Bylaws of the Division for High Energy Astrophysics of the American Astronomical Society.
Adopted by the Division May 13, 1969.
Last ammended January 10, 1995.
I. Name
This Division of the American Astronomical Society (hereinafter called ``the Society")
shall be known as the ``Division for High Energy Astrophysics."
II. Object
The object of the Division for High Energy Astrophysics (hereinafter called ``the
Division") shall be to assist and promote the advancement of research and the
dissemination of knowledge of high energy events, particles, quanta, of relativistic
gravitational fields, and of related phenomena in the astrophysical universe, and to
promote the coordination of this research and knowledge with other branches of science.
III. Enabling Authority
Article VII of the Society By-laws, as revised in 1968, and as said Article may be
subsequently revised or amended, is hereby incorporated into these By-laws by reference.
IV. Membership
Any member of the American Astronomical Society may become a member of the Division by
making application to the Secretary-Treasurer of the Division and by payment of an
enrollment fee. Any member of the Division may resign from the Division upon notice to the
Secretary-Treasurer. Membership in the Division is contingent upon continuing membership
in the Society, and upon payment of such annual dues as the Division shall assess.
V. Officers and Committee of the Division
- The Committee of the Division (hereinafter called the Committee) shall consist of the
Officers of the Division, the available Past-Chair whose term has most
recently expired provided this officer has served the
full term, and six Committee Members.
All members of the Committee shall be members of the Division of the Society. The
Committee shall have general charge of the affairs of the Division, and through the Chair
or Secretary-Treasurer shall report the activities and needs of the Division to the
Council of the Society.
- The officers of the Committee and of the Division shall be a Chair,
a Vice-Chair, and a Secretary-Treasurer, who in addition to the duties
specifically assigned to them by these by-laws shall discharge the other duties usually
incident to their respective office.
- The Chair shall call all meetings of the Committee and shall preside
at all those meetings whenever
possible. With the advice and consent of the Committee, the Chair
shall appoint any special committees which are necessary to conduct the affairs of the
Division, and shall be an ex-officio member of each such special committee except the
Nominating Committee.
- The Vice-Chair may act for the Chair at the
latter's request and shall act for the Chair in the event that the
latter is incapacitated.
- The Secretary-Treasurer shall send out necessary notices and announcements to the
members of the Committee and to members of the Division. Announcements of meetings of the
Division shall be prepared by the Secretary-Treasurer and transmitted to the appropriate
officer of the Society for publication and distribution to all Society members at least
nine weeks before the date of each meeting. The Secretary-Treasurer shall assist the
Program Committee with arrangements for the meeting and for publication (if any) of the
proceedings, and within five days after each meeting, shall transmit final abstracts of
the papers that were presented to the appropriate officer of the Society for publication
by the Society. The Secretary-Treasurer shall also prepare minutes of each meeting of the
Committee, and of the Business Sessions of the Division, and submit these minutes to each
member of the Committee and to the Secretary of the Society within three weeks after each
meeting. The Society shall collect the enrollment fees and divisional dues set
by the Committee and approved by a majority of the Division members present at a business
session, handle the funds and make disbursements in accordance with a budget approved by
the Committee with due regard to Article VII, Para. 4 of the By-laws of the Society. The
Secretary-Treasurer shall submit to the Committee an annual
financial report which, after approval by auditors appointed by the Chair
from the members of the Division, shall be submitted to the Council.
- The Committee shall meet at least once each year. A request in writing from at least
four members of the Committee shall render a convocation of an additional meeting of the
Committee obligatory. Any member of the Committee unable to attend a meeting shall have
the privilege of naming an alternate to represent said member
at the meeting (without vote) subject to the approval of the Chair. At
any meeting of the Committee four of its members shall constitute a quorum.
- The Committee Members shall also serve, in addition to their other duties described in
this Article, as the Selection Committee for the Bruno Rossi Prize awarded by the
Division, as described in Article XII.
VI. Election and Tenure of Officers and Committee Members
- The terms of office for officers and committee members shall be two
years for Chair and Vice-Chair, three years for
Secretary-Treasurer, and two years for Committee Members.
The Vice-Chair at the end of one
term shall automatically become Chair for the following year.
- Not later than sixteen weeks before each Regular Meeting of the Division, the Chair
of the Committee shall, with the advice and consent of the Committee, appoint a Chair
and two members of the Nominating Committee of three members. No more than one member of
the Nominating Committee shall be a member of the Committee of the Division. The Secretary
of the Society shall be informed of the membership of the Nominating Committee.
- Not later than sixteen weeks before the Regular Meeting of the Division, the
Secretary-Treasurer of the Division shall invite all members of the Division to propose
via written reply, candidates for officers and
committee members for the following year. Any member
of the Division proposed as a candidate for a post on the Committee by not fewer than ten
(10) members of the Division at least 7 weeks before the Regular Meeting shall be deemed
to be nominated to the post, provided the nominee has
stated to the Secretary-Treasurer a willingness to
serve if elected.
- Not later than seven weeks before the Regular Meeting, the Nominating Committee shall
submit to the Secretary-Treasurer nominations of at least one candidate for each vacancy
for an officer, and at least two for each vacancy for a committee member.
It shall be the duty of the Nominating Committee to obtain from each nominee
a written statement indicating a
readiness to serve if elected.
- The Secretary-Treasurer of the Division shall prepare a ballot
containing the names of all candidates nominated according to Paragraphs 3 and 4 of this
Article. The Secretary-Treasurer shall distribute
these ballots to all members of the Division not later than five weeks before the Regular
Meeting. A member shall cast not more than one vote for each position of the Committee to
be filled, and shall return the ballot to the Secretary-Treasurer by
electronic mail. An electronic mail ballot must originate from the
member's electronic mail address as it is maintained in the Secretary-Treasurer's
membership list. Ballots shall be received not later than one week before the
Business Session. The Secretary-Treasurer shall count the votes and submit the tally to
the Chair. Election shall be by a plurality of those voting, and the
Chair shall not cast a ballot unless that
vote is needed to break a tie.
- The Chair shall report the results of the election to the Division
members during the Business Session, and to the Secretary of the Society not more than a
week later.
- The tenure of the members of the Committee shall begin at the close of the Regular
Meeting at which they are elected.
- If a vacancy occurs in the Committee, the Committee may appoint a member of the Division
to serve on the Committee until the next regular election at which time the vacancy shall
be filled by the regular procedure.
VII. Meetings of the Division
- A meeting of the Division to be known as the Regular Meeting shall be held each year at
such time and place as shall be ordered by the Committee. This meeting shall include a
Business Session devoted exclusively to the reports of officers and committees, and to the
transaction of business affairs. No scientific program of the Division shall be presented
simultaneously with the Business Session.
- Meetings of the Division, other than the Regular Meeting, may be scheduled by the
Committee. Special conferences or symposia, when designated as being wholly or jointly
sponsored by the Division, shall have the status of meetings.
- The dates and places of all the meetings of the Division shall be chosen in consultation
with the Council or with an officer designated by the Council.
- All meetings of the Division shall be open. The regulations applying to the selection of
invited papers and to the restrictions regarding authors of contributed papers which are
in force for meetings of the Society shall not have to be applied to meetings of the
Division. The Committee shall be responsible for rules regarding the meetings of the
Division.
- Announcements of the Divisional Meetings shall be prepared by the Secretary-Treasurer,
as specified in Article V, Para. 5 above.
VIII. Appointed Special Committees
- The Chair, with the advice and consent of the Committee of the
Division shall appoint the Nominating Committee, which shall have such duties as are
specified in Article VI of these By-laws; a Program Committee, which shall have such
duties as are specified in Article IX, and such other special committees as conditions may
demand.
- All appointed special committees, unless otherwise terminated, shall be considered to be
automatically discharged at the close of the Regular Meeting next following their
appointment.
IX. Programs
Meetings of the Division may include programs of invited papers and contributed papers.
The Committee shall prescribe the subject and character of such meetings. The Division may
hold joint meetings with other Divisions of the American Astronomical Society, as well as
with Divisions of other scientific Societies. When a meeting of the Division is held in
conjunction with a meeting of the Society, the Program Committee shall have the
responsibility of assisting the Secretary of the Society or the
Secretary's designee in fitting the sessions sponsored by the Division into the
program of the general meeting of the Society. Abstracts of the papers given at a
Divisional Meeting shall be transmitted in final form by the Secretary-Treasurer of the
Division to the appropriate officer of the Society no later than five days after the end
of the Divisional Meeting and shall be published in the same way in which abstracts of
papers given in meetings of the Society are published.
X. Amendment of By-Laws
Proposal of an Amendment of these By-laws may be made by the Council of the Society, by
the Committee of the Division, or by a petition to the Chair of the
Division signed by not fewer than one-tenth of the members of the Division. After
discussion of the proposed Amendment by the Committee at its earliest opportunity the
Secretary-Treasurer shall distribute copies of the proposed amendment to the members of
the Council, for their review and comment, not less than three weeks prior to the next
meeting of the Council. The Secretary-Treasurer shall then distribute copies of the
proposed Amendment, together with the comments of the Council, the Committee, and the
petitioners (if any), to all members of the Division not less than three weeks before the
next Regular Meeting. An opportunity shall be given for discussion during the Business
Session. After this meeting the Secretary-Treasurer shall distribute ballots containing
final working of the proposed Amendment to all members of the Division, who shall return their marked ballots by electronic mail not later than three weeks after the
date of distribution of the ballots. The adoption of an Amendment shall require the
affirmative votes of not fewer than two-thirds of the members voting. The Amendment if
passed shall be transmitted to the Secretary of the Society.
XI. Initial Organization of the Division
[Note: This article contained a provision that it be stricken once the Division became
fully organized. It is therefore not reprinted here.]
XII. Award of the Bruno Rossi Prize
The Division shall award a prize, normally, on an annual basis, ``for a significant
contribution to High Energy Astrophysics, with particular emphasis on recent, original
work.'' The prize will include a cash award, a citation, and an invited lecture by the
recipient at a meeting of the Division. A nomination for the prize, consisting of a
written letter of support, may be made by any member of the Division to the
Secretary-Treasurer of the Division by October 1, and selection of the prize recipient
will be made by the full Executive Committee of the Division as specified in Article V,
paragraph 7.
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