 | ISKO-West Africa |  |
Dated: 9 FEBRUARY 2017
I. FORM, OBJECTIVES, AND LEGAL SEAT
Art. 1: Formation
The West African Chapter of the International Society for Knowledge Organization (henceforward referred to as 'ISKO-WA') was formally constituted on …….., being the date when approval for its formation was received from the General Secretariat of the International Society for Knowledge Organization (henceforward referred to as 'ISKO') and confirmed by the members of an association entitled ISKO-WA who agreed to adhere to this constitution on ……. ISKO-WA will exist in perpetuity so long as it has a minimum of ten members or until it may seek its own dissolution.
ISKO-WA is a regional chapter of ISKO aiming to serve members of ISKO whose life and/or work is in any Western African countries – countries in the Economic Community of West Africa.
The relationship between ISKO-WA and its parent ISKO is defined in the following documents: "International Society for Knowledge Organization - Charter and Preamble (published in International Classification 16(1989), No. 3. - ISKO News) and "General Bylaws for Regional Chapters" (published in International Classification 20(1993), No. 2. - ISKO News 13).
All members of ISKO-WA are at the same time members of the parent organization ISKO, enjoying the same rights, privileges, and obligations as all ISKO members.
Art. 2: Objectives
ISKO-WA is a not-for-profit scientific/professional association with the objective of promoting research and communication in the domain of knowledge organization, within the broad field of information science and related disciplines, through the following means:
• development of liaisons between communities of researchers and practitioners in the domains, sectors, and scientific disciplines of the field of knowledge organization
• organization of study days, seminars, workshops talks, and conferences
• participating in, and organizing research projects related to the field of knowledge organization
• all other activities that conform to the objectives of ISKO.
Art. 3. Finances
Membership fees will be those set by the Executive Board of ISKO International, with an allowance for international bank transfer charges. ISKO-WA may charge a supplementary membership fee, with the agreement of its members at an AGM, to provide more funds to support its activities. The combined basic and supplementary fee (if the latter applies) is payable no later than 28th February each year to ensure continued membership.
Based on ISKO regulation, new members who join after 30th September in any year can pay, at the time of joining, the membership fee for the following year, and will be treated as members for the last three months of the current year at no extra charge.
ISKO-WA may obtain income from:
a) rebate granted by ISKO for annual ISKO-WA membership fees
b) attendance fees for meetings of all kinds
c) sale of publications
d) proceeds from other activities that comply with the objectives of ISKO
e) donations, subsidies, gifts, bequests, and other contributions from members and non-members
The financial year shall be the calendar year. Members who pay the membership fee for the current year shall have online access to the KO journal, including those published before the date of joining. They shall not be entitled to any refund of payments made at non-members' rates for attending meetings held prior to their joining date.
Art. 4: Seat
The seat of ISKO-WA and its official address shall be that of its current Chairperson or such other address as may subsequently be decided upon by the Executive Committee.
Art. 5: Language of communication
The language of communication during meetings shall be English. However, translation/interpretation in French shall be provided based on the financial capacity of the chapter. This will enhance the integration of members from francophone countries.
II. ORGANIZATION
Art. 5: Members
The classes of membership are those of ISKO (individual, institutional, student, retired, honorary).
Art. 6: Individual members
Individual members shall be persons who have paid the annual individual membership fee of ISKO-WA.
Art. 7: Institutional members
Institutional members shall be organizations that have paid the annual institutional membership fee.
Each institutional member must nominate a representative for the following purposes:
• to conduct correspondence on behalf of their member organization
• to receive the print copy of the journal if requested
• to speak or vote on behalf of their member organization or authorize another from the same organization to do so
Art. 8: Honorary members
Honorary members shall be individuals who are deemed to have contributed significantly to furthering the objectives of the organization. They shall be nominated by the ISKO-WA Executive Committee and shall be elected at the ISKO-WA General Meeting. Honorary membership shall be for life, subject to the provisions of Article 10.
The President of ISKO shall be an honorary member of ISKO-WA.
Art. 9: Benefits of membership
All members, whether individual, institutional or honorary, shall be entitled to the benefits applying to members of ISKO relating to international meetings, copies of publications, etc.
In the event that ISKO-WA makes a charge for meeting attendance and offers a discount to its members, the discount applicable to individual members shall also be applicable to each staff member of institutional members. This may be reviewed during the Annual General Meeting.
Art. 10: Termination of membership
Membership shall be terminated:
a) by resignation from the Society, which must be announced to the ISKO-WA Executive Committee in writing (email is acceptable) upon the member's death or with the cessation of his/her legal capacity.
b) as the result of non-payment of the annual fee for more than two years at the time of the ISKO Annual General Meeting. Members failing to pay their subscription by the due date in any year (28th February - see Article 3) shall be deemed in default and shall not be entitled to the membership benefits described in Article 9.
c) as the result of expulsion proposed by the ISKO-WA Executive Committee following actions which are judged to be contrary to ISKO-WA's or ISKO's interests or damaging to the reputation of either.
d) Members resigning or expelled shall not be eligible for any refund of membership fees paid.
III. ADMINISTRATION AND FUNCTIONING
Art. 11: Structure of ISKO-WA
ISKO-WA is administered by one executive body: the ISKO-WA Executive Committee.
Art. 12: General Meetings
There shall be two types of General Meetings: the Annual General Meeting and the Extraordinary General Meeting.
Annual General Meeting
Composition – The Annual General Meeting shall consist of all members of the Society.
Convening – The Annual General Meeting shall be convened by the ISKO-WA Executive Committee. Notice of the Meeting shall be sent at least one month, to the email addresses provided by them.
Quorum, voting, and election – Each member shall have one vote. The vote of any institutional member shall be held by its designated representative (see Article 7). A member may authorize another member in writing to vote on his/her behalf. Any member so authorized may represent no more than one other member. The General Meeting is to be informed in advance of any such delegation of votes.
Decisions shall be passed only if one-third of the voting members or member representatives participate in the vote, either by postal submission (including email), by electronic ballot, or by their presence at the meeting. If there is no quorum, a new date for a General Meeting shall be proposed and voted for by the members present.
In the event that an election of office-bearers or committee members is contested, voting shall be carried out by means of a secret ballot. Voting on other matters (including uncontested elections) may normally be conducted by a show of hands, and a secret ballot will be held only by request of two or more members.
Whichever method of voting is used, and whether the member is an individual or an institutional member, only one vote shall be permitted per member.
Elections and resolutions shall be passed by a simple majority; in case of a parity of votes, the Chairperson shall have the casting vote.
Procedure of the Annual General Meeting – The Chairperson, assisted by the officers shall chair the Annual General Meeting and present a report on the activities of the Organization since the previous Annual General Meeting. The Treasurer shall present a financial report. Annual and financial reports shall be approved by the general meeting. The first task of the General Meeting shall be to vote on the proposed agenda for the meeting and propose necessary amendments.
The proceedings of the Annual General Meeting and its decisions shall be put on record in minutes signed by the Chairperson and by its reporter. A list of all present at the meeting shall be included in the minutes.
Extraordinary General Meeting
The purpose of an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be to vote on decisions essential for the functioning of the Society. An Extraordinary General Meeting may be convened:
a) by resolution of the Annual General Meeting
b) by decision of the Executive Committee
c) by written request of one-third of all members, stating the reason and the purpose
The composition, quorum, voting, and the general procedure of the Meeting shall be identical to those of the Annual General Meeting.
Art.13: The ISKO-WA Executive Committee
Composition
The Executive Committee shall consist of up to seven members, each of whom must be an ISKO-WA member, or the single nominated representative of an intuitional member, whose current subscription fee has been paid. As a minimum, the Executive Committee shall have four members to fill the following offices:
a) Chairperson
b) Vice-Chairperson
c) Secretary
d) Treasurer
Term of office
Upon election, any member may serve on the Committee for up to two years, after which he or she is eligible for re-election for a further term of two years.
Election of the Executive Committee members
Any member of ISKO-WA may be nominated to serve on the Committee and/or to fill one of the four offices. Self-nominations are acceptable. Each nomination from a member should be supported by a second ISKO-WA member. The Executive Committee may co-opt members at any time to fill vacancies. Such co-options can last until the next AGM, when the co-opted member may be nominated for election.
Elections for all Executive Committee members, including those for members previously co-opted and for the four principal offices, shall be held during an AGM, according to the procedure described in Article 12.
On its own authority, the Executive Committee may enlist the support of additional ISKO-WA members who do not form part of the Executive Committee but carry out specific management, advisory or administrative tasks related to the ISKO-WA program of activities.
Responsibilities of the Executive Committee
With the help of other members, the Executive Committee shall propose, define, pursue, and protect the organization’s policies.
The Executive Committee shall be especially responsible for safeguarding and promoting of the aims and interests of ISKO-WA.
Other responsibilities of the Executive Committee include:
a) attending to ISKO and ISKO-WA interests
b) arranging events to promote ISKO and ISKO-WA and to serve its members
c) forming work groups within ISKO-WA as and when needed
d) maintaining correct financial accounts for ISKO-WA business, collection of membership fees, and their transfer to the ISKO General Secretariat
e) annual reporting (on the occasion of the Annual General Meeting) on events, work carried out, and the management of finances
Art.14: Book-keeping
Bookkeeping is the responsibility of the Treasurer, and is subject to scrutiny by an auditor or reporting accountant appointed by the AGM.
Art.15: Annual report and annual financial report
The annual statement of accounts showing income, expenditure, assets, and liabilities, shall be given in a written form by the Treasurer and presented to all members at the Annual General Meeting.
IV. MODIFICATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION AND DISSOLUTION
Art. 16: Modifications
The constitution of ISKO-WA may be modified by a proposal of the Executive Committee, at their own instigation or in response to members' suggestions. Such modifications shall be approved by a General Meeting before they can take effect. The proposal and modifications shall be circulated to the membership one month in advance of the Meeting.
Art. 17: Dissolution
The Society may be dissolved only by a three-quarters majority of all members at an Extraordinary General Meeting expressly convened for the Organization's dissolution.
In the case of dissolution, the Extraordinary General Meeting shall appoint two officers to deal with the liquidation of the Organization's assets. Any remaining assets shall be used exclusively for not-for-profit purposes.
9th February 2017
Chairperson: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Vice-Chairperson: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Secretary: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Treasurer: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Knowledge