International Society for Physical Activity and Health
Bylaws February 18, 2008
Article I: Name
In conformity with its articles of incorporation, the name of this organization shall be International Society For Physical Activity And Health (the society or ISPAH), a nonprofit corporation, incorporated in the State of Illinois in the United States of America and operating under laws of said state.
Article II: Mission and Goals
Section 1. The mission of the International Society for Physical Activity and Health is to advance health through the scientific study and promotion of physical activity.
Section 2. Following are the goals of the society:
- Provide a focused international forum and professional organizational home for researchers and practitioners interested in physical activity and health.
- Promote professional development of members through educational activities relevant to physical activity and health.
- Facilitate communication and understanding among international organizations and specialties with interests in, or responsibilities for, physical activity and health.
- Promote and improve the effectiveness of science in advancing the understanding and promotion of physical activity for health.
- Advocate for research funding and policies (legislative and nonlegislative) that can improve opportunities and environments for physical activity throughout the world.
Article III: Membership
Section 1: Membership in the society shall be of the following types: professional member and student member. A student is defined as anyone who is pursuing a degree in higher education (postsecondary). Professional and student membership categories will have equal privileges of voice and vote. Only professional members will be eligible for election or appointment to the society’s board of governors and executive committee.
Section 2: Membership categories may be changed by action of the board of governors.
Section 3: A roll of all members of the society shall be kept by the secretary-treasurer.
Article IV: Dues
Section 1: The cost of dues shall be determined by the executive committee in consultation with the membership director.
Section 2: Annual dues are payable to the secretary-treasurer. Dues are paid for a year in advance and will be billed before a member’s anniversary date.
Article V: Organization
Section 1: ISPAH is a nonprofit corporation incorporated in 2008 in the state of Illinois in the United States of America.
Section 2: The society’s business office is located at 1607 North Market Street, Champaign, Illinois, 61820, USA.
Section 3: The society shall be governed by a 12-member board of governors. The board of governors shall be initially appointed by the executive committee and thereafter will become members as described later.
Section 4: The administration of the society shall be conducted by an executive committee, initially appointed by the president and subsequently elected in 2010 and biennially thereafter. The executive committee shall include a president, president-elect, past president, and secretary-treasurer. For the period 2008-2010, the president will appoint the other three executive committee members who will serve until elections are held.
Section 5: The fiscal year of operations for the society shall be from January 1 through December 31.
Article VI: Elections
Section 1: The elected officers of the society shall be the president, president-elect, past president, and secretary-treasurer. Each position is held for two years.
Section 2: The president-elect position shall be elected every two years, and the first election shall be held three months before the 2010 biennial conference of the society.
Section 3: The secretary-treasurer shall be elected every four years, and the first election shall be held three months before the 2012 biennial conference of the society.
Section 4: The election process shall be conducted by the secretary-treasurer who will place a call for candidates from the society’s membership. The executive committee will evaluate the recommendations and determine a slate of two individuals for each office to be filled. The candidate receiving the largest number of votes shall be elected. In the case of a tie, the board of governors will vote to select one of the two candidates.
Section 5: Individuals who have previously been elected as president may not be a candidate for the president-elect position.
Section 6: Voting by the membership will be conducted via the Internet.
Section 7: The elected officers shall assume their official duties at the biennial conference immediately after the election. The seated president-elect will become the president, the seated president will become the past president, and the newly elected president-elect will become the president-elect.
Article VII: Board of Governors and Executive Committee
Section 1: The 12-member board of governors is responsible for governing the society by setting policies, developing strategic plans, and establishing operating codes.
Section 2: The board of governors shall include the following positions:
- President, who shall be the chairman of the board
- Past president, who shall be the first alternate as chairman of the board in the absence of the president
- President-elect, who shall be the second alternate as chairman of the board in the absence of the president and past president
- Secretary-treasurer
- Membership director
- Education director
- Publication director
- Africa representative
- Austral-Asia representative
- Europe representative
- North America representative
- South and Central America representative
Section 3: The nonelected positions on the board of governors will be nominated by the executive committee and approved by majority vote by the currently seated board. Individuals who have served on the board of governors may be reappointed.
Section 4: The three directors and five regional coordinators will serve four-year terms; the terms will be staggered so that not all directors and coordinators are replaced on the board at the same time.
Section 5: The board of governors will customarily meet in person for one to two days before the biennial conference and at other times when the executive committee determines that the business of the society needs to be done through a face-to-face meeting with due consideration to the expenses of such meetings. Customarily other than the biennial in-person meeting at the biennial conference, the business of the society will be conducted through electronic communication.
Section 6: The executive committee is responsible for reporting to the board of governors and seeing that the society operates by its bylaws and operating codes and achieves its objectives. The executive committee shall provide the board of governors with a written annual report for the previous calendar year that shall be due on January 30 of the following year.
Article VIII: Duties of Officers, Directors, Representatives, and Other Personnel
Section 1: President: The president shall make arrangements for and shall preside at all society, executive committee, and board of governors’ meetings. The president shall coordinate the activities of all society divisions and oversee the election of all new officers. The president shall be authorized to sign checks in the absence of the secretary-treasurer. She or he, in consultation with the other members of the executive committee, may appoint committees and individual members to perform special projects that meet the objectives and plans of the society. The president is responsible for appointing a parliamentarian at business meetings, and the president shall deliver a formal address to the membership at the society’s biennial conference. The president will submit an annual report to the board of governors describing the previous year’s activities, which will be due January 30 of the following year. The president shall lead fundraising efforts on behalf of the society.
Section 2: Past president: The past president shall be available in a consulting and special projects role as designated by the president and the executive committee. Also, the past president shall, during the absence of the president, perform all duties of the president.
Section 3: President-elect: The president-elect shall serve as chair for the next biennial conference of the society. The president-elect shall perform such other duties as assigned by the president and the executive committee. If the office of the president becomes vacant, the president-elect shall succeed the president for the unexpired term of office.
Section 4: Secretary-treasurer: The secretary-treasurer shall keep minutes of all executive committee meetings and the society’s business meetings, be responsible for oversight of all monetary transactions, be authorized to sign checks on behalf of the society, submit an annual financial report to the executive committee and board of governors on the receipt and disbursement of funds, and prepare the biennial budget in conjunction with the executive committee. The safekeeping of all records of the society are the responsibility of the secretary-treasurer.
Section 5: Membership director: The director is responsible for developing and executing a membership plan, including a marketing plan to promote membership. The director will consult with and submit the plan for approval to the executive committee before executing it. The director may appoint a membership committee to help execute the membership plan. The director will work with the regional coordinators to promote membership in each region and to negotiate with country or regional societies that may be interested in affiliating with the society. The director will be consulted by the executive committee regarding to the price of annual dues.
Section 6: Education director. The education director is responsible for developing plans for all educational programs of the society, but not the ISPAH biennial conference program. The director will consult with and submit plans for new educational programs for approval to the executive committee. The director then is responsible for executing the approved plans and overseeing all educational activities of the society. The director may appoint an education committee to help execute the membership plan. The duties of the education director include the development of the Web site, which will have a primary emphasis on education, and society liaison activities with host institutions for the biennial conference.
Section 7: Publication director. The director is responsible for developing a newsletter that will be distributed electronically via the society’s Web site. The official journal of the society will be the Journal of Physical Activity and Health published by Human Kinetics.
The publication director is responsible for arranging and overseeing the agreement with the publisher to provide the journal to all members. The director is also responsible for developing other publication plans and obtaining approval from the executive committee before executing those plans. The director may appoint a publication committee to help conduct the publication work.
Section 8: Regional representatives. Each representative is responsible for representing the interests of its region to the society and to represent the society to its region. Regional representatives are responsible for promoting membership to individuals and country or regional societies that have similar interests to those of ISPAH. The representatives also will identify opportunities for the society to help country or regional needs.
Section 9: Business manager. The society will employ a business manager who will assist the executive committee by performing major association management functions.
Section 10: Compensation: Service to the society is voluntary. No monetary compensation will be available to elected officers, directors, or coordinators.
Article IX: Committees and Councils
Section 1: Standing committees may be added or dissolved by proposal from the executive committee and subject to approval by the board of governors. All society standing committees shall have a clearly defined purpose and be populated by professional or student members of the society. All standing committees will have operating codes that detail the scope and purpose of their operations.
Section 2: The president may appoint and dissolve other ad-hoc committees at his or her discretion. Such committees will be created for a defined purpose and be dissolved upon the president’s retirement or resignation from office, subject to the approval of the executive committee.
Section 3: Committee chairs shall report, when requested, to the board of governors and/or executive committee.
Section 4: Thematic councils will be organized to help members align themselves with specific areas of interest in the broad field of physical activity and health. Councils will be responsible for their governance and work plans subject to broad outlines developed by the board of governors. New councils shall be proposed to the board of governors and created based on demand from the membership. Each council would have representative leadership at the level of the board of governors.
Article X: Meetings
Section 1: The society shall organize an international conference every two years; the exact time and place is to be determined by the executive committee. This conference for reference purposes in the bylaws shall be known as the ISPAH biennial conference (stated elsewhere). Special meetings of the society may be called by the president whenever requested by a majority of the board of governors or by two-thirds vote of the membership.
Section 2: The president-elect in consultation with the executive committee shall prepare a request for proposals and solicit proposals from the society’s members to host the ISPAH biennial conference at a local site. The terms specifying the requirements for hosting will be stated in the request for proposals. Whenever possible, proposals should be received at least one month before the next ISPAH biennial conference for hosting the conference to be held four years after the immediate forthcoming conference. The proposals will be distributed to the board of governors before the board’s meeting at the ISPAH biennial conference, at which time the board will select the conference site.
Section 3: A business meeting will be held at each ISPAH biennial conference, which will be chaired by the president.
Section 4: The society may host or collaborate with other organizations in hosting and conducting meetings. Procedures and approval for collaboration shall be developed and granted by the executive committee.
Article XI: Publications
Section 1: A professional journal (Journal of Physical Activity & Health) will be sponsored by the society. All dues-paying members will receive the journal as part of their membership services.
Section 2: A periodic electronic newsletter will be published by the society. All dues-paying members will receive the newsletter as part of their membership services.
Section 3: Additional publications on behalf of the society will be considered and approved by the executive committee.
Article XII: Revenue
The revenue of the society shall be derived from dues, publications, educational outreach, and conference fees, as fixed by the executive committee, as well as from endowments, gifts, grants, bequests, advertisements in the newsletter, interest on accounts, business arrangements, and such other sources as the executive committee sanctions. All financial transactions shall be consistent with the society’s position as a nonprofit corporation.
Article XIII: Amendments
Amendments to these bylaws may be initiated by a proposal signed by at least 10 professional members of the society. Said proposal shall be delivered to the president for prioritization and action. Amendments may also be initiated by a majority vote of the board of governors at least 60 days before the next conference. The proposed amendments shall be communicated to the membership of the society, and the president shall lead discussion (electronic or in person) regarding the amendments. The amendments shall be voted on; a two-thirds affirmative vote of the membership (votes may be in person or electronic) is required for adopting any amendment. Amendments to the bylaws shall be filed with the secretary of state in the State of Illinois pursuant to state statutes.
Article XIV: Dissolution
Section 1: The society shall be dissolved when 75% of the members agree to dissolve the society. No proposal for dissolution shall be considered unless four weeks’ notice in writing is given to each member of the society.
Section 2: In the event of the dissolution of the society, the assets of the society shall be distributed to the organizations engaged in activities similar to those for which this society was established, provided that such organizations are exempt from taxation under regulations of the United States Internal Revenue Service. The executive committee shall be responsible for selecting the organizations in accordance with the stipulations contained in this section.
Section 3: Intent to dissolve and articles of dissolution shall be filed with the secretary of state, State of Illinois, pursuant to relevant Illinois statutes.
