IUVSTA Procedures Manual
There are two types of GM provided for in the Statutes – Ordinary General Meetings and Triennial full General Meetings
The calling Notice including the Draft Agenda for a General Meeting must be sent to all Members at least 4 months before the GM with the final Agenda being sent 6 weeks before the meeting.
Any proposed changes to the Statutes must be sent to all Members at least 6 months before the GM at which they will be considered.
The Statutes state that each Member may nominate up to three delegates to represent them at a General Meeting. One of these delegates is designated as the Head of the Delegation who will cast the votes held by the Member.
It is suggested, however, that for Ordinary General Meetings, it will be sufficient for Members to nominate their Councillor or Alternate as Head and sole member of their delegation.
Delegates should be nominated 6 weeks before the GM to give sufficient time for the Secretary General to distribute information to them. To enable this, each nomination should include an e-mail address for the delegates.
These are held within the first three months of each calendar year. Business is restricted to financial matters – namely the receipt of Accounts for the previous financial year and approval of the budget for the current financial year.
The designation of these meetings is AGM and documentation for such meetings will be so identified.
These GMs are held normally every third year, usually during the International Vacuum Congress (IVC).The period between two such General Meetings is a Triennium. This GM is the final authority and approves all actions of the ECM. Its principal tasks will be to guide the work of the Union, set indicative budgets for the Triennium and elect the members of the Executive Council, and to discuss, approve or reject the reports submitted by the Executive Council.
This General Meeting can make amendments to the Statutes and approves the By-laws.
The proceedings of the General Meeting are not valid unless 50% or more of the members are present, or represented. The decisions of a General Meeting are decided by a majority of 50% of the votes cast. The Chair (normally the President) has a casting vote in the event of a tied vote.
The draft Agenda is prepared by the Executive Council and circulated to the Members at least four months before the proposed date. The final Agenda is communicated to the Members six weeks before that date.
No decisions can be taken which are not on the Agenda.
The designation of these meetings is GM and documentation for such meetings will be so identified.
As described above, this GM receives reports on the activities of IUVSTA during the preceding triennium. These include the President's review, reports from the Secretary General, Treasurer, STD, Divisions and Committees and the incoming President's inaugural statement. These reports are compiled as written reports into a Book of Reports and distributed to delegates, usually electronically. The verbal reports which are presented summarise the written reports and invite comment and discussion.
Towards the end of each triennium, nominations must be obtained from the Members for Councillors and Alternates for the following triennium. In addition, nominations are requested for the position of President-Elect for the following triennium.
The Statutes require that the Draft Agenda of this GM be sent out 4 months ahead of the GM and that it should contain the list of Officers proposed by the Executive Council and the list of new Councillors. The Draft Agenda must be approved by the Executive Council.
To meet these schedules, it is necessary for the Secretary General to contact the Presidents of the Member societies at least 8 months before the GM.
The Executive Council will propose a candidate for President Elect to the Triennial full General Meeting. Therefore towards the end of the triennium, nominations for suitable candidates are requested. Nominations by the member societies require the agreement of the nominee, and should include a short biography and an “electoral statement” by the nominee.
The vote for the candidate President Elect must be held at least 4 months before the GM, so approximately 6 weeks before the relevant ECM, the biographical outlines and "electoral statements" of the nominees should be sent to all Council members so that they can consider the candidates and inform their proxy holders of their preference if they cannot attend the ECM.
The deadline for nominations should be 8 weeks before the ECM. The letter asking for nominations should precede this by at least 4 months to allow member societies to consider a nomination, for them to contact the nominee for his/her agreement and to obtain a biography and an "electoral statement".
Each member must nominate a Councillor and an Alternate Councillor for the following triennium. These should be identified more than 4 months ahead of the relevant GM. A list of all the Executive Council members for the following triennium is included with the GM draft agenda which is sent to all the GM delegates.
Relation of Shares and Votes at General Meeting