Bylaws of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences Social Media Analysis Section
ARTICLE I – NAME
This organization shall be named the Social Media Analysis Section, hereinafter the Section, of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, hereinafter INFORMS.
ARTICLE II – PURPOSES
The purposes of this Section shall be
1. Promote the development and application of Operations Research and Analytic methods, techniques, and tools to the solution of problems in the social media analysis area.
2. Encourage the exchange of information among practitioners and users in the social media analysis area.
3. Encourage more interest by practitioners and students in social media analysis area.
4. Promote the maintenance of high professional standards in the application of Operations Research and Analytic methods.
ARTICLE III – MEMBERSHIP
Any member of the INFORMS may become a Section Member by paying the Section dues. Non- members of the INFORMS may become Section members by paying the special fee for non- members of the INFORMS. All members shall have equal rights, duties, and privileges except that Section officers must also be INFORMS members. (See Article VI.) Membership and participation shall be free from discrimination on any basis.
ARTICLE IV – OFFICERS
1. The officers of the Section shall be a President, Vice President, and a Secretary/Treasurer.
2. The President shall be the chief administrative officer of the Section and shall be responsible for the development and execution of the Section’s program. He/she shall (a) call and organize meetings of the Section, (b) propose ad hoc committees as required, (c) appoint chairs and members of standing committees, (d) manage the affairs of the Section between meetings, and (e) preside at Section Board meetings and Section membership meetings.
3. The Vice President shall be the principal assistant administrative officer of the Section and shall act as President in the absence of the President. He/she shall have such other duties as the President or the Board shall assign to him/her and normally will chair a planning committee to develop the Section’s program and required budget for the coming year and conduct the annual election of officers and Board members for the Section. He/she shall become the President of the Section for the year after his/her term of office as Vice President.
4. The Secretary/Treasurer shall conduct the correspondence of the Section, keep the minutes and records of the Section, maintain contact with INFORMS, receive reports of activities from those Section Committees that may be established, make arrangements for the regular meetings of the Board and the membership meetings of the Section, be responsible for the administration and disbursement of the Section funds as directed by the Section Board, prepare and distribute reports of the financial condition of the Section, help prepare the annual budget of the Section for submission to the INFORMS, make arrangements for the orderly transfer of all the Section’s records to the Secretary/Treasurer succeeding him/her, and perform other duties usual to the office of an organization’s Secretary/Treasurer.
5. Any Section member accepting nomination for elective office in the Section is understood to have agreed to perform the duties of that office if elected, and in particular to have agreed to attend the annual regular Section meetings during his/her tenure, except as his/her attendance is prevented by unusual circumstances. If a Section elected official must miss a meeting or be temporarily unable to carry out his/her responsibilities, he/she shall advise the Board and shall make other arrangements for the discharge of his/her responsibilities. If a Section elected official should fail during his/her tenure to attend regular Section meetings and to carry out the responsibilities of the office, he/she can be removed from office upon the initiative of two-thirds vote of the Section Board.
ARTICLE V – BOARD
1. The Board shall be the governing body of the Section and shall guide the officers in the administration of the Section’s business. The Board shall consist of the elected officers indicated in Article IV, the most recent Past President, and approximately six Board Members representing to the extent practicable the varied interests of the Section members.
2. The Board may supplement its membership with up to six non-voting members. The purpose of this provision is to allow representation on the Board of individuals engaged in important Section activities such as editors of newsletters, associate editors of
INFORMS journals, editors of Section journals, representatives from allied societies, and representatives from the INFORMS newsletter.
3. Section Board meetings shall be held at least once each year, normally during the annual meeting of the INFORMS. Their purpose is to develop and implement service programs and to provide policy guidance for the Section officers. Special meetings can be called by the Secretary/Treasurer at the request of the President or a majority of Board members. Special meetings will be held within forty days of the receipt of the request and Board members will be notified by the Secretary/Treasurer of the date and place of the meeting at least two weeks prior to the meeting. If convenient, Board meetings may be held via conference call. All Section Board meetings shall be open to Section members.
4. A majority of the voting Board members shall constitute a quorum. A mail ballot and/or electronic ballot can be used to vote on a Board action. A majority of the voting members of the Board must vote in order for the vote to be valid.
5. Board vacancies that occur between elections shall be filled as follows: a vacancy in the office of President shall be filled by the Vice President and upon the completion of this term he/she shall continue as President so as to complete the term for which he/she was elected; a vacancy in the office of Secretary/Treasurer shall be filled on an acting basis by a majority vote of the Board; other vacancies shall remain vacant until the next Section election.
ARTICLE VI – ELECTION AND TENURE OF SECTION OFFICIALS
1. Every other year, the Section shall elect: (i) a Vice President to serve a two-year term, (ii) three Board Members to serve two-year terms (assuming a six member Board), and (iii) other officials as may be required by vacancies that have occurred since the previous election. In "off" years, the Section shall elect: (i) a Secretary/Treasurer to serve a two- year term and (ii) three Board Members to serve two-year terms (assuming a six-member Board).
2. The Vice President shall succeed to the President position at the completion of his/her term. After serving as President for a two-year term, the President shall succeed to the Past-President position for a final two-year term.
3. No officer or Board Member, other than the Secretary/Treasurer, who has served a full term shall be eligible for immediate election to the same office. Secretary/Treasurer may be re-nominated to the same office once following his or her first election to that office.
4. Prior to the annual business meeting, typically held in conjunction with the INFORMS Annual Meeting, the President shall appoint a Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee, composed of a chair and at least two additional Section members, shall prepare a slate consisting of at least two nominees for office of President and one nominee for all other positions. The preparation of this slate shall include a call to the Section membership requesting nomination. The Nominating Committee will submit its nominations to the Vice President who will report these nominations to the Section membership at that time. If there is a Section meeting after the Nominating Committee makes its selections and before the voting takes place, then additional nominations may be solicited from the membership at the Section meeting.
5. Nominees for the positions of elected officers must be Section members and INFORMS members. Nominees for Board members must be Section members and INFORMS members.
6. Within two weeks after the slate of nominees has been determined and at least one month prior to January 1st of the following year, which is the date of the transition, the Section members shall be given the opportunity to vote. Nominees for office shall be listed alphabetically on the ballot (and so noted) with no indication as to those nominated by the Nominating Committee and those nominated subsequently. The Secretary/Treasurer is responsible for distributing to the membership ballot forms by electronic mail, web- based, or written form. Members must have at least two weeks to submit their votes from the time that the ballots were sent to the membership. The Vice President does not vote. The Vice President shall be responsible for determining the winners of the election and forwarding that information to the nominees at least one week before January 1st.
7. The winning candidate for each position shall be the candidate receiving the largest number of votes. Ties shall be resolved by means of a fair random process.
ARTICLE VII – SECTION COMMITTEES
The Section President with the approval of the Section Board, shall establish committees as required and shall appoint qualified chairs to head these committees. In all cases, the terms of the chairs and the committee memberships shall cease upon completion of the term of the President who appointed them.
ARTICLE VIII – RESPONSIBILITY TO THE INFORMS
1. The Section shall operate in accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws of the INFORMS. Each year, after the INFORMS meeting, a Section annual activity report will be submitted to the INFORMS setting forth the significant accomplishments and activities of the Section during the previous year and outlining a rationale for the budget projections for the following year. Additional reports shall be submitted to the INFORMS upon request by the INFORMS.
2. In the event of dissolution of the Section, its assets shall become the property of the INFORMS.
ARTICLE IX – AMENDMENTS
1. Proposed amendments to these bylaws that are consistent with those of the INFORMS, may be initiated either by action of the Section Board or by a petition to the President signed by 5% of the membership or 15 members of the Section, whichever is smaller. The Secretary/Treasurer shall distribute copies of the proposed change to all members of the Section by electronic mail or written form not less than three weeks before the annual membership meeting. An open discussion of the proposed amendment to the bylaws shall be carried out at the following membership meeting of the Section.
2. Not more than two months after the discussion of the proposed amendment, the Secretary/Treasurer shall distribute to all members copies of the proposed amendment along with ballot forms by electronic mail, web-based, or written form. No ballot shall be counted unless marked by a Section member to indicate his/her choice, returned to the official tellers bearing the voter’s name, and received by the tellers no later than a date to be specified upon the ballot form – a date not earlier than two weeks from the date of distributing the ballot forms to the Section membership.
3. The adoption of the proposed amendment shall require an affirmative vote by at least two-thirds of the members voting, as tallied by tellers appointed by the President. The tellers shall report the tally to the President within one week of the date specified for receipt of the ballots. The result of the balloting shall be announced to the membership by the Secretary/Treasurer.
4. If approved by the Section membership, the proposed amendment to the Bylaws shall become effective upon approval by the INFORMS.
ARTICLE X – MEETINGS
1. The annual membership meeting of the Section shall be held when practical at the time and place of the annual meeting of the INFORMS with the schedule and site to be arranged by the Secretary of the Section. The place and time of this meeting shall be announced at the INFORMS meeting, or earlier if possible. The quorum for action at the membership meeting shall be 5% of the membership or 15 members of the Section, whichever is smaller.
2. Board meetings of the Section may be held whenever a quorum can be assembled. One Board meeting a year, normally at the annual meeting of the INFORMS shall be considered a minimum requirement.
3. The Section officers shall meet on call of the President. Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern all Board and Section membership meetings except in those cases where they are inconsistent with this Constitution.