IUVSTA Procedures Manual

Officers of the Union

President

The President is elected at the General Meeting at the start of the Period having served as the Vice-President (President-Elect) during the Period preceding this General Meeting. The President will serve during the current Period and become the Vice-President (Past President) during the subsequent Period.

The President is elected on proposal of the Executive Council or at least one fifth of the members of the Union. The President is chosen for his/her personal qualities and not to represent his/her national organization.

The main duties of the President during his/her term are as follows:

  1. To preside over the Union as chief executive officer.
  2. To act when necessary as the official representative of the Union.
  3. To be responsible for all the activities of the Union.
  4. To preside over General Meetings, Executive Council Meetings and other Ordinary and Extraordinary Meetings. He/she will also preside over any assembly or commission where deemed necessary, or nominate Chairs for such bodies.
  5. To make a statement on the proposed activities at the General Meeting at the beginning of the triennium, and to give a review of activities at the end of his/her term. These are to be posted in advance with the Agenda of the General Meeting.
  6. To designate committee Chairs, Vice Chairs and Secretaries; to appoint ad hoc committees, as necessary.
  7. The President is ex officio a member of all Committees and working groups.
  8. To determine the seat of the Secretariat.
  9. To propose Officers.
  10. To convene meetings of the Executive Council.
  11. To approve the presence of Observers at Executive Council Meetings.
  12. To nominate founder members and honorary members to the General Meeting.
  13. To cast the deciding vote at Executive Council Meetings where a decision is tied.
  14. To take action to secure the replacement of Councillors by Alternate Councillors or, when necessary, to appoint Acting Officers (to be confirmed by the subsequent ECM).
  15. To receive all correspondence dealing with applications for membership and information on modification to the structure or statutes of member committees.
  16. To represent the Union in dealings with other international bodies, or to designate representatives for this purpose.

President-Elect

The President-Elect is elected at the General Meeting at the start of the Period, and serves as Vice-President during the triennium following this General Meeting, President during the second triennium and Vice-President during the third triennium.

The main duties of the President-Elect during his/her term are as follows:

  1. The President-Elect shall assist the President in all duties, and substitute for the President at his/her request or as otherwise necessary.
  2. The President-Elect becomes President in case of death, permanent incapacity or resignation of the President in office.
  3. The President-Elect should become fully informed about the operations of the Union and the major issues which concern it. This is accomplished by:
    1. Participation in meetings of the standing and ad hoc committees of the Union. Key committees include Finance, STD, Congress Planning, Statutes, and other committees in accordance with the incumbent's interests and the Union's needs.
    2. frequent discussions with the Officers and Councillors concerning affairs of the Union.
    3. detailed familiarity with the minutes and documents (Statutes, Bylaws, etc.) of the Union.
  4. Approximately 3 months before the General Meeting at which he/she becomes President, the President-Elect shall propose a list of candidates for the following positions as Officers of the Executive Council:
    • Secretary General
    • Scientific Director
    • Scientific Secretary
    • Treasurer
    This list of candidates shall be included in the Final Agenda distributed six weeks before this General Meeting.
  1. Prior to this General Meeting, the President-Elect shall appoint the Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary of each of the standing and ad hoc committees, to serve during the next triennium.

Past-President

The main duties of the Past-President are:

  1. to assist the President
  2. to take the President's place on his/her request
  3. to take over the President's duties until the next Ordinary General Meeting in case of death, permanent incapacity, or resignation of the President and inability of the President-Elect to take over
  4. to be a member of the Executive Council as an Officer of the Union, not representing his national or organization.

Secretary General

The Secretary General is chosen to exercise his function on behalf of the Union because of his personal qualities and not to represent his national organization. He is proposed by the incoming President and is elected at the General Meeting at the start of the Period.

The main duties include

  1. The Secretary General is responsible for all administrative and legal matters of the Union and for advising the President on such matters.
  2. The Secretary General will keep records of the names and mailing addresses of the:
    1. Presidents of the National Committees of the Union
    2. Officers, Councillors and Alternate Councillors of the Union
    3. Division Chairpersons and Secretaries of the Union and
    4. Chairs and Secretaries of Committee
    (Note that job titles and full names are required by the Belgian Ministry for all persons included in (b), (c) and (d) above.)
  1. The Secretary General will handle all correspondence relating to:
    1. requests for Union membership
    2. requests for IUVSTA sponsorship of meetings
    3. submission of reports to other organizations
  2. The Secretary General will be Chair of the Statutes Committee and will recommend to the President the names of members of this committee, including a Secretary if desired. The Councillor or Alternate Councillor from Belgium should be a member of the Statutes Committee and act as contact with the Belgian Government.
  3. It is the responsibility of the Secretary General and the Statutes Committee to keep the Union's Statutes consistent with Belgian Law and in agreement with recommendations for amendment made by the Executive Council which are approved by a competent General Meeting.
  4. The Secretary General will request proxies from members not attending the Executive Council Meetings and will report on the attendance and proxy representation to the Council.
  5. The Secretary General will request National Committees of the Union to supply him with the names of their Delegates, Heads of Delegation, Candidate for Councillor and Candidate for Alternate Councillor in preparation for the General Meeting.
  6. The Secretary General will make the necessary contacts to seek nominations for a President-Elect so that the Executive Council may propose a candidate to the General Meeting. The Secretary General will obtain from the nominees a short biography and an “electoral statement”. The Secretary General will send these to Council members at least 6 weeks before the Executive Council meeting at which this candidate is determined.
  7. The Secretary General will assist the President in setting the Agenda for the Executive Council Meetings and for the General Meeting and distribute these to the appropriate people. He will also assist in producing a timetable for associated meetings of Divisions and Committees at the time of an Executive Council Meeting.
  8. The Secretary General will report on the activities of his office to the Executive Council Meetings and to the General Meeting.
  9. The Secretary General will prepare and submit a Book of Reports of the activities of the Union to the Triennial full General Meeting.
  10. The Secretary General will, where possible, designate an alternate who will attend the General Meeting or Executive Council Meeting and transmit proxies and other relevant information to the President should the Secretary General fail to be present. The Secretary General will transfer this information to the alternate one week prior to a meeting.
  11. The Secretary General will maintain a Directory of Addresses, including e-mail addresses, of all Council members (Officers, Councillors, Alternate Councillors, Committee and Division Chairs, Electoral College members, Delegates to the General Meeting, Presidents and contact persons of member societies and other persons with official contacts with IUVSTA, including Welch Scholarship Administrator and Trustees, Visual Aids Editor). The Secretary General will arrange with the web editor to have the directory available only to persons involved in IUVSTA activities, as determined by the Secretary General. This may be done by issuing a password to those persons; the Secretary General will issue the password. The Secretary General will also arrange with the Web Editor or Manager for appropriate lists (e.g. Officers, Councillors, Alternate Councillors, Committee and Division Chairs and Secretaries) of e-mail addresses to be available as distribution lists for the provision of information on meetings, etc.
  12. The Secretary General will maintain an Events Schedule which will be posted on the web site and updated when additions or changes to the Schedule are required. The Schedule should list all IUVSTA events (e.g. Council Meetings, Workshops, Schools, meetings), events endorsed by IUVSTA and other related conferences and meetings which are likely to be of interest to IUVSTA participants.

Timeline for Secretary General

Scientific Director

The Scientific Director is elected at the General Meeting

The Director chairs the Scientific and Technical Directorate (STD) which consists of the Chairs of all the Divisions.

Scientific Secretary

  1. The Scientific Secretary is elected at the General Meeting
  2. The Scientific Secretary will record the minutes of all meetings of the Scientific and Technical Directorate (STD).
  3. The Scientific Secretary will assist the Scientific Director with different aspects of his/her work, especially he/she will:
    1. distribute agendas and Minutes of the meetings of the STD
    2. assist the Divisions in their election procedures
    3. complete the procedure for sponsorship of conferences or meetings after the Secretary General has checked that the application fulfils the IUVSTA requirements.
    4. Receive, check and distribute to the STD all proposals for IUVSTA Workshops and Schools.
    5. Monitor progress of IUVSTA Workshops and Schools and post relevant information on the IUVSTA website.
    6. Receive, check and send to the Chair of the Education Committee all proposals for IUVSTA Technical Training Courses
    7. Ensure that pages of the IUVSTA website relevant to the work of the STD are maintained in an up to date condition.
    8. perform other duties according to the wishes of the Scientific Director.
Timeline for Scientific Secretary

Treasurer

  1. The Treasurer, on behalf of the Executive Council, is responsible for all financial matters of the Union.
  2. The Treasurer is elected at the General Meeting.
  3. The Treasurer will set up appropriate bank accounts, if they are not already in existence, and arrange signatories for the accounts as approved by the Executive Council. The President will normally be one such signatory.
  4. The Treasurer will obtain proper signature documents from the relevant persons for the banks.
  5. The Treasurer will be chair of the Finance Committee and recommend to the President a Secretary for the Finance Committee. The appointment of the Committee Members will be organized by the President. It is recommended that the Finance Committee include the Councillors from the immediate past and future host countries for the International Congress.
  6. The Treasurer may set up an advisory group to advise him/her on matters of investments.
  7. The Treasurer will have an appropriate amount of stationary printed for the "Office of the Treasurer" with his name and mailing address printed thereon. The general format of this stationary will be uniform for all Officers of the Union.
  8. The Treasurer will invoice the National Committees of the Union at the first of each year for their annual subscriptions. The number of shares for each National Committee will have been previously approved by the General Meeting and the value of the share will have been determined at the immediate past General Meeting.
  9. Cheques (checks) or electronic funds transfers will only be issued or initiated by the Treasurer consistent with approved budgets.
  10. In an emergency, if the Treasurer is not available, or is incapacitated, the President may sign cheques (checks) or initiate electronic funds transfers. If the President lives very far from the Treasurer's domicile the Treasurer may grant a third person, who lives close to the bank's location, authority for the bank account. This person, approved by the President, will be entitled to take action only on the basis of special orders given by the Treasurer or by the President.
  11. The Treasurer will not advance operating funds to any operation of the Union for more than one year in advance. Operating funds on hands of any one IUVSTA Expense Centre will not exceed €10,000. The excess amount will be returned to the Treasurer.
  12. The Treasurer will bring to the attention of the President and the Executive Council any expenditures which show danger of exceeding the budgeted amount.
  13. All extra budgetary items will be subject to Executive Council approval before cheques (checks) or electronic funds transfers for such items may be written or initiated by the Treasurer.
  14. The Treasurer, with the help of his Finance Committee, will prepare and recommend indicative budgets for the next Period of the Union. This Budget will contain estimates of income and estimates of expenditures for each of the various operations of the Union. This indicative budget will be submitted to the Executive Council at its penultimate meeting of the Triennium for their approval and recommendation to the Triennial General Meeting for approval.
  15. The Treasurer, with the help of his Finance Committee, will prepare and recommend working budgets for each calendar year, consistent with the approved indicative budgets. Such budget will be submitted to the Executive Council at their first meeting in each year for acceptance by the subsequent Annual General Meeting.
  16. The Treasurer will give a Financial Report at each Executive Council meeting.
  17. The Treasurer, with the help of his Finance Committee, will prepare accounts for each calendar year. Such accounts will be submitted to the Executive Council at their first meeting in each year for acceptance by the subsequent Annual General Meeting. The Finance Committee will nominate a suitable person or persons to examine and verify the accounts.
  18. The Treasurer shall present consolidated accounts for the preceding Period to the Triennial General Meeting, which in particular will show the operating funds in the hands of the IUVSTA Expense Centres. In order to prepare this report the Treasurer will request each Expense Centre to provide its Financial Statement (normally once a year).
  19. The Treasurer will give a report on the activities of the Finance Committee at each Executive Council Meeting.
© IUVSTA 2012