Constitution
1. RESPONSIBILITIES
In 1978, by virtue of an action of the 17th ICSU General Assembly, SCOSTEP (previously an Inter-Union Commission in 1966-72, and a Special Committee in 1972- 1978) became a Scientific Committee of ICSU with the following principal tasks:
- (i)promote international interdisciplinary programmes
in solar-terrestrial physics, and to organize and coordinate such
programmes of interest to and approved by at least two of the
Participating Bodies (see Sec. 2.1). Each specific programme will
normally be of finite duration.
(ii)To define the data relating to these programmes that should be exchanged through the World Data Centres.
(iii)To provide such advice as may be required by the ICSU bodies and World Data Centres concerned with these programmes.
(iv)To work with other ICSU bodies in the coordination of symposia in
solar- terrestrial physics, especially on topics related to SCOSTEP's
programmes. Where possible, such symposia will be held in association
with meetings of interested ICSU organizations.
- 2.1 Participating Bodies, Adherents, Correspondents, and Affiliates to SCOSTEP are:
- (i) Participating Bodies. The Unions and other ICSU bodies that
express an interest in some aspect of solar-terrestrial physics may be
recognized by the Bureau as Participating Bodies (see Section 3.3).
Initially these Participating Bodies are IAU, IUGG (IAGA), IUGG
(IAMAS), IUPAP, URSI, and COSPAR.
(ii) Adherents. A scientific academy, research council, or other appropriate body in a country or geographical region that is representative of research in that country or region relevant to the programmes promoted by SCOSTEP may be recognized by the Council as an Adherent to SCOSTEP (see Section 3.2). (The terms body, country, and geographical region have the same meanings as those applied to them by ICSU.)
(iii) Correspondents. In any country or geographical region not represented by an Adherent, a Correspondent may be designated by the Bureau (see Section 3.3).
(iv) Affiliates. The World Data Centres A, B, C, and D shall be designated Affiliates of SCOSTEP. Other international bodies may also be designated Affiliates of SCOSTEP by the Bureau (see Section 3.3).
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(i) The officers of SCOSTEP, namely the President, Vice-President and Scientific Secretary.
(ii) One Representative appointed by each Participating Body in consultation with the Bureau of SCOSTEP to assure geographic and disciplinary balance. These Representatives shall be responsible for maintaining close liaison with their respective organizations.
(iii) One Representative appointed by each Adherent. These Representatives shall be responsible for close liaison with their respective Adherents.
(iv) Scientific Discipline Representatives, selected in such a way that their collective scientific expertise will cover the range of subdisciplines in solar-terrestrial physics, with as much provision for adequate geographic distribution as is possible. The Scientific Discipline Representatives will collectively serve as a source of scientific advice and proposals for new programmes, projects and the like, and as potential leaders and members of component bodies (see Sections 3.3 to 3.5).
(v) Chairmen of Steering Committees (see Section 3.4).
(vi) Chairmen of Working Groups established by the Bureau (see Sec. 3.5)
(vii) One Representative of each of the three sets of World Data Centres A, B, and C, appointed by the Centres.
(viii) One Liaison Representative of each international body affiliated with SCOSTEP, appointed by those organizations.
(ix) Correspondents. (For appointments, see Section 3.3.)
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3.1 The structural units of SCOSTEP shall comprise:
- the Council,
- the Bureau,
- Steering Committees,
- Working Groups, and
- the Finance Committee.
- the President,
- the Vice-President,
- the Representatives of the Participating Bodies and
- the Scientific Secretary (ex officio).
3.2 The Council shall comprise the Adherent Representatives (see 2.2(iii)). Correspondents appointed by the Bureau (Section 2.1) sit with the Council but do not vote. The President of SCOSTEP shall be Chairman of the Council. The Council shall:
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(i) Review the scientific, financial and administrative activities of
SCOSTEP and, if necessary, refer matters to the Bureau for further
consideration.
(ii) Participate in the election of the President and Vice-President of SCOSTEP according to the method described in Article 5.
(iii) Appoint two members of the Finance Committee, naming one as Chairman (see Article 7).
(iv) Determine the scale of annual subscriptions for Adherents (see Article 7).
(v) Consider and act on the admission of Adherents.
3.3 The Bureau shall comprise:
The Bureau shall be responsible to the Council for the scientific, administrative, and financial direction of SCOSTEP's activities. The Bureau appoints:
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(i) The Scientific Discipline Representatives, in consultation with the
Participating Bodies. The number shall be determined by the Bureau.
(ii) The Chairmen of the Steering Committees and Working Groups, and additional members, if needed (see Section 3.4).
(iii) Correspondents (see Section 2.1).
(iv) The Scientific Secretary (see Article 8).
3.4 Steering Committees.
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The task of planning, developing, and providing scientific and
practical advice for the carrying out of major programmes may be
delegated by the Bureau to Steering Committees, which shall be
responsible to the Bureau for carrying out these tasks. A Steering
Committee for a given programme shall include a representative of each
Participating Body and each ICSU body interested in the objectives of
the programme, appointed by that body. To assure geographic and
disciplinary balance, this appointment should be made in consultation
with the SCOSTEP Bureau. A chairman and, if needed, additional members
shall be appointed by the Bureau. Major national and international
agencies concerned with the execution of the programme may be invited
by the Bureau to nominate liaison representatives.
3.5 Working Groups may be established by the Bureau on an ad hoc basis, with such memberships as are necessary for the task in hand: in particular, early planning of prospective programmes, or for the carrying out of programmes and projects not requiring major new resources.
3.6 The Finance Committee shall comprise two members appointed by the Council. The duties of the Finance Committee are described in Article 7.
- 4.1 General Meetings of SCOSTEP (being meetings of SCOSTEP as
defined in Section 2.2) shall normally be convened by the President at
intervals of two years to determine scientific priorities, consider
scientific proposals and review financial and administrative
arrangements, and at alternate meetings to elect the President and
Vice- President. The President of SCOSTEP shall preside over General
Meetings of SCOSTEP.
4.2 The Bureau shall normally meet annually. If necessary, additional meetings may be convened by the President.
4.3 The Council and the Finance Committee shall meet during General Meetings.
4.4 For notice of meetings, see Section 8.3.
5. ELECTION AND TERMS OF OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT AND VICE- PRESIDENT
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5.1 All those listed in Section 2.2 except the Scientific Secretary and
Correspondents appointed by the Bureau, shall be potentially eligible
to participate in the nomination and election of the President and
Vice-President, subject only to such qualifications as may be imposed
by SCOSTEP. Eligible participants are referred to below as electors.
5.2 The offices of President and Vice-President will not be voted on separately. In the final ballot, the candidate receiving the largest weighted number of votes shall be declared President, and the candidate receiving the second largest weighted number of votes shall be declared Vice-President.
5.3 Nominations and elections shall be carried out according to procedures and schedules to be determined by SCOSTEP, and shall include the following steps:
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(i) The Scientific Secretary shall call on the electors to nominate persons qualified to serve as President.
(ii) Electors desiring to make nominations shall send their nominations to the Scientific Secretary.
(iii) The Scientific Secretary shall compile a list of all nominees who have received the requisite number of valid nominations, and shall delete from his list all those who wish to withdraw their names from consideration. The remainder shall constitute the list of qualified candidates.
(iv) The Scientific Secretary shall distribute to the electors a presidential ballot on which the qualified candidates are listed, together with a report on the number of nominations that each has received.
(v) Each elector participating in the election shall indicate on the presidential ballot his first and second choice for President.
(vi) In counting the votes to determine the outcome described in Section 5.2, the first and second choices shall be tabulated separately and suitably weighted. A vote for first choice shall be counted as two votes for the candidate, a vote for second choice shall be counted as one vote.
5.4 Elections shall be conducted by secret ballot. Elections shall normally be conducted at a biennial General Meeting (see Section 4.1), but may be conducted by mail if necessary.
5.5 The Bureau shall appoint one or more scrutineers who are not candidates for election to oversee the preparation of ballots as described in Section 5.3 and the counting of ballots cast under Section 5.4.
5.6 The President and Vice-President shall normally serve for a term of four years, but may be reelected in the same capacity for an additional term (consecutive or non- consecutive). In accordance with ICSU rules, no person other than a salaried Secretary may normally serve as an officer of SCOSTEP for a total period of more than eight years. The terms shall begin at the conclusion of a biennial General Meeting (see Article 4), and end at the conclusion of the biennial General Meeting four years later.
5.7 In case the office of Vice-President is vacated between elections, the Bureau may appoint a successor to fill the remainder of the unexpired term.
Voting in elections has been described in Article 5. The following describes voting on matters other than elections.
- 6.1 At meetings of SCOSTEP or any of its component bodies, each
member present and entitled to vote may cast only one vote, even if the
member serves in more than one capacity. In meetings of SCOSTEP or the
Council, Representatives of Adherents whose dues are in arrears by more
than two years and Correspondents appointed by the Bureau (see Section
2.1) have a voice, but no vote, except as noted below.
6.2 Decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of the affirmative and negative votes of those present and taking part in the vote. One-half the number of those eligible to vote plus one shall constitute a quorum. All those listed in Section 2.2, except the Scientific Secretary and Correspondents appointed by the Bureau, shall be eligible to vote on scientific questions.
On administrative questions, the President shall rule whether their financial implications are strong enough to warrant treating them as financial questions.
At all meetings, the President or Chairman has the deciding vote in case of ties.
7.1 Funds for the administration and activities of SCOSTEP may be provided by ICSU itself, by the Participating Bodies and Adherents, or other sources; or may be received by ICSU on behalf of SCOSTEP from UNESCO and other sources.
7.2 A scale of annual subscriptions for Adherents shall be determined by the Council. Each Adherent shall select the level at which it wishes to subscribe.
7.3 The Finance Committee (see Section 3.2, item iii), with whatever assistance it requires of the Scientific Secretary, shall at regular intervals prepare a budget of estimated income and expenditure for the Bureau's approval. The budget, when approved by the Bureau, shall be forwarded to ICSU by the Scientific Secretary. The Bureau is accountable to the Council for its financial operations, and shall submit annual accounts to it.
In addition, the Finance Committee shall at regular intervals scrutinize the accounts kept by the Scientific Secretary and, if they are in order, absolve him of liability.
7.4 The funds shall be administered according to the ICSU "Rules for Scientific and Special Committees".
8.1 The Bureau shall appoint a Scientific Secretary, who shall receive a stipend, and such other staff as it deems necessary.
8.2 The Scientific Secretary shall be responsible for the administration of the Secretariat, including servicing meetings of SCOSTEP and its component bodies, financial matters under the direction of the Bureau, the preparation of reports, and general correspondence.
8.3 The Scientific Secretary shall keep the Secretaries General of ICSU and the Participating Bodies and the Secretaries of the Adherents fully and promptly informed of the activities of SCOSTEP. The Scientific Secretary shall be responsible for giving at least four months notice of the date, place, and provisional agenda of formal meetings of SCOSTEP or of the Bureau.
8.4 The Scientific Secretary shall attend all meetings of SCOSTEP, the Bureau and, as adjudged necessary by the President, other component bodies, without vote.
SCOSTEP and its constituent bodies may enact by-laws for their own operations.
10. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
10.1 Any two members of SCOSTEP as defined in Section 2.2 may jointly propose amendments to this Constitution.
10.2 The Bureau, after having had an opportunity to analyze the potential consequences of a proposed amendment, shall submit it to the members as defined in Section 2.2 at least six months before the proposed date of adoption.
10.3 An amendment shall take effect if it is adopted by at least two-thirds of those entitled to vote and actually voting, and after it is ratified by the ICSU Executive Board.
10.4 The adoption of amendments shall normally take place at biennial General Meetings (see Section 4.1), but may be conducted by mail if necessary.
At the General Council Meeting in 1990, it was decided that for voting on SCOSTEP financial matters votes will be weighted by the category number in which adherent countries contribute to SCOSTEP. The previous seven categories of subscription dues were established in 1993 and had remained the same over the past 14 years. A new subscription dues structure was proposed by the Bureau and was passed at the General Council Meeting held in Perugia, Italy, in July 2007. As a result, the current seven categories correspond to:
| CATEGORY | UNIT | SUBSCRIPTION(US$) |
| I | 1 | $500 |
| II | 2 | $1,000 |
| III | 5 | $2,500 |
| IV | 10 | $5,000 |
| V | 20 | $10,000 |
| VI | 35 | $17,500 |
| VII | 50 | $25,000 |
NCAR’s High Altitude Observatory in Boulder, CO
©2006 SCOSTEP