BY-LAWS of the GEORGIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCEFINAL DRAFT Approved by Membership April 14, 2018
Article I - Meetings
1. The following shall be the guide to the order of business at the annual meeting and at Council
meetings:
a. call to orderb. report of the Secretaryc. report of the Treasurer
d. report of the Council or the Executive Committee
e. report of committees
f. unfinished businessg. new businessh. adjournment
2. The quorum for meetings of committees and for meetings of the Council shall be a majority of themembership of those groups.
3. The members present at the scheduled plenary session during the annual meeting shall constitute aquorum.
4. Robert's Rules of Order shall be used as a guide for procedures not defined in the Constitution or ByLaws.
Article II – Membership
1. Membership may be obtained by application on standard forms which are submitted to theTreasurer. Membership is subject to approval by the Council.
2. No candidate for membership shall be excluded on the basis of sex, sexual preference, genderidentity, religion, race or national origin.
3. The active members of the Academy are those who have paid their dues for the current year.
Presenters at the Annual Meeting must be active members.
4. Fellows and Honorary members are nominated by written recommendation to the Council from threemembers in good standing or from the Committee on Fellows and Honorary Members to beappointed by the President as recognition of scientific achievement or of service to science or to theAcademy. These recommendations must include a biographical sketch and a listing of theachievements of the nominee. With Council approval, the name of the nominee will be submitted at
the next annual meeting of the Academy for election as Fellow or Honorary member by majority voteduring the plenary session.
5. Members who retire from their employment must submit a written statement about their retirement
to the Treasurer to obtain the status of Emeritus Member.
Article III – Officers
1. The Officers of the Academy and the Councilors-at-large shall be elected by ballot and announced at
the annual meeting. Electronic voting will be implemented at the discretion of the Council to replace
mail ballots. An official ballot shall be sent to each active member at least thirty days before theannual meeting. The ballot shall contain the names of two nominees for positions of President-Elect,
Vice President and Councilor-at-large proposed by the Nominating Committee. The names of one ormore people proposed by the Nominating Committee for the offices of Secretary and Treasurer shallbe placed on the ballot in the years those officers are elected. A provision for write-in votes shall bemade for each office. Each ballot for Academy officers shall be returned to the President by theMonday before the annual meeting and shall be counted by the Elections Committee. A majority ofall votes cast for an office shall be necessary for election to that office. If there is no majority for
President-Elect, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, or Councilor-at-Large, the members at theplenary session at the annual meeting shall choose between the two having the highest number ofvotes. Section officers are nominated and elected as specified in Article V Section 1 of theConstitution.
2. Incoming officers shall take office at the close of the annual meeting of the year in which they areelected, and shall serve through the annual meeting of the year in which their term expires.
3. Members who are not current in their dues are not eligible to serve as officers.
Article IV - Fees and Dues
1. The annual dues for a member shall be set by the Council at its regular spring meeting.
2. The annual dues shall become payable at the beginning of the calendar year.
3. Members joining after July 1 shall have their dues credited to the following calendar year unlessmembership for the current year is requested or required, as in the case of officers.
4. The names of those members who have not paid their dues for the current year by June 1 will beplaced on an inactive membership list. If a person's name remains on the inactive list for one year,
the name of that person will be dropped from current membership lists.
5. An inactive member may regain active status by paying dues for the calendar year in which they want
to become active.
Article V - Program and Papers
1. Before the fall council meeting, the President shall call an annual program-planning meeting of theSection Chairs, Section Councilors, and the Chair of the Local Arrangements Committee, or theirdesignated representatives, to formulate general plans. The date and place of the meeting shall be
included in the Calendar of Academy Events.
2. The President shall appoint a Technical Program Chair for the next annual meeting. This appointment
must be confirmed by the Council at the spring Council Meeting. The Technical Program Chair shallbe responsible for the execution of the program planned at the program-planning meeting. They
shall, in consultation with Section Chairs and the Editor, establish deadlines for the receipt of papers,and in consultation with the Section Chairs and the local Arrangements Committee Chair, provide forany parts of the planned program that are intersectional.
3. An abstract must be filed with the appropriate section chair before the paper will be placed on theprogram. The abstract, in prescribed form, must be received not later than the date set by theTechnical Program Chair. The Technical Program Chair may approve the listing of invited papers
without abstracts.
4. The papers of the various sections shall be scheduled on a uniform basis with papers starting on thequarter hour. A paper shall not necessarily be restricted to a single quarter hour.
5. The program of an affiliated organization which meets concurrently with the Academy must be
coordinated with the program of the Academy through arrangement with the Technical Program
Chair.
Article V - Annual Calendar of Events
Each year, a calendar of Academy events, including the dates and sites of the next three meetings, shallbe prepared by the Officers and past President of the Academy, and transmitted to the Editor of theJournal for inclusion in the GA J. Science.
Article VI – Sections
The membership of the Academy is classified into sections as follows:
I. Biological Sciences
II. ChemistryIII. Earth and Atmospheric SciencesIV. Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Engineering & Technology
V. Biomedical Sciences
VI. Philosophy and History of Science
VII. Science Education

VIII. Anthropology
IX. Genetics Society of Georgia (Inactive)
Article VII – Amendments
These by-laws may be amended at the plenary session of any annual meeting by a two-thirds majority of
those present and voting, provided the amendment has been previously approved by the Council.