The Bylaws of the University of Alberta Postdoctoral Fellows Association Adopted: 15 September, 2010 Replacing the Proposed Council Structure document Jan. 2007. Article I: The University of Alberta Postdoctoral Fellows Association Board Section 1. Membership All PDFs officially registered with the PDF Office at the University of Alberta are eligible to both run for office and vote in the elections for the 9 elected positions detailed below. Section 2: Duties and Powers The PDFA board shall have general supervision of the affairs of the PDFA; conduct its own business meetings, fixing the hour and place of these meetings; make recommendations to the PDFA; and perform such other duties as are specified in these bylaws. The PDFA Board shall be subject to the orders of the PDFA, and none of its acts shall conflict with action taken by the PDFA. Section 3: Decision Making Council meetings should be considered valid with at least half plus one of the council members. All decisions are by majority vote of the council. Article II: The Executive Council There are 9 elected positions in the PDFA council. This elected council is the sole governing body of the PDFA and their decisions are binding even for non-assisting members. Officers are elected by general assembly for a term of 1 year with the possibility of a single renewal at the same position. Officers may subsequently be elected to other positions. To help ensure continuity in the PDFA, at least 2 members of the council must be new UofA PDFs. Section 1: General Responsibilities To fulfill the roles of the PDFA Board member, the Executive Council shall fulfill the following general duties herein and specific duties listed herein in Article II (8-13) as pertaining to their specific position. The duties listed in these articles given previously are not exhaustive and extra activities at the discretion of the position holder, or other Executive 1
Council members, may be applied as long as they adhere to the position rules outlined in the Council Structure of the PDFA. In general, The Executive Council members shall: a. be accountable to the Membership; b. attend all meetings as described in these Bylaws; c. publicly support all decisions made by the Membership; d. sit on all Faculty councils, as delegated between these members. Section 2: Terms of Office The PDFA Executive Council positions shall be held for one (1) year starting November 1 st of each year in which they were elected or until a new member is elected to the position (elections are held in October). Section 3: Eligibility Any member may be nominated or run for any Executive Council position. Each position shall be held for a maximum of three (3) terms. Section 4: Nominating Procedure By August of the current calendar year, a Nominating Committee of three (3) members shall be created by the PDFA Executive Council at a PDFA Board meeting. The duty of this committee shall be to assist candidates and to run the elections for the Executive Council positions. Section 5: Elections Elections shall be held by online ballot. The election of Executive Council positions shall proceed in descending order of rank (President, VP positions, At-large members). All candidates names should be presented to membership (by email sent to listserv). The election shall be run as follows: a. If there is one (1) candidate for any position, the candidates shall be awarded the position by acclamation. b. If more than one (1) candidate is running for an Executive Council position, then a statement of intent of each candidate will be emailed to the general assembly. The election shall be run as first past the post with the candidate receiving the plurality of unspoiled votes (the most votes) being elected. Candidates may run for more than one executive position and could likewise receive votes for more than one position on the same ballot (once for each position they run for). Votes for each position will be counted separately in order to avoid having double votes due to the candidature being under two positions. d. Any ties during the election shall be broken by majority vote at an Executive Board meeting. 2
Section 6: Dereliction of Duties If an Executive Council member is not performing their duties to the satisfaction of the PDFA or the Board or is involved in activities in violation of the Council structure, mission statement constitution and/or Bylaws of the PDFA, then these charges shall be presented and recorded at an Executive Board meeting. The Board shall conduct a majority vote as to whether these charges warrant action, with a warning being issued to that member, signed by the President, including the list of derelictions and means of redemption with a timeline. If the timeline passes and the member has not rectified their actions according to the warning issued, then the Board shall conduct a majority vote after the timeline has passed to expel the member from the Executive Council. This member will not be eligible to run in subsequent elections. Section 7. Succession and Continuity. If the presidency is vacated, the VP Academic becomes the new President. If any VP position is vacated, the position is filled by one of the other VPs or At-Large members, as approved by council vote. Vacated At- Large seats may either remain empty until the subsequent election (unless fewer than 2 At-Large members remain, in which case a full byelection will be held). Alternatively, at the Board s discretion, a new At- Large member may be selected by a majority vote. This member may be selected from a pool of volunteers actively involved in events/ subcommittees at the Association. Nonetheless, the position shall be advertised in the listserv and bios shall be submitted to Board Members who by majority vote will select the candidate. To help ensure continuity of the PDFA, for each election, at least 2 spots must be filled by PDFs new to the council. To guarantee such an outcome, if none of the 4 named positions (President or VP) is filled by a new council member, then 2 of the At-Large positions are reserved for the 2 newcomers with the most votes. If exactly 1 of the 4 named positions is filled by a new council member, then only 1 At-Large seat is held open for a newcomer. Section 8: Duties of the President The President shall: a. preside as Chair over all PDFA meetings, and enforce due observation of these bylaws; b. convocation and presiding over assembly; c. represent the PDFA with the University of Alberta Administration (including the Senate) and Academic Staff, Provincial and Federal Governments and organizations internal and external to the University, including the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars; d. delegate other leadership duties necessary to maintain the efficient operation and progress of the PDFA; 3
e. be the official spokesperson of the PDFA to the media in consultation with the Vice-President Communications; f. sign all official documents created as part of the function of the PDFA; g. act as the signing officer for PDFA financial transactions jointly with the Vice-President Finance; h. Responsible for continuity at end of term. Section 9: Duties of the Vice-President Academic The Vice-President (VP)-Academic shall: a. represent the PDFA at FGSR monthly meetings; b. hear, report and act upon grievances amongst the membership; c. consult legal advisors that the PDFA Bylaws, Amendments, Policies and Agreements are legally valid, and that the PDFA and its Executive are aware of their legal obligations; d. ensure the Constitution and Bylaws are kept up-to-date; e. leading initiatives regarding research or teaching; f. succeeding the president, if necessary. Section 10: Duties of the Vice-President Communications The VP-Communications shall: a. be responsible for dissemination of information to members (specially in the Website and Newsletter); b. coordinate PDFA media relations in consultation with the President; c. be responsible for drafting documents generated as part of the function of the PDFA available to the membership; d. record motions and minutes for all meetings; e. manage all information pertaining to the PDFA organization including, but not limited to, the official website and newsletter; f. coordinate the maintenance of a current website on a University of Alberta server; g. collect and post information important to the membership, especially a list of PDF programs and courses in an easy-to-read and follow manner. Section 11: Duties of the Vice-President Social The VP-Social shall: a. organize/initiate events/activities to engage membership (e.g. Coffee and cookies, Pub-nights); b. Co-ordinate summer BBQ and Christmas party; c. design activities and workshops including, but not limited to, events related to the Postdoctoral Fellows Office in coordination with the FGSR; d. schedule a time and secure meeting locations for PDFA Board and General meetings and announce meeting information to the Membership. Section 12: Duties of the Vice-President Finance The VP-Finance shall: a. establish and following the budget; 4
b. find and secure funding sources; c. prepare a yearly budget, list receipt of money due to the PDFA, maintain financial records, and make payments; d. act as the signing officer for PDFA financial transactions jointly with the President; e. present an annual budget to the PDFA Board at the October General Meeting; f. present a balance sheet and income statement at General Meetings; g. maintain a current document explaining tax filing in Canada as it pertains to the PDFA membership; h. secure the inclusion of PDFs in the UofA Tax Clinic Accounting Club. Section 13: Member at-large General Responsibilities (up to 4 positions) Members at-large shall: a. counsel president and vice-presidents; b. organize and coordinate sub-committees as required; c. provide advice and support to all international postdocs in matters related to working and living in Canada; b. assist the Postdoctoral fellows office in updating the Welcome Package; c. coordinate the Buddy Program (recruitment, updating membership and linking buddies); b. assist the VP- communications with newsletter by gathering articles from the membership or external to the membership with information relevant to the membership; Article III: Meetings Section 1: General Meetings a. The General Meetings (GM) shall be held in April and October, with the date, time and location set by the PDFA Board in a majority vote. b. The date, time and location of the GM shall be communicated to the membership by the VP-Communications with at least ten (10) working days notice at a minimum through the listserv; c. The main purposes of the GM shall be to update activities and budget of the PDFA for the semester and for the October meeting, to introduce Executive members nominated for the elections. d. At the October GM, all Council members shall present an individual annual report to membership. Section 2: PDFA Board Meetings a. The first monthly PDFA Board meeting shall occur in the first two (2) weeks of November to transfer material relating to an Executive position from the past Executive members to the current Executive members elected. The date, time and location of the first meeting shall be set by 5
the current President and provided to the past and current Executive members with at least five (5) working days notice. b. Regular meetings of the PDFA Board shall be held on the first Wednesday of each month, unless rescheduled or postponed in a majority vote by the Board. c. Special meetings of the PDFA Board may be called by the President and shall be called upon the written request of two (2) members of the PDFA Board. d. Quorum for the PDFA Board meetings shall be fifty percent (50%) of the currently elected Executive Council with attendance of at least one of the position holders for both the President and VP-Academic required. Section 3: Extraordinary General Meetings An Extraordinary General Meeting may be scheduled at a Board meeting by a majority vote in the event that the membership is required to meet. The VP-Communications shall post the meeting details with at least ten (10) working days notice. Section 4: Special Meeting Rules a. Speeches shall be limited to a maximum of 5 minutes unless a change has been given by consent of a majority vote viva voce. Article IV: Parliamentary Authority The rules contained in the current edition of Robert s Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR) shall govern the PDFA in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are consistent with these Bylaws, the Constitution of the PDFA and any special rules of order the PDFA may adopt. Article VII: Amendment of the Bylaws These bylaws may be amended at any meeting involving the PDFA membership by a majority vote, provided that the amendment has been submitted in writing to the VP-Academic two (2) weeks prior to that meeting. Quorum shall be of at least 50 votes. If quorum is not met, business is allowed to proceed, but every absent seat is counted up to quorum as a No vote (for example: only 35 members are present at the meeting, the missing 15 will be counted as actual votes; if 25+ 1 votes are yes, the motion passes). 6