SAAG | Constitution

SAAG CONSTITUTION

2. NAME

The name of the Association is the Southern African Association of Geomorphologists (SAAG).

2. DEFINITIONS

In this Constitution, unless inconsistent with the text:

The term “Association" shall mean the Southern African Association of Geomorphologists.
The term "Council" shall mean the Council of the Association as constituted in Clause 10 of this Constitution.
Words imparting the masculine gender shall include females.
Words in the singular number shall include the plural, and words in the plural number shall include the singular.

3. STYLE

Association shall be a non-government, non-political, non-profit institution, at all times free of racial, gender or national prejudice.
The Association should be maintained in as informal a style as possible, in keeping with the relaxed spirit of friendship and co-operation existing in 1988, at the time of inception of the Association.
The Association shall exist in its own right, separately from its members; be able to own possessions and/or property; be able to sue and be sued in its own name.
The Association shall continue to exist even when its membership and/or Council changes.

4. OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the Association are:

To act as a responsible body for the purpose of co-ordination on matters of public and professional interest concerning Geomorphology in southern Africa.
To promote, organise and sponsor activities associated with, and research in, Geomorphology.
To disseminate information on all aspects of Geomorphology.
To provide opportunities for the exchange of ideas and opinions, inter alia, by means of the publication of a Newsletter and the organisation of workshops and symposia.
To act as a liaison between Geomorphologists in southern Africa, and the International Association of Geomorphologists (lAG) and other international Geomorphology and Earth Science organisations.

5. ASSOCIATION YEAR

The financial year of the Association shall be from the 1st day of January in each year to the 31st day of December of that year.
The administrative year shall be from the first day following a General Meeting until the first General Meeting of the next year, such that it coincides with the term of office of the Council.

6. MEMBERSHIP

The membership of the Association shall consist of the following classes:
1. Ordinary members;
2. Honorary Life members;
3. Institutional membership;
4. Student members; and
5. Fellowship of the Association.
Ordinary membership shall be restricted to individuals.
Any member may nominate another member as an Honorary Life Member. Honorary Life Membership shall be awarded by unanimous vote of the Council, provided that the nominee shall not be a sitting member of the Council. In deciding the award, the Council shall take into consideration whether the nominee has made a significant contribution to the promotion of the objects of the Association. The class of Honorary Life Member shall be restricted to individual persons.
Institutional membership shall only be open to groups, institutions and organisations. Institutional membership shall not extend to individuals within those groups, organisations or institutions. (Guidelines for Research Groups within SAAG are outlined in Appendix 1).
Application for any class of membership other than Honorary Life Membership shall be made in writing to the Secretary of the Association and shall be accompanied by the appropriate subscription fee for that class. An application for membership shall be deemed to be an acknowledgement on the part of the applicant to be bound by this Constitution and all amendments thereto.
Student membership shall be restricted to members who attend any tertiary educational institution on a full-time basis.
A Fellowship of the Association shall be the highest honour, which the SAAG can bestow upon a Geomorphologist. The award of a Fellowship shall:
1. Entitle the awardee to the status of an Honorary Life Member.
2. Any member may nominate any person for the award of a Fellowship. Such nomination shall be in the form of a short motivation, stating the reason for the nomination, and shall be seconded by at least one other member. Upon receipt of a nomination for the award of a Fellowship:
  1. Such nomination shall be placed on the agenda of the next meeting of the Council of the Association;
  2. Shall be evaluated by Council in the light of the criteria set out for the award of a Fellowship (Appendix 2); and
  3. The nominator shall be informed of the outcome of his nomination, as well as the Council's reasoning leading to that outcome.
3. The award of a Fellowship of the Association shall be governed by criteria as determined by the Association from time to time; such criteria being appended to the Constitution (Appendix 2) and shall be freely available to members of the Association upon request.

7. PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERS

Each member, regardless of class of membership, shall be entitled to one vote at all General Meetings of the Association, provided that his/their subscription is/are fully paid.
Honorary Life Members shall be exempt from the payment of any subscriptions.

8. SUBSCRIPTIONS

The subscription payable by both ordinary and student members shall be determined by the Council from time to time and shall apply throughout the financial year to which it relates.
The subscription payable by an Institutional member shall be three (3) times that of an Ordinary member and shall apply throughout the financial year to which it relates.
All subscriptions shall become due and payable on the first day of January each year.
All subscriptions are payable to the Association through the Treasurer of the Association.

9. SUSPENSION OF MEMBERS

Any member who has not paid the annual subscription for the current year within nine (9) months of its due date shall cease to be a member of the Association, provided that such a person may, at the discretion of the Council, be re-instated as a member on reapplication.

10. COUNCIL OF THE ASSOCIATION

The affairs of the Association shall be managed by the Council, which shall be made up of the following office bearers:
1. A President;
2. President-Elect;
3. Secretary;
4. Treasurer;
5. Three other members of which:
  1. One should be an Emerging Career Researcher (ECR);
  2. One should be the Media Officer; and
6. One representative from each southern African country not already represented by an Office Bearer in Clauses 10.1.1 to 10.1.5 above.
Any member of the Council who does not attend at least two-thirds (⅔) of the Council meetings may, at the discretion of the Council, forfeit his membership of the Council.

11. TERM OF OFFICE OF COUNCIL MEMBERS

The term of office of members of the Council shall be two (2) years.
No member of the Council, except the role of the President and President-Elect, who has been a member thereof for four (4) consecutive years shall be eligible for re-election until a period of one year has elapsed since his last having been a member of the Council.
The maximum number of consecutive years served is six (6) years as it applies to Clause 11.2.
Any member shall cease to be a Council member if:
1. He ceases to be a member of the Association, or the Council; and/or
2. He tenders his resignation in writing and such resignation is accepted by the Association.
The term of the Treasurer can be extended beyond the 4-year period as stipulated in Clause 11.1 and 11.2 until a new Treasurer is elected by the Members at a BGM.

12. ELECTION OF THE COUNCIL

Members of the Council named in Rule 10.1 shall be elected from among the members of the Association at a General Meeting of the Association called for this purpose.
A General Meeting for the purpose of electing Council shall be held not more than once a year but not less than once every two (2) years.
Not less than 60 days before the date of such General Meeting, the Secretary shall send notice to all members of the Association calling for nominations for Office Bearers and members of the Council.
Nominations shall include the names and signatures of the proposer and the seconder, and the written consent of the nominee, and shall reach the Secretary not less than 28 days before the date of the General Meeting.
If more nominations than there are vacancies on the Council are received and accepted by the Secretary by the specified date, voting papers containing a list of all nominees shall be sent to all members not less than 21 days before the date of the General Meeting.
Elections shall take place at a General Meeting of the Association called for this purpose, and postal votes may be accepted provided that they are received by the Secretary at the commencement of the General Meeting·
The incoming Council shall assume office immediately upon the conclusion of the General Meeting at which it was elected.
The Council shall have the power to co-opt any member or members of the Association to fill vacancies occurring on the Council.

13. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL

The Council shall direct and manage all the affairs of the Association and shall, within the constraints of this Constitution, do what it considers conducive to the interests of good management and the furtherance of the aims of the Association.
Without in any way limiting the above general powers, the Council shall have the power:
1. To appoint committees, to determine their terms of reference, and to dissolve any such committees;
2. To make, confirm, vary or terminate agreements with any other person or body or Association of persons for the furtherance of the aims of the Association; and
3. To nominate representatives of the Association to other bodies, organisations or committees.
The Council shall meet whenever necessary but at least once every six (6) months during the term of its office.
Notice of meetings of the Council shall be given to all its members by the Secretary at least one month prior to such a meeting.
The quorum at any meeting of the Council shall be half the elected members thereof.
All meetings of the Council shall be presided over by the President or, in his absence, by the President-Elect. In the absence of both these members, the Council shall appoint a Chairman from among those members present.
The Chairman of any meeting of the Council shall have both a deliberate and a casting vote.
The Council may, at its discretion, co-opt any persons, whether members or not, to assist it in its work, but such co-opted members shall have the power to vote.
All offices on the Council shall be in an Honorary capacity.
The Council shall be responsible for the publication of the Newsletter of the Association and may publish any other literature which it deems to be in the interest of the objectives of the Association.

14. DUTIES OF COUNCIL MEMBERS

President
1. The President of the Association shall preside at all meetings of the Council and of the Association at which he is present.
2. The President shall annually, normally at a General Meeting, submit a report on the Association's activities over the immediate past year. Such report, or an abridged version of it, shall be published in the first Newsletter of the Association subsequent to the report having been presented.
3. The President shall affix his signature to every approved amendment to this Constitution, and a copy thereof shall be contained in the Association's minute book.
4. The President, or a person delegated by the Council on his behalf, shall be the official representative of the Association to the International Association of Geomorphologists (lAG/AIG) and other international Geomorphology and Earth Science organisations.
The President-Elect
1. In the event of the President being indisposed or unavailable for any reason, the powers vested in him shall devolve upon the President-Elect.
The Secretary
1. The Secretary of the Association shall have charge of the Association's official records and minute book.
2. The Secretary shall record in the minute book the minutes of all meetings of the Council and of the Association and shall dispatch to each member a copy of the minutes of every General Meeting.
3. The Secretary shall conduct and record the correspondence of the Association
4. The Secretary, after consultation with the President, shall be responsible for giving due notice of all meetings of the Council and of the Association
Treasurer
1. The Treasurer shall maintain a record of all income and expenditures received and made during his term of office by the Association.
2. The Treasurer shall prepare a detailed statement of income and expenditure for the preceding year or term of office for presentation at the General Meeting.
Emerging Career Researcher (ECR)
1. The ECR representative represents the young geomorphologists of southern Africa.
2. The ECR representative should be active within the SAYG.
Media Officer
1. The Media Officer will take control of the website and moderate the Association’s social media presence.
2. The Media Officer is in charge of the Association’s Email account.
3. The Media Officer will liaise with the Secretary to ensure that important communications are disseminated to the Association body at large.

15. GENERAL MEETINGS

A General Meeting for the purposes of administering the Association shall normally be held not more than once a year, but not less than once every two (2) years.
Notice of the date, time and place of the General Meeting and the agenda thereof shall be dispatched to all members at least 60 days before the date of the meeting.
The business of the General Meeting shall be:
1. To read and confirm the minutes of the last General Meeting;
2. To hear the report of the President of the Association for the past term of office;
3. To receive a statement of the financial position of the Association;
4. To consider and vote upon any alteration or addition to the Constitution of which due notice has been given in terms of Clause 17;
5. To elect the Council for the coming term as specified in Clause 11; and
6. To consider, and if necessary to vote upon, any other competent business.
A special General Meeting may be called by the Council whenever it considers it necessary.
The Council shall call a special General Meeting within 30 days of receipt of a request in writing to do so, signed by not less than ten (10) members in good standing. Such a request must state the purpose of the special meeting.
A special General Meeting shall be competent to deal only with the particular business of which due notice has been given.
Should any General Meeting stand adjourned, the adjourned meeting shall be held not more than thirty (30) days after the date of the original General Meeting. Notice of the date, time and place of such adjourned meeting shall be dispatched to all members not more than seven (7) days after the date of the original General Meeting.
The minutes emanating from these meetings shall be distributed to members no more than fourteen (14) days after the meeting.

16. QUORUMS AT GENERAL MEETINGS

The quorum at any General Meeting shall be twenty per cent (20%) of all members entitled to vote at such meetings present in person.
If upon dissolution of the Association, there remains after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities any property whatsoever the same shall not be paid to or distributed among the members of the Association but shall be given or transferred to some other company, society or Association with objectives similar to those of the Association.
In the absence of a quorum at a special General Meeting, the meeting shall be deemed cancelled.

17. VOTING AT GENERAL MEETINGS

All paid-up members shall be entitled to be represented and to vote at any General Meeting by proxy, provided such proxy is a member of the Association.
The instrument appointing a proxy shall be in the hands of the Secretary or of the Chairman of the meeting for which the proxy was appointed before that meeting commences.
At any one General Meeting, no member may hold more than two (2) proxies.
At all General Meetings, the Chairman of the meeting shall have both a deliberate and a casting vote.
The declaration by the Chairman of the result of the vote shall be binding unless a recount of votes is immediately requested.

18. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION

No amendments shall be made to this Constitution except at a General Meeting, notice of which shall have been given in terms of Clause 15.
Any proposal to amend this Constitution shall be in writing and shall be signed by both the proposer and the seconder.
Any such amendment or addition shall be passed only if at least two-thirds (⅔) of the members entitled to vote, who are present or represented by proxy at the meeting, vote in favour thereof.

19. INTERPRETATION OF THE CONSTITUTION

In case of doubt as to the meaning or interpretation of this Constitution, the Council shall be the final arbiter and its decision shall be binding upon the members until the next General Meeting of the Association when, if so desired, the matter may be referred to the members present for the decision if the majority.

20. DISSOLUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION

The provisions of rule 17 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the dissolution of the Association.
If upon dissolution of the Association, there remains after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities any property whatsoever the same shall not be paid to or distributed among the members of the Association but shall be given or transferred to some other company, society or Association with objectives similar to those of the Association.

21. FINANCES & PROPERTY

The Association’s financial transactions shall be conducted by means of a banking account.
The Association shall not give any of its money or property to its members or Council, unless such serves as compensation for work done. In this case, the payment must be a reasonable amount for the work that has been done as agreed on by the Council. Approved payment can only be affected on receipt of a valid invoice or related payment request.
Members of the Council of the Association do not have rights over the property of the Association.

This Constitution is an amended version of the original Constitution accepted at a meeting of the Southern African Association of Geomorphologists, held at The Edge, Hogsback on 30 September 2023, according· to amendments and additions accepted and recorded from subsequent General Meetings of the Association. Minor amendments were made in 2024 to fulfil the minimum requirements in terms of the Nonprofit Organisation Act 1997 (Act no.71 of 1997).

APPENDIX 1: GUIDELINES FOR RESEARCH GROUPS WITHIN SAAG

PREAMBLE

SAAG recognises the possibility for members with a special interest in any theme in Geomorphology, to formally create a Research Group within the Association. A Research Group shall be bound to the Association by the following regulations:

DEFINITIONS
1. Definitions as used in the Constitution of the Southern African Association of Geomorphologists (SAAG) shall apply.
2. The term "Research Group" shall mean a Research Group within the Association.
OBJECTIVES
1. The objectives developed by the Research Group shall support and not be in conflict with the objectives of the Association as stated in the Constitution.
FORMAL LINKS WITH OTHER SCIENTIFIC BODIES
1. A Research Group will be allowed to have formal links with other related, statutory bodies to further the objectives of the group.
2. Membership fees due to other statutory bodies will remain the responsibility of the Research Group at all times.
MEMBERSHIP
1. Membership to a Research Group will be open to SAAG members only.
2. The membership of a Research Group shall consist of the following classes:
  1. Ordinary members;
  2. Institutional membership; and
  3. Student members.
3. Ordinary membership shall be restricted to individuals.
4. Institutional membership shall only be open to groups, institutions and organisations. Institutional membership shall not extend to individuals within those groups, organisations or institutions.
5. Student membership shall be restricted to members who attend any tertiary institution on a full-time basis.
6. The class of honorary membership is not recognised for Research Groups and shall remain the privilege of the Association.
FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION
1. The Research Group will be responsible for its financial administration.
2. SAAG will at no time be held liable for the financial position of the Research Group.
3. A Research Group may raise a membership fee from its members to support its activities.
4. A Research Group may apply to SAAG Council for financial assistance in support of its activities.
  1. The Council will at its discretion determine the merit of the request;
  2. The Council holds the right to set any conditions it deems appropriate to its financial support offered if such assistance is approved; and
  3. The quorum for approval of financial assistance shall be half the elected members of the Council eligible to vote.
PRIVILEGES AND RESTRICTIONS
1. Research groups may at all times organise activities outside of formal SAAG activities.
2. The Association will provide for special sessions by Research Groups at its biennial conferences.
3. The Association will provide space in its Newsletter for communications by Research Groups.
4. Research group meetings may form a part of, but not replace, formal activities of the Association intended to be of general Geomorphological interest.
REPRESENTATION ON SAAG COUNCIL
1. A Research Group will be entitled to representation on the SAAG Council by one person elected from the group membership.
2. The Research Group representative shall have observer status and not have voting rights on the Council.
3. The Research Group representative shall hold no other position on the Council during his term of office.
4. The terms of office of Council members, as spelt out under Clause 11 of the Constitution of the Association, shall apply to the Research Group representative.
DISSOLUTION OF A RESEARCH GROUP
1. If upon dissolution of a Research Group, there remains after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities any property whatsoever the same shall be given or transferred to the Association.

APPENDIX 2: CRITERIA FOR NOMINATION FOR SAAG FELLOWSHIP

The nominee shall:

Be a practising member of SAAG;
Have been active in Geomorphological research, consulting and/or teaching for at least ten (10) years;
Through his work, have made a contribution to South African and/or international Geomorphology which is recognised nationally.

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