This charter document will be revised and updated once the organization gets underway, and a board of directors has been seated. It serves as a guideline for members and potential members up until that time.
The OAS Charter – Draft 1.5
Article I: Scope of the society
Section 1. The name of this organization shall be The Open Atmospheric Society (OAS),
Section 2. The purpose of this organization shall be to create enthusiasm for scholarship in Atmospheric and Earth sciences, to stimulate publishing of scientific papers, letters, and datasets, to be open to professionals, associates, and students.
Section 3. The OAS shall commence operation on July 1st, 2014.
Section 4. Whenever possible, the OAS shall be operated as a “virtual” organization, with as much official business conducted on the Internet, email, and online video conferencing as is possible, with electronic files stored in “the cloud” and without a central physical office. A single mailing address and telephone number shall be maintained for the use of the Executive Director, which may be at a home, a post office box, or shared or rented business facility.
Section 5. All publications, letters, essays, and organizational files of the OAS shall be created and maintained as electronic documents in two categories; public and private. Membership information and shall always remain private.
Section 6. The OAS shall be member supported by dues and donations.
Section 7. The OAS shall operate initially as an incorporated organization, with the goal to gain recognition as a non-profit organization, heeding all State and Federal Requirements for such a designation.
Article II: The OAS Board of Directors
Section 1. The control of this organization shall be vested in the OAS Board of Directors.
Section 2. There shall be a nomination process and election to form the OAS Board of Directors within 6 months of the OAS commencing operation. During the startup phase of the organization, all member classes will be welcomed based on requirements found in Article V, until such time that a membership committee can be formed.
Section 3. The OAS Board of Directors shall consist of five full members of the OAS. The executive director of OAS shall be an ex-officio member of the OAS Board of Directors without voting privilege, but attends meetings for the purpose of keeping the OAS board advised on the state of the organization.
Section 4. Members of the Board of Directors shall be elected for a term of no more than three consecutive years.
Section 5. A simple majority of members shall constitute a quorum of the Board of Directors.
Section 6. So that Associate Members have a voice in the society, they may appoint a spokesperson to sit in on Board of Directors meetings who can convey the wishes of Associate members to the board. The Associate Members spokesperson shall be an ex-officio member of the OAS Board of Directors without voting privilege In lieu of actual meeting attendance, a written statement can be submitted by the representative.
Article III: The OAS Membership Committee
Section 1. Within six months of commencing operations, a membership committee shall be formed. The membership committee shall be composed of two members of the OAS Board of Directors, to be rotated annually plus three full members of the OAS, appointed by vote of the Board of Directors annually.
Section 2. The membership committee shall meet monthly to approve new memberships. Results of membership reviews will be sent to the Executive Director for notification
Article IV: The Executive Director
Section 1. During the startup process after commencing operation, The Executive Director shall oversee the OAS until such time that nominations and elections are held to create a Board of Directors. After that time, The Executive Director shall serve at the pleasure of the Board of Directors, to be approved or removed by a simple majority vote.
Section 2. The Executive Director shall be in charge of day to day operations of the OAS, including management of the OAS websites(s), management of the Journal of the OAS and publishing platform, membership recruitment, membership management, and public outreach duties to promote the OAS. The Executive Director will provide quarterly and year-end financial reports to the Board of Directors. The Executive director will hold a compensated position. Compensation shall be determined by a vote of the Board of Directors.
Section 3. The Executive Director may not hold any other position in the OAS unless acting at the behest of the Board of Directors to fill a temporary vacancy.
Article V: Membership and Annual Dues
Section 1. Membership shall take these forms, with the requirements of membership after each name, along with the annual or one-time dues.
Associate: Any layman with an interest in the subject matter of the society and an interest in supporting the goals of the society. Associate members may not vote in elections or hold positions. However, Associate members can be elevated to full members by meeting requirements of a full member and a vote of the Membership Committee or the Board of Directors. Annual dues shall be $45.00.
Lifetime Founding Associate: Any layman with an interest in the subject matter of who has a higher interest in supporting the goals of the society, and who wishes to pay 10 years of annual dues (or more) in advance during the first year of operation of the OAS. After the first year of operation of the OAS, the designation for any new applicants of this type shall be shall be Lifetime Associate. One-time dues shall be $450.00.
Associate or Lifetime Founding Associate members may not vote in elections or hold positions in the OAS. However, any Associate member can be elevated to full membership by meeting requirements of a full member, and with a majority vote of the Membership Committee or the Board of Directors.
Member: An individual with a Bachelors or higher level degree in Atmospheric sciences, Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences, General Science, Technology, or Engineering – OR- an individual that has at least three (3) published peer reviewed papers in any accredited peer review publications that have an ISSN designation. Members may vote in elections and hold elected and appointed positions in the OAS. Annual dues shall be $85.00
Lifetime Founding Member: An individual meeting the requirements of member, who has a higher interest in supporting the goals of the society, and who wishes to pay 10 years of annual dues (or more) in advance during the first year of operation of the OAS. After the first year of operation of the OAS, the designation for any new applicants of this type shall be Lifetime Member. One-time dues shall be $850.00.
Student: Any individual of at least 18 years of age who is currently enrolled in a school in any of the programs listed as a requirement for Member. Student members can become full members when membership level requirements are met and dues for that level are paid, after a vote by the Membership Committee or the Board of Directors. Annual dues shall be $25.00
Section 2. Membership shall be known as active, with requirements for payment of annual dues, or honorary. Honorary members are relieved from annual dues.
Section 3. The Board of Directors shall reserve the right to award honorary membership to any person.
Section 4. The Board of Directors shall be responsible for setting the rates of annual and lifetime dues. The Executive Director is responsible for collecting dues at the assigned rates.
Article VI: Discipline and Dismissal of Members
Section 1. The Membership Committee shall determine the conditions procedure for dismissal of members in the first meeting after the OAS begins operation and submit it for inclusion in the charter.
Section 2. As a general rule, members who fall below the standards that were the basis for their selection shall be promptly warned in writing by the Membership Committee and given a reasonable amount of time to correct the deficiency.
Section 3. The Membership Committee shall determine when an individual has exceeded a reasonable time limit for correcting such deficiency.
Section 4. In all cases of pending dismissal, a member shall have a right to a hearing before the Membership Committee. Failure to appear or to submit a statement of why that member should not be dismissed is grounds for immediate dismissal.
Section 5. For purposes of dismissal, a majority vote of the Membership Committee is required.
Section 6. Once voted on by the Membership Committee, the OAS shall hear no appeals in dismissal cases. All members, once dismissed by vote of the committee, are ineligible to reapply to the OAS for a period of two (2) years.
Article VII: Meetings
Section 1. Meetings of the Board of Directors shall be conducted online via the Skype web video service. Or equivalent. Minutes of the meeting may be recorded as video and/or text as part of such a web video service.
Section 2. Meetings of the Membership Committee shall also be conducted online via the Skype web video service or equivalent. Minutes of the meeting may be recorded as video and/or text as part of such a web video service.
Section 3. The Executive Director may call special meetings of either the Membership committee or the Board of Directors to deal with urgent business matters that cannot wait until the next regularly scheduled meeting.
Section 4. Committees and the Board of Directors shall conduct meetings according to Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised in all points not expressly provided for in this charter.
Section 5. The Board of Directors, at its discretion and based on interest from members, may decide to hold an annual meeting and conference at a designated location where members can meet and interact.
Article VIII: Official Emblem and Motto
Section 1. The OAS shall have an official emblem. The emblem shall be uniform in its distribution and rules for its use shall be determined by the OAS Board of Directors.
Section 2. The motto of the OAS shall be the Latin phrase “verum in luce”, meaning “truth in the light”.
Article IX: Scientific Journal
Section 1. The OAS shall have an official publication, to be known as The Journal of the Open Atmospheric Society. (JOAS). An ISSN number will be applied for and assigned to the publication.
Section 1.1 Members of the OAS as well as others of expertise outside of the OAS may serve as peer review referees for potential publications for inclusion in JOAS.
Section 1.2 A collaborative and open peer-review process will be conducted using an Internet publishing platform. Reviewer comments will be published along with the publication itself so that the process is transparent.
Section 1.3 Digital Object Identifiers (DOI’s) will be assigned by the JOAS Editor to each approved publication.
Section 2. An editor to JOAS shall be appointed. During the first six months of operations, the Executive Director will solicit candidates to present to the board of directors. The Board of Directors shall conduct online video interviews and appoint a qualified editor for JOAS by a majority vote from the candidate pool. The editor may be a compensated position, with any compensation schedule to be determined by the Board of Directors
Section 3. Initially, JOAS will be a quarterly publication. As membership and interest grows, the Board of Directors may opt to make it a bi-monthly or monthly publication.
Section 4. The goal of JOAS is to promote and publish reproducible Atmospheric and Earth science papers. To that end, all technical submissions to JOAS must be accompanied by all manner and means of materials to enable such reproduction during peer review. This includes all data, equations, software code, examples and supplementary materials. Rebuttals to technical submissions must also meet the same requirements. Editorial submissions such as opinion or commentary that don’t have such technical elements may be excepted from reproducibility requirements, but the JOAS has the option of asking for any additional materials that may be required.
Article X: Amendments
This charter may be amended by majority vote of the OAS Board of Directors based on input from the OAS membership.
Open Atmospheric Society 