Statutes of the International Association for Statistical Computing (August 27, 2020)

 

1. NAME
The name of the Association shall be the International Association for Statistical Computing (IASC) hereinafter abbreviated to the Association. The Association shall be an association of the International Statistical Institute (ISI) in accordance with Article 7a of the ISI Statutes.

2. OBJECTIVES
2.1 The objectives of the Association shall be to promote the theory, methods, and practice of statistical computing and to foster interest and knowledge in effective and efficient statistical computing through international contacts among researchers and professionals in statistics, computer science, and related areas, at universities, organizations, institutions, governments, and the general public in different countries of the world.

2.2 The Association endeavors to accomplish its objectives by:

  1. recommending and helping to arrange programs of relevant meetings during the biennial ISI World Statistics Congress (WSC);
  2. organizing international or regional meetings, seminars, conferences, research and training programs and theoretical or practical investigations independently or in collaboration with other organizations;
  3. assisting participants to attend meetings;
  4. collaborating with international, national, regional and other organizations and institutions having objectives similar to those of the Association;
  5. promoting means for collaborative efforts;
  6. fostering evaluations of statistical computing techniques and programs;
  7. promoting and facilitating statistical software development;
  8. publishing periodicals, reports, and documents such as pamphlets, books, information circulars, independently or in co-operation with other organizations;
  9. promoting means and methods of training individuals in sound and useful statistical computing procedures;
  10. offering awards for outstanding research, development, and other contributions in the broad area of statistical computing, at different levels;
  11. promoting transactions, undertaking, or participating in co-operative activities, and taking necessary actions for the promotion and advancement of the objectives of the Association.
     

3. MEMBERSHIP
3.1 The membership of the Association shall be of two types without any restriction on number.

  1. individual members;
  2. institutional members which may be educational and scientific institutions, government and non-profit organizations, business enterprises, etc. An institutional member shall be entitled to designate a representative who may attend meetings of the Association and participate in the scientific program of the meetings with the same privileges as the individual members. Institutional members shall be entitled to receive one set of the publications of the Association on the same conditions as individual members.

3.2 Members of the International Statistical Institute may become members of the Association by applying to the Executive Director and paying their membership fee.

3.3 Individuals or institutions who are not members of the International Statistical Institute and are interested in the objectives of the Association may become members by signing up (online) and paying their membership fee.

3.4 Membership shall be terminated either by resignation by the member or for non-payment of the dues of the Association for one year or for other reasons as determined by the Executive Committee. In exceptional cases of recognized hardship the Executive Committee may waive, reduce, or postpone the payment of dues.
 

4. PRINCIPAL ORGANS
The principal organs of the Association are:

4.1 The General Assembly, composed of the members in accordance with Article 5.

4.2 The Executive Committee, composed of the officers of the Association in accordance with Article 6.
 

5. GENERAL ASSEMBLY
5.1 The members of the Association at a meeting convened in the manner specified below on questions referred to them shall constitute the General Assembly and shall be the highest authority of the Association.

5.2 The business transactions of the General Assembly shall include:

  1. discussion and approval of the annual report (including finances);
  2. consideration and adoption with or without modification of reports of the President, Scientific Secretary, Treasurer, and others on the activities and finances of the Association (if any);
  3. acknowledgement of results of election of Officers (if any) and dismissal of members of the Executive Committee (if any);
  4. consideration of reports of any committees appointed by the Executive Committee, and proposals regarding policy and programs of the Association (if any);
  5. amendments of the Statutes (as specified in Article 12 – if any);
  6. all other business necessary for the promotion of the objectives of the Association (if any).

While a) is mandatory at the meeting of the General Assembly once each calendar year, b) through f) may or may not take place at a particular meeting of the General Assembly.

5.3 General decisions of the General Assembly shall be made by a majority of votes cast by members of the Association in attendance at the General Assembly. Amendments of the Statutes shall be carried out in accordance with Article 12.

5.4 Each individual member of the Association participating in person at the General Assembly shall have one vote. Proxy votes, votes by mail, and electronic votes by members not present in person at the General Assembly shall not be allowed at the General Assembly.

5.5 The General Assembly shall be convened at least once each calendar year. The General Assembly is validly constituted if at least one of the three Presidents (that is, the President, the President-Elect, and the immediate Past-President) plus at least three members of the Association are in attendance.

5.6 The meetings of the General Assembly shall be held at such times and places as the Executive Committee may direct. Whenever possible, the General Assembly shall be held at the ISI World Statistics Congress (WSC) in odd years and at a meeting organized by a regional section (such as the COMPSTAT Symposium organized by the European section of the Association or the ARS Conference on Statistical Computing organized by the Asian section of the Association), at the IASC World Conference, or at any other suitable venue in even years. The General Assembly meeting may be held virtually. In the case of a virtual meeting, members are given the opportunity to participate online and vote

5.7 A notice specifying the place, date, time, and the agenda of a General Assembly shall be announced to all members of the Association not less than two months before the date of the General Assembly.
 

6. THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
6.1 The Executive Committee (Officers) of the Association shall consist of a President, a President-Elect, the immediate Past-President, an Executive Director, a Scientific Secretary, a Treasurer, a Webmaster, eight to ten Officers with specific duties, and the Director of the Permanent Office of the International Statistical Institute (ex officio), who may also serve as the Executive Director. Each President (or Chair) of a regional section becomes an ex officio member of the Executive Committee with full voting rights as long as the regional section has at least twenty members. If the number of members of a regional section falls below twenty members, the President (or Chair) of such a section participates in the meetings of the Executive Committee, but without the right to vote. If the President (or Chair) of a regional section also is an elected member of the Executive Committee, there shall be no additional ex officio member representing this specific regional section in the Executive Committee.

6.2 The term of office of all Officers except the Executive Director shall be two years. Officers on retirement shall be eligible for re-election to the same position for only one further consecutive term of two years. This does not prevent anyone to be elected for a different position, after four years (two terms) on a given position. Also, after a break of two (or more) years, it is possible to be elected to a previously held position. No Officer shall serve for more than eight consecutive years (four consecutive terms) in any position in the Executive Committee.

6.3 Not more than three elected Officers shall be citizens of the same country (or federation of countries) and the President, President-Elect, and immediate Past-President shall all be citizens of different countries (or federations of countries). Ideally, the elected Officers shall proportionally represent the regional sections of the Association, as well as the members of the Association that are not part of a regional section. Similarly, consecutive Presidents should preferably come from different regions of the world (or from different regional sections).

6.4 The President shall represent the Association on all the official occasions and shall preside over the meetings of the General Assembly and the Executive Committee and shall have general responsibility for the execution of the policies and decisions of the General Assembly and the Executive Committee. In the President’s absence, these roles shall be filled in order of precedence by: the President-Elect, the immediate Past-President, some member of the Executive Committee nominated by the President. If no member of the Executive Committee is able to be present at a meeting organized or sponsored by the Association, the Executive Committee shall nominate one or more members of the Association to act as representatives for that occasion and to maintain liaison with the Scientific Secretary and Executive Director. In order to insure the continuity of management of the Association, the President shall keep the President-Elect closely informed respecting all relevant management and policy activities.

6.5 If the Presidency becomes vacant or the President is for any reason unable to fulfill his/her responsibilities, the President-Elect shall serve for the remaining term of the President or until the President shall again be able to serve, as the case may be. In case the President-Elect also is unable to fulfill his/her responsibilities, the immediate Past-President shall serve for the remaining term of the President or until the President (or the President-Elect) shall again be able to serve, as the case may be. In case that neither the President-Elect, nor the immediate Past-President can serve as interim President, the Executive Committee shall elect an interim President from one of the elected members of the Executive Committee.

6.6 The President, with the approval of the Executive Committee, may designate the President-Elect or the immediate Past-President to serve in his/her place.

6.7 In the case of a vacancy arising during the term of the Executive Committee, a new member of the Executive Committee shall be nominated by the President and approved by a majority of the Executive Committee.

6.8 The President-Elect shall utilize his/her term to get acquainted with the business of the Association. Upon the expiry of his/her term of office, the President-Elect will assume, at the end of the General Assembly of the Association, the duty of President for the following two-year term.

6.9 The immediate Past-President shall assist the new President using his/her experience in handling the business of the Association.

6.10 The Officers shall assist the President in the formulation of the policy of the Association and in all other important decisions. In order to facilitate their work, they will be kept informed about all the important matters arising in course of their term.

6.11 The Executive Director, under the general direction of the President, shall serve as an assistant to the President, co-ordinate the activities of the Association, be in charge of the executive work of the Association, and shall perform other duties as delegated by the President and the Executive Committee. The ISI Permanent Office, serving under the direction of the Executive Director shall be responsible for current administration of operating activities, including the collection of membership dues, the preparation and distribution of reports, and shall circulate to members of the Association all required materials as prescribed by the Statutes.

6.12 The Scientific Secretary shall be responsible, under the guidance of the President and the Executive Committee, for the recording of minutes of meetings of the General Assembly and the Executive Committee and for primary communication among the President, Executive Committee, and the members of the Association.

6.13 The Treasurer shall be responsible for the maintenance of the financial accounts of the Association and getting up-to-date information about the membership, in close collaboration with the ISI Permanent Office.

6.14 The Webmaster shall be responsible for the maintenance of the Web page(s) of the Association.

6.15 Eight to ten Officers with specific duties shall primarily be responsible for their own resorts, but also should be willing to take over additional tasks if necessary. The exact number of these Officers will be determined by the Nomination Committee in close consultation with the Executive Committee. Possible positions may include Summer School Officer, Publications Officer, Outreach Officer, ISI Nominations Officer, ISI WSC Conference Officer, Young Statisticians Representative, Social Media Representative, Representative(s) of Committees of the Association, etc. These duties may change from election to election.

6.16 The Director of the ISI Permanent Office shall provide general advice and guidance to the Association on administrative affairs and meeting arrangements, and in particular shall promote the liaison between the Association and (1) the Officers and the ISI Permanent Office, and (2) the ISI Organizing Committee for the biennial ISI World Statistics Congress and for other joint meetings with the International Statistical Institute or its Associations.

6.17 Each year, it shall be the responsibility of the President, the Scientific Secretary, and other Officers of the Executive Committee to prepare a comprehensive report to the Association about its activities during the previous year. This report shall be presented to the General Assembly.

6.18 All newly elected Officers shall take over their office at the end of the General Assembly that is held at the ISI World Statistics Congress in odd years. Ex officio members shall join the Executive Committee upon assuming their new position in a regional section or at the International Statistical Institute.

6.19 The Executive Committee shall promote the objectives of the Association, administer the affairs of the Association and, for these purposes, shall have power to:

  1. establish standing committees, working groups, etc. of the Association; members and the chair of such committees and groups can be directly nominated by the Executive Committee or they may be elected by the members of the Association; the chair (or one of the co-chairs) of each standing committee or working group must be a member of the Association while at most half of the members of a standing committee or working group may not be a member of the Association;
  2. appoint necessary staff and incur necessary expenditures for the work of the Association;
  3. make appointments to or nominate candidates for ISI committees.

6.20 At least one hour and at most seven days before a General Assembly, an Executive Committee meeting shall be held. The Executive Committee meeting shall be used for internal discussions and to finalize agenda items for the General Assembly. Additional meetings of the Executive Committee may take place at convenient times and locations, as well as electronically or by video-conference, as scheduled by the Executive Committee.

6.21 Voting of the Executive Committee can take place during meetings of the Executive Committee or after a sufficient discussion without holding a formal meeting of the Executive Committee. Each Executive Committee member, including the ex Officio members, can cast a single vote. Unless otherwise specified, a simple majority of the votes cast determines the outcome of the vote. In case of a tie, the vote of the IASC President serves as a tiebreaker. Votes can be cast in person, via a proxy vote (where each member of the Executive Committee can only hold one additional proxy vote), via mail, via e-mail, on the Web, via phone, via Skype, or via any other electronic voting mechanism.
 

7. ELECTION OF OFFICERS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
7.1 Officers of the Executive Committee shall be elected by all members of the Association as described below: voting materials shall be sent to all members of the Association via mail and voting shall take place in a way that ensures all votes are secret, each member can vote only once, and voting is possible for at least a period of four weeks not less than three months prior to the next meeting of the General Assembly held at the ISI World Statistics Congress in odd years. The term “mail” relates to paper mail, e-mail, Web pages, or any other option to communicate and vote in an electronic or non-electronic way. Votes cast by e-mail or via a Web page will be the preferred way to cast votes, and the use of e-mail will be the preferred way to communicate, unless a member of the Association requests a different individual option to cast a vote or communicate.

7.2 The Executive Committee shall appoint, not less than three months before the date of issue of nominations for Officers, a Nominating Committee consisting of President, President-Elect, and at least three members who shall be selected from among the members of the Association and from not less than three different countries. The President-Elect shall serve as the chair of the Nominating Committee.

7.3 The Nominating Committee shall nominate suitable candidates who would be willing to take over a specific role in the Executive Committee of the Association. Nominations must be in agreement with Article 6.

7.4 The final list of nominations for a President-Elect, a Scientific Secretary, a Treasurer, a Webmaster, and eight to ten Officers with specific duties prepared by the Nominating Committee shall be sent to all members of the Association via mail (as specified in Article 7.1) for voting.

7.5 The completed voting results must reach the Executive Director not later than one month after the end of the voting period.

7.6 Not later than two months before the next General Assembly, the Executive Director shall review the voting results. Candidates for each office receiving the largest number of legitimate votes shall be considered elected and the results of the election will be announced. This notification shall include the information about any ties that may have occurred. The President shall resolve any ties by casting an additional tie-breaking vote.
 

8. CONFERENCES, SEMINARS, PUBLICATIONS, AND OTHER PROGRAMS
8.1 The Association shall participate at ISI World Statistics Congresses (WSC) that takes place once every two years in a different country and that is organized with the host country’s central bureau of statistics. According to the statutes and by-laws of the International Statistical Institute, the President (in consultation with the Officers of the Association) shall appoint a program committee, which then will assume all the responsibilities for the organization of those aspects of the WSC that are under the control of the Association, including the appointment and co-ordination of activities of program organizers.

8.2 The Executive Committee may arrange additional conferences, seminars, and other programs on its own responsibility, or in collaboration with other organizations, at the same time as the meetings of the General Assembly of the Association or at other times in suitable places.

8.3 At least one month notice of such meetings, other than the General Assembly, shall be announced to all members of the Association.

8.4 The Executive Committee may make arrangements to publish official journals of the Association or to make necessary arrangements for publishing in suitable scientific journals the proceedings and papers presented at the meetings and conferences of the Association and its national or regional sections, and news and communications relating to the work of the Association.

8.5 The Association may publish, as and when necessary, reports, pamphlets, books and other publications for the promotion of the objectives of the Association.
 

9. REGIONAL SECTIONS
9.1 When the number of members of the Association in a particular region is not less than twenty, a regional section of the Association may be formed with the approval of the General Assembly to promote the aims and objectives of the Association in that region. The initial statutes of a newly formed regional section of the Association also shall be approved by the General Assembly.

9.2 The objectives and functions of the regional sections of the Association, as expressed in the statutes and any optional bylaws of a regional section, shall always be in conformity with those of the Association and with the Statutes of the International Statistical Institute and/or Dutch Law.

9.3 Each regional section shall provide a summary of its activities (and its finances) as part of the annual report of the Association for discussion at the General Assembly (as described in Article 5.2a).
 

10. FINANCE
10.1 Financial resources of the Association shall consist of membership fees, donations, contributions, and income, if any, from other sources.

10.2 No donation may be accepted unless approved by the Executive Committee.

10.3 The membership fees to be paid by members, may be different for individual and institutional members and for different countries and age groups. All membership fees shall be determined by the Executive Committee.

10.4 The funds of the Association may be used to meet the normal operating expenses of the Association and the expenses of conferences, meetings, publications, awards, and other activities of the Association.

10.5 The Officers of the Executive Committee, except the Executive Director shall serve without compensation. They may be reimbursed for travel expenses associated with official functions.

10.6 The Executive Committee may authorize the provision of grants or financial assistance for research or development projects consonant with the objectives of the Association. The Executive Committee is expected to maintain reserves sufficient to meet prior commitments; it may transfer funds to assist activities of the International Statistical Institute.

10.7 At each General Assembly, the accounts of the Treasurer shall be presented to the membership for acceptance by a majority of votes.
 

11. MANAGEMENT
11.1 The Executive Committee shall make suitable arrangements for all procedural matters relating to transactions, meetings, conferences, publications, and other activities of the Association.

11.2 Any agreement, contract, or cooperation protocol from the Association with a third party with direct or potential financial implications needs the approval and a signature from the ISI Director.
 

12. AMENDMENTS OF THE STATUTES
12.1 Proposals to amend the Statutes may be made in writing to the President by any five members of the Executive Committee or by any ten members of the Association. The President shall arrange through the Executive Director for all such proposals to be sent to all members not less than one month before the date of the next General Assembly. The Executive Committee shall take a preliminary vote on the proposals at the Executive Committee meeting prior to the General Assembly.

12.2 Proposed amendments to the Statutes, after discussion at the General Assembly, shall be voted on at the General Assembly. Amendments that have been approved by a simple majority of the Executive Committee shall be ratified by a simple majority of all those voting at the General Assembly. Amendments that have not been approved by a simple majority of the Executive Committee will require a two-thirds majority of all votes cast at the General Assembly to be ratified.

12.3 Amendments to the Statutes shall not be in contravention with the Statutes of the International Statistical Institute and/or Dutch Law.

12.4 The dissolution of the Association or the alteration of its name shall be treated as an amendment of its Statutes.

 

Appendix: International Statistical Institute (ISI) Privacy Policy