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World Association of Copepodologists |
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Approved amendments to the WAC By-Laws: 1. Composition of the Executive Council The workload of the Executive Council continues to grow rapidly. In addition to conducting normal WAC business affairs, the EC has instituted a system of student grants and prizes, has opened a WAC website, and has made plans for an electronic version of Monoculus. In order to continue to launch new initiatives for the benefit of copepodologists everywhere, we recommended to the WAC membership that the Council be enlarged. We proposed to add one additional elected Council Member and to institute the post of immediate Past President (who will serve for one term after completion of his/her term as president). The role of Past President provides important continuity between successive Executive Councils. The proposed change, which has been approved during the last business meeting held in Taiwan, required amendment of Article 3 of the WAC By-Laws. Amendment of "Article 3: Officers" The officers of the WAC shall be: a President, a Vice-President, a Past President, a General Secretary, a Treasurer, a Local Secretary and up to five members, comprising the Executive Council. The term of office of all officers will be coincident with the interval between two successive meetings of the WAC. The Local Secretary will not be an elected officer, but be appointed by the Executive Council. After completion of one elected term as President, the President will serve a second term as Past President. At each meeting half of the slate of officers shall be replaced. All officers of the Executive Council shall be eligible for re-elections. 2. Nominations The Executive Council wishes to ensure that elections are as open and transparent as possible. The previous version of the By-Laws stated in Article 7, that "Nominations for any office may be made in writing by any two members of the WAC not later than six months in advance of an election." Most previous Executive Councils have experienced difficulty in gaining sufficient nominations in advance and, in practice, it has often been necessary to solicit nominations during the opening few days of each conference. This is allowed under the current By-Laws which also state that "Additional nominations may be made by a Nomination Committee appointed by the Executive Council and during business meetings of the WAC." The Executive Council hopes that the development of a WAC website will facilitate the nomination process since we will be able to post nominations on the website, as soon as possible after they are received, so that members can view them. We also proposed to reduce the time limit for receipt of posted nominations from six months to two months in advance of an election. Approved amendment of "Article 7: Nominations." Nominations for any office, with the exception of those of Local Secretary and Past President, may be made in writing by any two members of the WAC in good standing not later than two months in advance of an election. The proposer must ascertain that each candidate is willing to stand for office and serve if elected. Additional nominations may be made by a Nomination Committee appointed by the Executive Council and during business meetings of the WAC. These
amendments to Articles 3 and 7 of the By-Laws were placed before,
and approved by the WAC members at the business meeting held in
Taiwan last July.
Geoff Boxshall, Past President, WAC |
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