IFSA - International Fuzzy Systems Association

1. Name and Official Language

1.1. The name of the Association is "International Fuzzy Systems Association". It may be abbreviated IFSA.

1.2. The official language of the Association is English.

2. Purpose

The purpose of the Association shall be to promote the scientific study of, to encourage communication in, and to promote worldwide knowledge of the theory of fuzzy systems and related areas, as well as their applications. The Association functions primarily as a federation of its institutional members, but also provides services for its individual and corporate members.

The policy of the Association shall be to attain these purposes through scholarly publications, workshops, international conferences, the establishment of chapters, and other such activities consistent with the objectives of the Association as may be directed by the Council. The primary function of the Association is to act as a federation of its institutional members to accomplish the above goals. It shall also be the policy of the Association to insist upon the highest standard of scholarship and service from its members.

The Association is a not-for-profit organization.

3. Membership

Membership in the Association may be of three types:

3.1. Institutional Membership (Indirect)

The Institutional member is a national or regional not-for-profit organization (a society, association, institute, etc.) whose purpose is related to and compatible with the purpose of the Association.

3.2. Individual Membership

The individual member is a person who belongs to an Institutional Member. There is no direct membership of an individual in IFSA.

3.3. Corporate Membership

The corporate member is a business corporation.

Besides acting primarily as a federation of its institutional members, the Association also provides services for its individual and corporate members.

4. Organization

4.1. The association is governed by the council , whose elected members are:

1. President
2. President-elect
3. Treasurer
4. Secretary
5. Four Council members at large (Vice-Presidents)
6. One representative of each Society/Chapter, institutional and corporate member

The principal editors of IFSA journals shall be invited to all Council meetings, and shall be included in all Council correspondence. Members of the Council must be elected members of the Council and the appointed representatives of institutional members, usually the President of the Institutional Member or his/her designated delegate, or a delegate of a corporate member.

4.2. The policies of the Council are carried out by the Excutive Board. The Chairman of the Executive Board is the President-elect. The President, the President-elect, the Treasurer, and the Secretary are ex-officio members of the Executive Board.

The President may appoint additional members to the Executive Board with the concurrence of the Council; such concurrence shall be by direct vote, by mail or by email.

4.3. The Council decides the rules of accepting new members. The Council appoints such other committees as it finds necessary to carry out the business of the Association or to further its objectives.

Vice-Presidents shall preferably chair these committees. There shall be at least two such committees:

1. Meetings Committee;
2. Membership and Chapters

4.4. Groups of individual members may form chapters of an Institutional Member. These chapters may be formed on a territorial basis, they may be special-interest groups or they may be a combination of both. They may either adopt the Association's Constitution and By-Laws or design their own. A chapter has to be approved by an Institutional Member before the chapter is officially established. Thus chapters belong to an Institutional Member and hence indirectly belong to IFSA. But they have no representation in the IFSA Council except indirectly by the Institutional Members to which they belong.

4.5. The Council and the Executive Board may be assisted by a Secretariat, which is supervised by the Chairman of the Executive Board and the Treasurer.

5. Elections

The President invite proposals for the election of all Council members who are not representatives of chapters, institutional or corporate members. He or she gives at least two months' notice of the closing date for the receipt of proposals.

Candidates must be individual members of the Association, members of an institutional member, or employees of a corporate member.

They may be proposed either by the Council, any chapter, any institutional or corporate member, or by any six individual members of the Association.

No proposal that is in accordance with the Constitution may be refused, provided that the candidate agrees to stand.

The Council decides the form of the ballot. Officers are elected by the Council for one term, which is the period between the end of the business meeting held during the International Conference mentioned in Article 6 and the end of the business meeting at the following International Conference.

The treasurers is elected to serve two terms. One re-election is possible for all officers except the President and President-elect. In case no new candidate for a Council office is nominated, the acting officer may be re-elected.

6. International Conferences

The Association at intervals of between two and four years sponsors International Conferences. The President proposes and the Council elects the Chairman of the Organizing Committee and the Chairman of the Program Committee of the next International Conference. In special cases, the Executive Board may act without the prior approval of the Council.

7. Fees and Finances

The Council for each of the three types of membership determines the membership fee. The individual chapters determine chapter dues. A member who has not paid his, her, or its fee before the end of the current year will be deemed to have left the Association.

8. Journal

The principal journal of the Association, Fuzzy Sets and systems, is available at a reduced subscription rate to all individual members, all members of an institutional member, and all employees of a corporate member.

The Principal Editor is appointed by the Council subject to the terms of the contract in force with the publisher of the Journal. He or she is responsible for implementing the directives of the Council and is the representative of the Council to the publisher.

9. Agents

The Council may approve the payment of membership or subscription fees for the Journal, in national currency, to local agents in countries in which it is difficult for individual members to obtain convertible currencies.

10. Other Activities

In addition to the International Conferences, the Association may sponsor other conferences and seminars. The organization of any such sponsored meeting is subject to directives by the President and on behalf of the Board.

11. Amendment of the Constitution

If proposed by at least 10% of the individual members, by any institutional or corporate member, or by vote of the Council, this Constitution may be amended by majority vote of those eligible to vote, either at a business meeting or by written or emailed ballot.

Proposals for amendments must reach the President at least one month before the voting takes place unless waived by the Council.

12. By-Laws

In order to carry out the obligations as set forth in this Constitution and to conduct the business of the Association, the Council shall adopt By-Laws. These may be adopted, annulled, or amended by an affirmative vote, by mail or email, by a majority of the Council members. The Council shall have the authority to interpret the By-Laws.

13. Voting

Mail or Email Voting: Conduct of Business voting, officer or member elections, or other special mail or email elections/voting authorized by the Council, shall be conducted by the President, Secretary, Vice President of Elections (if one has been elected), or by any such person appointed by the President to be in charge of voting procedures. If mailed, the ballot shall be deemed to be delivered when deposited in the mail addressed to the member at his/her address as it appears on the records of IFSA, with postage thereon prepaid. If emailed, the ballot shall be deemed to be delivered the next day when emailed to the email address of the member as it appears on the records of IFSA unless the email is returned undeliverable. Ballots shall be returned within 30 days of that date. Furthermore, if emailed, a simple majority vote of those eligible to vote is required for any motion to pass or for any election to be carried out.