This Rules of Procedure (hereinafter called "Rules") apply to the SIAM Student Chapter called "McMaster University Chapter of SIAM".
The Student Chapter to which these Rules apply is formed by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and shall operate within the Bylaws of the parent organization. The SIAM bylaws specify how Student Chapters are formed; see the SIAM bylaws for details. The Chapter shall not affiliate with any other organization without first obtaining the written approval of SIAM. Provisions for SIAM Student (University) Chapters are contained in the SIAM Bylaws and are included in these Rules. No provisions of these rules shall be construed so as to contradict the Bylaws of SIAM.
The objectives of SIAM, as established in the Certificate of Incorporation, are:
Purposes of McMaster University Chapter shall be consistent with the objectives of SIAM.
The specific purposes of McMaster University Chapter of SIAM are:
The main activities of McMaster University Chapter of SIAM are:
Student chapter members will be recruited from McMaster University only.
Section 1. Any student engaged or interested in mathematics or computing and their applications shall be eligible for membership in this Chapter. SIAM encourages chapters to be interdisciplinary, including student members from multiple departments.
Section 2. There are no membership types in McMaster University Chapter of SIAM. All the members who are neither the Officers nor the members of the Executive Committee will be referred to as the Regular Members.
Section 3. Chapter members shall have the privileges of SIAM membership only if they are regular or student members of SIAM. The Regular Members will have the right to participate in all activities organized by the chapter and nominate in the officer elections.
Section 4. All members of the chapter who are students enrolled in the sponsoring institution(s) are eligible for free student memberships in SIAM. Chapters shall encourage their members to join SIAM either online, by submitting printed membership applications, or by submitting a list of its student members to SIAM so that complimentary student membership in SIAM can be processed. Free student memberships may be renewed every year that the student remains a student member of the chapter.
Section 5. Termination of student membership will take place upon graduation or withdrawal from the university.
Section 1. The Sponsor is McMaster University.
Section 2. The Sponsor of the Chapter shall appoint a Faculty Advisor for the Chapter. The Advisor must be a member in good standing with SIAM. In the event said Advisor relinquishes his/her position, the Sponsor shall appoint a new Advisor. The responsibilities, rights and duties of the Faculty Advisor shall be those normally assigned to the Faculty Advisor of student organizations of the Sponsor, but in addition, the Faculty Advisor is expected to take leading role in the development of the Chapter activities consistent with the objectives of SIAM.
Section 1. The Chapter shall have a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary and a Treasurer. Officers shall be chosen from Student Members of the Chapter and must be Student Members in good standing with SIAM.
Section 2. The President shall preside at the meetings of the Chapter (and the Chapter Executive Committee (see Article VII below)). In the absence of the President, the Vice-President shall assume the duties of the President. In the absence of the latter, the Secretary shall assume said duties.
Section 3. The Secretary shall keep a record of the affairs of the Chapter, handle correspondence, and submit an annual report of Chapter activities to the Secretary of SIAM, which report shall be suitable for publication in SIAM News or its equivalent.
Section 4. The Treasurer shall receive and take custody of Chapter funds, and shall submit an annual Treasurer's Report and other financial reports, as requested, to the Treasurer of SIAM. The annual Treasurer's Report shall be prepared as of the end of the academic year and shall be transmitted to the Treasurer of SIAM by no later than 30 days following the end of the academic year.
Section 5. Terms of the Chapter officers will last two years. Re-election of an Officer for an additional term is permissible.
Section 1. The Chapter is managed by the Executive Committee consisting of the incumbent officers and the most recently retired President. The Executive Committee oversees the management and operations of the President and serves as a forum for the consideration of significant Chapter issues and priorities. The chairperson of the Executive Committee is the President of the Chapter. The President is responsible for decision making with advice provided by the Executive Committee and his or her resolutions are final.
Section 2. Every Regular Member, has the right to nominate either himself/herself or any other member of McMaster University Chapter of SIAM as a candidate for an Officer. Nominations will be accepted the in September every two years and will be solicited by the incumbent Secretary a month in advance. Based on nominations, the incumbent members of the Executive Committee shall prepare and send out electronic ballots (via email) to all members of the Chapter. All voters will be provided with detailed voting instruction on how to vote electronically. A week after elections the Executive Committee will count the electronic votes and make the results available through the Chapter website. A person who receives the highest number of votes becomes the President, a runner-up the Vice-President, and persons who come in third and fourth become the Secretary and the Treasurer, respectively. In the event of a tie, an additional election, obeying the same results as above, is arranged. Two weeks after elections, the newly elected officers take office in the Chapter.
Section 3. In case of the resignation of an Executive Committee member, the President will designate a new member out of the Regular Members. If the President resigns, the Vice-President automatically becomes the President.
Section 1. There shall be at least three meetings per year. Every student and faculty member is privileged to propose a topic for a chapter meeting. All the proposals are reviewed and analyzed by the Executive Committee. The Committee carefully selects the topics that will be discussed during meetings. With two weeks notice all members of the Chapter will be informed about the date and agenda of the meeting.
Section 2. The Chapter shall conduct a business meeting once per year during the month of December. Other business meetings may be called by the President or the Treasurer on two weeks notice.
Section 1. McMaster University Chapter of SIAM will not levy any dues on its members, nor collect registration fees for Chapter meetings.
Section 2. The Chapter shall deposit all funds into an account at a financial institution under the Chapter's name or place them into an account at their university. All unused funds remain the property of SIAM [see Article XI,Section 3.]
Section 3. The Treasurer shall maintain books of account that show income and expense items for all activities and balances for all accounts of the Chapter.
Section 4. The Chapter may request a grant or loan from the Treasurer of SIAM under the provision of Article XII, Chapter 8 of the Bylaws of SIAM. Such requests shall be made by submission of "Request for Funding" form to SIAM and include a current financial statement for the Chapter and a proposed budget for the requested funds.
Section 5. Other than seeking funds from the sponsoring institutions of the chapter, no officers or member of the Chapter may apply for a grant to support the Chapter activities or enter into any contract to support such activities or provide services, without approval of the President and the Treasurer of SIAM or the Executive Director acting on behalf of the Treasurer.
Section 1. A Chapter may terminate itself by the unanimous vote of the members of the Chapter present (or represented by proxy) at a scheduled meeting, provided that notice of the proposed termination and the meeting at which it is to be considered has been given to all Chapter members at least 30 days in advance.
Section 2. A Chapter may be terminated by the board if there has been no Chapter activity for one year.
Section 3. In the event a Chapter terminates, the funds to which it has legal title shall revert to the account of SIAM.
Created: February 4, 2016
Accepted by SIAM: March 11, 2016