Statute 9 - Governance

9.1 Officers

a)    The Officers of the Society shall be the President, the immediate Past-President, two Vice-Presidents, the Secretary-General and the Treasurer.

b)    The role of the President includes:

                      i.        Representing the Society, particularly internationally.

                     ii.        Providing direction and advice to the Council, Executive Committee, Committees of Council, Working Groups and other bodies of the ISDE

                    iii.        Presiding over meetings of the Council and Executive Committee

                   iv.        Investigating and recommending potential areas of national or international cooperation to the Council, via the Committee on Collaboration [9.4a)iv].

                    v.        Carrying out such duties as required or proposed by the Council.

                   vi.        Overseeing the implementation of the Society’s work plan.

c)    The Secretary-General has legal responsibility for the operations of the ISDE as a non-governmental organization (NGO).  Since the ISDE Secretariat is located in China, it is then governed by the Civil Code of China. The Secretary-General shall be an Official of the host institute of the ISDE Secretariat, i.e., the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

d)    Officers of the ISDE shall be elected at a Council [9.2] meeting held during a Symposium, based on recommendations from the Nominating Committee [9.4a)i]

9.2  Council

a)  The senior governing body of the Society is the Council, which is responsible for the overall direction, general strategies and conduct of the Society, approving its financial operations, and providing direction to the Secretariat.

b)  Members of the Council will be appointed or elected as provided for in the By-Laws.

c)  The Council will meet at least once each calendar year, during a Symposium or Summit.

d)  For 2012 only, the members of Council will be the members of the Executive Committee, prior to the adoption of the governance arrangements provided for in these revised Statutes [Nov 2012]. 

9.3  The Executive Committee

a)  The Executive Committee consists of the President, Secretary-General, Executive Director, the Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer and two other members appointed by the Council.

b) Unless otherwise members in their own right, the Directors of approved Symposia and Summits will become visiting members of the Executive Committee and will remain in that role until the meeting of the Executive Committee following the completion of the Symposium or Summit for which they have responsibility.

c) The Executive Committee will operate under delegation from the Council.

d)  The Executive Committee will meet at least three times each calender year, once as part of the annual meeting of the Council, and otherwise by electronic means.

e)  One delegated role of the Executive Committee is, via the Symposia and Summits Committee [9.4a)v], to monitor planning and organizational progress of forthcoming Summits and Symposia and to approve, on behalf of the Council, budgets and modified budgets for those events.

9.4  Committees

The Council has the power to establish committees, commissions, working groups or other subsidiary bodies to assist it in the discharge of its work.

a)  There are five standing committees, with responsibilities as provided for in the By-Laws:

                      i.        Nominating Committee

                     ii.        Finance and Audit Committee

                    iii.        Awards Committee

                   iv.        Committee on Collaboration

                    v.        Symposia and Summits Committee

                   vi.        Young Scientist Committee

b)  Memberships of the Standing Committees will be determined by the Council, from time to time, with each Committee chaired by a member of the Council.

c)  The Treasurer will be the chair of the Finance and Audit Committee.

d)  The Executive Director is a member, ex officio, of all ISDE committees; if required, the Executive Director can delegate this responsibility to a senior member of the Secretariat, informing the corresponding committee accordingly.

e)  There will be one Organising Committee established for each approved Symposium and Summit, with responsibilities as outlined in the By-Laws.

9.5  Administration

Day to day administration of the affairs of the Society is the responsibility of the Executive Director, supported by the Secretariat.