CSIEA-Ottawa Constitution
Name and Location:
Objectives
Membership
General Assembly
Board of Directors
Committees
The draft of this Charter was first written after the Constitution of
the Mohandes Organization in Toronto in July 25, 2004 with the changes
applied by a small group of Iranian engineers in Ottawa; The draft had
then been discussed, modified and approved by an assembly of 21 Iranian
engineers in Ottawa in August 17, 2004. In October 8, 2004 the draft has
been reconsidered in the General Assembly with more than 50 attendees
and approved unanimously. By the approval of the Interim Board of
Directors in October 20, 2004, the draft became the official Charter of
CSIEA-Ottawa. Amendments to this Charter were proposed to the Annual
General Assembly of May 29, 2005 and have been approved.
Although the translation from Persian to English has been done with
lots of precision, in case of any discrepancy, the Persian text would be
considered the original one and would be binding.
Charter of Canadian Society of Iranian Engineers and Architects -
Ottawa
Canadian Society of Iranian Engineers and Architects – Ottawa,
referred to as “CSIEA” in the rest of this document, is a
professional, independent, non-profit, non-political, and non-religious
organization which is established with the spirit of collegiality and is
run based on democratic principles. The charter of CSIEA consists of six
sections as follows.
1.1. The name of the society in Persian is:
کانون
کانادايی
مهندسين
وآرشيتكت
هاى ايرانی –
مركز
اُُتاوا and in English
is: “Canadian Society of Iranian Engineers and Architects –
Ottawa,” and in French is: “Société Canadienne des
Ingénieurs et des Architectes Iraniens – Ottawa.”
1.2. The location of CSIEA is in Ottawa.
2.1 CSIEA has the following objectives and will attempt to reach
them:
(a) To serve and protect the interests of the members;
(b) To promote the professional and social interests of the members and
their families;
(c) To facilitate interaction, cooperation and collaboration among
members; (to create a spirit of co-operation amongst the members of the
Society).
(d) To help and provide guidance to the society’s new members;
(e) To introduce and raise awareness in the community about the Iranian
engineer and architects (including Iranian engineering and architectural
history);
(f) To establish relationship with other technical and professional
organizations whose goals and practices are not in contrast with those
of CSIEA.
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There shall be three classes of membership in CSIEA. These are:
regular membership, associate membership, and honorary membership. The
Board of Directors is responsible for processing the membership
applications and for this, shall have the right to examine the academic
and professional qualifications of the candidates.
3.1. Regular Membership
Only Regular members shall be entitled to vote for the election of
delegates at the General Assembly and shall be eligible to hold seats on
the Board of Directors of CSIEA. A person shall become a “Regular
member” when she/he satisfies at least one of the following criteria,
applies for membership, and after her/his application being approved,
pays the membership fees.
(a) She/he is a registered or licensed professional engineer or
architect in any province or territory of Canada;
(b) She/he holds a bachelor degree in engineering, engineering science,
applied science, computer science or architecture;
(c) She/he holds a 3-year post-secondary technical degree plus one (1)
year of work experience in the related field;
(d) She/he holds a 2-year post-secondary technical degree plus two (2)
years of work experience in the related field;
(e) She/he holds a non-engineering bachelor degree and has at least five
(5) years of work experience in engineering (e.g., technical management
or patent law, etc.).
3.2. Associate Membership
A person shall be an “associate member” when she/he satisfies one
of the following criteria, applies for membership and pays his/her
membership fees.
(a) She/he is enrolled and has finished her/his second year of study in
an accredited program as listed in 3.1(b);
(b) She/he has graduated from a two or three year accredited technical
program from a post-secondary institute;
(c) She/he holds a non-engineering bachelor degree.
3.3. Honorary Membership
A person shall be an honorary member when she/he has made significant
contributions towards achieving the objectives of CSIEA, or is a
prominent scientific or cultural figure. The honorary membership is for
lifetime. The sequence of becoming an honorary member is as follows:
(a) Such a membership shall be initiated by nomination by one of the
members of CSIEA
(b) nomination needs to be approved by the Board of Directors
(c) the consent of the candidate should be obtained
(d) The biography of candidates must be posted and be accessible to the
members at least one month prior to the date of General Assembly
(e) at least two third of the General Assembly vote for final approval
is required
3.4 Membership Term:
The term of regular and associate membership shall be from the date
of the Annual General Assembly (in May) of each year to the date of the
Annual General Assembly of the following year. The fiscal year of the
Society shall be from June 1st to May 31st.
3.5 Membership Fees:
The BOD shall review and set the membership fee in April of each
fiscal year for the following year.
The membership fees of full time students, those who are in job
transition or retired will be 1/3 of that of a full sustain members.
Honorary and seniors (+65 years old) members are exempted from paying membership fees.
ORGANIZATION
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4.1. General Assembly shall be the highest decision making authority of
CSIEA.
4.2. General Assembly is held at least once a year in or about the month
of May to elect the new Board of Directors and to approve the annual
budget.
4.3. General Assembly shall be the sole authority to decide on the
followings:
(a) To elect the new Board of Directors;
(b) To approve or change the charter of CSIEA, or to decide on the
survival of CSIEA, with a quorum of more than 2/3 of the present members
in the meeting;
(c) To approve the annual report and financial statement;
(d) To elect an accountant or to appoint an auditor;
(e) To approve the honorary memberships with 2/3 of the votes.
4.4. General Assembly may be held more than once a year when:
(a) The Board of Directors shall call the meeting on its initiative;
(b) The Board of Directors shall convene a meeting within forty-five
(45) days of being called to do so by notice in writing signed by at
least ten percent or fifteen (15) of its regular members, provided that
more than ninety (90) days shall elapse between this meeting and the
next regular meeting of General Assembly. The notice shall contain the
justification for the request of calling a General Assembly.
4.5. At any General Assembly Meeting a quorum shall consist of fifty
percent (50%) of regular members plus one (1). If the requisite quorum
is not present, a second meeting shall be held, except that more than
fifteen (15) days shall elapse between two meetings. A quorum is not
required for the second meeting.
4.6. To be eligible to vote at General Assembly Meetings, a minimum of
three (3) months of regular membership shall be required (with the
exception of the first General Assembly since the conception of CSIEA).
4.7. Notice of General Assembly stating the agenda of the Meeting shall
be sent to each member at least one month before the date of the
Meeting, through Internet or other means of communication.
4.8. A regular member who is absent in General Assembly Meeting, may
give proxy to another regular member to vote on her/his behalf. No
regular member shall be given more than one (1) proxy.
4.9. In the case of a tie between two or more of the candidates for
Board of Directors, the voting shall be repeated in the General Assembly
only to decide among those candidates.
4.10. The General Assembly will be first chaired by the most senior
CSIEA member present at the meeting who will run the election of the
chairperson for the General Assembly session and adequate number of
secretaries. The rest of the General Assembly session will be then
chaired by the elected chairperson.
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Board of Directors shall be the second highest decision making
authority after General Assembly. Board of Directors shall manage the
affairs of the Society. Except for the five (5) subjects stated in
section 4-3, Board of Directors shall have authority to make decision in
all other matters.
5-1 Board of Directors shall be elected by anonymous vote of regular
members in General Assembly Meeting.
5-2 A regular member with a minimum of one year membership shall be
eligible to be elected to the Board of Directors (except for the first
year of the elections).
5-3 All directors shall be elected to a two (2) years term, except for
the first year where the first three higher votes shall be elected for
two years and the four (4) lower votes for only one year. This way each
year either three (3) or four (4) members would be elected and the rest
of the Board members will remain in place.
5-4 No Board member shall be elected more than two (2) consecutive
terms.
5-5 The Board of Directors shall consist of seven (7) main members as
follows:
(1) President
(2) Vice-President (and Head of the Publications Committee)
(3) Secretary
(4) Treasurer (and Head of Financial and Legal Committee)
(5) Head of the Culture & Technology Committee
(6) Head of the Registration & Membership Committee
(7) Head of the Social Committee
5-6 The above seven (7) directors shall be elected by the Board of
Directors from among their numbers at the first meeting of the Board
after General Assembly Meeting.
5-7 Members of Board of Directors who have been ranked 8th to 11th at
General Assembly Meeting shall be substitute members. Each substitute
director shall be a member of the Culture & Technology, the
Registration & Organization, the Social, and the Publication
Committees.
5-8 Board of Directors meeting is held at least once a month. All
directors may attend the meeting. Substitute members shall attend the
meeting as consultants.
5-9 Presence of all other members of CSIEA in the Board Meeting would be
permitted as observer..
5-10 A quorum shall consist of five (5) directors.
5-11 In the absence of one of the main directors, her/his duties may be
exercised by a substitute member with the highest ranking among the
substitute directors.
5-12 All decisions shall be approved by a majority of the attendance in
the meeting. In case of a tie, the vote should be repeated in the next
Board Meeting and in case of another tie the issue might be referred to
the General Assembly.
5-13 In the absence of one of the Board members from three (3)
consecutive Board meetings or the resignation, she/he may be replaced by
a substitute director with the highest ranking until the end of the one
year mandate. If three (3) members of the Board are absent from three
(3) consecutive Board meeting or resign, the remaining directors shall
forthwith call an election.
5-14 A summary of the Board of Directors Minutes of Meeting shall be
published through Internet or other means of communication.
5-15 All services provided by the Board of Directors shall be on a
voluntary basis with no financial compensation.
5-16 Board of Directors shall continue with their duties until the new
Board of Directors is elected.
5-17 Board of Directors may once a year publish the names and
educational background and expertise of members on Internet or CSIEA’s
newsletter.
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6-1 In order to accomplish the objectives and task assigned by the
Society, Board of Directors shall appoint the following committees:
(a) The Finance & Legal committee (headed by the Treasurer of CSIEA)
(b) The Technology & Culture committee
(c) The Registration & Membership committee
(d) The Social committee
(e) The publication committee (headed by the VP of CSIEA)
6-2 The head of each committee shall be elected from among Board of
Directors. Each committee may recruit volunteers.
6-3 In order to accomplish the objectives of CSIEA, the Board may
temporarily appoint other committees.
