ATPER

ATPER Internal rules & Regulations [TEXT]

THE ASSOCIATION OF THAI PROFESSIONALS IN EUROPEAN REGION
(ATPER)

INTERNAL RULES & REGULATIONS

MEMBERSHIP

Article 1: Category of Membership

Ordinary Members

This is opened to any individual that joined ATPER. Prospective members should be, but not limited to, Thai professionals working and residing in the European region.

Honorary Members

This is opened to representatives of supporting organizations, with an interest in ATPER activities. Members of the Board of Directors (BODs) shall nominate such members. Every nominee on acceptance of this membership status shall provide support to the network be it advice, material, technical, financial or otherwise.

Article 2: Membership Fees

The membership fees are set by the BODs according to the type of membership. The ATPER committee 2015 has agreed that the fees of a member is established as zero.

Article 3: Conditions of membership application, renewal and /or resignation

3.1.   ATPER membership must remain a personal initiative and aside from exceptional cases decided only by the members of the BODs during or outside of their meetings, it cannot be granted to a legal entity.
3.2.   Membership confirmation (natural or legal person) will be communicated by electronic mail.
3.2.   Memberships are valid as long as the conditions of membership stated above are fulfilled.
3.4.   The status of membership shall be renewed every 3 years. The member will be informed of the expiry of their membership by electronic mail.
3.5.   The ATPER Membership can be terminated by written notice to the BODs.

Article 4: Duties of individual members

ATPER members shall respect the internal rules and regulations and commitments that emanate from the ATPER.

4.1.    To participate and vote in the annual meeting of the Association
4.2.    To elect partially or fully the ATPER Board of Directors
4.3.    To hold the BODs accountable for its duties
4.4.    To actively promote ATPER action through associative participation.
4.5.   To ensure adherence to the ATPER objectives as set forth in the Association declaration and act in the interests of the ATPER movement as a whole

Article 5: Code of Conduct – General Rules

This article aims to define the commitments that every person wishing to join ATPER should respect.

Every member of the Association wish to represent or perform activities under the ATPER shall inform the BODs before using the ATPER’s name to the
Every member of the Association commits to not prejudicing others through discriminatory remarks or behaviour, to not disturb the private life of other members through an inappropriate attitude in public or not, and to not voice their political, philosophical or religious beliefs in an inappropriate manner with other members.
The members list of ATPER is confidential. It is only accessible in its entirety to the ATPER members and the BOD members.
Since the grant/sponsor providers may ask the ATPER committee to check the membership, they can access ATPER member personal information when they connect to their own online account.
The ATPER gathers the personal information necessary for its members to benefit from the services offered on the Internet site. It is not passed on to other parties, unless legally compelled to do so.
The confidentiality of a plaintiff member will be respected on demand as much as possible.
For project collaboration, the rules are followed according to the ATPER Code of Conduct and ATPER Contract established in 2013 in Thai language (available online for download – Link).

MANAGEMENT

Article 6: Reminder of the goals of the ATPER based on the statute declared

Promote the progressof all fields of knowledge (including natural science, medical science, human and social science, and engineering as well as law), technology and educationin Thailand.
Establishcooperationsbetween institutionsand universitiesin Thailandandinstitutionsand universities in Europe.
Promotepersonal relationships betweenits membersto provide assistance and supports to the Association’s members as considered appropriate by the BODs.

Article 7: Administration, Functioning and Financial Auditing

7.1. The Association of Thai Professionals in European Region (ATPER) shall discharge its functions through the following organs:

a) The ATPER annual meeting
b) The Board of Directors (BODs)
c) Specific elected committee

7.2. Financial auditing of the ATPER must be annually performed by two selected internal auditors, other than the President and the Treasurer. The internal auditors will be selected by ATPER committee.

Article 8: Board of Directors (BODs)

8.1.   The Board of Directors shall be made up of at least three ATPER members chosen from duly registered ATPER members in order to ensure a proper geographical balance and reflect indications of interest from full ATPER members. The BODs are constituted by and in consultation with the annual meeting.
8.2.   The BODs are with proven moral integrity and experience in ATPER activities.
8.3.   The President, Vice-President and Treasurer of the BODs shall be elected by ATPER members during annual meetings. Under special circumstances, the election can be done via proxy voting.
8.4.   Other positions can be nominated during annual meetings as deemed necessary such as General Secretary, IT Secretary, Public Relations, Webmaster and Country Coordinators. The service term is four years, as the President, Vice-President and Treasurer.
8.5.   All members of the BODs are responsible for providing input to decisions via email communications, and attending annual meetings at all possible.
8.6.   The BODs members are responsible for appointing different working committees if needed.

Article 9: BOD Positions and Guidelines of Role Descriptions

The structure of BODs and roles may vary according to their purpose and length of operation for each elected administrative team. The following description is set only for use as guidelines but not exclusive.

Role of the President

Charged with providing leadership and direction to the BODs.

The President is responsible for ensuring that the BODs fulfil their responsibilities for the governance and success of the ATPER.
He/she also works to optimize the relationship between the BODs, volunteers and other members, and to achieve the ATPER’s goals.
The President is the spokesperson for the ATPER and should work to maintain key relationships within and outside of the Association.
The President is responsible for ensuring guidance and quality control for the ATPER meeting to be held during his or her term.
The President is the Chairperson for all BODs debates and decisions, and is responsible for summarizing debates and determining actions (including asking for votes of the BODs and/or ATPER annual meeting) if necessary.
The President is the primary representative of the Association for all matters involving formal affairs with other institutions, though he or she may delegate this responsibility to other members of the ATPER.
The President should be consulted in all matters pertaining to ATPER.

Role of the Vice-President

The role of the Vice-President is to assist the President in providing leadership and responsibility for the organization and the BODs and to step into the President’s roles where needed. It is often considered that the Vice-President will succeed the President and that this role is in preparation.
The Vice-President is responsible for assisting the President to fulfill his/her responsibilities for the governance and success of the ATPER. This may mean chairing meetings at short notice.
At times, the Vice-President will need to work with the President to help him/her understand concerns and alternative points of view within the Association.

Role of the Treasurer

The Treasurer is responsible for the financial supervision of the ATPER. It is desirable that the treasurer is well organized and possesses a level of financial expertise. The Treasurer is the chief financial management officer whose tasks include:

Monitor financial status of the Association, in order to facilitate its activities
Financial auditing and reporting at the annual meeting
Preparation of annual budgets
Planning for the ATPER financial future
Monitoring the ATPER revenue and expenditure
Alert when in financial crisis
Payment of expenses and receipt of revenue
Looking after bank account(s)

Role of the General Secretary

General Secretary shall be appointed as the “chief administrative officer” of the Organization, but his/her specific obligations vary depending on the organization. For example, he/she shall act as the officer in all meetings and shall perform other functions as are entrusted to him or her by the Association.
The BODs shall appoint a General Secretary, on the basis of a proposal from its chairperson. In most association, the General Secretary will be an employee and if any fault or error occurs, he/she will be the person who takes responsibility. However, for ATPER, this position may exist or not will depend on the BODs’ decision.
The General Secretary’s main role is to ensure that the Association’s activities and its bodies run smoothly.
Examples of the duties of the General Secretary are as follows:

To assist the BODs
To run and coordinate all the Association’s activities (in a larger association with a secretariat office, all personnel working there shall report to him or her)
To implement the decisions of the Association’s bodies.
The General Secretary may take part in all meetings of the Association bodies, with no voting rights (But for ATPER, this position may or may not exist and is also a volunteer, thus should have right to vote).

Role of the IT Secretary

Coordinate all matters regarding membership of the Association, including:
- Acceptance and processing of membership application
- Coordination with person-in-charge of e-mailing list
- Maintaining the membership registry
- Propose and initiate programs or policies that will improve the status of the Associations’ membership
Announce the notice of meeting of the Association, and prepare the agenda for the meeting.
The IT Secretary is responsible for the documentation and communication of the activities of the Committee.

Role of the Public Relations Officer / Community Manager / Communication

The Public Relations Officer provides the liaison between the ATPER and other institutions.

Role of the Webmaster

The Webmaster supports the IT Secretary and assists in liaising between ATPER and other institutions.

Role of the Country Coordinators

The Country Coordinators provide the liaison between the ATPER and the ATPER members in their countries.
He/she shall act as local coordinator and organize the ATPER meeting and conference as planned.

Article 10: Method of Holding Committee Meetings

A committee meeting may be held in person, or by means of a telephonic, electronic or other communication facility.

Article 11: Method / Process of Preparing Meeting Report

Community manager (CM) receives the reports from each member’s activities.
Individuals shall provide information to CM of their planned activities.
Individual report must be submitted to General Secretary (GS) after each activity.
Meeting report planning – with established and announced deadlines
All members MUST respect to the deadlines and submit their activity reports.
GS will gather and assemble the ATPER Annual Report.

ANNUAL MEETING

Article 12: Procedure of Annual meeting

12.1.    The date of the BODs must be agreed by all BODs, prior to the announcement to the members.
12.2.    All BODs must be presented at the annual meeting to endorse the validity of any decision made during the meeting. In special circumstances that prevent any BOD from attending the annual meeting, the concerned BOD can submit an email / letter that clarifies his/her absence and waives his/her right to be at the meeting.
12.3.    The meeting is commenced by the opening speech of ATPER President
12.4.    Presentation of the report of the ATPER activities, financial report and other credentials
12.5.    Assignment, by drawing of lots, of order of precedence of the delegations
12.6.    Consideration and adoption of the rules of procedure, agenda and work program
12.7.    Election of the President, the Vice-President and the Treasurer (if the service term is terminated)
12.8.    Establishment of the Working Committees.

Article 13: Voting by members and alternate members

Where a member is unable to attend at an annual meeting, the alternate member may attend, participate and vote in the absence of the member.

Proxy Votes

Proxy voting is not valid.

Minutes

Minutes can be assigned to any ATPER member(s) and gathered by the General Secretary and endorsed by the President.
Documents can be electronically archived on a web-based platform and accessible to ATPER members.
The minutes shall be prepared and available electronically within forty-five days after the meeting.

Article 13: Protocol for Election of President, Vice-President and Treasurer

Service Term is four years
Nomination via electronic means (e-mail, facebook, all digital means & social media)
List of candidates will be available within thirty days after the announcement of nomination.
Election process will occur during thirty days after the announcement of candidate list.
Within seven days after election process, the name of the successful candidate(s) will be announced.
Only eligible ATPER members at the time of nomination announcement are qualified for voting.

Article 14: Protocol for Daily Allowance for ATPER Committee or member(s)

14.1. For a general or common meeting, the daily allowance will not be paid for the ATPER Committee. However, reimbursement for expenses can be allowed based on the committee decision and with justification. The maximum amount must be also indicated.
14.2. For an extra meeting that results in an outcome of an extra budget for ATPER activity, the daily allowance will be paid for the ATPER member(s) who organized the meeting.

COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

Article 15: How to help each other

15.1. If a Thai team in Thailand requires cooperation with ATPER members

15.2. If an ATPER member requires cooperation with a Thai team in Thailand

15.3. How the confirmation of successful cooperation and official agreement should be performed