Home     About us
    Constitution & Bylaws Membership
Resources Documents

PDF Click here
 
AAVCT Constitution and By-Laws
 Constitution


 
Article I
 
Name

The name of this organization shall be the “American Academy of Veterinary and Comparative Toxicology”, hereinafter referred to as “AAVCT”.


Article II

Incorporation

AAVCT shall be incorporated under the laws of the State of Illinois as a not-for-profit educational organization.
 
Article III

Objectives

The purpose and objectives of this organization shall be:

Section 1. Purpose:  To encourage professional improvement and esprit de corps among veterinary and comparative toxicologists.

Section 2. Objectives:

  1. To foster and encourage sound education, training, and research in veterinary and/or comparative toxicology.
  2. To sponsor and encourage scientific and technical meetings and promote discussion and interchange of information in the following fields of toxicology:To suggest and encourage research in toxicology.
    1. Teaching
    2. Research and Development
    3. Diagnosis and Treatment
    4. Nomenclature
    5. Public Health
    6. Regulatory
    7. Other areas of common interest relevant to the field
  3. To facilitate and implement the exchange of proven methods and procedures among veterinary and comparative toxicology.

Article IV

Membership

Section 1. The types of membership in this organization shall be:
  

  1. Fellow
  2. Retired Fellow
  3. Student Fellow

                         Election to membership shall require approval of 75% of the Council.

Article V

Requirements

Section 1. Candidates for membership as Fellow, Retired Fellow or Student Fellow shall submit with the application all necessary documentation and information to enable Council members to evaluate the candidate’s interest, ability, training and experience in toxicology.

 Section 2. Requirement that must be met to become one of the following types of members are:

  1. Fellow:  candidates must be a college graduate (Bachelor’s degree or equivalent) with a minimum of five years experience in the field of toxicology, or the equivalent, and have made a distinct contribution to the advancement of veterinary and/or comparative toxicology.  Equivalence in experience may be met by holding the DVM (or equivalent) degree and MS/PhD degree (in toxicology or an allied discipline) or recognition as a diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Toxicology or by holding the DVM or MS/PhD degree and having a minimum of five years experience in toxicology.
  2. Retired Fellow:  a member who has reached 65 years of age, has retired, and ceased all regular employment and consulting.
  3. Student Fellow:  anyone with interest in toxicology who is currently enrolled in a college or university as a professional or graduate student. The fee for student fellow status will be established by the Executive Council and will be less than that paid by Fellows.

Section 3. Members of the Academy elected as Fellows.  Only Fellows may hold office.  Retired or Student Fellows may neither vote nor hold office.

Article VI

Section 1. The officers of this organization shall consist of the following:  President, Vice-President, Secretary-Treasurer, and Past-President.

 Section 2. The Council shall consist of eight members, including the officers and four additional elected members, the councilors.

 The method of election of the Council and its duties shall be stated in the by-laws.
 

Article VII

Amendments

Section 1. Proposed amendments to the Constitution shall be submitted to the Council through the Secretary-Treasurer for recommendation.  Any proposed amendment, with the recommendation of the Council, shall be submitted by mail to the voting members.

Section 2. Balloting will be members by mail, email, fax, and/or over a secured internet site, with a return date given.

Section 3. An affirmative vote of 2/3 of the members voting shall be required for the adoption of the amendment.

 
By-Laws
 

Article I

Election of Officers

Section 1: The President, Vice-President, and Secretary-Treasurer shall be Fellows elected members by mail, email, fax, and/or over a secured internet site, by a majority of the members voting.  Each officer shall serve two years.  The immediate Past-President shall also serve as a Council member for two years.

Section 2: Four Councilors shall be elected by a majority of the members voting.  Their term of office shall be four years after an initial programming that shall provide for the election of one new Councilor each year.

Section 3: Nominations for all officers shall be made by a committee of three Fellows designated by the President.  Additional nominations shall be made on the ballot or from the floor by any Fellow in good standing as provided below in Section 4e and f.  Should vacancies in any office occur, the Council shall appoint a Fellow to fill that office for the unexpired term. 

Section 4: The procedure for election by mail, email, or internet ballot is as follows.

  1. At least 120 days before the Annual Business Meeting of the AAVCT, the Nominating Committee appointed by the President shall present to the Secretary-Treasurer the names of at least two candidates for each of the offices to be filled at the ensuing election.
  2. The Secretary-Treasurer shall prepare a ballot listing the nominated candidates for each office in alphabetical order and with provisions for one write-in candidate for each office to be filled.
  3. The ballot shall be distributed to all voting members by mail, email, fax, and/or over a secured internet site at least 60 days before the Annual Business Meeting.  An announcement of the candidates and a short resume of each nominee’s qualifications shall be a part of the ballot.
  4. The ballot shall be received via email, fax, or over a secured internet site no later than 15 days before the Annual Business Meeting, or returned by mail postmarked no later than 15 days before the Annual Business Meeting to be valid.  Voting members shall provide postage for the returned ballots.
  5. The Secretary-Treasurer shall tabulate the returns and announce the official results to the membership at the Annual Business Meeting.  In the event of a tie, the election shall be decided by a hand vote of the voting members at the Annual Business Meeting.  Candidates for the hand vote shall be limited to those nominees in a voting tie based upon the mail balloting.
  6. In the event that last minute changes, or the withdrawal of nominees becomes necessary, these shall affect the balloting results only if the changes involve election winners.  In such cases, additional nominees for the office in question shall be accepted from the floor at the time of the Annual Business Meeting, and voting by ballot shall proceed on all nominated candidates (including those still eligible from the mail ballot).  The results shall be tabulated by adding the votes cast by mail to those received in the vote at the meeting.
  7. It shall be the responsibility of the Secretary-Treasurer to assure that all the members with voting privileges have the opportunity to vote but that only those with voting rights case valid ballots.  To this end, alteration in the procedure relating to distribution and verification of ballots may be made at the Secretary-Treasurer’s discretion.
  8. All ballots shall be preserved for 15 days after the Annual Business Meeting after which time they will be destroyed and the right of any party to request a recount shall be forfeited.

Article II                 

Duties of Officers

Section 1. President:  the President shall preside over all meetings of the Academy and the Council, shall be an ex-officio member of all committees, and shall perform the duties of such office.  The President shall have no vote on committees as an ex-officio member.  The President shall have no vote in the Council except in cases where a tie vote exists.

 Section 2. Vice President:  the Vice-President shall preside at meetings in the absence of the President and shall assume the office and duties of the President should that office be vacated.  He/she shall be the chairperson of the program committee for all scientific sessions sponsored by the Academy.

Section 3. Secretary-Treasurer:  the Secretary-Treasurer shall serve the Academy under the general direction of the Council.  He/she shall conduct the business affairs of the Academy.  He/she shall record minutes at all the meetings, collect dues and fees, issue receipts for said dues and fees, draw vouchers, pay bills and expenses, and arrange for the safe-keeping and audit of the funds of the Academy.  He/she shall submit a financial statement at each annual meeting and perform such other duties as may be necessary for the conduct of his/her office.

Section 4. Newly elected officers shall assume duties at the annual meeting.
 
Article III    Duties and Powers of the Council

Section 1:  Council shall have the duties and powers ordinarily delegated to the governing body of a corporation.  These responsibilities are defined by the Constitution.  Councilors shall assume office at the Annual Meeting.

Section 2: Council shall also have the following duties.

  1. Council shall judge the qualifications of candidates for membership according to the requirements of the Constitution as given in Article V.
  2. Council shall make an annual report to the Academy concerning its work and activities and shall make such interim reports as are necessary and advisable.
  3. Council shall exercise its Constitutional authority in promoting and attaining the objectives of the Academy.
  4. Council shall serve as a Committee to consider member requests for statements of position from AAVCT. 

 
Article IV              

Meetings

Section 1:  Regular meetings of the Academy and Council shall be held annually at the time and place of the annual meeting of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians.  Special meetings of the Academy may be called by the President and shall be called by him upon recommendation of a majority of the Council.  Such meetings shall be announced by mail to the entire membership not less than 60 days prior to the stated time of the meeting.
 
Article V                

Dues and Fees

Section 1.  Applications for Fellow and Associate Fellow shall be accompanied by an application fee and dues for the first year.
 
Section 2. The annual dues shall be determined by a 2/3 vote of the Executive Council.
 
Section 3.  Dues shall become payable January 1st of each year to the Secretary-Treasurer.  A member will become delinquent 18 months after due date and shall thereafter be designated as “not in good standing” with loss of membership privileges.  The following procedure shall be followed by the Secretary-Treasurer in notifying members of their dues obligation:

  1. Statement in November of next year’s dues.
  2. If not paid, reminder statement in May.
  3. Certified letter at 12 months delinquency (December)
  4. If no response by next July (18 months delinquent), brought before Council and designated “not in good standing” with loss of membership privileges.  Reinstatement in AAVCT is dependent upon payment of back dues.

 
Article VI                

Dissolution

Section 1. In case of dissolution of the Academy, the assets of the Academy shall be given to the American Board of Veterinary Toxicology.  If this organization is non-existent, the assets shall go to the American Veterinary Medical Association Foundation.
 
Article VII                 

Conduct of Business

Section 1. A quorum of the Academy will consist of those voting members in attendance at the Annual Business meeting.

Section 2. A quorum of the Council shall consist of at least four members Exclusive of the President.

Section 3. The By-Laws, with the exception of Sections 1 and 2 of this article may be suspended at any meeting by consent of 2/3 of the voting  members.
 
Section 4.  Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern the conduct of all meetings.
 

Article VIII               

Amendments

Section 1. Proposed amendments to these laws shall first be submitted to the Council for recommendation.  Any proposed amendments with the recommendation of Council shall be submitted to the membership at the regular meetings.  An affirmative vote of 2/3 of the voting members present shall be required for the adoption of the amendment.

 Section 2. As an alternative to voting on the proposed amendment at the regular meeting, the Council may authorize the Secretary-Treasurer to conduct a poll on the amendment members by ballot to be returned by mail, email, fax, and/or over a secured internet site with a return date stipulated.  An affirmative vote of 2/3 of the members voting shall be required for the adoption of the amendment.  Members shall be notified of the results of the poll by the Secretary-Treasurer by mail as directed by Council in the event of any poll or vote taken.
 
Article IX                  

Ratification

Section 1:  Proposed amendments to this Constitution and By-Laws shall be considered to be ratified thirty (30) days after receipt of a 2/3 vote of approval from the voting members of the Academy.  Specific amendment implementation procedures shall be established as needed by the Council.