Charter of the International X-ray Absorption Society
The International X-ray Absorption Society (IXAS) represents all those working on the spectral fine structure associated with inner shell excitation (near edge and extended) by various probes (e.g. x-rays and electrons), and related techniques for which the data is interpreted on the same physical basis. Anyone working in or studying the field is eligible to be a member of the IXAS upon their formal application.
The purpose of the IXAS is to oversee activities which benefit the community as a whole, to establish operational committees, to provide for education in the field, to disseminate relevant information, to work with other related regional, national and professional organizations in promoting and developing XAS and related disciplines, and to act as representative for the community to other professional organizations.
By-Laws of the International X-ray Absorption Society
I. Organization: The IXAS will be governed by an Executive Committee (EC) composed of a Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary/Treasurer officers to be elected at-large, and nine other voting members elected by geographical region (3 North/South America, 3 Europe/Russia/Africa, 3 Asia/Oceania). The distribution across regions is evaluated by the EC every three years and revised as needed to reflect changes in XAS activities around the world. An advisory panel composed of former EC members, former IXAS conference chairs and the current chair of the IUCr commission on XAFS provides input to the EC upon request.
II. Terms of Office: The Vice Chair will serve for three years and then become Chair for three years. The Secretary/Treasurer and other elected members will serve for six years. If the Vice Chair resigns before the end of his/her term, then both a Chair and Vice Chair will be chosen at the next election. If the Chair resigns before the end of his/her term, the Vice Chair accedes to the Chair, and in the next election only the Vice Chair is elected. The Vice Chair and Chair are normally expected to be from different geographical regions. If a member resigns, the vacancy will remain until the next election.
III. Duties: The duties of the EC are to establish and charter standing committees, to determine the location and frequency of the International Conference and to approve its Chair, to approve budgets submitted by the Chair, to advise and assist the Chair in fulfilling the goals of the charter, to make recommendations to the Nominating Committee regarding the scientific and geographic distribution of the society in order to achieve the most representative membership of the EC possible, to ratify decisions of the EC by a simple majority (except in the case of proposed changes to the Bylaws, which will require a two-thirds majority), and to assume other responsibilities necessary for the benefit of the IXAS. The duties of the Chair are to prepare and submit budgets to the EC, to call and chair EC meetings, to distribute reports of the standing committees, to assure the distribution of ballots and information to the membership of the IXAS at large, to act as liaison between the IXAS and other organizations, to appoint the Nominating Committee, and to assume other responsibilities necessary to the benefit of the IXAS. The duties of the Vice Chair are to act as the Chair in the absence of the Chair and to serve as the Chair of the Nominating Committee. The duties of the Secretary/Treasurer are to prepare minutes of the EC physical and electronic meetings, to coordinate correspondence within the EC and with the standing committees, to oversee the budgets and expenditures of the IXAS, to provide for the establishment of accounts for IXAS EC funds during the Secretary/Treasurer’s term of office, and to prepare an annual report on the budget for the EC.
IV. Elections: Elections of EC members will be held every three years using the procedures established below. Positions in the EC will be staggered so that approximately one half of the committee will be chosen at each election. Newly elected members and officers will assume their roles at the Executive Committee meeting held before closure of the International Conference. Only registered members of the society are eligible to run for EC positions and to vote in EC elections. While all registered members can vote for EC officer (at-large) positions, voting for geographical representatives is restricted to members in the corresponding regions. Voting begins 2 months before the start of the International Conference and ends on the 2nd day of the conference. Votes are tallied on the 3rd day and announced on the 4th day of the conference.
V. Nominations: A Nominating Committee consisting of seven members will be appointed by the Chair in consultation with the EC to nominate members of the Society for at-large (EC officers) vacancies in the EC. The committee will be appointed 6 months before the International Conference. The Vice Chair of the EC will be Chair of the Nominating Committee. The Chair of the EC will appoint to the Nominating Committee two members of the EC whose positions are not up for election and four other members of the Society chosen to obtain, to the extent possible, a representative scientific and geographical balance on the Nominating Committee. At least two names shall be nominated for each position to be elected on the general ballot. Nominations for EC positions representing geographical regions will be accepted from organizations representing the XAS community within the region. Nominations for any EC position supported by at least ten members of the society will also be accepted. Nominations should be for a specific position, be accompanied by appropriate biographical information, and be received by the Secretary/Treasurer at least 3 months before the start of the International conference in order to be included on the ballot. Secretary/Treasurer gathers nominations and to EC for approval by simple majority.
VI. Funding and Budgets: Budgets for the operation of the IXAS will be prepared by the Chair and ratified by a majority of the EC. Funding may be accepted from any sources approved by the EC, but base funding will be provided by mandatory membership fees, an increased non-member fee required to attend the international conference, and advertisement at the IXAS web site. The membership fees are set by the EC (2/3 majority needed) and revised on a tri-annual basis. The difference between member and non-member conference fee is at least 50% above member dues. Membership will be validated at time of conference registration with unique member ID number. Membership applications will be processed via the IXAS web site or the XAFS conference web page. Membership is valid for 3 years from date of payment. Non-member conference fees collected by conference organizers will be used to fund IXAS awards, student travel and other core functions of IXAS.
VII. Organization of the International Conference: One of the duties of the EC is to contribute to the organization of the XAS International Conference held regularly in different locations. The senior scientists of the IXAS EC are automatically considered for the International Advisory Board of the Conference pending their confirmation of commitment to contribute to conference organization. Senior scientists are those with more than 10 years since completion of the Ph.D., or comparable experience in the field. The former Chair of the International Conference is an additional key member of the International Advisory Board of the Conference. Other members of the International Advisory Board are selected by the chairman of the Conference accounting for scientific and geographical balance. Program and Organizing Committees of the Conference are selected by the chairman of the conference with input from the scientific community of the organizing country or region.
VIII. Revision of Bylaws: Revisions to the Bylaws may be proposed by two means. The Bylaws may be changed by a request from either two-thirds of the Executive Committee voting members or from twenty-five members of the IXAS, followed by approval of a two-thirds of the Executive Committee or by a simple majority of those members voting in the next election of the Society, when explicitly requested by at least one half of the Executive Committee members.
Approved by the Executive Committee – 1 November 2016
Pieter Glatzel (IXAS chair), M. Newville (vice-chair), D. Haskel (secretary and treasurer)
By-Laws of IXAS Website committee
I. Purpose: IXAS website committee works to maintain and update the IXAS (https://xrayabsorption.org) where necessary information for IXAS community is posted and exchanged.
II. Organization: IXAS website committee is composed of two teams. One is the management team and the other is the execution team both are closely related. The management team consists of the former chair, the present chair, the vice chair, and the treasurer of the International X-ray absorption Society Executive Committee(IXAS EC). The execution team consists of those who are nominated by each management team member. They are closely linked to the management team members or those representing the area and linked to the present chair. The numbers of the execution team are 6 to 8. Finally, the execution team members are approved by the IXAS EC.
III. Term: The term of the management team is the same as that of EC membership and the term of the execution team member is linked to the term of their closely related management team member.
IV. Task: The management team decides the web policy and its plan. They approve the web content. The management team has the responsibility for the website. The execution team uploads the information and the content to the website under the advice and approval of the management team. The Execution team receives the information from the IXAS members or the management team.
V. Uploading information: Uploading information must be shared by all website committee members through email or other appropriate methods. All information must be posted after the approval of all management team members.
VI. Uploading procedure details
VI-1. The information from the IXAS members: All IXAS members (including execution members) send the information to be uploaded to one of the execution members. The execution member who receives the information sends it to all members by email. The email is particularly addressed to the strongly linked management team member. The strongly linked management team member decides to approve or reject the information and sends the decision back to the concerned execution member within 48 hours. The other management team member each has a right to express his/her opinion before the decision or his/her objection to the decision. The concerned execution member must wait for the objection email for 24 hours after he receives the decision email. If there is no objection email, he can upload the information.
VI-2. The information from the management team members: The management team member sends the information to be uploaded to the strongly linked execution member with cc to the other members. The execution member who is addressed waits for the objection email from the other management team members for 24 hours. Then he uploads the information.
VI-3. The present chair must call a special email or a zoom IXAS Website committee meeting when the objection is raised.
VI-4. The information will not be uploaded when one of the management team members objects to the uploading. In this case, any management team member can call the IXAS EC committee meeting to make the final decision.
VII. Committee discussion: Management and Execution teams have a meeting to discuss and confirm the web policy once a year at least on any Video conference system or the face-to-face meeting at the international XAFS conference. After this discussion, the chair makes the following committee report.
VIII. Committee report: The committee should make the report concerning the website policy and the uploaded content to the IXAS EC at least once a year.
IX. Budget: IXAS covers the necessary financial support.
X. Revision of bylaws: This bylaws are revised by the decision of the IXAS EC.
Approved by IXAS EC on 10 March 2023
See Also: Conflict-of-Interest Statement, Procedures, Executive Committee