at least six months before the General Meeting commissioned to examine it. The General Secretary communicates the proposal of dissolution to the Association’s members at least five months before the same General Meeting. In the event of dissolution, the assets of the Association, once all debts have been paid, will be devolved according to the rules fixed by the General Meeting that voted the dissolution. Without these rules, dissolution shall not be valid.
6. Archiving
It is the responsibility of each branch organisation to provide the current holder of the international IASPM archives with any document relating directly to the branch’s activities. Such documents include newsletters and calls for papers, as well as conference programmes, abstracts and proceedings. If any such document is published in hard copy, one such copy should be forwarded, without charge, to the current holder of the international IASPM archives.