AITAA Statutes

ASIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION (AITAA) STATUTES

Preamble:

We, the Alumni of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), in order to create a unified body, develop mutual interest among ourselves, establish mutually beneficial relations between the Institute and its Alumni, and promote the interests of the Institute do hereby form ourselves into an Association and adopt these Statutes.

Article I: Name and Color

Sec. 1 This Association shall be known as the “AIT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION”, the abbreviation of which shall be “AITAA”. Its Headquarters will be at AIT.

Sec. 2 The color of the AITAA shall be “AIT Green”.

Article II: Membership, Duties and Privileges of Members

Sec. 1 The Membership of the AITAA shall be of three kinds – Regular Membership, Affiliated Membership and Honorary Membership.

Sec. 2 The Regular Membership shall be given to holders of degrees and diplomas awarded by AIT or the former SEATO Graduate School of Engineering.

Rights and Privileges of a Regular Member: A Regular Member shall vote for and may be elected to any office in the Chapter to which he/she belongs or of the AITAA. Regular Members will receive all the Chapter/AITAA publications through their respective National Chapters.

Sec. 3 The Affiliated Membership shall be given to AIT Certificate holders who have gone a training of minimum one term/semester at AIT. They should voluntarily apply to the Executive Committee for the membership.

Sec. 4 Duties: A Regular or Affiliated Member shall:

a) Pay the stipulated membership fee and other fees.

b) Affiliate himself/herself with any Chapter of his/her choice.

c) Furnish his/her Chapter his/her mailing address and other relevant information and promptly notify them of any change thereof.

Sec. 5 The Honorary Membership shall be conferred by the Governing Board upon the recommendation of the Executive Committee to a person who has rendered meritorious services to AIT or to the AITAA. They will receive all the AITAA publications through their respective National Chapters or through the Headquarters.

Article III: Governing Board (GB)

Sec. 1 The corporate powers and management of AITAA shall be exercised, administered and controlled by the Governing Board (GB) which shall consist of the President, Executive Secretary, Finance Officer, Auditor, Business Officer, Public Relations Officer and representatives of the National/Regional Chapters.

Sec. 2 The number of representatives to GB from each National/Regional Chapter shall be based on the chapter’s number of regular members, as follows:

Regular Membership of a Chapter No. of Representatives on GB
10-50 1
51-200 2
201-or more 3

The appointments shall exclude those members who are already officials of the GB.

Sec. 3 The President of a National/Regional Chapter shall automatically become one of the representatives on GB unless he/she designates a member of his/her Chapter to take his/her place. The other representatives of the Chapter, which is entitled to more than one representative, shall be designated by the Chapter.

Article IV: Executive Committee (Headquarters)

Sec.1 The Executive Committee shall be formed to transact business of the AITAA in accordance with the policy set forth by the GB.

Sec. 2 The Executive Committee shall consist of the Executive Secretary, the Finance
Officer, the Auditor, the Business Officer, and the Public Relations Officer. The President shall serve as Chief Executive Officer of the Executive Committee. In addition, as and when required, the President can appoint additional members/Advisors on the Executive Committee.

Article V: Officers and Elections

Sec.1 The Officers of the AITAA shall be classified into two categories: elected and appointed. The AITAA GB shall elect the President in accordance with Section 4 of this Article. The President will appoint all other Officers of the Executive Committee. Their terms of office will coincide with that of the President. The President can remove/dismiss appointed officers if deemed pertinent.

Sec. 2 Qualifications for the Office:

a) All Officers must be Regular Members of the AITAA.

b) The Executive Secretary, in order to insure the expeditious and efficient functioning of the AITAA, and to foster close relationship and effective cooperation between the AITAA and the Administration, and the Student Body of the AIT, must be resident of Bangkok, Thailand. He/she shall hold a regular office at the AITAA Headquarters.

Sec. 3 Duties and Responsibilities of the Officers:

a) The President shall preside over all meetings of the GB and shall be the chief executive of the AITAA. He/she shall appoint all committees, except special committees recommended by the Executive Committee. He/she will represent AITAA on the AIT Boards of Trustees. If additional representation on AIT Board is required, the AITAA President shall nominate the member(s) accordingly.

b) The Executive Secretary shall assume immediately the duties of the President in the event of the latter’s death, resignation or incapacity. If the unfinished term exceeds three months the GB shall elect immediately a new President from the candidates nominated by the Executive Committee.

c) The Executive Secretary shall supervise all operational activities of the AITAA. He/She will attend all meetings, prepare the business thereof and keep a record of all proceedings. Under the guidance of the President, he/she shall serve as the connecting link between the GB and Executive Committee, and the alumni, and between the AITAA and the AIT administration. He/she shall hold office in the Institute. He/she shall be in close contact with all alumni and Chapters providing them necessary information about the Institute and alumni activities, under the supervision of the President. He/she shall keep in his office up-dated alumni roster with all pertinent data.

d) In the event of death, resignation or incapacity of the Executive Secretary, the President shall appoint a new Executive Secretary to serve the unfinished term.

e) The Finance Officer shall keep a complete record of the accounts of the AITAA and shall present the financial report during the GB meeting.

f) The Auditor shall scrutinize carefully all expenditures and shall endeavor to secure economy in the disbursement of funds. He/she shall recommend to the GB necessary measures to safeguard AITAA funds. He/she shall audit all funds and properties of the AITAA.

g) The Business Officer shall be responsible for the business transactions of the AITAA.

h) The Public Relations Officer shall from time to time issue press releases regarding the activities of the AITAA and its Chapters in relevant AIT promotional publications, local and metropolitan papers, radio and other media of information. He/she shall serve as the Editor of any publication of the AITAA.

i) The duties of other Officers appointed on the Executive Committee by the President will depend on the task for which they are appointed.

Sec. 4 Election of the President:

a) Every two years, there shall be an election of the AITAA President. He/she may be nominated for or eligible for re-election for two consecutive terms. Any Regular Member is eligible for this post. Any member of the GB shall make nomination.

b) The call for nomination for the President’s position will be announced to all Chapters in July by the AITAA Headquarters. Nominations will be closed by the end of September. The President will be elected during the following GB meeting through voting by the attending GB members or representatives. The President-elect will assume the office by following month.

c) An ad hoc three - members election committee will be formed during the GB meeting by the attending members to conduct the election of the AITAA President.

Sec. 5 Appointment of the other Executive Committee Officers:

a) The AITAA President-elect shall appoint other Officers of the Executive Committee.

b) The Officers shall hold office from the date they are appointed by the President-elect until a new set of Officers is appointed.

Article VI: Chapters

Sec. 1 Definitions:

National Chapters: AITAA Chapters functioning in various countries. A National/Regional Chapter shall be named after the country/region in which it is organized. If required, National Chapters can form Sub-chapter(s) under the guidance of the National Chapter. The Sub-chapters can be listed in the AITAA directory.

Sec. 2 Establishment: Ten (10) or more Regular Members of the AITAA may form a National Chapter subject to the approval of the Executive Committee.

Sec. 3 Each National Chapter shall elect a President. The Headquarters shall conduct the election of the first President of a newly formed National/Regional Chapter. The National/Regional Chapter may elect other Chapter’s Officers or allow the Chapter’s President to appoint them.

Sec. 4 The National/Regional Chapter shall report the names of the Officers of the Chapter after each election to the Executive Secretary at the Headquarters.

Sec. 5 Each National/Regional Chapter may adopt by-laws suited to its needs provided these are not contradictory to the provisions in these Statutes.

Article VII: Meetings

Sec. 1 The Annual Meeting of the GB of the AITAA shall be held in November/December at a place determined by the Executive Committee in consultation with the National Chapters.

Sec. 2 A special meeting of the GB may be convened at the request of the Executive Committee or on the petition of two-thirds of GB members.

Sec. 3 At any meeting of the GB, regularly and properly called, the members present constitute a quorum with at least fifty percent of the Executive Committee including the President and Executive Secretary.

Sec. 4 At any meeting of the Executive Committee, regularly and properly called, at least three members present shall constitute a quorum. The Executive Committee shall meet at the request of either the President, or Executive Secretary or on petition of two other members of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee should meet at least once in three months.

Sec. 5 At any meeting of the GB and Executive Committee, a teleconference among members and/or representatives may be allowed, as deemed appropriate by the President and Executive Secretary.

Article VIII: Grounds for Dismissal

Sec. 1 Any elected Officer may be removed or suspended from AITAA/Chapter office by two-third vote of all members of the GB. Such removal or suspension may be made on any of the following grounds: inefficiency, abuse of office, disloyalty to the AITAA, gross misconduct, immorality and other grounds which the GB may deem sufficient, provided that every opportunity shall be afforded the accused to defend himself/herself.

Sec. 2 Membership of a Regular Member may be withdrawn or suspended by the GB for cause and after due process through the recommendation of his/her Chapter.

Article IX: Procedures

Sec. 1 Amendments of the Statutes may be adopted by two-thirds majority of the attending GB members. The amendment to these Statutes should be done as follows:

The Executive Committee shall send copies of the proposed amendments to the Chapters for comments. A two-thirds vote of the attending GB members shall be required for the adoption of the proposed statutes.

Sec. 2 The Robert Rules of Order shall govern the proceedings of any meeting, unless otherwise agreed upon by those present.

Sec. 3 The order of business during a regular meeting of the GB should be as follows:

a) Call to order

b) Approval of the Agenda

c) Welcome and Apologies

d) Follow up of previous meeting

e) Report of Committees

f) Any other Business

g) Approval of the meeting Minutes

Article X: Effectivity

Any amendments to these Statutes shall become effective immediately upon their adoption by the GB.

THESE AMENDED STATUTES WERE RATIFIED ON 11 JULY 2005.

AITAA Statutes in .pdf