Neurological Surgery Discipline Bylaws
AMERICAN COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC SURGEONS
BYLAWS OF
THE DISCIPLINE OF NEUROLOGICAL SURGERY
ARTICLE I - NAME
The name of this organization shall be the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons Discipline of Neurological Surgery.
ARTICLE II - OBJECTIVES
1. To advance osteopathic neurosurgery by dissemination of scientific knowledge and research through meetings and publications.
2. To elevate and sustain formal institutions for advanced study and training inosteopathic neurological surgery.
3. To honor living leaders in the field of osteopathic neurological surgery.
4. To promote mutual fellowship among osteopathic neurological surgeons.
5. To cooperate with other branches of the medical profession in all matters of mutual interest and advantage to the public.
6. To pursue excellence in medical education especially as it concerns the osteopathic neurological and surgical sciences.
7. To establish and sustain high standards for excellence in the practice of osteopathic neurological surgery.
8. To uphold those principles, policies and practices for the attainment of excellence in osteopathic patient care.
9. Establish an organization as authorized by the ACOS Board and to preserve the overall objectives, ideals and functions of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons.
ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP
Membership in the Discipline shall consist of ACOS members whose surgical practice is in the specialty of neurological surgery.
SECTION 1 - CLASSIFICATIONS OF MEMBERSHIP
1. Active Member
2. Resident Member
3. Associate Member
4. Honorary Member
5. Retired Member
6. Life Member
7. Inactive Member
SECTION 2 - ACTIVE MEMBER REQUIREMENTS
An Active member shall be an American College of Osteopathic Surgeons member who has successfully completed a neurological surgical residency training program either approved by the AOA or accredited by ACGME.
SECTION 3 - RESIDENT MEMBER REQUIREMENTS
A Resident Member shall be an ACOS resident member in good standing in a neurological surgery training program that is AOA-approved or ACGME accredited.
SECTION 4 - ASSOCIATE MEMBER REQUIREMENTS
An Associate Member shall be a member of the ACOS and shall be available to any nonsurgical osteopathic and allopathic physician.
SECTION 5 - HONORARY MEMBER REQUIREMENTS
Honorary Membership may be granted to any person who has contributed substantially to the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons, the discipline, and to the osteopathic medical profession and shall be a member of the ACOS.
SECTION 6 - RETIRED MEMBER REQUIREMENTS
A Retired Member is any ACOS Active or Associate Member who has permanently retired from practice and does not qualify for Life or Inactive Membership.
SECTION 7 - LIFE MEMBER REQUIREMENTS
A Life Member is any Active, Associate, or Retired Member of the ACOS who, during the year, will have reached the age of sixty (60) and has been a member for twenty (20) years.
SECTION 8 - INACTIVE MEMBER REQUIREMENTS
An ACOS member who is temporarily not in surgical practice.
SECTION 9 - GUESTS
Members in the ACOS and osteopathic physicians registered as guests at the Annual Clinical Assembly, who are interested in the specialty of neurological surgery, shall be privileged to attend the program sessions of the discipline. Such guests are not privileged to attend business meetings.
ARTICLE IV - DUES
Members shall be assessed annual dues, as determined by a majority of the discipline membership at the annual meeting, which dues shall be payable in advance for the coming year to maintain discipline membership.
Any member who after due and proper hearing is suspended or expelled from the membership of the ACOS or is dropped from membership from the ACOS for delinquency in dues payments, shall automatically lose his/her membership in the Discipline subject to the same terms or conditions for reinstatement, if any, or as imposed by the Board of Governors of the ACOS relative to the disciplinary action imposed by that body.
ARTICLE V - OFFICERS
SECTION I - OFFICERS
The officers of the Discipline shall be a Chair, Chair Elect, Past Chair, and Secretary- Treasurer. At the annual member meeting of the Discipline, a Chair-elect and Secretary-Treasurer shall be elected for a term of two (2) years by a majority vote of the members present.
SECTION II - CHAIR
The Chair-elect shall succeed to the office of Chair at the end of the annual meeting of the Discipline. The Chair shall be the principal elective officer of the Discipline, and shall preside at all meetings of the Discipline and of the Executive Committee. He/she shall be a voting governor of the ACOS Board, an ex officio member of all discipline committees and shall execute all duties delegated to him/her by the Executive Committee. He/she shall also communicate to the College and to the Board of Governors regarding the state of the Discipline and may make suggestions to promote its welfare. The discipline chair shall serve no more than one term of two years.
SECTION III - PAST CHAIR
The Chair shall become the Past Chair of the Discipline at the end of the annual member meeting of the Discipline. The Past Chair shall preside at all meetings of the Discipline and of the Executive Committee in the event of the temporary disability or absence from meetings of the Chair and Chair-elect. He/She shall have such other duties as the Chair or the Executive Committee may assign. In the event of the death or resignation of the Chair and the Chair-elect, or if the Chair and Chair-elect shall for any reason be unable or unqualified to serve, the Secretary-Treasurer shall fill the office of the Chair until the next meeting of the Discipline, at which time a Chair-elect and Chair shall be elected.
SECTION IV - CHAIR-ELECT
A Chair-elect shall preside at all meetings of the Discipline and of the Executive Committee in the event of the temporary disability or absence from meetings of the Chair, and shall execute all duties delegated to him/her by the Chair or the Executive Committee. He/she shall succeed to the office of Chair as provided for in Section 2. In the event of the death or resignation of the Chair-elect, the office shall remain vacant until the next meeting of the Discipline, at which time a Chair-elect shall be elected. In the event of the death or resignation of the Chair or if the Chair shall for any reason be unable or unqualified to serve, the Chair-elect shall fill the office of Chair during the balance of the Chair's term and then automatically succeed to office as provided in Section 2.
SECTION V - SECRETARY-TREASURER
The Secretary-Treasurer shall oversee: the Discipline's funds and financial records; the timely collection of members' dues and/or assessments; the establishment of appropriate accounting procedures for the handling of the Discipline's funds; the preparation of an annual budget for approval by the Executive Committee; the performance of an annual review of the financial statements prepared by the ACOS staff; and, further shall report on the financial condition of the Discipline at the annual members meeting, and at other times as called upon by the Chair.
The Secretary-Treasurer shall ensure the accurate recording and maintenance of proceedings of meetings of the Discipline and the Executive Committee, shall ensure that accurate records are kept of all members, and perform such other duties as legally required or otherwise prescribed by the Executive Committee.
Any of the duties of the Secretary-Treasurer may, by action of the Executive Committee, be assigned to the ACOS staff. In the event of the death or resignation of the Secretary-Treasurer, the Chair shall appoint a member of the Discipline to the office for the balance of the unexpired term.
ARTICLE VI - COMMITTEES
SECTION I - EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The Executive Committee shall have supervision, control, and direction of the affairs of the Discipline; shall determine its policies or changes therein within the limits of the College bylaws and policies; shall actively pursue its purposes and shall have discretion in the disbursement of its funds. It may adopt such rules and regulations for the conduct of its business as shall be deemed advisable, and may, in the execution of the power granted, appoint such agents as it may consider necessary.
The Executive Committee shall have regular meetings at the time and place of the annual meeting of the Discipline. The Executive Committee also shall meet upon the call of the Chair or a majority of the members of the Executive Committee. The times and places of the meetings shall be determined by the Executive Committee. Notice of all meetings of the Executive Committee shall be sent by mail to each member of the Executive Committee not more than eight (8) weeks and not less than two (2) weeks in advance of each meeting. A majority of the whole Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of the Executive Committee.
Any action taken by the Executive Committee may be voted upon by mail or electronic facsimile transceiver provided that all members of the Executive Committee consent and no less than a majority of the entire Executive Committee vote in favor of the issue presented in order for approval.
Members shall not receive any compensation for their service on the Executive Committee.
The Executive Committee shall be composed of the officers of the Discipline and the Governor(s), who is not an officer.
The election of the discipline officers and a Governor(s) shall be held at an annual business meeting of the discipline at which there is a quorum by a majority vote of the voting members who are in attendance. A Governor shall be elected for a term of two (2) years not to exceed a total of three (3) consecutive terms or four (4) consecutive terms provided one term is as discipline chair.
Only members who hold the FACOS title and who are currently in active surgical practice or have been in active surgical practice in the last three (3) years may be elected as discipline officers and Governors. In order to be eligible to be elected by the discipline as a chair, a member shall have served as an discipline continuing education program chair or discipline continuing education co-chair. A Discipline officer and governor may not be a member of an American Osteopathic Association specialty certifying board.
A member of the Executive Committee may resign at any time by giving written notice to the ACOS Executive Director. Such resignation will take effect at the time specified therein or at the time of acceptance as determined by the Chair or the Executive Committee.
For just and reasonable cause, any member of the Executive Committee may be removed by a three fourths vote of the Executive Committee members present at any meeting at which three-fourths of all of the Executive Committee members are present.
Any vacancies of a Governor(s) that also is not the discipline chair, shall be filled by an appointment by the chair of the discipline. This appointee shall serve until the next regularly scheduled meeting of the discipline when an election shall be held to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term.
SECTION II - NOMINATING COMMITTEE
The nominating committee shall consist of five members, one of whom shall be designated Chairman. These shall include the current Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary-Treasurer, Governor and a member to be elected at-large. It shall be the duty of the nominating committee to nominate members for the Chair-Elect, Secretary-Treasurer, and Governor of the Discipline for a term of two years. No current member of the nominating committee is eligible for election as a discipline officer or as a governor.
The slate of nominees shall be provided to the Executive Director of the ACOS 120 days in advance of the annual meeting for publication.
SECTION III – ACA PROGRAM COMMITTEE
The ACA Program Committee shall consist of one member for the current year designated by the Chair. The remainder of this committee shall consist of the next year and two year hence ACA Program Chair. It shall be the duty of the ACA Program Committee to prepare educational programs on neurological subjects for the annual clinical assembly and to conform to the regulations and requirements of the ACA program committee of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons.
The ACA program committee shall meet at the call of the Chair and shall have a representative present at all meetings of the ACA Program Committee of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons.
SECTION IV - REPRESENTATIVE TO THE ACOS RESIDENCY EVALUATION AND STANDARDS COMMITTEE
The representatives of neurological surgery serving on the ACOS Residency Evaluating and Standards Committee shall seek to inform the committee of the discipline's positions with respect to the evaluation and approval of residency training programs in neurological surgery and are appointed by the ACOS President with the approval of the ACOS Board of Governors.
SECTION V - BYLAWS COMMITTEE
The Bylaws Committee shall consist of at least three (3) members appointed by the Chair, one of whom shall be designated Committee Chair. The Chair of this committee shall be Parliamentarian for the Discipline. It shall be the duty of this committee to study and recommend improvements in the bylaws of the Discipline.
ARTICLE VII - MEETINGS
There shall be an annual meeting of the discipline membership during the Annual Clinical Assembly of the ACOS at a time and place determined by the Chair. At the annual meeting all necessary business shall be transacted and in election years, the election to the offices of the discipline for the upcoming term shall be held. Other membership meetings may be held at the call of the Chair.
A quorum shall consist of at least one-half the total active members as determined by the by-laws of the Discipline and the ACOS. Action may be taken upon a simple majority vote of those entitled to vote, once a quorum is present. Proxies will be honored but only if in writing and signed by the one giving the proxy. Such proxies shall not be used in the election of an ACOS Governor.
The discipline shall conduct such education or informational programs, which in the opinion of the Program Director are desirable and beneficial, which shall confirm in all respects to the regulations governing general programs at the Annual Clinical Assemblies.
The order of business at the annual meeting shall be:
1. Call to order by the Chair
2. Chair’s report and Governors Report
3. Secretary-Treasurer's report
a. approval of minutes
b. financial report
4. Committee Reports
5. Report of the Nominating Committee when necessary.
6. Election of Officers in alternate years.
7. Election of an ACOS Governor when necessary.
8. Unfinished business.
9. New business.
10.Adjournment
ARTICLE VIII - RULES OF ORDER
Meetings of the members and committees of the Discipline shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised unless otherwise specified in these bylaws.
ARTICLE IX - AMENDMENTS
The Discipline bylaws shall be consistent with the bylaws, policies, and procedures of the ACOS. The administration of the discipline shall in no way conflict with the overall objectives, ideals, and functions of the ACOS.
Amendments to these by-laws shall be made by a majority vote of the members present. Amendments shall be subject to approval by the Board of Governors of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons and no proposition to amend shall be acted upon unless written notice thereof has been sent to the members of the neurosurgical surgeons discipline not more than ninety days and not less than thirty days prior to the annual meeting.
ARTICLE X: DISSOLUTION
The Discipline shall use its funds only to accomplish the objectives and purposes specified in these bylaws, and no part of said funds shall inure, or be distributed, to the members of the Discipline. On dissolution of the Discipline any funds remaining shall be distributed to one or more regularly organized and qualified charitable, educational, scientific or philanthropic organizations to be determined by the Executive Committee.
Neurological Surgery Discipline Bylaws – as approved by the Board of Governors – March 2014