Foundation
1. The International Geodetic Student Organisation is an association according to the spirit of the Swiss Civil Code Art. 60 ff with domicile in Zurich. (Die IGSO ist ein Verein im Sinne von ZGB Art. 60ff. mit Sitz in Zürich).
Aims
2. The aims of the IGSO are:
To group the associations or organisations of geodetic students of all countries with the object of exchanging views on matters of general interest to the members.
To represent the students of geodesy towards the public.
To organise liaisons between the different member associations.
To diffuse information on the prevailing social conditions amongst geodetic students in individual countries so that each may take advantage of the improvements attained.
To fasten good relations with the proper authorities and cultural exchange between geodetic students from different countries.
2.1 The IGSO shall realise the above-mentioned aims by organising or encouraging:
The International Geodetic Students Meeting (IGSM).
The General Assembly.
Members, Institutions
3. The association shall consist of:
Active Members (that are organisations representing geodetic Students).
4. The institutions of the association are:
The General Assembly.
The International Geodetic Students Agency.
The auditors of account.
5. The International Geodetic Students Agency is made up of:
The General Secretary.
The treasurer.
The actuary.
The General Assembly
6. The General Assembly is held annually and does the following:
1. Approve the Articles of Association and internal rules of the IGSO, as well as its essential lines of policy.
2. Appoint the IGSA.
3. Appoint the auditors of account.
4. Approve the General Secretary’s report.
5. Approve the treasurer’s report.
6. Approve the auditor’s report.
7. Approve the statement of accounts.
8. Take final decisions on proposals submitted by the IGSA or by member associations.
9. Approve reports and resolutions submitted during IGSM and discuss and adopt suitable measures.
10. Choose the venue of the next but one annual IGSM and General Assembly.
11. Fix the amount of the annual membership fee.
12. Approve a plan of work and a budget brought forward by the IGSA.
13. Other various tasks resulting from these Articles of Association.
6.1 A proposal is adopted by the General Assembly if the proposal gets the majority [see Art. 6.3] in each two different steps of counting out the votes of one ballot. In the first step each member (=student organisation) has one vote. In the second step all the members from each country have only one vote together.
A nation has to be either member of the United Nations or be accepted by the IGSO to count as ‘country’ for voting in the IGSO General Assembly.
6.2 All Seniors together are considered a university from a separate country concerning the votes at the General Assembly [see Art. 6.1].
6.3 Decisions on matters of routine administration require a simple majority vote of members present.
6.4 All votes and elections are conducted publicly.
6.5 Decisions on matters that were not proclaimed before can be taken at the General Assembly.
6.6 The General Assembly honours people that:
Have contributed a lot to the IGSO.
Have visited at least 5 consecutive IGSMs.
The International Geodetic Students Agency
7. All members of the IGSA will be elected by the General Assembly.
7.1 The General Secretary and the treasurer shall belong to the member organisation that organises the next IGSM. They shall be elected by the General Assembly upon proposal of the above mentioned member organisation.
7.2 The term of office of the IGSA starts the day after the General Assembly. The term of office ends at the day of the election of new members at the next General Assembly.
7.3 The IGSA is responsible for the administration of the IGSO’s activities within the scope of decisions of the General Assembly. The IGSA engages in the following tasks:
To ensure the execution of all decisions taken by the General Assembly and to consider the best means of putting into effect the resolutions of the General Assembly.
To ensure liaisons between the member associations by transmission of decisions, publications, results of research or other acts executed by the IGSO.
To provide the member associations with documents, resolutions, decisions and requests to be presented to a third party.
To propose the agenda for the General Assembly.
To make proposals to the General Assembly considering the administration of the IGSO.
To prepare all documents concerning the admission of new members.
To consult the General Assembly whenever a question arises outside its administrative powers.
To draw up an agenda for the General Assembly in accordance with Art. 6 and send this agenda to the members at least four weeks prior to the IGSM.
To supervise the General Assembly.
7.4 Decisions of the IGSA are taken by simple majority.
7.5. The General Secretary is supervising all the meetings of the IGSA and deals with everyday business.
7.6 He represents the association to the outside world.
7.7 The actuary keeps the records.
7.8 The treasurer manages the IGSO’s finance in conformity with the budget approved by the General Assembly and prepares the accounts and a financial report for the presentation of the General Assembly.
7.9 In case of legal insecurity a local IGSA is encouraged to found an additional organisation to fulfil its duties. Functions in this organisation shall be held by the same people that hold them within their IGSA. On all duties taken over by this local organisation the same rules apply (as stated in these articles of association).
Auditors of Accounts
8. The auditors of accounts are at least two people, elected by the General Assembly.
8.1 The auditors of accounts assess the financial matters of the association.
Membership
9. A local association or organisation that represents geodetic students of one or more institutions of higher education can become member of the IGSO.
9.1 Each local association, organisation or group of geodetic students shall constitute, from the legal point of view, a completely independent group, and shall, solely by the wish of its members, be bound to the IGSO.
9.2 Each member organisation shall send a delegation to every IGSM.
9.3 Applications must be made in writing and with an oral explanation to the General Assembly. The admission of associations, organisations or groups of geodetic students shall be decided by the General Assembly. The General Assembly can only reject a request for membership by a simple majority decision; otherwise the applicant should become member of the IGSO. The applicant will be informed about the decision of the General Assembly. The voting will be held according to articles 6.1 ff.
9.4 Membership ceases through resignation, exclusion or closure of the member organisation.
9.5 A resignation has to be justified.
9.6 Member associations who have resigned or have been excluded from membership shall have no further rights on the IGSO property. The obligation to pay any membership fees or other outstanding debts persists.
9.7 Members can be excluded by a three-quarter majority.
9.8 Seniors are participants of an IGSM that are not enrolled in a university.
Finances
10. The official currency of the IGSO is Euro.
10.1 Income of the IGSO consists of:
Membership fees to the IGSO.
Participation fees for the IGSM.
Sponsoring, especially for the IGSM.
Other.
10.2 The membership fees for the IGSO are collected annually.
10.3 The membership fee is fixed by the General Assembly, usually it is 10 euros.
10.4 For any liabilities only the assets of the IGSO may be held liable.
10.5 Any remaining financial means after an IGSM shall be turned over to future IGSMs.
10.6 Student and Senior participation fees for the following year’s IGSM shall be fixed by majority vote [see art.6.1] in the General Assembly.
10.7 If no Student or Senior participation fees are set during a General Assembly the following year’s Students or Senior participation fee shall be that of the current year’s IGSM fee.
10.8 There shall be a distinction between Student and Senior IGSM participation fees, with Senior participants being required to pay 2 times that of the Student participation fee.
The International Geodetic Student Meeting
11. The primary aims of the IGSM are to bring together all members and to establish personal contacts. This may be achieved by the General Assembly, study groups, lectures, taking part in excursions and exhibition of documents and professional instruments.
11.1 Each IGSM is organised by one of the member associations of the IGSO.
This association may agree to appoint a meeting committee to undertake the meeting administration. The organisation of activities at the IGSM shall be left to the meeting committee or the member association where the IGSM will take place.
11.2. An official report about the proceedings of the IGSM also including the decisions of the General Assembly and their resolutions shall be published.
The Articles of association
12. The Articles of Association of the IGSO can be changed at any General Assembly.
12.1 Decisions to alter the Articles of Association need a majority of two-thirds.
Closure
13. The IGSO can only be closed if there are less than two members that want it to exist.
13.1 The IGSO can only be closed if it has two or less members.
13.2 In case the IGSO is closed the remaining assets will be transferred to the FIG (Fédération Internationale des Géomètres) to be held in trust. The FIG is ordered to give the assets to a qualified organisation with similar aims to the IGSO.
Miscellaneous
14. The official language of the IGSO is English.
15. The official website of the IGSO is www.igso.info . All information concerning the IGSO and IGSM should be published there.
16. These Articles of Association are coming into effect after the confirmation by the founding assembly.