Association
of Students & Postdocs
at Brookhaven National Laboratory
Organizational Charter
The Association of Students and Post-docs, referred to henceforth as
the ASAP, is the organized representative body of students and
post-doctoral research
associates at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and is
organizationally sponsored by the BNL Quality of Life Steering
Committee.
Article I
Name - The name of the organization shall be the Association
of Students and Post-docs of BNL, henceforth referred to simply as the
ASAP.
Article II
Purpose - The ASAP is an organization of students and
post-docs working at BNL. The ASAP aims to improve the quality of life
of its members, and to act as a magnet to bring together students and
post-docs in a social setting. In addition, the ASAP will advocate for
and be the representative voice for its members. The ASAP will also
strive to provide professional development among this community of young
scientists by organizing and encouraging participation in a wide array
of scientific and research activities on the BNL site as well as in the
vicinity of Long Island.
Article III
Membership –
The following membership categories apply:
a) Regular members: Regular membership implies access to the ASAP
lounge, inclusion in the ASAP mailing list, and the right to vote and to
be elected to the ASAP board in yearly elections.
i) All Post-docs and graduate students whose primary research takes place at BNL shall be automatically granted regular membership.
ii) Scientific staff within five years of their last degree have the
right to be regular members upon submitting a written request to the ASAP Board.
b) ASAP board: The ASAP board consists of the President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer, whose positions are described below.
c) ASAP members (active): These are members who are participating and contributing regularly to ASAP activities. Determination of active membership shall be an opt-in procedure by ASAP members with an open process such as a sign-up sheet in the ASAP lounge. The list must be maintained publicly with at least biannual updates. During these
updates, the board may remove members that they judge have not been active. However, this requires the consent of the individual who must be given the option to remain an active member. No response to such an inquiry will be grounds for removal from active membership status, although they
may later opt in again. Discussion and voting on ASAP policy and referenda will take place among active members, although the results must be announced membership-wide.
d) ASAP friends: Members of the ASAP friends group would be allowed to access the lounge, attend ASAP activities, but would not the right to
vote.
Status as ASAP friends is to be decided by the ASAP Board and communicated to BNL staff for encoding of BNL ID cards for access to the ASAP lounge.
e) ASAP Advisory Affiliates: A small group of permanent BNL staff, nominated annually by the President of the ASAP and approved by the Laboratory Director, and the chair of the BNL Quality of Life Committee shall serve as Advisory Affiliates to the Association. For the purposes
of elections and voting, however, these Advisory Affiliates are not
considered members of the Association.
Article IV
Officers - The offices of the ASAP shall be those of the
President, Vice President,
Secretary, and Treasurer. These four officers along with the Advisory
Affiliates
shall compose the Executive Council. The Advisory Affiliates will be
non-voting
members of the Executive Council. The Council shall assemble when
required,
but at least once yearly. These meeting shall be announced in advance
and may
be open to the public.
Section A: President
The President shall:
1. act as a spokesperson for the ASAP in the presentation of its
positions
and enunciation of its policies;
2. supervise the execution of all programs and activities;
3. call into being ad hoc committees of ASAP members as needed;
4. appoint and remove members of ASAP standing and ad hoc committees,
subject to confirmation by a majority vote of the Executive Council;
5. nominate a suitable number of Advisory Affiliates to the Executive
Council;
6. represent the ASAP at Quality of Life Committee meetings, or arrange
for
another Executive Council member to do so in his/ her stead;
7. chair meetings of the Executive Council;
8. interpret this Charter at ASAP General or Executive Council meetings.
In
the President's absence, this power devolves upon the Vice President,
Secretary or Treasurer, in that order; and
9. call additional Executive Council meetings as needed.
Section B: Vice President
The Vice President shall:
1. assist the President in the execution of his/ her duties;
2. fulfill the responsibilities and duties delegated to him/ her by the
President;
and
3. chair the Elections Standing Committee (vide infra).
Section C: Secretary
The Secretary shall:
1. record, publish, and report the minutes of Executive Council and
General
meetings. The minutes of all meetings should be made available to the
public via the ASAP website;
2. assist the President with the dissemination of ASAP matters to the
public
and membership;
3. maintain and distribute a membership list or statistics;
4. receive and document the minutes from meetings of standing and ad hoc
committees;
5. chair the Activities Standing Committee (vide infra); and
6. maintain the Organizational Charter as well as supervise the revision
and
update of the ASAP website;
Section D: Treasurer
The Treasurer shall:
1. chair the Budget Standing Committee (vide infra);
2. be responsible for the management of all ASAP revenues and
expenditures;
3. in conjunction with the Budget Standing Committee, the Executive
Council
and future officers, prepare the organization's budget and budget
request
for the following academic year; and
4. provide oral and written updates on the state of ASAP finances.
Section E: Election, Removal and Succession of Officers
Candidates for office must be
members of the ASAP. Elections will be held for
the offices of President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The Vice President
position
will be filled by the runner-up in the Presidential election. The officers
of the
ASAP shall be chosen in a membership-wide, secret ballot contest held in the
month of November. Each candidate shall provide a brief written statement of
interest and biography that will be made available on the ASAP web site to
the
membership prior to the election. Candidates are elected by a plurality of
all
votes cast for the office. Should the membership-wide election result in a
tie vote,
the members of the Executive Council who are not contestants in the
contested
office shall vote to decide which of the candidates shall become the newly
elected representative . Newly elected officers shall take office on January
1 of a
given year and shall serve through December 31 of that same year. No member
shall hold more than one office at a time. The offices of the President,
Vice
President, Secretary, and Treasurer shall have two-term limits. All other
particulars and requirements for candidacy and the elections will be decided
by
the Elections Standing Committee.
1. An officer of the ASAP may be removed from office for misconduct or
neglect of duty, flagrant violation of the ASAP Organizational Charter or
any
actions contrary to the integrity of the ASAP community. The Advisory
members of the ASAP shall function in an impartial capacity to investigate
any allegations brought against an officer. The officer in question shall
have
the right to know the allegations brought against him or her. The Advisory
members and the accused officer shall have the right to present their
evidence before the remaining members of the Executive Council for a final
decision. The Executive Council shall have the power to remove the officer
by a unanimous vote. The findings and recommendations of the Executive
Council must be made in writing and made public to the ASAP membership.
Acts of ASAP officers that are criminal or violate any laboratory, Federal,
or
State policy or law must be taken up with the appropriate authority.
2. If the office of the Vice President, Secretary or Treasurer is vacant,
the
President shall nominate a candidate for that office. The nomination shall
be
confirmed by a majority vote of the Executive Council. Should the nominee
fail to be confirmed, the President may nominate another candidate. If the
office of President is vacant, the Vice President shall assume the office
and
nominate a new Vice President. Should the offices of President and Vice
President be vacant simultaneously, the Secretary, or failing that, the
Treasurer shall assume the Presidency and nominate new officers
accordingly.
Article V
Advocacy Role
As a representative voice for its members, the ASAP may advocate issues of
importance to its members by attending laboratory meetings as
student/post-doc
representatives and writing correspondence to individuals and organizations
within BNL and beyond. Individual board members may write on behalf of the
board. If the need for more formal enunciation of position is required, a
meeting
shall be held in which a quorum of active members must vote on the issue. A
majority is required for such a vote.
Article VI
Committees and Clubs
Section A: Standing Committees
1. Elections Standing Committee: An Elections Standing Committee shall be
formed annually to organize, conduct, and declare a winner for the elected
positions of the Executive Council. This committee shall be chaired by the
Vice President, and its members shall be appointed by the President as
prescribed above and upon the recommendations of the Vice President.
2. Activities Standing Committee: An Activities Standing Committee shall be
formed annually to organize and conduct on-site and off-site activities for
the ASAP membership. The Activities committee will also promote the
involvement of the membership in any activities organized by other
laboratory groups. The Activities Committee will prepare a budget request
for the scheduled events and that request will be submitted to the Budget
Standing Committee for the proper appropriation of funds.
3. Budget Standing Committee: A Budget Standing Committee will be formed
annually to handle the appropriation of funds in the ASAP treasury to events
as specified above or called for on an ad hoc basis. The Budget Committee
will also prepare a budget request and petition Brookhaven Science
Associates (BSA) for the funds so requested in a timely manner that is in
line with the BSA budget guidelines.
Section B: Ad Hoc Committees
Various ad hoc committees may be formed as needed by the President to deal
with topical issues of limited scope. The chair of the committee and all
committee members shall be appointed by the President.
Section C: Clubs
In order to better serve the interests of its membership, upon request, the
ASAP
Board can officially acknowledge and support various group activities that
focus
on promotion of scientific and social interaction. Examples would include a
book
club or an alternative energy discussion club.
Article VII
Amendments and Referenda
Section A: Amendments to the ASAP Charter
1. Amendments to the ASAP Charter may be proposed by any ASAP
member. Any amendment so resulting must be advertised well in
advance of the General Meeting in which the amendment will be
considered. Proposed amendments require approval by at least two thirds
of the membership voting in any referendum in order to be accepted. Any
amendment that is not accepted may be reconsidered.
2. A proposed amendment approved by petition shall be put to vote during
the membership-wide election for ASAP officers, unless the Executive
Council convenes a special membership-wide election. Ratification of a
proposed amendment requires a two-thirds vote of the membership
participating in the election.
3. If the number of candidates for the ASAP
office does not reach the needed four members, the roles of
Secretary and Treasurer can be merged. The new elected board will
consist then on only three members.
4. The ASAP board can appoint any other member of the ASAP as an
acting board member, to help in the organization. This
appointment must be made by consensus of the elected members of the
board. The new acting board members will share duties and
responsibilities with the elected board.
Last Modified: February 28, 2012
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