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1. NAME AND MISSION:
The name of this corporation shall be “The Nordic-Baltic
Society of Infectious Diseases (NBSID)”.
The NBSID is an organisation of physicians, scientists,
and other health care professionals with an abiding
interest in the acquisition and distribution of
knowledge in microbiology, clinical diagnostics,
treatment and prophylaxis of infectious diseases in
Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea Regions. The members are
dedicated to excellence in patient care, promotion of
research, education and surveillance of the epidemiology
of infectious diseases, especially within the area of
Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea Region. The Society
promotes the aims and goals of it members by its
organisational structure, its professional meetings and
other activities.
2. MEMBERSHIP:
A Membership Criteria: Any physician, scientist
or other health care professional engaged in the better
understanding of the epidemiology, microbiology,
clinical diagnostics, treatment and prophylaxis of
infectious diseases shall be eligible for election as an
ordinary member.
B Categories of Membership:
1. The ordinary member is eligible to become a
member of the Society when having obtained a Doctor of
Medicine degree and having additionally completed
specialist training in a medical/scientific discipline
as defined under A, or is pursuing such training, or by
belonging to an allied health care or scientific
profession.
All participants of the Nordic-Baltic Congresses on
Infectious Diseases are charter members of the Society.
All ordinary members are full voting members of the
Society; they may participate in all activities of the
Society, and may nominate fellow members for positions
of leadership, as well as hold positions of leadership
themselves.
2. The corporate member is accepted on a national
basis as a non-voting member.
3. RESIGNATION OR
FORFEITURE:
A Resignation: Any member in good standing may
submit his/her resignation in writing to the governing
Council.
B Forfeiture: A member who fails to pay duties as
established by the Council and remains in default for 60
days after 2 notice sent by mail to a last known address
shall automatically forfeit membership in the Society.
Reinstatement will require a majority vote of the
Council and payment of past indebtedness.
4. PURPOSES OF THE
SOCIETY:
A Primary purpose: The primary purpose of the
Society shall be to design, organise, and sponsor
Nordic-Baltic Congresses for the purpose of advancing
knowledge of infectious diseases, including pertinent
microbiology, pathogenesis, epidemiology, clinical
syndromes, diagnostics, treatment and prevention. The
Congress content may range from basic research to
clinical care and prophylaxis. The Congress will be held
at least biennially at a venue selected by the Council.
The Council will select an Organising Committee and its
chair to plan each Congress.
The Society will assist the Organising Committee in the
promotion of the Congress and in the development of
sufficient funding to insure the conduct of the Congress
in an effective and professional manner. The Society may,
by a majority vote of its Council, allocate existing
Society money to the support of the Congress. Residual
money raised in support of a Congress, after all
appropriate expenses have been satisfied, will revert to
the Society.
B Other purposes: From time to time the Society
may elect to organise or sponsor other activities
related to research, education or patient care of
infectious diseases. These activities may include, but
not be limited to, symposia, workshops, and specialist
training courses. Furthermore, the Society may initiate
the development of position papers or treatment
guidelines, organise collaborative research projects,
and sponsor research by provision grants. Such
activities will be undertaken after a majority vote of
the Council. The Society will be using the world-wide
web for communication and maintenance of its network in
infectious diseases.
5. MEETINGS OF THE
NBSID
A Timing of the Meetings: The society shall meet
at least once biennially. The Council shall meet at
least once annually.
B Place of the Meetings: All meetings of the
membership of the Society will be held in conjunction
with the Nordic-Baltic Congress, sponsored by the
Society. The Council shall determine the time and the
place of the Society meeting in connection with the
Congress. At the discretion of the Council, meetings may
be held more frequently than once biennially.
C Agenda for the Society Meetings: An agenda for
the meeting of the Society membership will be developed
by its Council and distributed at the time of
registration for the Nordic-Baltic Congress. Individual
members of the Society may suggest items on the agenda
by petition to the Council at least 3 months prior to a
Society Meeting or by presentation of a petition with
signatures from at least 5 members at the opening of a
Society Meeting.
D Quorum: At the biennial meeting, a quorum shall
consist of those members present and voting. For mail
balloting, a quorum of a minimum of one-fifth of the
eligible voting Society membership will be required.
E Voting procedure for the Society: The
mechanisms of voting will be at the discretion of the
President and Tresurer-Clerc and will be selected so as
to gain the greatest degree of participation by
membership and to minimise the possibility of inaccuracy
in the voting process.
6. COUNCIL
A Qualifications: The affairs of the Society
shall be managed by a Council. The Council may act as a
Board of Directors and will be responsible for all
activities of the Society. The Council will establish
and maintain an administrative infrastructure
appropriate to the professional activities of the
Society, including retaining an Executive Secretary,
should such become necessary. The Council will establish,
if deemed necessary, committees and task forces to
facilitate the mission of the Society. The leadership of
committees and task forces established by the Council on
behalf the Society would be obligated to report their
activities to the Council on a periodic and regular
basis.
B Composition of the Council: the Council shall
consist of ;
-President
-Vice-President
-President-elect
-Immediate-Past-President
-Tresurer-Clerc
Additional Councillors shall be elected so that the
following countries will have at least one member on the
Council: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia.
The President and the President-Elect shall represent
different countries.
The number of Councillors may be increased or decreased
from time to time as deemed appropriate by the Council
and approved by a majority vote of the Society members.
C Responsibilities of the Councillors: The
councillors shall represent the interests and
constituencies of the membership in the deliberations of
the Council and at any other venue as directed by the
Council.
D Terms of Office of Council Members: The first
Council of the Society will be established by those
individuals who actively participated in the Organising
Committees of the 3 th and of the 4th Nordic-Baltic
Congress on Infectious Diseases.
Council members will serve for 4 years, to include 2
successive Nordic-Baltic Congresses. The terms of office
will conclude at the close of the respective biennial
Congress. Members of the Council will be elected by the
membership. These elections will be held by written
ballot at the International Congress. To establish
staggered terms of office, the terms of 4 (2 individuals
from the Nordic countries and 2 individuals from the
Baltic Sea Regions, by negotiation or determined by lot)
of the sitting Councillors will expire at the end of 2
years and those persons will be filled by election at
the biennial meeting held in conjunction with the next
Congress 2 years later. Not less than six weeks before
the expire of the tenure of any office the Nominating
Committee appointed by the Council will solicit interest
and determine 1-2 nominees for each position. At the
discretion of the Nominating Committee, Officers and
Councillors may be asked to stand for election to
succeed themselves.
E Removal of a Council Members or Officer:
Removal of a member of the Council or an Officer must be
for cause and requires a majority vote of the members of
the Society at a biennial meeting held in conjunction
with an Nordic-Baltic Congress.
F Council Vacancy: Should a position on the
Council become vacant prior to completion of a term of
office, the Council, acting on behalf of the Society,
will by a majority vote identify a Society member to
fill the vacated position. The individual elected will
serve the reminder of the unexpired term of the
individual who vacated said position.
G Quorum: The presence of a majority of the
elected members of Council shall constitute a quorum for
the purpose of transacting business. An act of the
Council will be considered official if a quorum is
present.
H Notice of Council Meetings: At least one
meeting shall be held in connection with the
Nordic-Baltic Congress and in close proximity to the
meeting of the Society. Other meetings of the Council
will be held as deemed necessary to conduct the business
of the Society. Notice of these meetings will be
provided by mail, Email, or Fax as deemed appropriate.
Such notice will be provided at least 30 days in advance
of the meeting and will include the place, date, time
and proposed duration of the Council meeting.
7. OFFICERS
A Officers: The Officers of the Society shall
consist of:
-President
-Vice-President
-President-elect
-Immediate-Past-President
-Treasurer-Clerk
These Officers will be elected for terms of 4 years, to
encompass 2 successive biennial Nordic-Baltic Congresses.
The Officers of the Society shall be voting members of
the Council.
1. President: The President shall preside over
all meetings of the Council and of the Society. The
President shall serve as a member of the Organising
Committee for the International Congress. The President
shall represent the Society in the conduct of its
official business and at interactions of the Society
with other organisations where such representation is
considered appropriate.
2. Vice-President: The Vice-President shall
perform the duties and exercise the powers of the
President in the absence of or disability of the
President. In the event that the President becomes
disabled or resigns, the Vice-President shall assume the
office of President for the remainder of the term of
duty.
3. President –Elect: The President-elect will
become the next President.
4. Tresurer-Clerc: The Tresurer-Clerc will attend
all meetings of the Council and Society and will be
responsible for maintenance of accurate minutes of said
meetings. The Tresurer-Clerc will be responsible
maintaining the official records of the Society,
including financial records. The Treasures –Clerk will
be authorised to disperse funds on behalf of the Society
at the specific instructions of the Council. The
Tresurer-Clerc will present at the biennial meeting of
the Society the financial state of the Society. In the
event of the disability, or resignation of the President
and the President-Elect, the Tresurer-Clerc will assume
the responsibilities of the President and proceed to
initiate interim elections to establish a new full slate
of officers.
B Method of election: The candidates of office
will be selected by a Nomination Committee. Balloting
will be conducted in a written form immediately prior to
the relevant biennial Nordic-Baltic Congress. Ballots
will be distributed at the Second Announcement of the
Congress, and at the opening of the Congress to those
individuals established as members or who have become
members by registration to the Congress. Two or more
candidates will be proposed for each office.
C Terms of Office: Each officer will serve a term
of 4 years, to encompass 3 biennial Nordic-Baltic
Congress. Officers may at the discretion of the
Nominating Committee, be asked to stand for re-election.
D Vacancies: In the event of the vacancy of an
officer position, succession will be as noted previously.
The remaining vacated positions will be filled by ballot
of the Council membership from individual currently
members of the Council or members of the Society at
large.
E Resignation: Any officer or councillors may
resign from the office by submitting a letter of
resignation to the Council. Should an officer or Council
no longer be a member of the Society for any reason, the
officer or councillor shall be deemed to have resigned
the position previously held.
8. COMMITTEES
The Council may establish committees, boards, task
forces, or other working groups as required to conduct
the business of the Society. Ad hoc committees may be
established and disbanded without amendment of the
bylaws at the discretion of the Council. Standing
Committees, boards and task forces will be defined by
the by-laws. The standing groups will be appointed by
the Council. Standing groups will serve a term of 2
years to encompass the interval between 2 International
Congresses.
A Standing Committees:
1. Nominations Committee: the Council shall
appoint this Committee. It shall consist of 5
individuals, 1 of whom will be the President-Elect of
the Society and will serve as a Chairperson for the
Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee may meet
or may conduct its work by conference call, e-mail, or
by fax. Nominations for a specific office or councillors
may be made by petition from the membership. That
petition shall contain the signature of at least 10
registered members of the Society. An individual
nominated by petition may either be endorsed by the
Nominating Committee as an official nominee, or placed
in nomination in addition to the official designees of
Committee for said position.
2. International Congress Organising Committee: A
Nordic Committee of at least 5 individuals and a Baltic
Committee of at least 5 individuals will be appointed by
the Council to design, organise, and conduct the
International Congress. The President and the
President-Elect of the Society are born members of one
of these Committees. The term of office of this
Committee will be from its appointment through the
Nordic-Baltic Congress for which it is responsible. The
Organising Committee will share with the Council on
behalf of the Society responsibility for fund raising to
ensure the effective presentation of the International
Congress. The Organising Committee may meet in person,
by conference call, or by other written communication as
deemed necessary. The Organising Committee may appoint a
Scientific Committee to facilitate the conduct of the
Nordic-Baltic Congress, and for solicitation of
abstracts, selection of abstracts and identification of
plenary speakers.
9. MANAGEMENT AND
ADMINISTRATION
Management of the Society will reside in the Council
with particular responsibility to the President and
Tresurer-Clerc. Should the administrative
responsibilities of the Society develop to a degree that
additional support becomes necessary, the Council shall
have the authority to appoint an Executive
Director and disperse funds to retain that Executive
Director. The Executive Director will attend
meetings of the Council as a non-voting member. The
Executive Director serves at the discretion of the
Council and may be relieved of responsibility, for cause,
by a majority vote of the Council.
10. AMENDMENT OF THE
BYLOWS
These bylaws may be amended, altered changed, added to,
or repealed by a vote at least two-thirds of the members
of the Society actually present at any regular or
special meetings of the Society or those voting by mail
ballot. Proposed amendments, alterations, changes, or
additions to the bylaws shall be suggested to the
Council at least 3 months prior to a NBSID Meeting,
where they are to be brought on to the agenda for
discussion and vote.
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