ISIE By-Laws

The ISIE governing council maintain bylaws accessible by all current and prospective Society members. Please Click on this link to download a pdf file of the current ISIE bylaws.

The bylaws were amended at the meeting of the council in Lisbon Portugal June 20, 2009.


Article I. Name

The Society shall be called The International Society for Industrial Ecology.

 

Article II. Purpose

 

The purpose of this Society is to promote and develop the field of industrial ecology and its applications.

 

Article III. Membership

 

Regular membership in the Society shall be open to all individuals whose work may be associated with any aspect of industrial ecology and also all individuals who are interested in its possibilities for moving towards sustainability and an improved environmental state.

Student membership in the Society shall be open to any student who is interested in gaining knowledge about industrial ecology. Student membership would be particularly relevant to students enrolled in programs directly addressing industrial ecology.  The Council may establish other classes of membership.

 

Article IV. Officers and Elections

 

The elected officers of the Society shall be a President, a President-elect, a Secretary, and a Treasurer, all of whom shall be elected by the membership. The President-elect shall serve for a term of two (2) years as such followed by two (2) years as President. The Secretary and Treasurer shall serve for terms of two (2) years and may be re-elected for no more than 2 successive additional terms. All officers shall serve for the duration of their office or until a successor is elected.

It shall be the duty of the President to preside over the annual business meeting of the Society and all meetings of the Council. The President shall appoint and charge, with the approval of the Council, the chairperson and all members of all Committees of the Council, except the Nominating Committee, and shall carry out other activities usually pertaining to the office. When authorized by a majority vote of the Council and approved by the Treasurer, the President may enter into and execute contracts and other agreements on behalf of the Society.  The President-elect shall serve in the place of the President in his or her absence. The President shall be an ex-officio member of all committees. The President shall automatically become the Immediate Past President at the beginning of the new President’s term of office.

The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping the minutes of the Society and the Council and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the Council.

The Treasurer shall be responsible for the custody of all funds and securities of the Society and shall report annually, within 60 days after the close of the fiscal year, to the Council as to the financial condition of the Society.

Any officer of the Society may resign at any time by giving written notice to the Council. The Council may fill the office temporarily until the next election is held; except that the President-elect shall automatically succeed to the Presidency should that office become vacant.

Article V. Governance

 

The Society’s Council (equivalent to a Board of Directors) is the primary governing body. The Council establishes the policies and procedures for the Society. The President, President-elect, Immediate Past President, Secretary, Treasurer, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Industrial Ecology, and six (6) additional Councilors elected by the membership shall constitute the Council and shall have all of the duties and powers of a Board of Directors. The Councilors shall serve staggered terms of three (3) years.

 

Article VI. Nominations & Elections

 

Nominees for elected offices of the Society shall be named by the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee shall consist of six (6) members who shall be elected by the membership, and who shall serve no other elected office at the same time. In addition, the Immediate Past President shall be a seventh member of the Committee. The elected members of the Committee shall be roughly representative of the geographic distribution of the membership, with no more than three coming from any single region. For this purpose, regions shall be North America; Europe; Asia; Oceania; Latin America, Africa, and all others. The nominating committee may change the regional definitions from time to time to reflect the distribution of the membership. Each elected member will serve for three (3) years. Two new members shall be elected each year. The Committee shall elect a Chairperson from its own membership annually. The Nominating Committee shall make no less than two nominations for the offices of President-elect, Secretary, and Treasurer, and not less than two nominations for each of the positions of Councilor. The Committee shall make no less than four (4) nominations for the two members of the Nominating Committee to be elected. The Committee shall transmit its nominations to the ISIE office on or before November 1 of each year. Nominations for membership on the Nominating Committee may also be made by petition from the membership. Such petitions shall be supported by the signatures of at least thirty (30) members, and must be received by the ISIE office by November 1. Elections shall be held annually by mail ballot or via electronic means if practical. The ISIE office shall prepare and transmit to every member, prior to November 20, a ballot listing all candidates whose nominations have been properly made. The ballots shall be returned in a secure manner directly to the Society office. All ballots must be received no later than three (3) weeks after being circulated. The Chair of the Nominating committee shall appoint at least two tellers to oversee the opening and counting of the ballots.  A plurality of the votes cast shall be necessary to elect, and in case of a tie vote, the decision shall be made by lot under direction of the Chairperson of the Nominating committee. In the case of the nominating committee, the winners shall be those with the largest number of votes, unless the results would cause any one region to exceed the maximum number permitted. In this case, the winner would be the first of the candidates ranked in order of the votes received that would maintain the required regional distribution.

The Council shall fill all vacancies in elective positions, except that the President-elect shall succeed to the Presidency. Elected officers shall assume their responsibilities on January 1.

 

Article VII. Appointed Officials

 

The Council may appoint salaried administrative and/or executive staff to assist the President and Council in managing the functions of the Society, including the receipt and disbursement of funds under the direction of the Council, and any other duties as may be prescribed by the Council.  The appointed staff shall implement the policies of the Council, report to the Council, and have day-to-day management responsibility for the Society.

 

The duties, salary and terms of office of the appointed staff shall be approved and, where necessary, established by the Council.  With the approval of the Council, the President may appoint staff as required to carry out the functions of the Society.  Salaried staff may not hold elective office in the Society. 

 

Article VIII. Committees

The following standing Committees shall be appointed by the President who may appoint such other standing or special committees as it may deemed advisable, with such membership, duration, functions and authority as may be delegated to it or prescribed to it.

Finance - The Finance Committee shall consist of the President, Treasurer, and up to three (3) members of the Society to be appointed by the President for terms of three years. The Treasurer shall be the Chairperson of the Finance Committee.  The terms of the general members shall be staggered. An ISIE office staff person shall be an ex-officio member. The Committee shall prepare an annual budget prior to March 31, and submit it to the Council for approval together with a report on the financial condition of the Society.

Program – The Program Committee shall plan and implement, subject to general supervision by the Council, the program to be presented at each technical meeting of the Society. The Committee shall consist of two or more Co-Chairpersons and such other members, as the President shall appoint.

Awards -The Awards Committee shall be responsible for overseeing any awards program the Society adopts. The Committee shall recommend categories for specific awards, the criteria by which nominees will be judged, and any monetary honoraria to the Council for their approval. The Committee shall solicit nominations for recipients of approved awards and shall elect recipients from the nominees.  The Committee shall have a total of seven members.  It should be chaired by the Past President and shall include the current President.  The balance of the Committee’s membership shall be made up of the recent recipients of the Society’s awards.  Details of the Society’s current awards are given in the Appendix to these bylaws.

Communications and Publications – The Communications and Publications Committee shall be responsible for overseeing the Society’s communications and publications, including the newsletter, website, and any other internal or external communications as well as its relationship with the Journal of Industrial Ecology. The Committee shall annually prepare and tender a report concerning the state of communications and publications. The Committee shall have a Chairperson appointed by the President to serve a three-year term, the Editor of the Journal of Industrial Ecology Managing Board (ex officio), the Newsletter Editor (ex officio), and 3 additional members serving at the pleasure of the President.

Membership – The Membership Committee shall be responsible for reviewing the membership of the Society and for implementing activities to expand the Society’s membership and scope.  The members of the Membership Committee shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Council, with a view to ensuring wide geographic distribution.

 

Article IX. Financial Operations

 

Beyond the expenditures required by the ordinary activities of the Society, no money from the general Society accounts shall be disbursed except by the express authority of the Council. All fiscal affairs of the Society shall be conducted on a fiscal year basis, starting on July 1 of each year.

 

Article X. Office

 

A central office may be established by the Council to carry out such day-to-day operations of the Society as may be delegated to it by the Council.

 

Article XI. Dues

 

The annual dues for regular members and any other class of membership shall be determined annually by the Council and shall be paid as determined by the Council.

 

Article XII. Meetings

The Society is authorized to hold scientific meetings, internationally, nationally, and regionally. There shall be held, at least annually at a time and place approved by the Council, a business meeting of the general membership in connection with a major scientific meeting of the Society or of some other suitable organization. A quorum at the business meeting shall consist of twenty members.

Unless otherwise restricted by the by-laws, members of the Council or of any Committee of the Society may participate in a meeting by means of a conference telephone or similar communications equipment approved by the Council. Council actions determined in the course of such meetings shall be considered as official proceedings of the Society and shall be entered into the minutes.

 

Article XIII. Affiliations

 

The Society recognizes its relationship to other organizations sharing the same purpose and with interests in overlapping spheres of knowledge. The Society is empowered to incorporate and to affiliate with such other organizations. The Council must approve such affiliations.

 

Article XIV. Sections

 

The Society shall establish sections serving the particular interests of members upon petition by 10 members of the Society and with the approval of the Council. Each section shall appoint a liaison (non- voting) representative to the Council. Each member of any section shall also be a member of the Society in good standing. The services of the Society, as appropriate, shall be offered to any section provided that some arrangement to defray the costs is agreed to by the responsible governing body of the section and the ISIE office. The sections may engage in any activities beyond those under such agreement as long as they are consistent with the policies and mission of the Society. The Society will, if requested, collect section dues. Sections must maintain a minimum of 25 members. The Council may vote to close any section after a 90 day notice period. Seven votes will be required to take such action.

Article XV. Parliamentary Authority

 

The business of the Council and all committees shall be conducted in accordance with the principles and procedures of the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, unless the Council at any time has adopted special rules of order.

 

Article XVI. Amendments

 

Amendments to these by-laws may be proposed by any member who obtains the signatures of at least 20 members supporting the proposed changes. The Council may also propose any changes to these by-laws upon a majority vote in favor of such changes. The proposed amendments shall be submitted to all members on an individual basis. Adoption shall require a vote exceeding three-fifths of the members responding within 30 days after submission to the membership.