STATUTES OF THE ASIAN REGIONAL SECTION OF THE IASC

(April 27, 2021)

  1. NAME

The Asian Regional Section (ARS) of the International Association for Statistical Computing (IASC), IASC-ARS, has been established by the Council in accordance with Article 9 of the IASC Statutes in 1993 by the name of the East Asian Regional Section (EARS) and the name has been changed to the Asian Regional Section in 1998. The IASC-ARS shall be composed of the members of the IASC residing in Asia-Pacific, according to continent specifications by the International Statistical Association (ISI). The IASC, including the IASC-ARS, are part of the ISI family.

  1. IASC-ARS Mission

2.1    The mission of the Asian Regional Section is to promote regional co-operation in pursuing the aims of the IASC. In particular, the IASC-ARS will, in the Asia-Pacific context, aim to further the progress of the theory, methods, and practice of statistical computing and data science and to foster interest and knowledge in effective and efficient statistical computing and data science through international contacts among statisticians, data scientists, computing professionals, organizations, institutions, governments, and others.

2.2 To achieve its mission, the IASC-ARS may:

  1. organize international or regional seminars, conferences, and meetings. In particular, the IASC-ARS shall be responsible for arranging Asian meetings on computational statistics and data science, which are abbreviated to IASC-ARS meetings hereafter;
  2. promote research and training programmes on theoretical and practical aspects of computational statistics and data science;
  3. foster evaluations of statistical computing techniques and programs;
  4. publish scientific periodicals and books, reports and newsletters, independently or in cooperation with other organizations;
  5. collaborate with other bodies having similar objectives.

 

  1. ARS-ORGANS

The principal organs of the IASC-ARS are:

3.1   The Regional Assembly;

3.2   The Board of Directors (BoD);

3.3   The Officers of the BoD.

 

  1. THE Regional Assembly

4.1   The members of the IACS-ARS, in accordance with Article 1, assembled at a meeting or casting their votes by e-mail on questions referred to them, constitute the Regional Assembly.

4.2   The decisions of the Regional Assembly shall be made by a majority of votes cast at a meeting or by e-mail. Each individual member and each institutional member has one vote.

4.3   A Regional Assembly will be convened annually and, if possible, conjointly with an IASC-ARS meeting.

 

  1. The Board of Directors (BoD)

5.1   The BoD shall consist of:

  1. The Chairperson;
  2. The Chairperson-Elect;
  3. The past Chairperson of the BoD;
  4. The Scientific Secretary and the Treasurer;
  5. The President of the IASC (ex officio);
  6. Individual members (at most 25 members, half of them will retire every two years).

5.2   The Chairperson-Elect and the individual members of the BoD shall be elected by and from the membership of the IASC-ARS. The period of membership will be four years. BoD members (up to two) can be immediately re-appointed only once in each consecutive term, but the period of re-appointment of BoD member shall be two years. No more than six BoD members shall be from the same country. To ensure continuity, the Chairperson will remain a member of the BoD for the two years after his/her chairpersonship.

5.3   The BoD shall promote the objectives of the Association, administer the affairs of the IASC-ARS and, for these purposes, shall:

  • elect the Scientific Secretary and the Treasurer from the 25 (24 or 26) elected BoD members. The Scientific Secretary may also serve as the Treasurer;
  • appoint committees, working groups, etc. for assigned tasks and delegate its power to such committees or to one or more officers or members of the BoD for assigned purposes;
  • appoint necessary staff and incur necessary expenditure for the work of the IASC-ARS.

5.4   The Chairperson can appoint Advisors (up to three) to provide advice on the development of the IASC-ARS. The Advisors do not have to be IASC members. The Advisors can attend the BoD meeting as observers, but do not have any voting rights. The term of an Advisor is two years; an immediate reappointment is not possible.

5.5    The BoD shall conduct its business at ordinary meetings to be held during the IASC-ARS meeting on computational statistics, at special meetings, at virtual meetings, or by e-mail as and when necessary. At least one month’s notice of a special meeting shall be given to all members of the Board of Directors. The quorum of the BoD shall be 1/2 of the members, including proxy members. Proxies have to be IASC members. The BoD will decide its rules of procedure with a simple majority.

5.6   The President of the IASC or a representative named by the President of the IASC will take part at all BoD meetings (regular, special, virtual, or by e-mail) and at the Regional Assembly as an ex officio member. The IASC President and the Scientific Secretary of the IASC shall be informed about each meeting of the BoD and the Regional Assembly and shall receive the agendas and minutes of these meetings for archival and further dissemination among the members of the IASC Executive Committee and the members of other Regional Sections of the IASC.

 

  1. THE OFFICERS OF The Board of Directors

6.1   The Officers of the BoD (the Chairperson, the Chairperson-Elect, the Past-Chairperson, the Scientific Secretary, and the Treasurer) are members of the BoD. The term of office shall be two years. The Chairperson-Elect is elected by IACS-ARS members according to Article 7.2 below. Upon the expiration of his/her term of office, the Chairperson-Elect shall assume the duty of Chairperson for the following two-year term. Similarly, upon the expiration of his/her term of office, the Chairperson shall assume the duty of Past-Chairperson for the following two-year term. The Scientific Secretary and the Treasurer shall be elected by and from the BoD members.  The term of Officers shall run from the end of the IASC-ARS meeting to the end of the following IASC-ARS meeting.

6.2   The Chairperson shall represent the IASC-ARS on all official occasions and shall preside over the meetings of the Regional Assembly and the BoD. The Chairperson shall have general responsibility for the execution of the policies and decisions of the Regional Assembly and the BoD.

6.3   The Officers shall assist the Chairperson in the formulation of the policy of the IASC-ARS and in all other important decisions.

6.4   The Scientific Secretary shall be responsible, under the guidance of the Chairperson, for co- ordination of the IASC-ARS activities involved in arranging conferences, courses, websites, and publications. The Scientific Secretary shall also be responsible of the preparation of BoD meetings and the Regional Assembly, including the preparation of reports, the recording of minutes of meetings, and shall circulate all required materials and announcements to BoD members. The Treasurer shall be responsible for the maintenance of the accounts of the IASC-ARS.

6.5   In order to guarantee the continuity of the management of the IASC-ARS, the Chairperson shall keep the Chairperson-Elect closely informed with respect to all relevant management and policy activities. The Chairperson-Elect shall utilize his/her term to get acquainted with the business of the IASC-ARS.

6.6   At the conclusion of their term of office, it shall be the responsibility of the Chairperson and the Scientific Secretary to prepare a comprehensive report to the IASC-ARS about its activities during the previous two years (or since the last report). This report shall be presented to the Regional Assembly at the ordinary meeting of the IASC-ARS, at which time the outstanding funds and the relevant correspondence shall be transferred to the new Scientific Secretary and the new Treasurer. A copy of the report shall also be provided to the IASC President and the Scientific Secretary of the IASC for further dissemination among the members of the IASC Executive Committee and the BoD members of other Regional Sections of the IASC.

 

  1. THE ELECTIONS OF The Board of Directors AND OFFICERS

7.1   During the year prior to an election, the BoD shall set up an Election Committee (EC). The EC will invite all members of IASC-ARS to suggest candidates for the BoD as well as for the Chairperson-Elect. The EC shall prepare a list of candidates for the BoD which shall include:

– all candidates who have been nominated at least by five IASC-ARS members;

– additional members proposed by the EC in order to assure a sufficient geographical representation.

The EC will also indicate candidates for the position of Chairperson-Elect, chosen among prominent scientists in the field of computational statistics and data science. Candidates must have expressed their willingness to serve on the BoD.

7.2   The elections shall be held every two years. The elections shall be held at least two months prior to the next IASC-ARS meeting. Elections shall follow general election rules, as specified by ISI and IASC, to guarantee a fair, anonymous, and secure vote to each IASC-ARS member.

7.3   The Scientific Secretary and the Treasurer shall be elected by the BoD members with the vote taking place at the ordinary BoD meeting held during the IASC-ARS meeting or at virtual meeting.

 

  1. Finances

Financial resources of the IASC-ARS shall consist in part of conference fees, conference and course benefits, publications royalties, gifts, donations, and legacies, grants from public or private bodies, and any other acceptable sources.

 

  1. By-Laws

The BoD shall have the power to draw up By-Laws for purposes mentioned in the IASC-ARS Statutes. The By-Laws of the IASC-ARS shall not contain any regulations that contravene to the ISI, the IASC, and the IASC-ARS Statutes.

 

  1. Amendments of the StatuteS and By-Laws

10.1 Proposals to amend the IASC-ARS Statutes and By-Laws may be made in writing to the Chairperson by any five members of the BoD or by any ten members of the IASC-ARS. Officers of the ISI and IASC can also propose updates to the IASC-ARS Statutes and By-Laws to realign these regional Statutes to changes in the ISI and IASC Statutes, By-Laws, and operating principles.

10.2 An amendment to the Statutes shall take effect if it is approved by at least two thirds of the members of the BoD, and by the Executive Committee of the IASC. Any change in the By-Laws shall be approved by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast by the members of the BoD.

10.3 The approved amendments shall be published in the newsletter of the IASC and on public IASC and IASC-ARS websites.