CONSTITUTION of the GEORGIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE
Approved by the GAS membership on April 14, 2018
Article I - Name and Purpose
1. The name of this organization shall be the Georgia Academy of Science.
2. The purpose of this organization shall be the promotion of the interests of science by activities such as:(a) Holding an annual meeting for presentation of research, for participation in symposia, and forgeneral discussion of matters of scientific interest.
(b) Publishing of scientific articles and abstracts.
(c) Recognizing individuals who make outstanding scientific contributions.
Article II - Membership
1. The membership of the Academy shall be as follows:(a) Members: Persons who are engaged in scientific work or who are interested in the purpose of theAcademy are eligible for membership.
(b) Student Members: Students enrolled in any public or private college or university within the state ofGeorgia may be sponsored by a faculty member/advisor for membership in the Academy. Studentmembers pay reduced membership fees and do not have voting rights.
(c) Fellows: Fellows of the Academy are members who have been elected as recognition of scientificachievement and outstanding service to the Academy. Fellows do not have special privileges inconnection with business to voting. Each year a committee shall be appointed by the President tonominate members to be considered by the council and plenary session as Fellows. This committee
shall consist of three members. At least one of these committee members shall be a Fellow.
(d) Honorary members: The Council may recommend individuals to the Academy for honorary
membership. A two-thirds majority vote of the Academy members present at the annual meetingshall be necessary for election. Honorary members do not pay dues and may not hold office. The
committee that recommends Fellows may also recommend honorary members.
(e) Patrons: Individuals or organizations who make a specified annual contribution to the funds of theAcademy or who render outstanding service in the promotion of its purposes may be designatedpatrons by action of the Council.
(f) Emeritus members: Members in good standing who have paid dues for 20 years and who have retired
from their regular employment shall be exempt from further payment of dues and shall be given thestatus of emeritus member. Emeritus members shall have all the regular privileges of members of theAcademy.
(g) Life members: Members in good standing, who pre-pay dues equal to fifteen (15) times the current
dues of regular members, shall be exempt from further payment of dues and shall be given the statusof Life member. Life members shall have all the privileges of regular members of the Academy.
2. The membership of the Academy shall be classified into sections by areas of interest as listed in theBy-Laws.
Article III - Affiliated Groups
1. Affiliation of national organizations, regional organizations, state organizations, and localorganizations with the Georgia Academy of Science is authorized when approved by a two-thirds voteof the members at the plenary session at any annual meeting provided the petition for affiliation has
been presented to the Council for approval at least six months prior to final actions. Such affiliation
may be terminated by either party on six-months notice. At least five percent of the voting membersof the affiliated organization must be members of the Georgia Academy of Science; the affiliation is
automatically terminated when this condition is not met for two consecutive years.
2. The Georgia Academy of Science shall not assume, by virtue of the affiliation, any responsibility forthe financial affairs of the affiliate.
3. Each affiliated organization determines its own membership requirements and form of organization.

Article IV - Officers and Council
1. The officers of the Academy shall be President, President-Elect, Vice President, Secretary, andTreasurer. Members who are not residents of Georgia or who are not regularly employed in Georgia
are not eligible to hold office in the Academy. If any office holder changes their place of residence
and employment away from Georgia, that office becomes vacant. The President shall hold office fortwo years and shall not be subject to re-election. The President-Elect shall serve two years in that
office and at the close of those two years shall become President. At the close of those two years thePresident shall become the Past-President and serve in that capacity for two years. If the office ofPresident is vacated prematurely, the remainder of that term shall be filled by the President-Elect,
who then continues as President for the next term. If the office of President-Elect becomes vacant,either by resignation or by the President-Elect becoming President, the Council will appoint amember to carry out the duties of the President-Elect for the remainder of the term. The Vice
President shall serve two years in that office. The Secretary and Treasurer shall be elected forstaggered three year terms and shall be eligible for re-election. As many officers as are needed to fill
unexpired terms will be elected by the membership at the next annual election. Until the nextelection, the Council will appoint acting officers as necessary.
2. The affairs of the Academy shall be in charge of a Council composed of: The officers of the Academy,
the Past-President, three Councilors-at-large, the Editor of the Journal, the Historian, one Councilorof each section of the Academy, and one Councilor (who is an Academy member) from each affiliatedsociety. The Councilors-at-large shall be elected by ballot of the entire Academy membership forthree year staggered terms. Vacancies in the position of Councilor will be filled by appointment bythe Council. Councilors shall not serve more than two consecutive terms. The Executive Committee ofthe Council shall consist of the officers of the Academy and the three Councilors at Large. Thiscommittee acts for the Council between meetings of the Council or performs functions as directed bythe Council. Actions of the Executive Committee must be approved by the Council. Actions of theCouncil must be reported to the membership.
3. The duties of the officers shall be those usually performed by such officers. In addition, the President
and the Secretary shall act as Chair and Secretary of the Council and the Executive Committee. ThePresident-Elect shall preside at meetings if the President cannot preside.
4. The Secretary of the Academy shall be considered the official representative of the Academy in theCouncil of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The official delegate (theSecretary or an alternate) of the Academy at the AAAS meeting shall receive financial assistance intravel in an amount to be recommended each year by the Treasurer and approved at a meeting ofthe Council prior to the AAAS meeting.
5. The Treasurer shall maintain the accounts and financial records of the Academy. Among other duties,the Treasurer is to prepare a budget to recommend to the spring meeting of the Council, including
recommendations for dues levels for members and subscription rates for the Journal for thefollowing calendar year.
6. The Editor of the Journal:(a) The Editor shall be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Council, and shall serve a threeyear term with eligibility for reappointment by the Council.
(b) The President and Council shall nominate and confirm (as above) an Associate Editor, subject to theapproval of the Editor. The Associate Editor shall serve a one-year term and be eligible forreappointment by the Council.
(c) The Editorial Board shall consist of the Editor (Chair), Associate Editor, and a minimum of one
representative from each Section of the Academy. The representatives shall be nominated by acommittee consisting of the President, Editor and Section Officers, will be approved by the Council,and will serve thereafter at the pleasure of the Council. The representatives have no specified term ofoffice. The Editorial Board shall select reviewers who may or may not be members of the Academy.

(d) Editorial Board policies are subject to review by Council at any time.
7. The Academy Historian shall be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Council, and shallserve a three year term with eligibility for reappointment.
8. The Parliamentarian shall be the President, or someone nominated by the President, and confirmedby the Council to assist in the annual meeting and meetings of the Council and of the ExecutiveCommittee.
Article V - Sections
1. Each section formed under Article II, Section 2, shall have the following section officers: a Chair,Secretary, and a Councilor. The Section Chair shall be responsible for that program at the annualmeeting. The Chair shall issue a call for papers, have submitted abstracts reviewed for conformity toAcademy standards, communicate their acceptance or rejection to the principal submitter, andprepare and transmit to the Technical Program Chair of the Academy the section program for theannual meeting. The terms of the Section Chair and Secretary shall be two years. They cannot serve
three consecutive terms. The Section Chair, in the call for papers, will call for nominations to fill theposts of Section Chair, Secretary, and, every three years, Councilor. A nomination committee
consisting of the Section officers will determine a slate of at least one, and, most effectively, twonominees with a provision for write-in for each position. After consultation with the prospective
nominees concerning the duties of office and acceptance of the nomination, balloting for section
officers will occur during the section business meeting at the annual meeting. The Section Secretary
will be in charge of student paper awards. The Secretary of each section shall prepare a record of theactivities of the section, including elections of officers and any business transacted, and transmit thisrecord to the Academy Secretary. The term of the Councilor shall be three years. A Councilor shallnot serve more than two consecutive terms.
2. Section officers are eligible for nomination to any other office of the Academy, but may hold only one
office at a time. If a section officer is elected or appointed to another office, their position as section
officer becomes vacant. Interim vacancies in any of the section offices shall be filled by appointmentby the Council. Such interim appointees hold office until the time of the next scheduled election.
Article VI - Committees
1. The standing committees of the Academy are the following:(a) Academy Improvement Committee. The members shall be the President-Elect (Chair), the last two
Past-Presidents in residence in Georgia, and two members appointed by the President. Its duties shall
include the making of recommendations to the Council for improvement of the Academy. A written
annual report shall be provided by the immediate Past-President to the Council no later than the fall
Council meeting held after the annual meeting of the Academy. This Committee or a subcommittee
thereof shall frequently review the Constitution in relation to the current needs and practices of theAcademy. Revisions shall be presented at the winter meeting of the council so that the membershipcan be informed and prepared for action at the annual meeting.
(b) Committee on Membership. The members shall be the Vice President and two members appointed
by the President. The committee is to recommend appropriate ways of improving membership in theAcademy. The committee will review and select yearly student travel award applications to attend
the Annual Meeting.
(c) Auditing Committee. This committee is composed of three members appointed by the President toexamine the books of the Treasurer. A written report of this audit shall be submitted with the annual
report of the Treasurer and filed with the Secretary.
(d) Nominating Committees. One committee is composed of three members appointed by the President
to nominate officers in accordance with Article IV of the Constitution and Article III of the By-Laws. A
second nominating committee is composed of three members, including at least one Fellow,
appointed by the president to nominate Fellows and Honorary Members in accord with Article II ofthe Constitution and Article II of the By-Laws.

(e) Elections Committee. This committee is composed of three members appointed by the President toreceive and count ballots and to certify the results to the President.
(f) Committee on Local Arrangements for the Annual Meeting. The Chair of this committee is appointed
by the President of the Academy in consultation with the proper officials of the host institution.
Other members are selected by the Chair and officials at the host institution.
(g) Scientific Exhibits Committee. This committee is composed of the Councilors-at-large and theCouncilors of any formally affiliated organizations. The committee Chair will be appointed by thePresident. The committee will maintain an updated roster of appropriate exhibitors for the annual
meeting and set fees for exhibition space. The Local Arrangements Committee will contact thoseexhibitors no later than the fall preceding the meeting, so that adequate time is available to assure
their attendance. The Local Arrangements Committee will arrange adequate and optimum exhibition
space. The Scientific Exhibits Committee and the Local Arrangements Committee will strive toimprove the quality of the scientific exhibitions held in conjunction with the annual meeting of theAcademy.
(h) Legislative Liaison Committee. The members of the committee shall be appointed by the President.
The duties shall be to regularly review all legislation introduced in Georgia and to makerecommendations to the Council of the Academy concerning any that require consideration by theGeorgia Academy of Science. The committee will evaluate and recommend an appropriate course ofaction concerning the introduction of any legislation deemed necessary and prudent by the Councilof the Georgia Academy of Science.
2. The President shall designate the Chair of each committee, except for the Academy Improvement
Committee and the Committee on Membership.
3. The President is an ex officio member of all committees.
4. Unless specifically provided herein to the contrary, all committee appointments shall terminate at theclose of the next annual meeting.

Article VII - Authorization for Acceptance and Administration of Funds

1. The Georgia Academy of Science is authorized to accept gifts from interested parties, firms, orcorporations either for general gifts for research or for special projects designated by the donor.
2. The gifts are to be accepted, held, and administered by the Academy Council.
Article VIII - Meetings
1. There shall be an annual meeting of the Academy during the spring term, the date of which shall bedetermined by the Academy Council and the hosting institution.
2. The President shall solicit invitations from institutions to host annual meetings up to three years inadvance. The Council shall accept or reject such invitations.
3. The Council will meet in the fall, in the winter, and at the annual meeting at times announced by thePresident.
Article IX - Assets of the Academy
In the event of dissolution of the Academy, its assets shall be distributed to other non-profit
organizations with similar purposes.
Article X - Amendments
This Constitution may be amended at the plenary session of any annual meeting by a three-fourths
majority of those members present and voting, provided the proposed amendment in writing has been
distributed to the membership at least thirty days before such meeting.