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Bylaws


  1. NAME
    The name of the Society shall be the International Society for Neuroethology.
     
  2. PURPOSE
    The purpose of the Society shall be to advance the understanding of the neural bases of behavior in all animals, vertebrate and invertebrate.
     
  3. MEMBERSHIP
    The Society shall consist of five types of members: regular, special, life, student, and emeritus. Application for membership in one of these categories shall require submission of a completed, current application form, including endorsement by at least one regular member of the Society, and an up-to-date professional curriculum vitae and list of publications. Applications will be evaluated and approval granted by a Membership Committee that is a sub-committee of the Executive Committee. The Chair of that Committee will be an ad-hoc member of the Executive Committee.
     
    1. Regular members. Scientists who have done meritorious research in fields cognate to neuroethology and who express interest in the purpose of the Society. Regular members may vote and hold office in the Society.
       
    2. Life members. Regular members may opt to convert to life membership by paying the one-time dues established for this category of membership. Life members enjoy the same privileges accorded to regular members.
       
    3. Special members. Scientists qualified for regular membership but unable, owing to economic and/or political conditions in their countries of residence, to pay regular dues. Applications for this category of membership shall be judged by the Executive Committee on a case-by-case basis, with respect to published lists of developing and economically disadvantaged nations. Dues of Special Members may be paid on a voluntary basis by other members of the ISN, or may be waived by the Executive Committee. Special members may vote and hold office in the Society.
       
    4. Student members. Bona fide undergraduate or graduate students doing research in fields cognate to neuroethology and interested in the purpose of the Society. Student membership requires that mentors or sponsors are active members of the ISN. Student membership shall terminate at the end of the calendar year in which student status terminates, at which time such individuals become eligible for regular membership according to the same criteria and procedures that apply to other scientists. Student members may not vote or hold office.
       
    5. Emeritus members. Regular and special members who are retired from their primary positions may apply for emeritus membership. Emeritus members enjoy the same privileges accorded to regular members.
       
  4. DUES
    The Executive Committee shall set the annual dues of members. The membership shall be by calendar year, with dues payable in advance. If a member's dues are unpaid one year after the normal notice of dues payable, she/he shall receive notice of imminent forfeiture of membership with the next year's notice, and sixty days after that her/his membership shall lapse unless both years' dues are paid. Reinstatement may be approved upon application.
     
  5. MEETINGS
    The Society shall organize an International Congress, ordinarily every three years, as determined by the Executive Committee and Council. The Society may also organize or sponsor smaller meetings or symposia anywhere in the world, provided that these meetings have the approval of the Executive Committee. A business meeting, open to all members of the Society, shall be held at each International Congress.
     
  6. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
    The ordinary running of the Society within policies determined by these articles or by the Council shall be the responsibility of the Executive Committee, comprising the officers of the Society. There shall be five elected officers: President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
     
    These offices shall be held for a period of one Congress interval (ordinarily three years). Elections to these offices shall take place by electronic ballot or in exceptional cases where this is not possible, by postal ballot, before the end of the calendar year of the International Congress. A slate of candidates shall be announced at the Congress, prior to balloting. A special election may be held if an office becomes vacant, but in the case of Secretary or Treasurer in the latter part of a term, the Council may elect an interim officer. The President shall become Past-President, and the President-Elect shall become President, at the Society's business meeting at the International Congress. The terms of office of the Secretary, Treasurer, and new President-Elect shall commence at the end of the calendar year of the ISN Congress. However, the outgoing Treasurer shall work closely with the incoming Treasurer through May 15th of the following year and assume the primary responsibility for filing tax reports to the United States Internal Revenue Service for the year of the Congress.
     
  7. COUNCIL
    Major policies and commitments shall be determined by a Council comprising the Executive Committee and fourteen elected Councillors. In addition, the Chairperson of the International Congress Committee and the Chairperson of its Local Organizing Subcommittee shall serve as appointed Councillors for one Congress interval.
     
    The President shall preside, convene meetings, and consult and poll the Council by mail, email, or fax, but the President shall vote only in case of a tie. Seven elected Councillors shall be replaced at each election. Elected Councillors thus serve for two Congress intervals. Election of the seven new Councilors by electronic ballot or in exceptional cases where this is not possible, by postal ballot, before the end of the calendar year of the International Congress. A slate of candidates shall be announced at the Congress, prior to balloting.
     
  8. CONGRESS COMMITTEES
    The International Congress shall be organized by the Congress Program Committee and the Local Organising Subcommittee according to ISN's policies for Congress management. The Programme Committee shall be responsible for planning and implementing the scientific and social programs of the next International Congress, as well as for fund-raising in support of that Congress, whereas the Local Organizing Subcommittee shall be responsible for all local arrangements for the Congress. The Chairpersons and membership of the Committee and its Subcommittee shall be determined by the Executive Committee of the Society in consultation with the Council. Advice and/or logistical assistance will be requested, as deemed necessary, of the ISN management firm in: the selection of meeting sites; arrangement of special room, meal, and meeting room associated rates for the Congress; registration for the Congress; printing of the Congress Program; and other business-related matters pertaining to the running of the Congress.
     
  9. NOMINATING COMMITTEE
    In preparation for each regular election, a Nominating Committee appointed by the Executive Committee shall prepare a slate of candidates for the elective offices of President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, and seven elected Councilors. The Nominating Committee shall consist of five Regular or Emeritus Members. The Past President and the President-Elect shall be members ex officio, and the remainder shall be members-at-large, all with equal vote. The Past president shall normally serve as Chairperson. The Nominating Committee shall be appointed by the President, after consultation with the Executive Committee and the Council. At the time they are appointed, the three members-at-large shall not be officers, Councilors, or Chairpersons of Standing or ad hoc Committees. The slate of nominees shall be determined, with proper diligence to ensure representation of diverse scientific and geographic areas, prior to the International Congress and announced at the business meeting at the Congress. Proposals for the slate of nominees may be submitted by members of the Society no later than thirty days before the Congress and shall be considered by the Nominating Committee in formulating the slate of candidates. The slate ordinarily shall have not fewer than two, nor more than three, names for each vacancy. The Nominating Committee shall ascertain in advance the willingness of nominees for President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, and Councilors to serve if elected.
     
  10. OTHER COMMITTEES
    The President or the Council may create other committees as appropriate, designated Presidential or Society Committees, respectively. They shall not be permanent and shall expire unless re-authorized within six months after each election.
     
  11. ADOPTION AND AMENDMENT OF BY-LAWS
    On recommendation by a majority of the Council or by a written proposal signed by not fewer than fifty regular members, these By-laws may be adopted or, thereafter, amended by a simple majority of votes cast in an electronic or a mail ballot of voting members. Written notice of the text of proposed amendments must be distributed to all members along with the ballot. Changes in the By-laws shall go into effect upon closing and counting of the ballots.
     

By-laws last revised March 2005