The International Association for Statistical Computing

a Section of the International Statistical Institute

STATUTE

of the

EUROPEAN REGIONAL SECTION

1. The European Regional Section (ERS) of the International Association for Statistical Computing (IASC) is established by the Council in accordance with art. 12 of the IASC Statutes.

It is composed of the members of the IASC residing in Europe.

2. IASC-ERS Mission

2.1 The mission of the ERS is to promote European co-operation in pursuing the aims of the IASC. In particular the IASC-ERS will, in the European context, aim to further the progress of the theory, methods, and practice of statistical computing and to foster interest and knowledge in effective and efficient statistical computing through international contacts among statisticians, computing professionals, organizations, institutions, governments.

2.2 To achieve its mission the IASC-ERS may:

- organize international or regional seminars, conferences, meetings. In particular, the ERS shall be responsible for arranging European meetings on computational statistics, known as COMPSTAT meetings;

- promote research and training programmes on theoretical and practical aspects of computational statistics;

- foster evaluations of statistical computing techniques and programs;

- publish scientific periodicals and books, reports and newsletters, independently or in cooperation with other organizations;

- collaborate with other bodies having similar objectives.

3. ERS-Organs

The principal organs of the ERS are:

3.1 The Regional Assembly;

3.2 The Board of Directors (BoD);

3.3 The Officers of the BoD.

4. The Regional Assembly

4.1 The members of the ERS, in accordance with art. 1, assembled at a meeting or casting their votes by mail on questions referred to them constitute the Regional Assembly.

4.2 The decisions of the Regional Assembly shall be made by a majority of votes cast at a meeting or by mail. Each individual member has one vote.

4.3 A Regional Assembly will be convened normally not less than once in two years and, if possible, conjointly with COMPSTAT symposia.

5. The Board of Directors

5.1 The BoD shall consist of:

- the Chairman;

- the Chairman-Elect;

- the past Chairman of BoD;

- ten individual members (half of them will retire every two years).

5.2 The Chairman-Elect and the ten individual members of the BoD shall be elected by and from the membership of the ERS in accordance with the provisions laid down in art. 7.1 and 7.2 below. The period of membership will be four years; BoD members will not be eligible for immediate reelection. No more than two BoD member shall be from the same country. To ensure continuity the Chairman will remain a member of the BoD for the two years after his chairmanship.

5.3 The BoD shall promote the objectives of the Association, administer the affairs of the ERS and, for these purposes, shall:

- elect the ERS Scientific Secretary, the Treasurer and auditors;

- appoint committees, working groups, etc. for assigned tasks and delegate its power to such committees or to one or more officers or members of the BoD for assigned purposes;

- appoint necessary staff and incur necessary expenditure for the work of the ERS.

5.4 The Board of Directors shall conduct its business at ordinary meetings to be held during COMPSTAT Symposia or at special meetings or by mail as and when necessary. At least one month's notice of a special meeting shall be given to all members of the Board of Directors. The quorum of the BoD shall be seven including proxy members. Proxies have to be IASC members. The BoD will decide its rules of procedure with a simple majority.

5.5 The President of the IASC will take part at the BoD meeting ex officio. The Director of the ISI Permanent Office shall be informed about each meeting of the BoD and shall receive the minutes of these meetings.

5.6 The Treasurer of the IASC will take part at the BoD meeting ex-officio. The Treasurer of the IASC shall be responsible for the maintenance of the accounts of the IASC-ERS.

6. The officers

6.1 The officers of the BoD (the Chairman, the Chairman-Elect and the Past-Chairman, the Scientific Secretary) are members of the BoD. The term of office shall be two years.

The Chairman-Elect is elected by ERS members according to the art.7.2 below. Upon the expire of his term of office the Chairman-Elect will assume, the duty of Chairman for the following two-year term. The Scientific Secretary shall be elected by and from the BoD-membership.

6.2 The Chairman shall represent the ERS on all the official occasions and shall preside over the meetings of the Regional Assembly and the BoD and, shall have general responsibility for the execution of the policies and decisions of the Regional Assembly and the BoD.

6.3 The Officers shall assist the Chairman in the formulation of the policy of the ERS and in all other important decisions.

6.4 The Scientific Secretary shall be responsible, under the guidance of the Chairman, for co-ordination of the ERS-activities involved in arranging conferences, courses and publications. The Scientific Secretary shall be also responsible of the preparation of BoD meetings and Regional Assembly including the preparation of reports, the recording of minutes

of meetings and shall circulate to BoD members all required materials.

6.5 In order to insure the continuity of management of the ERS, the Chairman shall keep the Chairman-Elect closely informed with respect to all relevant management and policy activities. The Chairman-Elect shall utilize his term to get acquainted with the business of the IASC-ERS.

6.6 At the conclusion of their term of office, it shall be the responsibility of the Chairman and the Scientific Secretary to prepare a comprehensive report to the ERS about its activities during the previous two years (or since the last report). This report shall be presented to the Regional Assembly at the ordinary meeting of the ERS, at which time the outstanding funds and the relevant correspondence shall be transferred to the new Treasurer and the new Scientific Secretary.

7. Elections of the BoD and Officers

7.1 During the year prior to an election, the BoD must set up an Election Committee (EC). The Committee will invite all members of ERS to suggest candidates for the BoD as well as for the Chairman.

The number of candidates for the BoD must be at least double of the number of vacancies (i.e. greater or equal to 10).

The Committee shall prepare a list of candidates for the BoD which shall include:

- all candidates who have been nominated at least five time by ERS members;

- additional members proposed by the EC in order to assure a sufficient geographical representativeness.

The EC will also indicates at least two candidate for the position of Chairman-Elect, chosen among prominent scientist in the field of Computational Statistics. Candidates must have

expressed their willingness to serve on the BoD.

7.2 The elections will be held every two years. The election shall be held by mail ballot among all ERS members under the direction of the Election Committee.

The candidate with the highest number of votes will be nominated Chairman-Elect. The other BoD members shall consist of the five candidates, that are in the majority and not belonging to

countries already present in the current BoD with two members.

New members will take office during the subsequent COMPSTAT meeting.

7.3 The ERS Scientific Secretary shall be elected by the BoD with secret vote in occasion of ordinary BoD meeting held during COMPSTAT symposia.

8. Finances

8.1 Financial resources of the IASC-ERS shall consist of part of conference fees, conference and courses benefits if any, publications royalties, gift and legacies, grants from public or private bodies, any other sources.

9. By-Laws

9.1 The BoD shall have power to draw up By-Laws for purposes mentioned in the Statute. The By-laws of the IASC-ERS shall not contain any regulation which contravenes to the IASC and IASC-ERS statutes.

10. Amendments of the Statute and By-Laws

10.1 Proposals to amend the ERS-Statute and By-Laws may be made in writing to the Chairman by any five members of the BoD or by any ten members of the ERS.

10.2 An amendment to the Statute shall take effect if it is approved by at least two thirds of the members of the BoD, and by the Executive Committee of the IASC.

Any change in the By-Laws shall be decided by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast in the BoD.

10.3 The approved amendments shall be published in the regular newsletter of the ERS.

BY-LAWS of the EUROPEAN REGIONAL SECTION

I - Membership

Members of ERS are all IASC regulars members (institutions and individuals) residing in Europe without any restriction on number.

An institutional member shall be entitled to designate a representative who may attend meetings of ERS and take part in the activities of the association with the same privileges as the individual members.

Individuals or institutions who are not members of the IASC and are interested in the activities of ERS may become members by applying and paying any prescribed dues to IASC.

II. Regional Assembly

The business transactions of the Regional Assembly shall include:

- consideration and adoption with or without modification of reports of the Chairman, Scientific Secretary and others of the BoD on the activities and finances of the ERS;

- acknowledgement of results of election of Officers and members of the BoD;

- consideration of reports of any committees appointed by the Regional Assembly, and proposals regarding policy and programmes of the ERS;

- all other business necessary for the promotion of the objectives of the Association.

A notice specifying the place, date, time and the agenda of a Regional Assembly shall be communicated (by mail or IASC-newsletter) to all members of the ERS not less than three months before the date of the Regional Assembly.

III. Board of Directors

The BoD shall meet every second years, in occasion of COMPSTAT symposia. If possible, the BoD meet twice during the COMPSTAT, the first meeting of the outgoing BoD and the second a meeting of the incoming BoD. To assist in the transition, all members of both BoD are encouraged to attend both meetings.

The BoD shall hold an interim meeting, if possible, midway between COMPSTAT symposia. This meeting may coincide with a regional meeting cosponsored by the IASC-ERS. Decisions of the BoD required between meetings may be taken by mail.

The BoD members who are unable to attend meetings are encouraged to appoint a representative who may attend and speak at the meeting in the member's place, but who may not vote on questions before the BoD.

When an issue arises that would normally be dealt with by BoD but which requires action before a mail vote or the next BoD meeting, the Chairman shall be empowered to act on behalf of the BoD. In doing so, the Chairman shall consult with the Officers and members of BoD to the extent possible, and shall submit the action for confirmation by BoD as soon as possible.

IV. ERS-BoD Chairman

In the Chairman's absence its roles shall be filled by the Chairman-Elect or by some member of the BoD nominated by the Chairman. If no member of the BoD is able to be present at a meeting organized or sponsored by the ERS, the Chairman may nominate a member of the ERS to act as his representative for that occasion and to maintain liaison with the Scientific Secretary.

If the chairmanship becomes vacant or the Chairman is for any reason unable to fulfill his responsibilities, the Chairman-Elect shall serve for the remaining term of the Chairman or until the Chairman shall again be able to serve, as the case may be.

If, for any reason, an office becomes vacant, a new officer shall be nominated by the Chairman and approved by the majority of the BoD.

IV. Elections procedure

The Election Committee (EC) shall consist of three members who shall be selected among the members of the BoD. The BoD shall designate one member of the Election Committee to act as Chairman.

The first step of the election procedure shall consist of the preparation of the list of nominations. In order to obtain suggestions by the ERS members a call for candidature must be sent out by the EC at least three months before the date of issue of ballot papers.

The list of nominations, including suggestions of ERS members and integrated by the EC according to the art. 7.1 of the Statute, shall be printed on ballot papers and sent to members for voting at least six months before an ordinary meeting. Short biographical details of the candidates (i.e. present position, membership in international societies, service to statistics of international level, special field of statistical work) should be included on the ballot.

The ballot papers, with votes recorded in a secret form by the members, must reach the EC-Chairman not later than two months after the date of issue of the ballot papers.

The Election Committee shall open the envelopes with ballots, destroy the envelopes and then count the votes.

Candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be considered elected. Any ties that may have occurred shall be resolved according the rule of the highest seniority of membership in the Association.

The BoD and membership of the ERS shall be notified of the result of the elections.

VI. Finance.

No gift or legacy may be accepted unless approved by the BoD.

The funds of the IASC-ERS may be used to meet the normal operating expenses of the BoD, the expenses of conferences, courses, publications, and other activities of the ERS.

Officers and members of the BoD shall serve without compensation. They may be reimbursed for travel expenses associated with official functions.

The BoD may authorize the provision of grants or financial assistance for research or developmental projects consonant with the objectives of the Association. The BoD is expected to maintain reserves sufficient to meet prior commitments; it may transfer funds to assist activities of IASC.

Any expenditure of funds shall be for a purpose consistent with the statutes and by-laws, and shall be authorized by the Chairman. Recurring expenditures for the same purpose may be authorized by the Chairman on a continuing basis. The Chairman may revoke such a continuing authorization. If the appropriateness of the expenditure might reasonably be questioned, the Chairman shall submit the matter to the BoD for approval.

The Treasurer shall make suitable arrangements for signing contracts, agreements and other relevant documents, for maintenance of bank accounts, etc. and for all procedural matters relating to transactions, meetings, conferences, publications and other activities of the ERS.

At each ordinary meeting the accounts of the outgoing Treasurer shall be audited, consistently with the practices and standards of the ISI, by two members of the ERS and their report shall be presented to the BoD for acceptance by a majority of votes.

VII. Scientific meetings and publications of the ERS

The BoD may arrange seminars, summer schools, conferences, etc. and other programmes on its own responsibility or in collaboration with other organizations.

Ordinary meetings of the ERS (i.e. COMPSTAT symposia) shall be convened normally every second year. The ordinary meeting of the ERS shall be held at such times and places as the BoD may direct.

For COMPSTAT symposia as well as for each official meeting (seminar, summer school etc.) of the ERS the Chairman in consultation with the BoD shall appoint a Scientific Program Committee (SPC) and a Local Organizing Committee (LOC). In order to assure a suitable coordination between, SPC and BoD at least one member of the BoD should be appointed as SPC member. SPC and LOC should make brief reports on progress, at least every 6 months, to BoD chairman.

The LOC (on the behalf of the Host Institution) is responsible for the finance of the meeting (seminar, summer school etc.).

The BoD may be able to provide loans to assist with cash flow for the meeting but cannot be responsible for any loss. Where the meeting is successful the BoD will receive a fee toward its costs and to help fund other ERS activities. An agreement between the ERS-BoD and Local Host Institution has to be established on the basis of the current COMPSTAT GUIDELINES.

Sponsorship can be given to European meetings pursuing the same objectives of the Association under condition that a representative of the BoD be a member of the SPC.

The BoD may make necessary arrangements for publishing in a suitable way the COMPSTAT proceedings and lectures presented at meetings or summer schools organized or sponsored by the IASC- ERS, or to make arrangements to publish a newsletter of ERS.