Statutes of the
International Society for Vascular Behavioural and Cognitive Disorders (Vas-Cog)
Article 1
Name and domicile
Under the name International Society for Vascular Behavioural and
Cognitive Disorders (Vas-Cog), an Association of individual persons
according to articles of the "Country" Civil Code is formed. The Council
has its domicile in "City, Country" (to be decided by the executive
committee).
Article 2
Objectives
Advancement and promotion of knowledge and treatment of behavioural,
psychiatric and cognitive disorders associated with cardiovascular and
cerebrovascular diseases.
Article 3
Plans of action
The Society shall endeavour to realize this objective by
| a) |
promotion of |
- education
- data banks
- research |
|
| b) |
standardization of methods for |
- experimental work
- clinical studies and
trials |
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| c) |
developing recommendations for
diagnosis and treatment |
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| d) |
raising funds and bursaries |
|
| e) |
promoting international exchanges
and encourage worldwide representation |
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| f) |
involving a multidisciplinary
approach |
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| g) |
stimulating research and debate |
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| h) |
encouraging integration and
participation of young researchers |
|
| i) |
disseminating and translating
results to clinical practice |
|
| j) |
appointing committees for specific
tasks or purposes |
|
| k) |
advancing public education and
awareness |
|
| l) |
developing liaison with caregivers |
|
| m) |
liaising with other relevant
organisations |
|
| n) |
arranging its own meetings, work
shops and satellite meetings in connection with relevant other
meetings |
|
| o) |
producing overviews and supplements
related to the objectives of the Society |
|
| p) |
giving advice to other agents when
requested |
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| q) |
developing a home page |
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| r) |
other actions defined by the
Executive Committee |
Article 4
Membership
| 4.1 |
The Society shall be composed of
active members |
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| 4.2 |
As a new active member may be
accepted any individual who has:
| 1) |
a past and present record of clinical
activity or research in the field |
|
| 2) |
a letter of support by 2
active members of the society |
|
Persons interested in becoming active member shall send to the
Secretary General their full application material for approval by the
Executive Committee (short CV, list of published papers, letter of
support)
| 4.3 |
Other memberships. The
Society may subsequently decide to establish different
categories of membership, which will appear in addenda to the
by- laws (see addendum). |
|
| 4.4 |
Subscriptions. Active
members may be asked to pay annual subscriptions in the amounts
and within the periods set by the Executive Committee. |
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| 4.5 |
Rights and Privileges.
Active members may participate in the business sessions of the
Society and may vote. All active members are eligible for
election to office in the Council. This will not be the case for
other memberships, if established by the Society.
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| 4.6 |
Cessation of membership.
Membership shall cease upon:
| a) |
death |
|
| b) |
written notice by the member, in which
case membership shall cease as of the following calendar
year |
|
| c) |
expulsion in accordance with a decision
of the General Assembly. Expulsion of a member must be
proposed by the Executive Committee to the General
Assembly. An expulsion shall require for its adoption an
affirmative vote by three-fourths of the votes.
Expulsion shall be effective upon the taking of the vote
and no expelled member may be readmitted into membership
nor may any expulsion be revoked except by the
affirmative vote of three-fourths of the votes from
active members.
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Article 5
Executive Committee
| 5.1 |
Membership to the Executive
Committee. The Executive Committee shall consist of 11
persons (the Chairperson, the Treasurer, the Secretary-General,
7 Directors in charge of the plans of action defined in Article
3, and one representative for the Research Student Section). The
respective functions within the Executive Committee shall be
decided by the Executive Committee itself, including nominating
the Chairperson (who shall have to rotate every two years), the
Treasurer, and the Secretary-General. The attribution of other
tasks to each member of the Executive Committee shall be decided
within the Executive Committee. The Chairperson organizes and
chairs the debates but has no particular power of decision.
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| 5.2 |
Duration of office. The
duration of office in the Executive Committee shall be 4 years.
Re-election of half of the Executive committee every second year
avoids that the whole committee is changed at the same time.
Officers may be re-elected but they may not serve for more than
8 consecutive years (2 election periods). The representative of
the Research Student Section should be re-elected every second
year and may not serve more than 4 years. |
|
| 5.3 |
Elections and eligibility.
The General Assembly of active members shall elect the officers
among its own members on the proposal of the Nominating
Committee (see article 6.2 and 9.1). Other active members may
also candidate to the election if suggested by at least 20
active members. Candidates to the election should be announced
at least 1 month before the voting. No more than 2 residents of
the same country may be elected to the Executive Committee. The
research student is elected by the Research Student Section of
the Society. |
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| 5.4 |
Duties and activities of the
Executive Committee The Executive Committee shall direct and
conduct the general activities of the
Society. The Executive Committee is authorized to carry out
tasks not allocated to the General Assembly. In legal actions,
the Society shall be represented by the Chairperson, the
Treasurer and the Secretary-General. The Executive
Committee shall make decisions by majority vote. In case of
equal vote, the vote of the Chairperson shall prevail. The
Executive Committee shall make decisions about affiliations to
other organizations. The Executive Committee shall report on its
activities and decisions to the active members at least every 6
months.
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| 5.6 |
Meetings. The Executive
Committee shall meet at regular intervals, at least once a year. |
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| 5.7 |
Administrative Secretariat.
The Society shall have a permanent Administrative Secretariat,
which will be supervised by the Secretary-General. |
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Article 6
General Assembly
| 6.1 |
The General Assembly is formed by
all active members of the Society. |
|
| 6.2 |
The General Assembly may vote in
writing (mail or electronic mail), on request of the Executive
Committee, or during the business meeting. Voting by e-mail
should be announced at least one month before the voting starts
and should be open for voting during at least 2 weeks. Votes are
sent to the Secretary-General. Individual votes will be kept
strictly confidential. The secretary-General will keep the votes
for at least one year in case that an active member request
recounting. All counting is based on those who votes. |
|
| 6.3 |
The General Assembly votes for
members of the Executive Committee, members of the Nominating
Committee, the location of the Society Conference, amendments to
the Statutes, the dissolution of the Society, expulsion of a
member and any other business suggested by the Executive
Committee or by writing to the Secretary General by 30 or more
active members. |
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| 6.4 |
The General Assembly should meet at
least every second year at a business meeting, which may be
arranged by the Executive Committee during the sessions of the
Society Conference. The invitation to the business meeting shall
be announced to the members at least 3 months before the date of
the meeting.
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Article 7
Amendments to the Statutes
Amendments to the Statutes must be proposed by the Executive Committee
or in writing to the Secretary General by 30 or more active members and
must be acted upon within the year following the receipt of this
proposal. An amendment shall require for its adoption an affirmative
vote by three-fourths of the votes.
Article 8
Society Scientific Congress
| 8.1 |
A scientific congress will be
organized by the Society at intervals decided by the Assembly
upon suggestion by the Executive Committee. The venue should
normally rotate between continents. The scientific congress is
also open for non-members of the Society. |
|
| 8.2 |
Candidates to organize the meeting
should send in their detailed application to the Executive
Committee, which distributes the application to the General
Assembly of active members before the voting. The General
Assembly of active members should decide on the venue by voting.
The candidate with at least 50% of the votes shall have the next
meeting. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, a
re-voting shall take place among the two candidates with most
votes. The voting shall take place at least 4 years before the
scheduled congress (rules for voting, see Article 6.2). |
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| 8.3 |
A local congress chair is appointed
in advance by the Assembly, upon proposal of the Executive
Committee. The congress chair is responsible for appointing a
local organizing Committee. The Executive Committee plus the
congress chair and two representatives of research students will
serve as Program Committee and will appoint an International
Scientific Committee. |
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| 8.4 |
The Program Committee (see 8.3) is
responsible for the program format and content, and for the
rules applied to delegates, sponsors and guests. |
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| 8.5 |
The Scientific Committee (see 8.3)
serves as an advisory board and assesses the abstracts
submissions upon directions of the program committee. |
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| 8.6 |
The local organizing committee is
responsible for the local facilities of the venue and all other
local logistic aspects. |
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| 8.7 |
The financial and organizational
responsibility of the congress, as well as the handling of
profits and deficits of the congress, will be the subject of a
contract between the Society (through its Executive Committee),
the local committee, and an organizing company. The split of
profits and deficits between the local organizers and the
Society will be directed by an addendum to the by-laws. |
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Article 9
Other committees
| 9.1 |
Nominating committee. The
nominating committee comprises 5 members elected and suggested
by the General Assembly among its active members. The duration
of office shall be 4 years. The nominating committee nominates
its own chair. The Nominating committee should suggest
candidates for the election of the Executive Committee. |
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| 9.2 |
Research students section.
The Society should develop a section for research students, with
its own Coordinating Committee. Membership to this section is
only open to research students. This section shall work under
the same statutes as the parent organization, and advise the
Society regarding matters of importance for young researchers.
The Research Students Section shall have a representative on the
Executive Committee and two on the Program Committee. |
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Article 10
Dissolution of the Society
| 10.1 |
Decision of dissolution. The
dissolution of the Society shall only be decided upon by an
affirmative vote of three-fourth of the active members of the
Society.
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| 10.2 |
Disposition of assets. The
General Assembly deciding on the dissolution of the Society
shall be competent to decide how the assets of the Society shall
be disposed of.
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ADDENDUM TO THE BY-LAWS
(These are comments to the articles in the by-laws. The articles mentioned below, thus refers to the article in the by-laws that they comment on)
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Article 4
| 4.2 |
Founding members of the Society
should automatically be Active members when the statutes are
approved by the Founding members
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| 4.3. |
The Society will also be composed of associate members. Persons
interested in becoming associate members shall send to the
Secretary General their full application material. As a new
associate member may be accepted any individual who has a past
and present record of clinical activity or research in the field.
The Secretary General will then register them as associate
members. The applicant can also apply for 'active membership' as
stated in paragraph 4.2. They will then be associate members
until their status as active members is approved by the
Executive Committee
Other categories of membership could be e.g.
*'research students' (research students who have yet not
established themselves to be able to be active members)
*other persons who are interested in the area but do not fulfil
the requirements for active membership
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Article 5
| 5.1 |
Among other tasks given to members
of the executive committee could be editor of home page,
responsible for raising funds, chair of scientific committee,
responsible for educational matter etc. |
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| 5.2 |
The first election will thus be on
10 persons, out of whom 5 have to be re-elected after 2 years.
In the first election it should be stated which candidates who
are going to be subject to re-election after 2 years. |
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| 5.3 |
It is recommended that, if possible,
each gender should be represented by at least 3 members, that
all continents with a substantial number of members should be
represented and that one member should be a research student. |
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| 5.4 |
In addition to the 11 voted persons
for office in the executive committee, the chairs of forthcoming
Vas-Cog congresses, voted by the members, should be full members
of the executive committee until two months after the congress
has taken place. |
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| 5.5 |
In addition, the chairs of the
scientific committee for forthcoming Vas-Cog congresses should
be full members of the executive committee until one month after
the congress has taken place. |
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Article 8
| 8.5 |
It is recommended that, if possible,
each gender should be represented by at least 3 members, that
all continents with a substantial number of members should be
represented and that one member should be a research student.
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