Bylaws of the International Association for Computing and Philosophy (IACAP)

  1.   Association Mission

      2. a. The purpose of the International Association for Computing and Philosophy is to advance the philosophical study of computing and to advance uses of computing that have philosophical significance. IACAP has a central mission of facilitating meetings around the world that are dedicated to IACAP related topics.

  2.   Association membership

      3. a. Conditions of IACAP membership are set by the Executive Committee and listed on the IACAP website. A member of IACAP shall be a person who has successfully applied for and maintained IACAP membership. This shall include a completed application form with all required information and payment of membership dues as stipulated on the IACAP website.

      b. The criteria and processes for membership may be changed by amendment of the relevant articles.

      c. A core value of the Association is to respect intellectual, social, cultural, and personal diversity. The following characteristics are not to be considered as criteria in determining association membership: institutional affiliation, nationality, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, political affiliation, or philosophical position.

      d. The core value of the respect of intellectual, social, cultural, and personal diversity extends the terms of Association membership. Disregard of this core value in behavior and communication is grounds to challenge an individuall’s Association membership. The President is empowered to mediate issues involving this core value. If resolution to the satisfaction of involved parties is not reached, the issue will be taken under consideration by the full Executive Committee. The Executive Committee has the power to expel individuals from Association membership in severe cases of disregard of the core value of the respect of intellectual, social, cultural, and personal diversity. It is not the intent of this power to sanction individuals for their intellectual, political, or personal positions. The issues at hand relate to conduct as a member of the Association.

  3.   Governance

      4. a. The governing body of IACAP shall be the Executive Committee.

      b. The Executive Committee shall consist of the President, Immediate Past-President, Vice-President, Executive Secretary of Information and Communication, Executive Secretary of Organization, and the Regional Directors. The Vice-President shall serve as the chair of the Executive Committee.

      c. The President is the chief executive officer. S/he will call Executive Board meetings, make appointments (e.g. hires, special roles, and work groups), make financial decisions for the organization, and facilitate relations among regions. The President has the authority to specify major goals and programs for IACAP as are consistent with the mission statement. The President has authority to implement the means that pursue those goals. The President must report on all activities to the Executive Committee once per calendar year (beginning with the month of assuming her/his taking office).

      d. The Vice-President is Chair of the Executive Committee and will set the agenda and conduct the proceedings. The Vice-President will assist the President in implementing policies and programs. .

      e. Timely and effective communications are necessary to the operation of the Association. IACAP officers and Executive Committee members will conduct all Association planning and discussions in a spirit of openness and inclusiveness.

      f. Near the end of the term of the executive officers, the Executive Committee shall request and receive nomination for the positions of President and Vice-President approximately three months prior to the end of the current officer terms. All IACAP members are qualified to make nominations, including self-nominations. The current Vice-President will be de facto nominated for the position of President, unless the Vice-President indicates otherwise to the Executive Committee.

      g. At least three weeks before the end of the terms of the current President and Vice-President, the Executive Committee will vote to elect succeeding executive officers: President and Vice-President. Election will be by majority vote on a ballot of the entire Executive Committee. Elections may be held electronically and will be administered by the Executive Secretary of Organization.

      h. Terms of the Executive Officers (President and Vice President) shall begin on October 10 and end on October 9.

      i. Regional IACAP conferences will be represented on the Executive Committee by the Regional Director who will serve on the Regional Program Committee and the IACAP Executive Committee for three years. At the outset of a Regional Director’s third and final year of service, he/she nominates an associate Regional Director. This nomination must be approved by majority vote of the Executive Committee. An associate Regional Director serves in that capacity for one year prior to assuming the position of Regional Director. In the case of a newly established region, a Regional Director is named by the Executive Committee. Each Regional Director may establish a steering committee to support the planning and execution of IACAP regional activities. The size of this committee is at the discretion of the Regional Director. A new Regional Director nominates his or her steering committee members. Nominations are accompanied by a list of candidate credentials and supporting rationale and may include indications of support from current regional steering committee members. Nominations require approval by majority vote of the Executive Committee. Unapproved nominations may be replaced by the Regional Director. Steering committee members serve for three years and can be nominated for additional non-consecutive terms.

      j. No member shall hold more than one office (Regular Member of the Executive Committee, President, Executive Secretary) at a time and no member shall serve as an elected member of the Executive Committee (Regular Member and/or President) for more than nine years consecutively. Moreover, no member shall be eligible to serve more than two consecutive terms in the same elected office (Regular Member or President). A person who has served as Executive Secretary for six consecutive years or more may not, upon retirement from that office, be elected to the Executive Committee (as Regular Member or President) until one full year has elapsed.

      k. Every five years, by August 15, the Executive Committee shall appoint an Executive Secretary of Information and Communication and an Executive Secretary of Organization who will each serve in that capacity for a once-renewable term of five years or until a successor is appointed. The Executive Secretary for Information and Communication is responsible for providing timely information to IACAP members on behalf of the Executive Committee; for receiving and sharing membership concerns with the Executive Committee; for co-editing the IACAP Newsletter; for assisting with the ongoing development of the IACAP website; and for providing information to interested parties on the ongoing progress of IACAP, including conferences, news and events. The Executive Secretary of Organization is responsible for: insuring that IACAP elections occur according to the timetables and requirements established in the IACAP constitution; these duties include organizing and distributing ballots; overseeing vote collection and counting; and announcing the results (in collaboration with the Executive Secretary of Information and Communication); assisting the Executive Secretary of Communication and Information as needed - e.g., in managing the IACAP website, mailing list, and funds received electronically through the website.

      l. A call for nominations for Executive Secretary positions shall be announced to the full membership by May 1 of the fifth year of the current Executive Secretarial term. Any IACAP member may submit a nomination, including self nomination, for one or both of the Executive Secretary positions. Nominations must be received by the Vice President on or before June 1. All nominations must be delivered by the Vice President to the full Executive Committee by June 10. Executive Committee members may discuss and investigate nominees as deemed necessary. At the closest meeting preceding August 15 of the fifth year of the current Executive Secretarial term, the President will present an appointment.

      m. It is the duty of the President to present the appointments of the Executive Secretaries. It is the duty of the Executive Committee to confirm or disconfirm the President's appointments. Confirmation shall require a majority of the quorum in favor. If the Executive Committee fails to make a confirmation, a meeting of the full Executive Committee will be convened within thirty days (to be scheduled by the Vice President) to vote on the President's appointments. This process will continue until nominations are confirmed by a majority of the quorum.

      n. The Executive Committee shall be empowered to replace any elected member of the Committee (Regular Member or President) who resigns from the Committee (or becomes otherwise unable to serve) prior to the expiration of his or her current term of office. Such an appointment will be effective for the remainder of the term of office of the person replaced, and the appointee will be eligible thereafter for election to two consecutive terms in the same office, provided that this does not violate the nine-year rule as stated in III j.

      o. Business of the Executive Committee may be conducted when a meeting, duly called, is attended by a majority of its members, the President, Vice-President, and Executive Secretary (i.e. a quorum). If any of the executive officers will not be present, they must make this known prior to the meeting and the fact must be made explicit at the meeting.

      p. Meetings may be conducted face-to-face, electronically, or a combination of these. Executive Committee meetings conducted face-to-face will strive to include multi-user electronic media to allow participation by all Executive Committee members.

      q. If an Executive Committee member cannot attend a meeting, they may designate a proxy who may attend, participate, and vote in substitute of the member. To designate a proxy, the member must submit the name of the proxy to an Executive Officer prior to the beginning of the meeting. Departures from this procedure must be authorized by 75% of the Committee Members present.

      r. In the case that the President is rendered unable to perform in the executive capacity, the Vice President will succeed to the position of President for the remainder of their current term of office. In that case, the newly succeeded President shall appoint a new Vice President, subject to the Executive Committee confirmation of 2/3 of the quorum, within 60 days of assuming office.

  4.   Election

      5. a. Every three years there shall be an election for the positions of President and Vice-President.

      b. In April of each election year, the Executive Secretary of Organization will circulate to all members of the Association a Call for Nominations for President and Vice-President. Any member nominated by at least two other members, and who, when asked by the Executive Secretary of Organization, agrees to serve if elected, shall be duly nominated for the position of President or Vice-President.

      c. In June of each election year, the Executive Committee shall, by majority vote, elect both a President and Vice-President.

      d. No one may be nominated or appointed simultaneously to more than one position on the Executive Committee.

  5.   Operations

      6. a. The Executive Committee shall create such special committees it deems appropriate, specifying for each: its charge, membership, and duration.

      b. For each IACAP region (e.g. Europe, North America, Asia, etc.) there shall be a Regional Director and a Program Chair. The Regional Director shall serve for three years (starting June 1 of the year that they become Regional Director). The Regional Director shall work with the designated cohort from the Executive Committee.

      c. The Program Committee, under the direction of the Regional Director and Program Chair, shall have the responsibility of evaluating proposals submitted in response to a Call for Proposals pursuant to developing a conference program.

      d. Each the Regional Director and Program Chair will submit a summative report detailing the outcomes of the conference, including program, attendee evaluations, organizational assessment, and recommendations for the future. The report will be due to the IACAP President 90 days after the end of the conference. The report shall be presented to the membership at the next executive committee meeting. (Note: this report is not intended to be a burden or bureaucratic task. It is essential to the organization to maintain feedback of events and accurate records. The reports may be brief, so long as they provide information valuable to a continual improvement process).

  6.   Meetings

      7. a. The Association will hold regular and special meetings.

      b. Regular meetings of the Association shall be scheduled once in each calendar year.

      c. The Executive Committee shall select the dates and sites for its meetings and shall announce them to the membership. The selection of the site of a meeting will ordinarily be announced at least two years in advance of the date of the meeting.

      d. Special meetings, either independent or jointly sponsored with another Organization, may be authorized by the Executive Committee.

      e. Time shall be set aside during each regular meeting of the International Association for Computing and Philosophy for a Business Meeting. The quorum for such a meeting is twelve members of the Association. At this meeting the President and the Executive Secretary shall give reports on behalf of the Executive Committee.

      f. Any business of the Association may be conducted at the Business Meeting which is not in these By-Laws specifically reserved to the members or to the Executive Committee. Any motions adopted at a Business Meeting may be, at the discretion of the Executive Committee, put to the membership for ratification; such ratification shall be conducted by post or electronic communication.

  7.   Dues

      8. a. The amount and terms of membership dues, if any, shall be determined by the Executive Committee in amendment of these by-laws.

  8.   By-Laws Amendment and Procedures

      9. a. Executive Committee members may propose amendments to the Association By- Laws. An amendment of the By-Laws requires a three-fourths (75%) majority of the Executive Committee in a vote. Executive Committee members proposing amendments shall present them to the Executive Secretary of Information who shall submit the proposed amendment to the full Executive Committee at least sixty (60) days prior to the date of the vote. Amendment proposals shall be voted in the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Executive Committee. The President and Executive Secretary of Information may decide to hold a special vote for an amendment proposal. The Executive Secretary shall inform the full membership of the Association of proposed amendments along with contact information for the Executive Committee members and a request for any comments on the amendment from members at least thirty (30) prior to the date of the vote.

      b. Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the meetings of the Executive Committee unless changes in the procedure are approved by a two-third's majority of those present.

     

    IACAP Interim Governance and Transition

    IACAP is an organization that is attempting to bootstrap itself into being. Built on the foundation of successful CAP conferences and organization, the current IACAP steering committee is working group that is composed of individuals by virtue of their CAP involvement. To ground an international organization is it necessary to work towards a more formally constitute governance body. It is not easy, or perhaps prudent, to accomplish this instantaneously. The following outlines a transitional plan from the existing IACAP steering committee to a fully elected IACAP executive committee. The intention here is to provide a inclined process towards a representative administration that is fully governed by the constitutional bylaws. This plan is offered as a framework and will surely be revised numerous times before a consensus working plan is achieved.

    Interim Governance

    In order to establish a foundation from which elections to the Executive committee and executive office will be conducted, and the bylaws and procedures determined, the following interim process will be implemented:


    1.   The current CAP/IACAP steering committee will act as the electoral body up to the establishment of the Executive Committee by full membership election. See the CAP/IACAP Steering Committee membership list in appendix a.
    2.   Executive officer elections for President and Vice-President will be held in June 2004 by committee election. Nominations for these positions will be announced April 1, 2004 and due May 1, 2004.
    3.   The President-elect will present the draft IACAP Organization Charter to the Steering Committee in advance of the 2004 North American CAP conference.
    4.   The Steering committee will vote to accept, reject or amend the IACAP Organization Charter at the 2004 North American CAP conference. Comments from members who cannot attend will be included.
    5.   If the IACAP Organization Charter is ratified in original or amended form, the election of four members for the Executive Committee will take place in June 2005. The Steering committee will continue to serve. Another four member Executive Committee election will occur in June 2006, then a two member Executive Committee election will occur in June 2007. This will complete the elected ten regular members of the Executive Committee. The next scheduled election in June 2008 will replace the expiring four positions and a that point the Steering committee and memberships in it will expire. Service on the steering committee will not limit potential service on the Executive Committee or Executive office.
    6.   If the IACAP Organization Charter is not ratified in original or amended form, then the steering committee at the 2004 North American CAP conference, then the Steering Committee will take proposals on establishing a new time line for the Charter and elections.
    7.   Upon acceptance of the IACAP Organization Charter, the President will accept nominations for Executive Secretary. If the majority of the Steering Committee members are present at the 2004 North American CAP conference, then the nomination may be approved by the Steering Committee with a minimum 75% majority. If the nomination process fails, to receive a 75% majority of those present, then the Steering Committee will take proposals on establishing a new time line for the process and the matter will be referred back to the full membership.


    Appendix a

    See Administration page.