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Rotarian Action Group for Blindness Prevention
By Laws as Revised
May 15, 2007
Mission
Statement:
It
shall be the mission of the Rotarian Action Group for Blindness Prevention to:
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Bring together, in fellowship and service, those
Rotarians who have an active interest in the prevention of blindness and the
promotion of eye health and vision worldwide.
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Provide both a platform and a forum to discuss ideas
and develop appropriate cooperative programs to further our shared goals.
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Promote international understanding and peace
through our common purpose and efforts.
Qualifications For Membership:
Members must be Rotarians in good standing. In
addition, spouses / partners of active Rotarians are eligible for membership as
are members of Rotaracy. They may be eye care professionals
(ophthalmologists, optometrists, opticians) or other interested Rotarians.
Membership will require payment of either Lifetime Dues. .(Effective
with the ByLaw change enacted with the 2007 RAG election).
Board of
Directors:
- The Board of Directors of this RAG shall be
members in good standing in the RAG
- The Board shall consist of a Chair, Vice-Chair,
Secretary, Treasurer, Immediate Past Chair (appointed, not elected), and
nine Directors.
- The Executive Committee shall include the Chair,
Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and the Immediate Past Chair.
- The Executive Committee shall fill all
vacancies which may occur on the Board or among the RAG officers.
- In addition to the above officers, Members at
Large, representing the seven specific geographic regions as identified by the
International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, may be appointed by the
executive committee. (ie: Africa, North America, Europe, Western Pacific,
Latin America, Eastern Mediterranean, and Asia.) Those individuals selected
as Members at Large shall, as much as possible, reside within the specific
geographic region for which they will have responsibility.
- PRIP Frank J.
Devlyn shall serve as the Permanent Honorary Chair of the
RAG and
shall serve
as an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Executive Committee.
(Effective with the ByLaw change enacted with the 2007 RAG election).
Meetings of the RAG
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Because of the international nature of the
Board, face to face meetings may not be possible. The Board may conduct its
business by correspondence via electronic communications (email) or mail, as
needed.
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The agenda for these meetings will be developed
by the Chair and the Secretary. At least 60 days days prior to the Board meeting, the
secretary shall request input on agenda items for the meeting from all board
members. Items for inclusion on the agenda must be received by the Chairman
and the Secretary no later than 45 days prior to the board meeting.
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Following said meetings, a report will be sent
to the membership (electronically).
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The general membership may freely send to the
chair and/or the secretary any issues or concerns to then be discussed by The
Board.
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All decisions by the Board will be by majority
vote.
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The Board shall schedule a general meeting of
the RAG at the annual Rotary International Convention, whenever
possible. Receipt of agenda items by the Secretary or Chairman for this
meeting shall coincide with the same time frame as for Board meeting.
Election
of RAG Officers:
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Election of Board members shall be held every
year at least 60 days prior to the RI Convention and shall either be a ballot
by mail or by electronic means (online) whichever is deemed most practical
by the Board. (Effect
with the ByLaw change enacted with the 2007 RAG election.)
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The secretary will organize the election and
give adequate notification to the members. Names of candidates should be
submitted to the chair at least three months prior to the election, if
possible.
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Candidates for the position of chair should be
former members of the executive committee.
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Members of the executive committee and the
board are eligible for re-election, with a maximum of four terms with the
exception of the Secretary and Treasurer who are eligible to serve
indefinitely, but must be re-elected every three years by the membership.
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For the offices of Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary
and Treasurer, the candidate with the greatest number of votes shall be the
declared the winner.
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As the position of “Immediate Past Chair” is
automatically filled by the previous chair, this officer shall not be voted on
but will assume office immediately upon stepping down or retiring as the
chair.
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In the event that there are more than hnine
candidates for the office of director, the nine individuals receiving the
greatest number of votes shall be declared the winning candidates.
(Note: the number of board members was increased from four members to
eight members at the June 2005 annual meeting.) (Effective with the
ByLaw change enacted with the 2007 election, the board was increased to NINE
members).
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In the event of a tie for any of the elective
officers, there shall be additional ballots cast, as needed, in order to
declare a winner.
Eligibility to Vote:
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Those eligible to vote shall be members of the RAG in good standing at the time the
ballots are mailed or the online election commences.
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If a member is unable to vote online, the
Secretary will provide a proxy ballot to be submitted by FAX, mail or email
to the Secretary.
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All proxy votes must be received by the
RAG Secretary no later than the date
specified as the "close of the election" in order to qualify to be cast.
(Effective with the ByLaw changes enacted with the 2007 RAG election.)
Responsibilities of the Board:
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To insure the
continued existence of the RAG
.
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To make appropriate
meeting announcements sufficiently in advance.
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To keep the
membership adequately informed of RAG
activities.
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To maintain an up to
date membership file.
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To continue active
membership recruitment, with specific emphasis on recruiting during each
International Convention.
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To pursue a sound
financial policy.
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To maintain an active
web site to keep the membership informed as well as to provide a forum for
active discussion, exchange of ideas, and program development and
implementation.
Finances:
The treasurer
is in charge of finances. The Board has the right at all times to review the
books of the treasurer. The treasurer will provide an annual balance sheet and
financial report to the membership. Expenses for the operation of the
RAG will be covered by dues and contributions received by the
RAG . These
expenses shall include, but not be limited to the following:
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Annual convention expenses including booth
construction, booth space rental, printing of handout material and other
miscellaneous expenses related to the convention booth
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Annual meeting expense including printing of
agenda and ballots, cost of room rental, and cost of in-room hospitality for
all attendees
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Web Hosting and domain name renewal expense and
web maintenance
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Annual non-profit corporation fees as required
by the state of registry and the Internal Revenue Service
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Annual renewal fee for Online Credit Card
Processing and Registration services
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Newsletter expenses
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Membership Expenses including items deemed
appropriate by the Board.
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Annual submission of Federal Tax reports, as
required.
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Other expenses as approved by the officers and
board
Membership List:
The
RAG membership
list (with complete contact information) may be provided to any
RAG member
in good standing and shall be posted on the RAG
Web
Site (with limited contact information as allowed by Rotary International).
Amendments To By Laws:
Any member in
good standing may present proposals to amend these By Laws. These should be
submitted to the chair and secretary for consideration of the general membership
no later than 60days prior to the convening of the annual Rotary International
Convention. It will take a majority of the votes cast by the membership to change
the By Laws. (Effective with the ByLaw Changes enacted during the 2007
annual elections.) |
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At the Annual
meeting held on June 14, 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark, it was agreed
to convert from a Rotary "fellowship" to a "Rotarian Action Group"
in order to more accurately reflect the work of our organization.
Therefore, all reference to the "fellowship" have been replaced with
the term "Rotarian Action Group" or RAG. |
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