On Jan. 1, 2012, six Board of Trustees positions will become vacant. Elections to fill those positions and decide on proposed changes to the bylaws will take place by hybrid (mail and online) ballot after the Oct. 23 Annual Business Meeting in Orlando. To nominate a candidate by petition for the 2012 board, submit a written petition to the Academy's executive vice president no later than Aug. 24. The petition must be signed by at least 50 voting Academy members and fellows.
In accordance with Academy bylaws, notice is hereby given of the following nominations for officers to the Academy, made by the Board of Trustees in June. Note that the senior secretary for Advocacy is a renewable three-year term and two trustee-at-large positions are available in 2011. The nominees for Chair and Vice Chair of the Council were nominated by the Council during the 2011 Mid Year Forum.
Board of Trustees statement: The Board of Trustees supports the creation of a new membership category for industry. Currently there is only one membership category, Associate Membership, for non-ophthalmologists and there is no differentiation between those who work in academic settings and those in industry.The addition of an Industry membership class will allow the Academy to distinguish between the two groups and charge different membership dues.
1.01. Classes of Membership. There shall be the following classes of membership in the Academy: Active Fellows, Life Fellows, Honorary Fellows, Inactive Fellows, Active Osteopathic Fellows, Life Osteopathic Fellows, Inactive Osteopathic Fellows, Active Members, International Members, Associate Members, Industry Members, Life Members, Life International Members, Life Associate Members, Life Industry Members, Members-in-Training, International Members-in-Training, and Inactive Members.
1.12. Industry Members. A person who holds a degree of Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Osteopathy, or Doctor of Veterinary Medicine or Doctor of Philosophy in science, and is engaged in full-time research in a science related to ophthalmology, shall be eligible for nomination to receive an invitation for membership as an Industry Member.
A person thought to be an eligible candidate for invitation may be nominated by two (2) Active or Life Fellows or Members, on the form prescribed by the Board of Trustees. If the Board of Trustees, in its sole discretion, determines that the candidate should be invited for membership as an Industry Member, an acceptance form prescribed by the Board of Trustees shall be furnished to the candidate. A certification attesting to the person's continued satisfaction of all the requirements for eligibility for nomination to membership in that class shall be required annually.
1.1213.Life Members; Life International Members; Life Associate Members; Life Industry Members. A person who has been an Active Member, International Member, or Associate Member or Industry Member in good standing of the Academy or predecessor organizations for thirty-five (35) years, and whose license to practice medicine (if applicable) is valid and unrestricted at the end of that thirty-five (35) year period, is eligible to become a Life Member in the appropriate life category.
1.1516. Inactive Members. An Active Member, International Member, or Associate Member or Industry Member who is no longer engaged in the active practice of medicine (if applicable) by reason of disability or retirement, and whose license to practice medicine is valid and unrestricted at the time of disability or retirement, is eligible to become an Inactive Member.
1.1617. Membership Applications and Acceptance Forms. Each candidate for membership as an Active Fellow, an Active Osteopathic Fellow, an Active Member, an International Member, a Member-in-Training, or an International Member-in-Training shall file with the Executive Vice President the appropriate Academy membership application form, completed as prescribed thereon, and shall pay the application fee in effect at that time. Each person who has been nominated for invitation to become an Associate Member or an Industry Member, and who is furnished by or under the direction of the Board of Trustees the appropriate Academy membership acceptance form to accept membership in one of those classes, may accept the invitation by filing with the Executive Vice president the acceptance form, completed as prescribed thereon, and paying the fee in effect at that time. All information submitted on or with an application form, a nomination form, or an acceptance form shall be subject to review and verification by or under the supervision of the Board of Trustees.
1.1819. Transfers of Membership Class. The membership of a Fellow or Member who is eligible to become a Life Fellow, a Life Osteopathic Fellow, a Life Member, a Life International Member, or a Life Associate Member or a Life Industry Member in accordance with these Bylaws shall automatically be converted to membership in the respective Life membership class without any application, request, or other action by the Fellow or Member and without any recommendation, vote, or other approval by the Board of Trustees or the Voting Fellows and Members. A person who becomes a Life Fellow, a Life Osteopathic Fellow, a Life Member, a Life International Member, or a Life Associate Member or a Life Industry Member shall continue to have and enjoy all of the privileges and responsibilities associated with the person's former membership class.
Board of Trustees statement: The Board of Trustees supports the creation of the International Trustee-at-Large positions. The board feels that the International Trustees-at-Large will offer an international perspective representative of its international members and will provide pertinent input during board discussions.
1.1920. Voting and Holding Office in the Academy. The only classes of membership entitled to vote on any matter or to attend any annual or special business meeting of the Academy shall be Active Fellows, Active Osteopathic Fellows, Life Fellows, Life Osteopathic Fellows, Active Members, and Life Members. Only Active Fellows, Active Osteopathic Fellows and Life Fellows shall be eligible for nomination, election, or appointment as an Elected or Appointed Officer or as a Trustee-at-Large of the Academy or as the Chair or Vice Chair of the Council, and only International Members, or those Fellows and Members who practice exclusively outside of the United States, shall be eligible for appointment as an International Trustee-at-Large.
3.02. Composition of the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees shall be composed of:
(a) the persons who are from time to time the Elected and Appointed Officers of the Academy referred to in Section 4.01 of these Bylaws;
(b) the most recent living Past President of the Academy able to serve on the Board of Trustees;
(c) the Chair of the Council;
(d) the Vice Chair of the Council;
(e) the Chair of the Academy Foundation Advisory Board;
(f) six (6) Trustees-at-Large;
(g) not more than two (2) International Trustees-at-Large; and
(g)(h) not more than three (3) Public Trustees.
Not more than one-fourth (1/4th) of the members of the Board of Trustees shall at the same time serve as officers or members of the governing board of any one (1) other ophthalmologic organization, other than an organization that is an affiliate or subsidiary of the Academy.
3.03. Terms.
(a) Each Elected Officer and Appointed Officer shall serve on the Board of Trustees for a term contemporaneous with the person's tenure as an Elected Officer or an Appointed Officer in accordance with Article IV.
(b) Each Trustee-at-Large shall serve on the Board of Trustees for one (1) full term of four (4) years. A Trustee-at-Large shall be ineligible for re-election to the Board of Trustees for a second term as a Trustee-at-Large.
(c) The Chair of the Council shall serve on the Board of Trustees for one (1) full term of two (2) years, or for such shorter term as the person serves as Chair of the Council, and shall be ineligible for re-election to the Board of Trustees for a second term as Chair of the Council,
(d) The Vice Chair of the Council shall serve on the Board of Trustees for one (1) full term of two (2) years, or for such shorter term as the person serves as Vice Chair of the Council, and shall be ineligible for re-election to the Board of Trustees for a second term as Vice Chair of the Council.
(e) The Chair of the Academy Foundation Advisory Board shall serve on the Board of Trustees for one (1) full term of three (3) years, or for such shorter term as the person serves as Chair of the Academy Foundation Advisory Board, shall be eligible for one additional three (3) year term.
(f) Each Public Trustee appointed by the Board of Trustees shall serve on the Board of Trustees for one (1) full term of three (3) years, except that the terms of the Public Trustees may be staggered by the Board of Trustees so that not all of the terms of Public Trustees expire in the same year. A Public Trustee shall be eligible for re-appointment to the Board of Trustees.
(g) Each International Trustee-at-Large appointed by the Board of Trustees shall serve on the Board of Trustees for one (1) full term of three (3) years, except that the terms of the International Trustees-at-Large may be staggered by the Board of Trustees so that the terms of the International Trustees-at-Large do not expire in the same year. An International Trustee-at-Large shall not be eligible for re-appointment to the Board of Trustees as an International Trustee-at-Large.
(g)(h) A person who serves on the Board of Trustees for less than one-half (1/2) of a full term shall not be considered to have served a full term for purposes of determining the person's eligibility for continued service on or for re-election to the Board of Trustees. A person's term as a Trustee on the Board of Trustees commences on whichever is applicable of January 1 of the calendar year following the year in which the person is elected to the Board of Trustees or the date on which the person automatically becomes an ex officio member of the Board of Trustees.
3.04. Duties and Responsibilities of Trustees.
(a) The Past President serving on the Board of Trustees, the Chair of the Council, the Vice Chair of the Council, the Chair of the Academy Foundation Advisory Board, and each Public Trustee shall have all of the duties and responsibilities as Trustees prescribed by these Bylaws and that the President or the Board of Trustees may determine.
(b) The Trustees-at-Large shall have all of the duties and responsibilities prescribed by these Bylaws and that the President or the Board of Trustees may determine; and in the event of vacancies in the Offices of both the President and President-Elect, for any reason, the most senior Trustee-at-Large, or in the absence or disability of that person, the second most senior Trustee-at-Large, shall assume the duties and responsibilities of the President for the unexpired term.
(c) Each Trustee shall be entitled to one (1) vote on all matters coming before the Board of Trustees, except as the contrary is provided in the Procedural Rules, and except further that only the Elected Officers, the Appointed Officers, the Past President serving on the Board of Trustees, the Trustees-at-Large, and the Chair and Vice Chair of the Council, and the Chair of the Academy Foundation Advisory Board Public Trustees and International Trustees-at-Large shall not be entitled to vote on matters involving matters of governance, rules, or procedures of the Academy or matters described in Section 5.03.
Board of Trustees Statement: The Board of Trustees supports amending the Procedural Rules of the Bylaws to include online voting. This change will complete the bylaws changes begun in 2010 which added the online voting option.
2.08. Procedural Rules, Parliamentary Authority, and Rules of Order. The Board of Trustees may from time to time adopt, revise or amend, subject to subsequent ratification by the Voting Fellows and Members, Procedural Rules that are not inconsistent with the Articles of Incorporation or these Bylaws relating to the presentation of papers at sessions of the Academy; notices of meetings of, quorum requirements for, and means of taking actions by the Board of Trustees, Secretariats, and committees; procedures applicable to contested elections for the positions of Elected Officers and Trustees-at-Large of the Academy and Chair and Vice Chair of the Council; procedures for voting by mail ballot or online voting for the election of persons to the positions of Elected Officers and Trustees-at-Large of the Academy and Chair and Vice Chair of the Council; procedures for voting by mail ballot or online voting on proposed amendments or revisions in the Academy's Articles of Incorporation, these Bylaws, the Code of Ethics, or the Procedural Rules; and other matters that do not relate to the rights or responsibilities of Fellows or Members of the Academy. The deliberations of the Fellows and Members of the Academy, the Board of Trustees, the Council, and all committees shall be governed by the rules contained in the then-current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised in all cases in which those Rules are not inconsistent with the Articles of Incorporation, these Bylaws, the Procedural Rules, the Operational Procedures, customary practices, and procedures of the Academy.
Any questions relating to the nomination process or election process may be e-mailed to the Nominating Committee at nominate@aao.org.
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