1. Name
The name of the section shall be the European Regional Section (ERS) of the International Association for Statistical Computing (IASC), IASC-ERS. The section is established by the Council in accordance with Article 9 of the IASC statutes.
2. IASC-ERS Mission
2.1 The mission of the ERS is to promote European co-operation in pursuing the aims of the IASC. In particular the IASC-ERS will, in the European context, aim to further the progress of the theory, methods, and practice of statistical computing and to foster interest and knowledge in effective and efficient statistical computing through international contacts among statisticians, computing professionals, organizations, institutions, governments.
2.2 To achieve its mission the IASC-ERS may:
a) organize international or regional seminars, conferences, meetings. In particular, the ERS shall be responsible for arranging European meetings on computational statistics, known as COMPSTAT meetings;
b) promote research and training programmes on theoretical and practical aspects of computational statistics;
c) foster evaluations of statistical computing techniques and programs;
d) publish scientific periodicals and books, reports and newsletters, independently or in cooperation with other organizations;
e) collaborate with other bodies having similar objectives.
3. Membership
3.1 Members of ERS are all IASC regulars members (institutions and individuals) residing in Europe without any restriction on number. An institutional member shall be entitled to designate a representative who may attend meetings of ERS and take part in the activities of the association with the same privileges as the individual members.
3.2 Individuals or institutions who are not members of the IASC and are interested in the activities of ERS may become members by applying and paying any prescribed dues to IASC.
4. ERS-Organs
The principal organs of the ERS are:
4.1 The Regional Assembly, composed of the members in accordance with Article 5.
4.2 The Board of Directors (BoD), composed of the officers of the Association in accordance with Article 6.
5. The Regional Assembly
5.1 The members of the ERS, in accordance with Article 1, assembled at a meeting constitute the Regional Assembly.
5.2 The business transactions of the Regional Assembly shall include:
a) consideration and adoption with or without modification of reports of the Chairman, Scientific Secretary and other members of the BoD on the activities and finances of the ERS;
b) acknowledgement of results of election of Officers and members of the BoD;
c) consideration of reports of any committees appointed by the Regional Assembly, and proposals regarding policy and programmes of the ERS;
d) all other business necessary for the promotion of the objectives of the ERS.
5.3 The decisions of the Regional Assembly shall be made by a majority of votes cast at a meeting or by mail. Each individual member has one vote. Proxy votes, votes by mail, and electronic votes by members not present in person at the Regional Assembly shall not be allowed at the Regional Assembly.
5.4 A Regional Assembly will be convened annually conjointly with the IASC General Assembly.
5.5 A notice specifying the place, date, time and the agenda of a Regional Assembly shall be communicated (by mail or IASC-newsletter) to all members of the ERS not less than two months before the date of the Regional Assembly.
6. The Board of Directors
6.1 The BoD (Officers) shall consist of:
a) the Chairman;
b) the Chairman-Elect;
c) the past Chairman of BoD;
d) ten individual members (half of them will retire every two years).
6.2 The Chairman-Elect and the ten individual members of the BoD shall be elected by and from the membership of the ERS in accordance with the provisions laid down in art. 7.1 and 7.2 below. The period of membership will be four years, but for the Chairman, who will be a regular member of the BoD for the two years after his/her chairmanship to ensure continuity; BoD members will not be eligible for immediate reelection. No more than two BoD member shall be from the same country.
6.3 The BoD shall promote the objectives of the Association, administer the affairs of the ERS and, for these purposes, shall:
a) elect the ERS Scientific Secretary, and Auditors.
b) 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;
c) appoint necessary staff and incur necessary expenditure for the activities of the ERS.
6.4 The BoD shall conduct its business at ordinary meetings to be held during COMPSTAT symposia or at special meetings or by mail as and when necessary. At least one month’s notice of a special meeting shall be given to all members of the BOD. The quorum of the BoD shall be seven including proxy members. Proxies have to be IASC members. The BoD will decide its rules of procedure with a simple majority.
6.5 When an issue arises that would normally be dealt with by BoD but which requires action before a mail vote or the next BoD meeting, the Chairman shall be empowered to act on behalf of the BoD. In doing so, the Chairman shall consult with the Chairman-Elect, past Chairman and members of BoD to the extent possible, and shall submit the action for confirmation by BoD as soon as possible.
6.6 The President of the IASC will take part at the BoD meeting ex officio. The Director of the ISI Permanent Office shall be informed about each meeting of the BoD and shall receive the minutes of these meetings.
6.7 The Treasurer of the IASC will take part at the BoD meeting ex-officio. The Treasurer of the IASC shall be responsible for the maintenance of the accounts of the IASC-ERS, unless the BoD elects another candidate for that.
6.8 The Chairman shall represent the ERS on all the official occasions and shall preside over the meetings of the Regional Assembly and the BoD and shall have general responsibility for the execution of the policies and decisions of the Regional Assembly and the BoD. In the Chairman’s absence these roles shall be filled by the Chairman-Elect or by some member of the BoD nominated by the Chairman. If no member of the BoD is able to be present at a meeting organized or sponsored by the ERS, the Chairman may nominate a member of the ERS to act as representative for that occasion and to maintain liaison with the Scientific Secretary.
6.9 If the chairmanship becomes vacant or the Chairman is for any reason unable to fulfill his responsibilities, the Chairman-Elect shall serve for the remaining term of the Chairman or until the Chairman shall again be able to serve, as the case may be. If, for any reason, a place in the BoD becomes vacant, a new member shall be nominated by the Chairman and approved by the majority of the BoD.
6.10 The BoDs shall assist the Chairman in the formulation of the policy of the ERS and in all other important decisions.
6.11 The Scientific Secretary shall be responsible, under the guidance of the Chairman, for co-ordination of the ERS-activities involved in arranging conferences, courses and publications. The Scientific Secretary shall also be responsible of the preparation of BoD meetings and Regional Assembly including the preparation of reports, the recording of minutes of meetings and shall circulate to BoD members all required materials.
6.12 In order to insure the continuity of management of the ERS, the Chairman shall keep the Chairman-Elect closely informed with respect to all relevant management and policy activities. The Chairman-Elect shall utilize his/her term to get acquainted with the activities of the IASC-ERS.
6.13 It shall be the responsibility of the Chairman and the Scientific Secretary to prepare a comprehensive annual report to the ERS members about the ERS activities during years (or since the last report). This report shall be presented to the Regional Assembly at the ordinary meeting of the ERS.
7. Elections of the BoD members
7.1 Not less than 4 months prior to an election, the BoD must set up the Election Committee consisting of the Past Chairman, Chairman-Elect and Scientific Secretary. The President-Elect shall serve as the chair of the Nominating Committee. The Committee will nominate suitable candidates who would be willing to serve in the BoD and as Chairman-Elect and assuring a sufficient geographical representation.
7.2 The final list of nominations shall be sent to all members of the Association via mail for voting.
7.3 The elections will be held every two years. The election shall be held by a ballot among all ERS members under the direction of the Election Committee. Short biographical details of the candidates (i.e. present position, membership in international societies, service to statistics of international level, special field of statistical work) should be included on the ballot. 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.
7.4 The candidate for Chairman with the highest number of votes will be nominated Chairman-Elect. The other BoD members shall consist of the five candidates, that are in the majority and not belonging to countries already present in the current BoD with two members. Any ties that may have occurred shall be resolved according the rule of the highest seniority of membership in the Association. The BoD and membership of the ERS shall be notified of the result of the elections. New members will take office during the subsequent COMPSTAT meeting.
7.5 The ERS Scientific Secretary shall be elected by the BoD with secret voting in occasion of ordinary BoD meeting held during COMPSTAT symposia.
8. Finances
8.1 Financial resources of the IASC-ERS shall consist of part of conference fees, conference and course benefits if any, publications royalties, donations, grants from public or private bodies, any other sources.
8.2 No donation may be accepted unless approved by the BoD.
8.3 The funds of the IASC-ERS may be used to meet the normal operating expenses of the BoD, the expenses of conferences, courses, publications, and other activities of the ERS.
8.4 Members of the BoD shall serve without compensation. They may be reimbursed for travel expenses associated with official functions.
8.5 The BoD may authorize the provision of grants or financial assistance for research or developmental projects consonant with the objectives of the Association. The BoD is expected to maintain reserves sufficient to meet prior commitments; it may transfer funds to assist activities of IASC.
8.6 Any expenditure of funds shall be for a purpose consistent with the statutes and by-laws, and shall be authorized by the Chairman. Recurring expenditures for the same purpose may be authorized by the Chairman on a continuing basis. The Chairman may revoke such a continuing authorization. If the appropriateness of the expenditure might reasonably be questioned, the Chairman shall submit the matter to the BoD for approval.
8.7 The Treasurer shall make suitable arrangements for preparing contracts, agreements and other relevant documents, for maintenance of bank accounts, etc. and for all procedural matters relating to transactions, meetings, conferences, publications and other activities of the ERS.
8.8 Any agreement, contract, or cooperation protocol from the Section with a third party with direct or potential financial implications needs the approval and a signature from the ISI Director.
8.9 At each ordinary meeting the accounts of the outgoing Treasurer shall be audited, consistently with the practices and standards of the ISI, by the auditors and their report shall be presented to the BoD for acceptance by a majority of votes.
9. By-Laws
The BoD shall have power to draw up by-laws for purposes mentioned in the statute. The by-laws of the IASC-ERS shall not contradict the IASC and IASC-ERS statutes.
10. Scientific meetings and publications of the ERS
10.1 The BoD may arrange seminars, summer schools, conferences, etc. and other programmes on its own responsibility or in collaboration with other organizations.
10.2 Ordinary meetings of the ERS (i.e. COMPSTAT symposia) shall be convened normally every second year. The ordinary meeting of the ERS shall be held at such times and places as the BoD may direct.
10.3 For COMPSTAT symposia as well as for each official meeting (seminar, summer school etc.) of the ERS the Chairman in consultation with the BoD shall appoint a Scientific Program Committee (SPC) and a Local Organizing Committee (LOC). In order to assure a suitable coordination between, SPC and BoD at least one member of the BoD should be appointed as SPC member. SPC and LOC should make brief reports on progress, at least every 6 months, to the Chairman.
10.4 The LOC (on behalf of the Host Institution) is responsible for the finances of the meeting (seminar, summer school etc.).
10.5 The BoD may be able to provide loans to assist with cash flow for the meeting but cannot be responsible for any loss. Where the meeting is successful the BoD will receive a fee toward its costs and to help fund other ERS activities. An agreement between the ERS-BoD and Local Host Institution has to be established on the basis of the current COMPSTAT GUIDELINES.
10.6 Sponsorship can be given to European meetings pursuing the same objectives of the Association under condition that a representative of the BoD be a member of the SPC.
10.7 The BoD may make necessary arrangements for publishing in a suitable way the COMPSTAT proceedings and lectures presented at meetings or summer schools organized or sponsored by the IASC- ERS, or to make arrangements to publish a newsletter of ERS.
11. Amendments of the Statute and By-Laws
11.1 Proposals to amend the ERS-statute and by-laws may be made in writing to the Chairman by any five members of the BoD or by any ten members of the ERS.
11.2 Amendments to the Statute shall not be in contradiction with the Statute of the IASC.
11.3 An amendment to the statute or by-laws shall take effect if it is approved by simple majority of the BoD and ratified by a simple majority at the Regional Assembly. Amendments that have not been approved by a simple majority of the BoD will require a two-thirds majority of all votes cast at the General Assembly to be ratified.
11.4 The approved amendments shall be published in the regular newsletter of the ERS.
11.5 The dissolution of the ERS or the alteration of its name shall be treated as an amendment of its statutes.