DDA Bylaws - 2009

Bylaws of the AAS Division on Dynamical Astronomy

Bylaws currently in effect as of July 2009, with two proposed changes in Section VI indicated (in blue) that have been approved by the AAS Council and now require final acceptance by DDA membership.

I. Name

This Division of the American Astronomical Society (hereinafter called the "Society") shall be known as the "Division on Dynamical Astronomy".

II. Object

The object of the Division on Dynamical Astronomy (hereinafter called "the Division") shall be the advancement of all aspects of dynamical astronomy, including celestial mechanics, solar system dynamics, stellar dynamics, the dynamics of the interstellar medium and galactic dynamics, and coordination of such research with other branches of science.

III. Enabling Authority

Article VIII of the Society Bylaws, as revised in 1973 and as may be subsequently revised or amended, is hereby incorporated into these Bylaws by reference.

IV. Membership

1. Full Membership in the Division is open to all members of the American Astronomical Society by application to the Secretary of the Division and by payment of the first year's dues and such enrollment fee as may be adopted by the Committee. A member of the Division may resign from the Division by notifying the Secretary. Membership in the Division is contingent upon continuing membership in the Society and upon payment of such annual dues as the Division shall assess.
2. Affiliate Membership in the Division is provided for persons who are not members of the American Astronomical Society, but who are members of another recognized professional organization with interests related to dynamical astronomy. An application for Affiliate Membership shall be sponsored by at least two regular members of the Division, and it shall be submitted to the Secretary of the Division. Whenever the total of Affiliate Members exceeds one third of the total of the regular Members of the Division, the applications shall be held in abeyance by the Secretary in the order in which they are received. otherwise, each application shall be submitted in order to the Committee of the Division for approval or disapproval.Affiliate Members shall have all the rights, privileges and responsibilities of regular Members, except that they may not hold any office in the Division. An Affiliate Membership shall be terminated upon nonpayment of dues to the Division or upon written request to the Secretary by the individual.
3. Any person of outstanding accomplishment in the area of dynamical astronomy may be elected an Honorary Member by the Committee upon nomination by two or more Full or Affiliate Members of the Division. Membership in the Society is not required. Recipients of the Brouwer Award are automatically designated Honorary Members. The total number of Honorary Members cannot exceed one sixth of the total Membership in the Division. Dues are waived for Honorary Members. Should Honorary Members choose to pay dues, they shall have all the rights, privileges and responsibilities of Full Members.

V. Officers and Committee of the Division

1. The Committee of the Division (hereinafter called "the Committee") shall consist of the officers of the Division, the past Chair whose term has most recently expired (provided the full term was completed), and six elected Committee members. All members of the Committee shall be members of the Division and the Society. The Committee shall have general charge of the affairs of the Division and, through the Chair or Secretary, shall report the activities of the Division to the Council of the Society. The Committee may set an enrollment fee for new members, annual dues for all members, registration fees for meetings of the Division, or any combination of such fees and dues.
2. The officers of the Committee and of the Division shall be a Chair, a Vice-Chair, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. In addition to the duties specifically assigned to them by these Bylaws, the officers shall discharge the other duties usually incident to their respective offices.
3. The Chair shall call all meetings of the Committee and shall preside at all those meetings at which he/she is present. With the advice and consent of the Committee, the Chair shall appoint any special committees which are necessary to conduct the affairs of the Division. The current Chair shall be an ex officio member of each special committee except the Nominating Committee.
4. The Vice-Chair may act for the Chair at the latter's request and shall act for the Chair in the event that the latter is incapacitated.
5. The Secretary shall send out necessary notices and announcements to the members of the Committee and to members of the Division. Announcements of meetings of the Division shall be prepared by the Secretary and transmitted to the appropriate officer of the Society for publication and distribution to all Society members, at least nine weeks before the date of each meeting. The Secretary shall assist the Committee or the Program Committee with arrangements for the meeting and for the publication, if any, of the proceedings. The Secretary shall also prepare minutes of each meeting of the Committee, and of the business sessions of the Division, and submit these minutes to each member of the outgoing and incoming Committee and to the Secretary of the Society within three weeks after each meeting. Within five days after each meeting, the Secretary shall transmit final abstracts of the papers to the appropriate officer of the Society for publication by the Society.
6. The Treasurer shall collect such enrollment fees and divisional dues as may be set by the Committee, and handle funds and make disbursements in accordance with the budget approved by the Committee. The Treasurer shall submit to the Committee an annual financial report which, after approval by auditors appointed by the Chair from the members of the Division, shall be submitted to the Council of the Society.
7. The Committee shall meet at least once each year. A request in writing from at least three members of the Committee shall render a convocation of an additional meeting of the Committee obligatory. Any member of the Committee unable to attend the meeting shall have the privilege of naming an alternate to the meeting without vote, subject to the approval of the Chair. At any meeting of the Committee, six of its voting members shall constitute a quorum. A minimum of three weeks notice will be given Committee members when calling a meeting of the Committee.

VI. Election and Tenure of Officers and Committee Members

1. The terms of office for officers and committee members shall be one year for Chair and Vice-Chair, three years for secretary and Treasurer, and two years for Committee members, three Committee members being elected each year. The term year shall be construed as running from 1 July to 30 June. At the end of the Chair's term of office, the Vice-Chair elected by the membership shall normally become a candidate for Chair. Except for Secretary and Treasurer, no member of the Committee is eligible for renomination to the same category of position until having been out of office one year. Neither a Secretary nor a Treasurer may serve more than two consecutive terms.
2. At the discretion of the Committee, the positions of Secretary and Treasurer may be combined to form a Secretary-Treasurer position to be held by a single individual. Similarly, the Committee may split the Secretary-Treasurer position into separate Secretary and Treasurer positions.
3. At each regular meeting of the Division, the Chair of the Division shall, with the advice and consent of the Committee, appoint a Chair and two members of a Nominating Committee to serve until the next regular meeting. The Past Chair of the Division, when available, shall normally chair the Nominating Committee. No more than one member of the Nominating Committee shall be a member of either the old or the new Committee of the Division. one new member of a Nominating Committee. This individual shall not be a member of the new Committee of the Division, or a new Officer. The term of members of the Nominating Committee shall be three years, beginning after the meeting at which they are appointed. The longest-serving member of the Nominating Committee shall serve as its Chair.
4. No later than sixteen weeks before the regular meeting, the Nominating Committee shall submit to the Secretary nominations of at least one candidate for each vacancy for an officer and at least two for each vacancy for Committee member. The Nominating Committee shall have ascertained the willingness of its nominees to serve if elected. If the incumbent Vice-Chair is unable or unwilling to assume the office of Chair, or if the incumbent Vice-Chair was appointed by the Committee, the Nominating Committee shall nominate at least one candidate for the office of Chair. The Secretary shall report the list of nominations to all members of the Division at least thirteen weeks before the regular meeting.
5. Any member of the Division proposed as a candidate for officer or Committee member by petition of not fewer than 12 members of the Division, at least eleven weeks before the regular meeting, shall be deemed to be nominated to the post provided the nominee has stated to the Secretary a willingness to serve if elected.
6. The Nominating Committee should strive to keep both disciplinary and geographic balance on the Division Committee. The Division Committee may, at its discretion, instruct the Nominating Committee to make its nominations in such a form that each nominee is a candidate for a particular seat on the Division Committee.
7. Full members and Affiliate members of the Division are eligible to vote in the election of Officers. The Secretary of the Division shall prepare a ballot containing the names of all candidates nominated according to Paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article. The ballot and the candidates' brief biographies and position statements shall be distributed by the Secretary by email to all members of the Division not later than ten weeks before the regular meeting. If a member does not have an email address, the Secretary shall send him or her the ballot by regular mail. The nominees for each position shall be listed in alphabetical order without indication of the method of nomination. Each member may cast one vote for each post of the Committee to be filled and shall return the ballot to the Secretary not later than nine weeks before the regular meeting. All communications relating to the election may be carried out by mail, fax or other electronic means, as instructed in the Secretary's distribution of the ballot. The ballots are to be counted by the Secretary plus one other Division member as appointed by the Chair. If a tally disagreement should occur, a second Division member may be appointed and/or the Chair will scrutinize the ballots. Election shall be by plurality of those voting, and the Chair's ballot will be set aside to be used only to break a tie vote. The Secretary shall report the results of the election to the Division members not later than eight weeks before the regular meeting. The retiring Chair shall report the results of the election to the the Secretary of the Society not more than one week after the regular meeting.
8. If the Nominating Committee or the Secretary fails to meet the schedule specified in Sections 3, 4, and 6, this fact shall be reported to the members of the Division, and the incumbent Division Committee shall continue in office until the procedure specified in Sections 3, 4, and 6 can be completed. A new Committee elected under the provisions of this Section shall take office immediately upon the determination of the results of the election.
9. The tenure of members of the Committee shall begin on 1 July following the regular meeting at which they are elected. An outgoing Secretary or Treasurer shall, however, remain responsible for statutory reports relative to the meeting at which his/her tenure ends.
10. If a vacancy occurs in the Committee, the Committee may appoint a member of the Division, to serve on the Committee until the next regular election, at which time the vacancy shall be filled by the regular procedure.

VII. Meetings of the Division

1. A meeting of the Division to be known as the regular meeting shall be held each year at such time and place as shall be decided by the Committee. This meeting shall include a business session, designated the Annual Business Meeting, devoted exclusively to the reports of officers and committees, and to the transaction of business affairs. No scientific program of the Division shall be presented simultaneously with the business session.
2. Meetings of the Division other than the regular meeting may be scheduled by the Committee. Special conferences or symposia, when designated as being wholly or jointly sponsored by the Division, shall be announced to all members of the Division and of the Society and shall be open to all individuals who have the right to attend a regular meeting of the Division.
3. The dates and places of all meetings of the Division shall be chosen in consultation with the Council of the Society, or with an officer designated by the Council.
4. All meetings of the Division shall be open to all members of the American Astronomical Society and to such other categories of participants and individuals as designated by the Committee, or by delegation, the Program Committee.

VIII. Appointed Special Committees

1. The Chair, with the advice and consent of the Committee of the Division, shall appoint the Nominating Committee, which shall have such duties as are specified in Article VI of these Bylaws, and such other special committees as conditions may demand.
2. All appointed special committees shall be considered to be automatically discharged at the close of the regular meeting next following their appointment unless specifically continued at that time by the Committee of the Division.
3. In case of vacancy on a committee, or the unwillingness of a member to serve, the Chair shall appoint a new member and shall inform the Division Committee of the action.
4. The Nominating Committee shall determine the slate of nominees for each elected position in the Division and the willingness of nominees to serve if elected.
5. The Brouwer Award Selection Committee (BASC) is constituted and has the duties as assigned in the rules of the BASC.

IX. Programs

1. Meetings of the Division may include programs of invited papers, contributed papers, or such other format as designed by the Committee. The Committee may appoint a Program Committee and delegate to it the planning of programs, the selection of papers to be placed on the program, and arrangements for meetings.
2. The Committee of the Division shall require that abstracts for all papers except for invited review lectures intended for presentation at a meeting of the Division be submitted in accordance with instructions of the Secretary of the Division. Within five days after each such meeting, the Secretary shall transmit in final form the abstracts so submitted to the appropriate officer of the Society for publication.
3. The Division may hold joint meetings with other Divisions of the Society as well as with other scientific groups.

X. Amendment of Bylaws

Proposals for amendments to these Bylaws may be made by the Council of the Society, by the Committee of the Division, or by a petition to the Chair of the Division by not fewer than 15 members of the Division. After discussion of the proposed amendment by the Committee, the Secretary shall distribute, via electronic or other means, copies of the proposed amendment(s) to the Division membership for review and comment. The proposed amendment(s) shall also be reviewed and discussed at the next Division business meeting. The proposed amendment(s) shall then be distributed to the members of the Council of the Society for their approval, not less than three weeks prior to the next meeting of the Council. Upon approval of the amendment(s) by the Council of the Society, the Secretary shall distribute ballots containing the final wording of the proposed amendment(s), as approved by both the Division Committee and the Council of the Society, to all members of the Division who shall return their marked ballots by mail, fax or other electronic means, as instructed in the Secretary's distribution of the ballot, not later than four weeks after the date of distribution of the ballot. The adoption of an amendment shall require the affirmative vote of not fewer than two thirds of the members voting. An amendment if passed shall be transmitted to the Secretary of the Society.

XI. Suspension of the Bylaws

1. At the Regular Meeting, the chair may call for a two thirds vote of the members present to suspend individual articles of these bylaws until the next succeeding Regular Meeting.
2. At times other than the Regular Meeting, by a two thirds vote of the Committee, the Chair may suspend individual articles of these bylaws.
3. The Chair shall notify the Council of the Society of any suspension of these bylaws.