Bylaws
V5.0, revision date: Jan. 16, 2021.
IACIP Board Meeting 2020:
ARTICLE I - Name, Registration, Vision, and Mission
Section 1. The name of the organization shall be “International Association of Chinese Infrastructure Professionals”, hereafter referred to as the Association. The abbreviation of the Association shall be IACIP.
Section 2. The Association shall be a registered non-profit professional organization with its members working or studying in the fields of Civil Infrastructure and Systems (CIS) and related areas who are interested in CIS development and related issues.
Section 3. Vision
The Association shall be a leading professional organization in Civil Infrastructure and Systems (CIS) worldwide.
Section 4. Mission
The mission of the Association shall be to facilitate the advancement of knowledge and technology in the areas of Civil Infrastructure and Systems through education, technology transfer, and research at an international level. The Association shall gather and disseminate information for Civil Infrastructure professionals.
ARTICLE II – Governing Body and Bylaws
Section 1. The governing body of the Association is the Board of Directors of the Association, hereafter referred to as the Board.
Section 2. The Association’s Bylaws shall be defined in this document.
ARTICLE III - Membership
Section 1. The membership of the Association shall consist of Professional Members, Student Members, Organization/Corporate Members, and Honorary Members.
Section 2. Membership of the Association shall be granted to any individual who works, studies, and/or is interested in or an organization/corporate that is engaged in a Civil Infrastructure and Systems field or a related area, has applied for a membership with the Association, has paid the membership dues, and has been approved by the Board.
Section 3. A student member shall be a person enrolled as a full-time graduate or undergraduate student who is pursuing a degree in the field of Civil Infrastructure and Systems or related areas and has expressed in writing to the Association that he or she is interested in becoming a student member. A student member shall be entitled to the same privileges of the Association as a member. A student member can be promoted to a professional member upon completion of education.
Section 4. Organizational/Corporate members shall be those legitimate entities, including for-profit corporate entities, not-for-profit organizations, governmental agencies, and educational institutions, that accept this bylaws, are willing to support the Association's activities, and have paid the annual Organization/Corporate membership dues. Each organizational/corporate representative shall be entitled to all privileges of the members but may not hold office unless that person is also a bona fide individual member at the same time.
Section 5. An honorary member shall be a person who has made significant contributions to the civil infrastructure and systems profession and/or to the Association and is nominated by the Nomination Committee. The nomination shall be approved by two thirds (2/3) of the members of the Board and appointed then by the President. Any person elected as an honorary member may retain the privileges and obligations of a member.
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ARTICLE IV – Membership Dues
Section 1. Professional members and student members shall pay annual membership dues which shall be paid in full by January 31 with a grace period of 30 days as the deadline to maintain his/her membership in good standing. The amount of membership dues shall be determined by the Board. Honorary members shall not be required to pay the membership due unless he or she shall elect to do so.
Section 2. If a professional member or student member does not pay the dues by the deadline, he/she shall not be entitled with any rights and privileges of a member and is not eligible for being elected to the Board and appointed as Officers of the Association.
Section 3. Organization/Corporate members shall pay annual dues as determined by the Board and the continuation of their membership shall be assessed annually by the Board.
Section 4. Annual membership shall be from January 1 to December 31.
ARTICLE V - The Board of Directors and Officials
Section 1. The Association is governed by the Board of Directors (the Board), through the functions of committees and officers in the Association.
Section 2. The duties of the Board shall include, but not be limited to, making the Association’s policy that is consistent with the Bylaws, approving nominations of committee chairs nominated by the President, approving the Association's budget, approving quarterly budget reports, making recommendations for membership dues, and conducting fundraising initiatives and activities.
Section 3. The Board shall consist of no more than fifteen members.
Section 4. Except for the Founding Committee, Bylaw Committee, and Nomination Committee, committee chairs should be nominated by the President. The Founding Committee, Bylaw Committee, and Nomination Committee shall be established according to the procedures stipulated in ARTICLE VI.
Section 5. The members of the Board shall be nominated by the Nomination Committee based on merit of contributions, selected and approved by two thirds (2/3) of the members of the Board, and then appointed by the President.
Section 6. The officers of the Association shall consist of the President, the Vice-President(s), the Secretary, the Treasurer, and committee chairs. A committee chair does not have to be a member of the Board.
Section 7. The President (or in his/her absence, one of the Vice-Presidents) shall preside over all Board meetings of the Association and of the Board.
Section 8. The service term for president and vice-presidents is defined as one year. The service term for the Board members, is defined as two years. The President shall serve no more than one term and Vice-president shall serve no more than two consecutive terms. A Board member shall serve no more than three consecutive terms.
Section 9. Responsibilities of the Treasurer shall be:
9.1 Preparing quarterly budget reports.
9.2 Managing the Association’s bank accounts, as directed by the Board.
9.3 Making payments and purchases on behalf of the Association. Expenditures in excess of $500 must be jointly approved by the President and the Treasurer. The Treasurer may make expenditures of $500 or less without additional approvals provided that these expenditures are associated with the normal operation of the Association and do not result in overruns of the annual Association budget, as approved by the Board.
9.4 Performing other duties usually assigned to the office of the Treasurer.
Section 10. The President shall be promoted by the Board from the Vice-Presidents and approved by two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the Board. The Vice-President shall be nominated by the Nomination Committee from the Board members and approved by two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the Board. The committee chairs shall be nominated by the President from the Board or committee members.
Section 11. All members including student members shall have the privilege to serve on one or more committees of the Association. Committee members shall be nominated by committee chairs and approved by the President.
Section 12. The President is empowered to propose any new committee(s) and nominate committee chairs as needed. The establishment and adjustments of committees and nomination of committee chairs shall be approved by at least two-thirds (2/3) of the Board. All committee chairs, except for chairs of the Founding Committee, Bylaw Committee, and Nomination Committee, serve at the pleasure of the President.
Section 13. Members of the Board shall be required to regularly attend the Association's businesses and participate in board activities. A Board member who is unable to do so continuously for 12 months or more shall be considered to have voluntarily resigned from the Board; under such a circumstance, the President or a Board member shall request the Board to officially discharge the member from the Board.
Section 14. The Founding Committee consists of founding members of the board. The primary purposes of the Founding Committee are to advise the Board regarding its long-term strategy and remove the current president or any officer without cause through the two-thirds (2/3) vote rule by the Founding Committee.
14.1 The roles of the Founding Committee include 1) providing checks and balances of rights of the organization; 2) impeaching the president at the call of a minimum of five Board members or three Founding Committee members;
14.2 The members of the Founding Committee shall be composed of the original eight members including Yingwu Fang, Jie Han, Baoshan Huang, Kelvin Wang, Linbing Wang, Chung Wu, Zhanmin Zhang, Zhongjie Zhang who launched the organization. However, when any of them is serving as the President or Vice-President, he or she shall be automatically excluded as a Founding Committee member.
14.3 In case Founding Committee cannot reach the required number of votes for an action, the voting shall be extended to the entire Board for the same 2/3 vote rule. For voting on the President or Vice President being removed from office, both the President and the Vice President cannot participate in the discussion and voting.
ARTICLE VI – Founding Committee, Bylaw Committee, and Nomination Committee
Section 1. The chair of the Founding Committee shall be elected by two-thirds (2/3) of the Founding Committee members.
Section 2. Unless objected explicitly by the Founding Committee, the Bylaw Committee shall consist of one member from the Founding Committee, one member from the Board, and one member from the President’s officers and be chaired by the member representing the Founding Committee.
Section 3. Unless objected explicitly by the Founding Committee, the Nominations Committee shall consist of the immediate past President, the Vice President, one member from the Board and be chaired by the member representing the immediate past President.
ARTICLE VII - The Revision of the Bylaws
Section 1. The Association’s Bylaws shall not be revised frequently.
Section 2. The Association’s Bylaws shall be revised by the Board when there is a need.
Section 3. Revision shall be motioned by the President and seconded by at least two more Board members and approved by two-third (2/3) of the Board members.
Section 4. Revision shall be approved by two thirds (2/3) of the Board members.
Section 5. The Dates for Making and Revision of the Association’s Bylaws are recorded as follows:
First Edition: April 21, 2010
Revision for v3.0: January 20, 2015
Revision for v4.0: January 11, 2016
Revision for v5.0: January 16, 2021