CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS OF THE INTERNATIONAL
MEDICAL GEOLOGY ASSOCIATION (IMGA)
Adopted at the organizational meeting …………
Incorporating revisions approved through ……..
CONSTITUTION
Article I: Name
The name of this organization is The International Medical Geology Association (IMGA).
Article II: Purpose
To facilitate interactions between geoscientists and biomedical/public health researchers in
addressing human and animal health problems caused by geologic materials or geologic
processes. The IMGA is a “policy neutral” organization.
Article III: Objectives
1. To stimulate interest and promote research in medical geology.
2. To provide a forum for discussion, to disseminate information, and to provide
educational opportunities in medical geology.
3. To promote state-of-the-art technologies in medical geology.
4. To inspire the highest standard of professional ethics of its members.
Article IV: Membership
1. The membership of the Association shall consist of persons, corporations and
organizations concerned with the promotion of the Association's objectives.
2. Membership classifications, qualifications and duties and privileges shall be
established in the Bylaws of the Association.
Article V: Government
The government of this Association shall be vested in an Executive Committee. Membership
on the Executive Committee and the election process, terms of office, and specific duties and
responsibilities of Executive Committee members, as well as other matters relevant to the
Executive Committee, shall be as provided in the Bylaws of this Association. Any
responsibility and authority of government of this Association not otherwise specified in these
governing documents shall be reserved to the Executive Committee.
Article VI: Bylaws
The Bylaws as appended hereto are hereby adopted and may be amended, enlarged or reduced
as provided in the Bylaws.
Article VII: Amendments
This constitution can be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of members in good
standing responding by mail or electronic mail ballot. A minimum of twenty (20) percent of
the membership is required for the vote. Amendment proposals can be made by the Executive
Committee or by a petition signed by ten percent of the Members of the Association.
Proposed amendments must be ratified by the Executive Committee before submission to a
vote by the Members.
BYLAWS
Article I: Membership Classes and Eligibility
1. Members shall be classified as follows:
o
A. Member - a person whose professional activities or interests are in keeping
with the objectives of the Association.
o
B. Student Member – a student enrolled at least half time in an institution of
higher learning.
o
C. Honorary Member - a person distinguished in a scientific discipline of
significance to the Association.
o
D. Institutional Affiliates - Institutional Affiliates shall be those firms,
institutions of higher learning, or other organizations interested in fostering the
science of medical geology. Institutional Affiliates shall have the right to
appoint a person as their designated representative. Such a person could also be
a Member. Institutional Affiliates shall enjoy all the privileges of the
Association except that they, or their representatives, shall not hold office or
vote. Notwithstanding any of the above limitations, a designated representative
of an Institutional Affiliate, who is also an individual Member, may so
continue to exercise his/her membership rights and privileges on his/her own
behalf.
Article II: Procedures for Election to Membership
1. A person desiring membership in the IMGA must petition the Executive Committee
on an approved membership application. The applicant must be informed of Executive
Committee's acceptance or rejection as soon as practicable.
2. Life Members are elected for life by a majority vote of the Executive Committee after
being nominated by the responsible committee.
3. New members (regular and student) can be proposed by other members or may request
consideration from the Executive Committee for themselves
Article III: Dues
1. Annual dues shall be determined by the Executive Committee and shall be assessed on
a calendar year basis. The Executive Committee may substitute appropriate service to
IMGA or to Medical Geology in lieu of the annual dues. Annual dues are waived for
Life Members.
2. Institutional Affiliates shall pay an annual membership cost to be determined by
Executive Committee.
3. Annual dues are payable in advance on or before the first day of each calendar year.
Notice of dues will be sent with the newsletter and by electronic mail in the third
quarter of each calendar year. A Member who fails to remit by January 1 should be
considered in arrears until he/she remits, and any member still in arrears on April 1
will be dropped from membership. Members may be reinstated upon payment of
current dues and no membership application will be required provided such
reinstatement occurs within one (1) year.
4. Any Member in arrears as defined in Section 4 above shall not receive any
Association publications nor be allowed to vote or hold office.
All dues are payable in EU or US currency. Alternate methods of payment may be approved
by the Executive Committee.
Article IV: Duties and Privileges of Members
1. Members in good standing, defined as a Member not in arrears as defined in Article
III, Section 4 of the Bylaws, shall have the privilege of holding office, voting, serving
on Association Committees, and transacting the business of the Association.
2. Life Members shall have all the privileges of membership.
3. Institutional Affiliates in good standing shall receive all publications of the
Association.
Article V: Executive Committee
1. Executive Committee shall be composed of:
o
A. Chair
o
B. Co-Chair for geoscience
o
C. Co-chair for medical science
o
D. Secretary
o
E. Treasurer
o
F. Six (6) Councillors
o
G. Editor – non-voting appointed position
o
H Webmaster – a non-voting appointed position .
2. The Executive Committee shall have ultimate executive control and
management of affairs and funds of this Association. Duties include planning for
conferences, elections, publications, determination of applicant qualifications and
membership, administering funds for the benefit of the Association, and any other
duties required to accomplish the objectives of the Association.
3. The Executive Committee shall meet at the annual meeting and at the call of the
president. Robert's Rules of Order shall apply at all Executive Committee meetings and a
simple majority of Executive Committee Members shall constitute a quorum. No proxy
votes or alternates are allowed. Executive Committee members may act on Association
matters by mail, telephone, or electronic communication (e.g. E-mail, or World Wide Web
site) if needed.
Article VI: Officers
1. The officers of this Association shall be as follows: Chair, Co-Chair (geoscience), CoChair (medical science), Secretary, Treasurer, six Councilors and an Editor and
Webmaster, the two latter two officers are non-voting appointed positions. Terms of
office shall begin at the close of the annual business meeting and extend for two years.
2. The Chair shall be the chief executive officer of the Association and shall preside over
all meetings of the Association and Executive Committee.
3. The Co-Chairs shall perform such duties as may be assigned by the Chair if the Chair
is absent or unable to serve, and shall jointly assume the office of Chair in the event of
a vacancy for any cause.
4. The Secretary shall be responsible for recording the actions of the Executive
Committee, and be responsible for all communications including coordinating courses
and meetings.
5. The Treasurer shall supervise the receipt of all funds and, under the direction of the
Executive Committee, be responsible for all disbursements of funds of the
Association.
6. The Councilors shall perform specific duties as directed by the Executive Committee.
7. The editor shall be responsible for all official publications such as the newsletter.
8. The officers shall each serve two-year year terms. In the initial elections three
Councilors shall be elected for a one year term. Thereafter, three (3) Councilors shall
be elected each year for two-year terms.
9. The officers shall be eligible for one second consecutive term in the same office.
10. The Executive Committee shall select one individual to fill any interim vacancy
occurring in the offices of Co-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Councilor, or Editor.
Article VII: Election of Officers
1. The Chair shall appoint a nominating committee of not less than three (3) Members,
one (1) of whom shall be designated as Chairman and none of whom shall be
members of the Executive Committee. The Members should be selected from the
Association and should be representative of the disciplines included in the
membership. The Chair shall instruct the committee to submit the names of at least
two (2) qualified nominees for each of the offices. Competitive elections are
encouraged but not required for the office of Secretary, Treasurer and Editor. Election
of officers shall be completed six (6) weeks prior to the annual meeting.
2. The Nominating Committee shall be responsible for the preparation, receipt and
counting of all ballots requiring a vote by Members. In the case of election of officers,
a ballot and a biography of each nominee shall be mailed (electronic mail?) to every
voting Member. All ballots shall be returned to the Nominating Committee Chairman
and shall be counted by the Committee within seven (7) days following the designated
closing date. Results of balloting shall be promptly reported by the Nominating
Committee Chairman to the Chair who will in turn report ballot results to Executive
Committee and the candidates.
3. A plurality of the votes received for any office shall constitute election. In the event of
a tie, a vote of the Executive Committee shall prevail.
4. Nominees for all elective offices shall be Members in good standing or Life Members.
Representation on Executive Committee should if possible reflect global
demographics, and different disciplines and should also strive for gender balance.
Article VIII: Business Procedures
1. The Executive Committee shall appoint committees, arrange IMGA representation
with other groups, production of journals, special publications, short courses, and
symposia and conduct day-to-day business. The affairs of the Association shall be
managed by its elected Executive Committee who must be Members in good standing.
2. The Executive Committee is responsible for the annual budget, which shall be based
on the calendar year.
3. The Executive Committee shall cause an audit of the Association's financial records to
be performed at the conclusion of a treasurer's term of office and prior to installation
of a newly elected treasurer. The Executive Committee may call for an audit of the
Association’s financial records at shorter intervals.
4. In the event of the dissolution of the Association, the assets remaining after discharge
of all liabilities, shall go for charitable, scientific or educational purposes. Under these
circumstances, no Member of the Association shall have any right of interest in the
assets of the Association.
Article IX: Publications
1. The Executive Committee is authorized to provide for publications in keeping with the
objectives of the Association.
Article X: Awards
1. The Executive Committee shall have the responsibility for establishing an awards
committee, approve the recipients of awards, and accord them appropriate recognition.
Article XI: Committees and Representatives
1. The Executive Committee shall have the authority to establish, direct and dissolve
standing committees of the Association.
2. The appointment of Chairmen shall be at the direction of the president and approved
by Executive Committee.
3. Ad hoc committees may be appointed by the president upon approval of the Executive
Committee to consider specific questions, or conduct specific studies.
4. Committee chairmen and the representatives shall submit an annual written report to
the Executive Committee.
Article XI Regional Divisions
1. The excecutive committee can decide on the establishment of regional divisions.
2. The purposes, membership and regional division authority can be found in the bylaws
of the regional divisons.
3. The chairman of each regional division will together with the excecutive committee
form a council.
Article XII: Annual Meeting
1. One meeting of the Association each year shall be designated as the Annual Meeting.
The Executive Committee shall designate the time and place of the meeting.
2. At the Annual Meeting there shall be a business meeting, at which time Executive
Committee may present to the Members present items of business for information,
recommendation, discussion or vote.
Article XIII: Professional Ethics
1. Members of the Association are expected to maintain the highest level of professional
ethics. Any Member of the Association who is found guilty by due legal process of a
legal infraction that includes a breach of professional ethics. shall have his/her
membership in the Association automatically terminated.
Article XIV: Amendments
1. Amendments to these Bylaws may be proposed by the following means: resolution of
the Executive Committee, or written proposal signed by ten percent of the voting
Members of the Association.
2. Proposed amendments shall be approved by the Executive Committee, which then
shall submit such amendments to the Members by mail ballot, or to the Members
present at the annual business meeting, and shall be passed by a two-thirds affirmative
vote of the Members voting with a minimum of twenty (20) percent of the
membership responding.
Medical Geology Regional Divisions
Article1:Name
International Medical Geology Regional Divisions
Article II: Constitution and bylaws
The divisions shall pledge to abide by the constitution and bylaws of the International
Medical Geology Association
Article III: General purpose
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Medical Geology Regional Divisions (Divisions) shall be formed to encourage
broad participation in medical geology research, training, and education and to
disseminate medical geology information in their respective regions.
Medical Geology Regional Division (Divisions) may organize scientific and
educational meetings when and where it is necessary, may consist of activities that
provide for effective exchange of plans, information, analyses results, ideas, and other
activities among its professional and student members; activities that are designed to
increase the public’s awareness and appreciation of Medical Geology.
The International Medical Geology Association (The Association) shall strive to
support and encourage the Divisions.
The Divisions shall conform to standard geographic boundaries as determined by
the Association.
The divisions shall cooperate with other organizations operating in this field,
exchange information with the public, other scientists, individuals, decision makers
and organizations, act as an information resource center in the field of Medical
Geology, promote communication among members on matters of common interest
and importance, establish regional research priorities in the field on the basis of
current and future needs and disseminate information, ideas, and other activities to its
scientific and amateur members in their respective regions
6.
The Divisions shall be open for membership to any interested person living in the
region or to any organization chartered in the region.
7.
The Divisions shall be run in a democratic manner having elections for officers at
regular intervals. The officers of the Division shall reflect the geographic, gender,
ethnic, and disciplinary diversity of the Division’s membership.
Article IV: Membership
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Types of Membership may be individual or Institutional
Active members shall consist of individuals who are up-to-date with their dues or
accepted commitments.
The Divisions shall be open for membership to any interested person living in the
region or to any organization chartered in the region.
The Divisions shall be run in a democratic manner having elections for officers at
regular intervals. The officers of the Division shall reflect the geographic, gender,
ethnic, and disciplinary diversity of the Division’s membership.
Institutional members shall pay dues as determined by the Association Executive
Board.
A request to form a Division shall be signed by at least 10 full members in good
standing of the Association and shall be submitted to the Association Executive
Board. For regions containing less than five countries, the signers must be from at
least two countries within the region. For regions containing more than five countries,
the signers must be from one third of the countries represented in the Association
membership. A majority vote by the Association Executive Board is required for
recognition.
Article V: Membership dues
1. The Divisions shall abide by the dues structure approved by the Association.
2. Members of the Divisions shall be considered as full members of the Association
and shall enjoy all benefits that accrue with Association membership.
3. Funds generated by dues, donations, or other means under the auspices of the
Division shall be used only for the promotion of Medical Geology within the region,
unless otherwise agreed to by the Association Executive Board.
4. The Division shall maintain clear and complete records of regional activities and
comprehensive and accurate financial accounts. The Division shall provide the
Association periodic reports on regional activities for inclusion in the Association
Newsletters and other documents. The Division shall respond in a timely manner to
any requests for information from the Association Executive Board.
Article VI: Termination of membership
The Association Executive Board may discharge officers of a Division for malfeasance.
A two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Board is necessary for dismissal.
Article VII: Regional division authority
1. The Regional Division members shall be convoked in writing. The regular meeting
shall be held at least once every two years.
2. The Regional Division can also make decisions without meeting, under the condition
that proposals have been sent to all Council members of the Regional Division, and
that all Council members have the opportunity to give their vote in writing or by email.
3. Each Council member of the Regional Divisions shall have one vote. Prior to voting,
they must have agreement upon decisions within their Regional Division and shall be
taken by simple majority.