IAMA-Javaan Bylaw

Last Updated on Monday, 05 November 2007 13:32 Written by Omid Zad Saturday, 27 October 2007 06:54

ARTICLE 1:

NAME

The name of this section of the Iranian American Medical Association - hereafter, referred to as “IAMA” or “Association,” shall be the Javaan Section – hereafter referred to as the “Section.” The section is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious, and non-racial organization.

ARTICLE 2:

LOGO

The logo of the Section shall be identified with the logo of the IAMA as described within its bylaws. Below this logo the phrase “Javaan” shall appear, and may be bilingual in both Persian and English. The aforementioned phrase shall be equal to or smaller than that of the text within the IAMA logo.

ARTICLE 3:

PURPOSE AND POWERS

The Section is to conform to the stated purposes and powers of the Parent Association Bylaws. The Section is governed by elected officers to its Board of Directors as stated within this bylaw. Specifically, the section shall strive to carry out the following functions:

1. Promote networking between all of the Section members and its founding Association.

2. Promote the interest of the younger generation members of the Association.

3. Support and guide students, residents, fellows, and young professionals of Iranian descent studying in medicine and its allied fields.

4. Actively promote the academic and humanitarian commitments of the Parent Association.

5. Disseminate information regarding interested young professional Iranians seeking immigration to the United States to study and practice in medicine and its allied fields and advance the goals of the Section and Association.

ARTICLE 4:

MEMBERSHIP

The membership of the section is limited to those individuals who are members of IAMA, of Iranian descent, and are within the following stages of training in medicine or its allied professions: - pre-graduate coursework, - graduate coursework, - post-graduate coursework, - residency - fellowship - within 5 years of last stage of training. Honorary membership is extended to individuals beyond the above stages of training but do not carry voting privileges and cannot be elected to office. In order to benefit from their experience, honorary members may be allowed to chair or serve on subcommittees as permitted by the President.

Members are responsible for paying a nominal due annually to the Javaan Section, which can be collected by check, at the annual meeting, or online. The purpose of these dues is to increase civic participation, instill a sense of ownership of members, and establish a precedence of self-reliance within the section. Students dues are $10 per year and non-student dues are $25 per year. These dues will be utilized for the aforementioned purposes in Article 3.

ARTICLE 5:

BOARD OF DIRECTORS: OFFICERS

The officers of this Section manage the daily affairs of the Section. These officers include President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and five Members-at-Large. These officers form the Board of Directors and will be elected for a one year term. The Board of Directors shall in general exercise the executive power of the Section. Decisions approved by the Board of Directors must fulfill the requirements delineated in Article eight.

ARTICLE 6:

DUTIES OF THE OFFICERS

1. President:

• Shall be responsible for the daily business of the Section.
• Will serve as a liaison to IAMA.
• Shall appoint the chairpersons of the committees as indicated by these bylaws.
• Shall preside over meetings of the Board of Directors and the Javaan General Meetings of Section members.
• Shall have the privilege of signing Section checks in addition to the treasurer.
• Shall report to the parent organization with consolidated report of committees and Javaan section activities as indicated by IAMA bylaws.
• Shall be responsible for reporting consolidated report of annual activities to members at the annual meeting.

2. Vice President:

• Shall assume the duties of the President in his/her absence, resignation, termination or when the president is unable to fulfill the role as determined by the Board of Directors.
• Shall oversee and guide the Javaan committees and submit consolidated report to the general body on quarterly basis during the first week of: March, June, September, and December.
• Shall serve an integral role with the President in the leadership of the Section.

3. Secretary:

• Shall formalize the schedule of meetings of the Board of Directors.
• Shall be responsible for record keeping of the daily activities of the Section.
• Maintain minutes during meetings and designate a time-keeper for the meeting.
• Shall report the minutes of these meetings to the other officers and general membership.
• Shall manage daily correspondence and keep record of any communications between members and Board of Directors.

4. Treasurer:

• Shall sign all checks and share check signing privileges with the President.
• Shall prepare an annual budget for the membership and the Board of Directors.
• Shall file any certificates required by federal or state law with the IRS or other governmental requirements by law.
• Shall be responsible for financial bookkeeping of the Section.

6. Members-at-Large:

• Shall assume responsibilities delegated to them by the President.
• Must serve as link between the general section membership and the Board of Directors and convey the interests of the membership.

ARTICLE 7:

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

The Section elections shall be conducted at the annual meeting. These elections proceed in the following order: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, five Members-at-Large.

Ninety days before election (annual General Meeting of members) the Secretary will seek eligible candidates for all positions of the Board.

Candidates:

• Qualifications for Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, five Members-at-Large:
  • Membership in IAMA and the Section.
  • Active for a period of two consecutive general meetings
  • Paid membership
• Qualifications for Presidency:
  • Same as the above qualifications
  • Served prior year as member of the Board of Directors
  • The secretary will ensure that such nominees meet membership qualification.

The Secretary along with at least three of the five Members-at-large will be responsible for arranging candidate introductions, debate, and election at the annual meeting of the Association.

Voting is limited to members of both IAMA and the Javaan Section (including paid dues ). Members can vote either by a proxy vote which, must be received by the secretary at least 1 day before the election, or in person at the annual meeting.

ARTICLE 8:

Voting

Voting may be conducted at each meeting by phone/teleconference, person, or email. Board of Directors may vote and decide on all issues independent of the general body except for issues affecting bylaws, goals and policies of the association, and elections. These issues require participation of the general body and can only be decided at the annual meeting. Quorum for voting is five of nine members of the Board of Directors, one of whom must be the President or Vice-President?. Majority vote is 51% for all issues except amendments to the bylaws which require 67% majority.

ARTICLE 9:

DISMISSAL OF A BOARD MEMBER

A Board of Directors member is dismissed if:

• He/She resigns.
• His/Her membership is terminated for any reason.
• If he/she is absent in three consecutive Board meetings with no justification.

ARTICLE 10:

VACANCY IN THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

If a member of the Board of Directors is dismissed per article eight, his/her position will remain vacant until the next general election. The duties of the vacant position shall be fulfilled by the President’s designee from the Board of Directors. In case the presidency is the vacant position, then those duties are assumed by the Vice President. At such time the Vice Presidency position shall remain vacant and the Vice President is promoted to the rank of President with all its rights and privileges. In the absence of a Vice President and President the position of the President shall pass to the Treasurer, Secretary, and Members-at-large (from most senior to least senior as far as number of years of IAMA membership) in descending order.

ARTICLE 11:

TERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP

Any member may resign membership at anytime. This resignation must be made in writing to the Secretary. Membership dues are not refundable. If at anytime an individual fails to meet the membership status of IAMA, then his/her membership within the Javaan section is automatically and without further notice terminated. Membership may also be terminated by a 2/3 majority vote of the Board of Directors.

ARTICLE 12:

MEETINGS

In addition to the annual Javaan meeting, the Board of Directors will meet quarterly or more frequently as deemed necessary by the President. Meetings may be conducted by phone/teleconference, email, or person. The minutes of the previous meeting shall be forwarded to each member of the Board of Directors prior to the subsequent meeting for approval at the start of the subsequent meeting.

The Section is required to hold an annual general membership meeting coinciding with the general membership meeting of IAMA. Elections for the Board of Directors are to only be held at this meeting.

The General Meeting quorum for action governed by this bylaw shall include president or vice-president and at least four members of the Board of Directors for a total of at least five of nine.

ARTICLE 13:

COMMITTEES

Standing committee of the organization includes:

• Fundraising committee
• International committee
• Public relations and membership committee
• Social and cultural committee
• Conference committee

Ad hoc committees are created by the majority approval of the Board of Directors. The President of the Section has the right of to appoint or initiate termination of all committee chairpersons pending approval by the Board of Directors. The Chairpersons will then appoint and elect members to his/her committee. It is the responsibility of the chairperson of the each committee to serve as a liaison to the Board of Directors and the Vice President with quarterly reports as delineate in article six. A committee report is required from each committee at the annual meeting and is to be given by the chairperson of that committee or his/her designee, who must have served on the committee in that year.

ARTICLE 14:

ANNUAL REPORTS

The President shall give comprehensive and complete annual report of the Section at the annual meeting.

The Treasurer or his/her designee shall give a comprehensive report of the financial status of the Section to the membership during the Annual Membership Meeting.

ARTICLE 15:

RENUMERATION

None of the members of the Section shall be paid for their services.

ARTICLE 16:

AMENDMENTS

These by-laws may be amended at any Annual Meeting of the Section with a two third (2/3) majority vote of the active members present.

ARTICLE 17:

DISSOLUTION

In the event of dissolution of the Association and or the Section, all assets shall be distributed to an organization that serves the charitable, educational, or humanitarian interests of the Iranian medical community and is within the meaning of Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.