NATURE
· Article 3.1: The TSCA is an independent, not-for-profit, non-government,
non-political, sci-entific organization of Tunisians residing in the American
Continent involved in science and technology. TSCA is a branch of the Tunisian
Scientific Consortium (TSC).
Chapter 4
OBJECTIVE
· Article 4.1: The objective of the TSCA is to contribute to Tunisia's
sustainable development and advancement in science and technology through the
collective action of Tunisians involved in science and technology. Fields of
science include all the natural and physical sciences as well as social sciences
and humanities.
Chapter 5
ACTIVITIES
To achieve its objective, the TSCA undertakes some or all of the following
activities:
Chapter 6
MEMBERSHIP
· Article 6.1: Membership in TSCA is open to persons involved in science and
technology such as students, professors, professionals, and researchers.
Membership is also open to research institutions such as research institutes,
laboratories, universities, and companies (especially those with R&D
orientations) located in the Americas.
Chapter 7
STRUCTURE
· Article 7.1: The main structural organs of the TSCA are the 1) TSCA
Conference, 2) the Ex-ecutive Committee (EC).
Chapter 8
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE'S COMPETENCIES
· Clause 8.1: The EC is the governing body of TSCA. It is responsible for the
well-being of the branch and is responsible for implementing TSCA's programs and
contributing the Branch's share to the general TSC programs.
Chapter 9
FUNDS AND FINANCES
· Article 9.1: The TSCA is a not-for-profit organization whose funds are derived
from:
Chapter 10
VOTES AND ELECTIONS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITEE
· Clause 10.1: EC members are elected via postal mail and on official TSCA
ballot forms. Other methods such as electronic mail, facsimile, and centralized
or decentralized direct voting, may be used if deemed verifiable and approved by
the LB.
Chapter 11
RESIGNATIONS AND DISMISSALS
· Clause 11.1: The EC may dismiss one of its members only and only if the
dismissal is ap-proved by all other EC members.
Chapter 12
LANGUAGES OF COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
· Article 12.1: All TSCA publications shall be in Arabic, English and/or French.
Chapter 13
ENTERING INTO FORCE & MODIFICATIONS
· Article 13.1: No Chapter, Article, Clause, or Sub-clause of this document,
with the exclusion of this article, may enter into force without a 2/3 majority
vote involving all voting members of TSCA during an interim period of 2 months
starting January 1, 1996. This article enters into force once TSCA has at least
20 voting members. Parts of this document not meeting the 2/3 majority vote
must be revised and presented to the voting membership until the 2/3 majority
criterion is met.
Chapter 14
DISSOLUTION
· Article 14.1: This TSC Branch shall be dissolved only by a 9/10 majority vote
involving the voting membership of TSCA, if the size of the voting membership
falls below 20, or by a deci-sion of the BD and LB as stipulated by the TSC
constitution.
Appendix I
Rules Governing Use of the TSCA Distribution List
1. The TSCA distribution list is the official electronic medium of the TSCA. As
such, it is primar-ily devoted to TSCA matters and interests. Any articles
dealing with a scientific matter, events of scientific nature, scientific
conferences, other organizations with similar interests to TSCA's, shall be
allowed over TSCA.
· Article 3.2: The TSCA does not discriminate on the basis of sex, age, race,
religion or political affiliation.
· Article 5.1: Initiation of cooperative programs between scientific
institutions in Tunisia and similar institutions in the Americas.
· Article 5.2: Assistance in reversing the brain-drain by helping Tunisians in
the Americas find equitable employment in Tunisia.
· Article 5.3: Publication of a TSCA Newsletter.
· Article 5.4: Holding scientific workshops and conferences to present and
debate issues relative to latest scientific developments and how they may be
used to promote sustainable development in Tunisia.
· Article 5.5: Organization of short courses and seminars in practical
applications of science and technology targeting both the academic and
industrial sectors.
· Article 5.6: Use of electronic mail (E-mail) as a networking medium for a
subset of the Tuni-sian Scientific community in the Americas. E-mail
distribution lists, such as
· Article 5.7: Other activities that are compatible with TSC and TSCA's nature
and by-laws.
· Article 6.2: The Base Membership Fee (BMF) for TSCA is determined by the BD
and can be revised as often as necessary through a 2/3 majority vote within the
BD.
· Article 6.3: Membership is for one calendar year starting the date the
application form and membership fees are received. Members renew their
memberships by updating their records and sending the yearly membership fees to
the TSCA Administrative Secretary.
· Article 6.4: Membership is classified as follows:
· Clause 6.4.1: Student Membership
· Sub-Clause 6.4.1.a: Any Tunisian student residing in the Americas who has
success-fully completed secondary education (Tunisian Baccalaureate or
equivalent in other countries) is eligible for Student Membership.
· Sub-Clause 6.4.1.b: The Student Membership Fee (SMF) is equal to the BMF for
TSCA.
· Sub-Clause 6.4.1.c: Student Members have full voting rights in the TSCA.
· Sub-Clause 6.4.1.d: To be eligible for nomination to the EC, a student member
must have completed a college degree.
· Clause 6.4.2: Professional Membership
· Sub-Clause 6.4.2.a: Any Tunisian residing in the Americas who is a full-time
profes-sional and who has successfully completed secondary education (Tunisian
Baccalaure-ate or equivalent in other countries) is eligible for Professional
Membership.
· Sub-Clause 6.4.2.b: The Professional Membership Fee (PMF) is equal to two
times the BMF for TSCA.
· Sub-Clause 6.4.2.c: Professional Members have full voting rights in TSCA.
· Sub-Clause 6.4.2.d: To be eligible for nomination to the EC, a professional
Member must have completed a college degree.
· Clause 6.4.3: Associate Membership
· Sub-Clause 6.4.3.a: Any Tunisian residing in the Americas not meeting the
require-ments of student or professional membership and any non-Tunisian
residing in the Americas interested in the TSCA's scope is eligible for
Associate Membership.
· Sub-Clause 6.4.3.b: The Associate Membership Fee (AMF) is equal to two times
the BMF for TSCA.
· Sub-Clause 6.4.3.c: Associate Members have no voting rights in the TSCA.
· Sub-Clause 6.4.3.d: Associate Members are ineligible for nomination to the
EC.
· Clause 6.4.4: Associate Corporate Membership
· Sub-Clause 6.4.4.a: Any research institution or company with proven research
and development interests located in the Americas may join the TSCA as an
Associate Cor-porate Member.
· Sub-Clause 6.4.4.b: The Associate Corporate Membership Fee (ACMF) is equal
to
five times the BMF for TSCA.
· Sub-Clause 6.4.4.c: Associate Corporate Members do not have voting rights in
the TSCA.
· Sub-Clause 6.4.4.d: Associate Corporate Members are ineligible for nomination
to the EC.
· Article 7.2: TSCA Conference
· Clause 7.2.1: The TSCA Conference is to be held once every two years at least
one month prior the TSC Convention. The TSCA Conference should be held in any
Country of the American Continent.
· Clause 7.2.2: All TSCA members are encouraged, though not required, to attend
the TSCA Conference. The tasks of the TSCA Conference are:
· Sub-clause 7.2.2.a: Present and review EC activities during the last two
years. A re-port on these activities must be presented to the voting TSCA
membership for adoption no later than one month prior the TSCA conference.
· Sub-clause 7.2.2.b: Review all aspects of the performance of TSCA and project
its future plans.
· Sub-clause 7.2.2.c: Inaugurate the newly elected EC members.
· Sub-clause 7.2.2.d: Make legislative recommendations to be reviewed by the LB
and presented to TSCA members for adoption.
· Sub-clause 7.2.2.e: Use the occasion to organize a purely scientific event.
· Clause 7.2.3: The date and venue of the conference must be adopted by a simple
majority within the EC. The date must be at least one month prior to the TSC
Convention.
· Article 7.3: Executive Committee (EC)
· Clause 7.3.1: The EC is the highest executive body of TSCA.
· Clause 7.3.2: The EC is elected by the voting members of TSCA.
· Clause 7.3.3: Unless TSCA has more than 500 voting members, the EC shall
consist of 5 members: President, Secretary General, Administrative Secretary,
Publication Secretary, and Treasurer.
· Clause 7.3.4: The president of the EC is automatically a member of the BD.
· Clause 7.3.5: The mandate of the EC is for a two-year period. TSCA shall hold
elections of its EC at least one month prior to the TSCA Conference.
· Clause 7.3.6: No member of the EC may simultaneously serve on any other BD,
LB, or any other TSC Branch or Affiliate Executive Committee with the exception
of the EC presi-dent who is automatically a BD member. Other EC members can
also serve in the BD as warranted by the number of TSCA members.
· Clause 7.3.7: No EC member may serve for more than three consecutive
terms.
· Clause 7.3.8: If TSCA has more than 100 voting members, additional
representation in the BD is granted to the EC at a rate of 1 BD members per
additional 100 members. The number of BD representatives is determined by
rounding up (that is 101 members yield 2 BD representatives). The ranking of EC
members in the BD representation (as permitted by the number of members) shall
be: President, Secretary General, Administrative Secre-tary, Publication
Secretary, and Treasurer.
· Clause 7.3.9: If TSCA has more than 500 members, the additional member
elected
for BD representation shall also serve on the EC.
· Article 7.4: TSCA Representation in the Legislative Board.
· Clause 7.4.1: TSCA shall have at least one representative in the LB at all
times. If an out-going LB member happens to be the only one from TSCA, then a
new LB member from TSCA must be elected by the wide TSC membership to replace
him on the LB.
· Clause 7.4.2: TSCA LB representative(s) shall oversee any committee involved
in TSCA constitution amendments.
· Clause 7.4.3: Any proposed change in TSCA constitution shall be reviewed by
the LB to determine its compatibility with the TSC Constitution before that
change is adopted by the Branch. If such a change is not reviewed and approved
by the LB and is later found by the LB to be incompatible with the TSC
Constitution, that change shall be considered null and void.
· Clause 8.2: The activities of the EC shall be governed by the constitution of
TSCA as long as those activities do not violate any terms of the TSC
Constitution.
· Clause 8.3: Votes of all EC members shall carry equal weights during any EC
decision that must be reached through voting. An EC vote shall pass by simple
majority.
· Clause 8.4: The EC shall have a President, a Secretary General, an
Administrative Secretary, a Publications Secretary, and a Treasurer. The
responsibilities associated with these positions shall be as follows:
· Sub-clause 8.4.1: The President is the official spokesperson of TSCA. He/She
shall play a coordinating and leading role within the EC. He/She is also the
Branch representative in the BD.
· Sub-clause 8.4.2: The Secretary General is responsible for the implementation
of TSCAÕs activities (meetings, workshops, etc.). In case the president is not
available the Secretary General shall play a coordinating and leading role
within the EC.
· Sub-clause 8.4.3: The Administrative Secretary is responsible for keeping
records relative to TSCA, all TSCA membership records, documents, and
transcripts of EC communica-tions and decisions.
· Sub-clause 8.4.4: The Publications Secretary is responsible for producing the
TSCA Newsletter, general-interest reports and magazines, brochures, and any
other TSCA publi-cations.
· Sub-clause 8.4.5: The Treasurer shall maintain TSCA financial books, prepare
brief quarterly reports and detailed semi-annual reports of TSCAÕs finances to
be reported to the BD, and coordinate fund-raising efforts and membership
drives.
· Clause 8.5: The Treasurer and President shall be co-signers to the TSCA bank
account which shall be opened in the name of TSCA. Any of these two EC members
shall be eligible to ac-cess the account and transfer funds from and to it. All
transactions shall be related to legitimate TSCA activities that are
pre-approved by the EC. Records of all account activities shall be made
available to the EC and the BD as part of the biannual financial report prepared
by the Treasurer.
· Clause 8.6: EC responsibilities shall be specified through nomination and
voting procedure by TSCA members.
· Clause 9.1.1: 1/3 of membership dues;
· Clause 9.1.2: fees for services rendered by TSCA and/or any deliverables
produced by the TSCA on condition that such services or deliverables are not
profit-motivated;
· Clause 9.1.3: donations and grants by any entity provided these donations and
grants do not infringe on TSCA's character as an apolitical and scientific
organization.
· Article 9.3: Membership dues shall be collected by the Treasurer. TSCA shall
keep 1/3 of the dues for its activities and forward 2/3 to the TSC main budget
which is under the authority of the BD.
· Article 9.4: Transfer of funds from TSCA to the main TSC budget shall occur as
often as nec-essary but shall not be less frequent than quarterly.
· Article 9.5: All fund-raising in the name of TSCA shall be authorized by the
EC with the BD having veto power.
· Article 9.6: The allocation of funds collected through fund-raising efforts in
the name of the TSC and/or TSCA shall be decided by the EC with the BD having
veto power.
· Article 9.7: TSCA should have its own bank accounts. This accounts, however,
shall be edit-able by the BD and by a third parties commissioned by the BD.
· Article 9.8: TSCA shall provide the BD with brief financial reports quarterly,
and detailed, documented financial reports biannually.
· Article 9.9: TSCA shall provide full cooperation in any auditing of their
financial accounts or-dered by the BD.
· Clause 10.2: EC members must be elected by members residing in the Americas
and shall be conducted by an independent committee appointed by the LB and shall
be completed at least one month prior to the TSCA Conference.
· Clause 10.3: Only current voting TSCA members may participate in the elections
of the EC. To be eligible for voting, membership forms and fees of voting
members must be received at least two months prior to the planned elections.
· Clause 10.4: The results of any elections involving the EC shall be verified
by an independent impartial party appointed by the BD.
· Clause 11.2: In case an EC member has submitted his/her resignation or has
been dismissed and the resignation or dismissal is accepted, a new EC member
must be elected no later than three months after the acceptance of the
resignation or dismissal.
· Clause 11.3: An EC member who has been elected to replace a resigning or
dismissed EC member is eligible to serve for only the period remaining for the
resigning or dismissed EC member.
· Clause 11.4: In case a member of the EC has submitted his/her resignation, the
resignation must be acceptable to both the EC.
· Clause 11.5: If an EC position becomes open due to the dismissal or
resignation of an EC member, elections open to all voting TSCA members should be
held. These election are also open to current EC members on condition they
relinquish their current positions if elected. If a position becomes open
because an EC member was elected to the originally open position, follow-up
elections open to voting TSCA members but excluding EC members are organized to
fill it up.
· Clause 11.6: If the dismissed or resigning EC member is also serving as BD
representative and no new EC member is elected within a three-month period, the
BD reserves the right to ap-point a new EC/BD member from TSCA.
· Article 13.2: No Chapter, Article, Clause, or Sub-clause of the adopted
version of this docu-ment may be modified without a 2/3 majority vote involving
all voting members of TSCA.
2. Only TSCA members will receive TSCA mail.
3. Posting to the list shall remain public unless as decided by the EC to remedy
problems of non-compliance to the list rules by posters.
4. Management of TSCA is governed by the EC.
