Revised Sections II and III 28 November 2001
Scientists, graduate students, engineers and other technically-oriented persons intending to make a significant contribution to this collaboration over a period of a least one year are eligible to be members. Members of other RHIC collaborations will not be members of this collaboration without permission from the Council.
Institutions (universities or laboratories) are admitted to the Collaboration by the Council upon recommendation of the Spokesperson. Normally an institution will have at least two Ph.D.s who are eligible to be members. Each institution is responsible for its list of members and for designating a contact person who will receive and disseminate collaboration information within that institution.
The Council will consist of one member from each collaborating institution who will represent the membership from that institution. Institutions are admitted to the Collaboration by the Council upon recommendation of the Spokesperson and upon receiving an affirmative vote of at least 75% of the Council. Each institution will select its representative. Institutions may also be admitted to the Collaboration without Council membership. Such an institution should be affiliated with another institution which has Council membership and may be given its own Council membership at a later time by a vote of the Council. The Spokesperson and Deputy Spokespersons will be ex-officio members of the Council. The Council may add extra members.
Younger members of the collaboration will be represented by up to three at-large Council members with no more than five years experience beyond the Ph.D., at least one of whom should be a graduate student. Candidates for at-large positions can be either self-nominated or nominated by others after a call for nominations by the Spokesperson. The at-large representatives will be elected by those members of the collaboration with no more than five years experience beyond the Ph.D. Elections should take place at least every two years.
The Council will deal with general issues which concern the collaboration. Examples include the organization and governance of the Collaboration, adoption of the bylaws and amendments thereto, the policy on admission of new members and institutions to the Collaboration, and publication policy. In addition, the Council is responsible for election of the Spokesperson and for approval of Deputy Spokesperson appointments.
The chairperson of the Council is elected by majority vote of the Council from among its ranks. The term of office is two years, and is not renewable. At the end of the Chairperson's first year in office, a deputy is elected who will become the chairperson's successor. After the end of the chairperson's term of office, the chairperson will serve yet another year as deputy.
Normally, Council meetings will be held during collaboration meetings. At the discretion of the Council Chair, additional meetings can be called with at least two weeks notice. Any Council member unable to attend a given meeting can name a substitute representing the same institution or group. All Council meetings will include a closed session, without the Spokesperson and Deputy Spokesperson(s) present. Elections by the Council, of the Spokesperson or Council Chair or Deputy Chair, must be announced publicly to the entire collaboration at least two weeks in advance of the meeting at which the elections will take place.
The Council will make decisions on all issues except elections and admission of new institutions based on a simple majority of all voting members. Any member may call for a secret ballot. Votes on adding extra members, admitting new institutions, or amending these bylaws must be announced ahead of time. Proxies to the Council chairperson are allowed for non-election votes, as are electronic meetings and ballots.
Voting for Spokesperson will be carried out by secret ballot, and without proxies, at publicly announced Council meetings. A quorum of 60% of Council members must be represented at the meeting for a valid vote. A candidate for Spokesperson can be elected in the first round of voting only if he or she receives more than 50% of all votes cast, including abstentions. If no candidate obtains this absolute majority, runoff rounds will be conducted for the top vote-getters until one candidate obtains more than 50% of the votes cast, not counting abstentions. The re-election of a sitting Spokesperson requires a 2/3 majority of the voting representatives present at the meeting.
Candidates for Spokesperson can be nominated by any member of the collaboration. An ad hoc nomination committee consisting of the Council Chair and two Council members appointed by the Chair will solicit nominations at least 30 days before the election, and will prepare and oversee the ballots.
The Spokesperson is elected by the Council and serves at its discretion. The normal term of office is 3 years, renewable with a 2/3 majority of the voting Council representatives present at the meeting.
The Council can decide to terminate the Spokesperson's term in office at any time and to request new elections. Such a termination requires a 3/4 vote of the representatives present at a Council meeting with a quorum of at least 2/3 of the members represented.
The Spokesperson will be the representative of the Collaboration in scientific, technical, and managerial concerns. The Spokesperson will be concerned not only with the design and construction of the detector and its upgrades, but also with all other preparations required to operate the experiment efficiently and to publish results in a timely and responsible fashion, and with continued leadership of the Collaboration.
There will be up to two deputy spokespersons. The spokesperson and the deputies must all belong to different institutions. The deputy spokespersons will be appointed by the Spokesperson subject to the approval of the Council. The deputy spokespersons provide support and assistance to the Spokesperson in the management of the experiment and collaboration. They may be appointed by the Spokesperson to act on his or her behalf and to represent the Collaboration.
These bylaws were adopted by the Council on 21 June 1991 and amended on 16 Nov. 1991, 21 April 1993, 7 Nov. 1995, and 28 Nov. 2001.
(Adapted from the SDC)