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Constitution and Bylaws of the Connecticut Association of Physicians of Pakistani descent of North America (CTAPPNA)

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Preamble

Connecticut of Association of Physicians of Pakistani descent of North America (CTAPPNA) – BYLAWS

1- MEMBERSHIP

1. As used in these bylaws, except as otherwise herein expressly qualified, the term “physician” means a doctor of medicine, dentistry, and osteopathic medicine (DO), including surgeons, physicians, and dentists.

2. There shall be no discrimination based on religion, sex, race, or ethnic origin.
3. Active members: To be eligible for active membership in the organization, a physician must hold an unrevoked license to practice in the State of Connecticut and the surrounding states, or they must be a retired physician living in the State of Connecticut and the surrounding states, or they should be physicians in training in the State of – Connecticut or surrounding states.
4. Life Member: A member may elect to become a life member of the organization by making a single payment equal to Connecticut times the yearly membership dues in effect at that time. Such life members will have lifetime privileges of an active members unless their membership is terminated (article 5 of the constitution).
5. Active Member Dues Exempt. A member for whom the payment of dues would be a financial hardship because of physical disability or illness may be waived, fully or partially, by the executive committee. Said member shall have all privileges of active membership. In addition, there will be no annual dues from physicians in training, including medical students and retired physicians. Active Member Dues Exempt will not be able to hold an office or be a member of the Board of trustees.
6. Honorary members. The organization may elect as an honorary member any person distinguished for the services or achievements in medicine or who has rendered other services of unique value to organized medicine or the medical profession. Honorary members will not be able to hold an office or be trustee board members.
7. Associate Member. To be eligible as an Associate member of the CTAPPNA, one must be an allied health professional of Pakistani origin working in healthcare. They shall pay 50% of the organization’s annual dues and may not vote or hold office.
8. Affiliate members. The organization may elect to affiliate membership of non-physicians of Pakistani origin, who may or may not be involved in medicine and medical practice but have a strong community service record. They shall pay 50% of the organization’s annual dues and may not vote or hold office.

2 – DUES AND ASSESSMENTS.

The physical year will be from January 1 – December 31 of each year. The membership dues will be assessed and decided on a needed basis by the executive committee approved by the Board of Trustees.

3 – GENERAL MEETING

1. Determination of time and place. This meeting will be held in the spring of each year in Connecticut. The organization’s President will notify the active members of the date, time, and place of each meeting at least thirty (30) days before such meeting. The executive committee shall determine the number and times of other general meetings each year.
2. Quorum. The presence of 1/4 of the organization’s active members shall constitute a quorum. A majority of those present will be required to adopt the resolution, except as specified in these bylaws. Approval by a majority of 2/3 of active members current shall be necessary to override actions taken by the executive committee.
3. Actions. At any general meeting of the organization the membership may request the executive committee to appoint committees for matters relating to scientific, cultural, or any other special matters. Any reports by such committees shall not become official actions or expressions of this organization until so approved by the executive committee.

4 – BOARD OF TRUSTEES

1. Composition. The Board shall be composed of Connecticut (5) immediate past presidents of the organization. All trustees shall be residents of the State of – Connecticut If there are not 5 past presidents available or willing to become a member of the Board of trustees, then the remaining BOT members will be nominated by the President from among the senior members of the organization as interim trustees. BOT members appointed by President (other than past presidents) will serve for no more than 2 years. They will do this only until additional past presidents/presidents are available to serve as trustees. The term of past presidents serving as BOT members will not be more than 5 years. A BOT member can be re-nominated by the majority of the executive committee only if the President agrees and only if a vacancy is available. No trustee shall hold any elected office during their term of office. Trustees may, however, be involved in any committee of the organization and may chair a committee at the request of the President.
2. Officers. The officers of the Board shall be the chairman and a secretary. Each shall be elected for a one-year term from amongst the trustees at the annual meeting. The board member serving his last year on the Board will become the chairman; the member second in seniority on the Board will serve as secretary.
3. It shall adopt rules and regulations for its government and the administration of the organization’s affairs within guidelines set by BOT. It shall also be responsible for carrying out policies set forth by BOT.
4. It shall advise the President regarding the appointment of committees. Such committees shall report to the executive committee, and members may participate in debate upon their committee’s report, whether or not they are members of the executive committee.
5. It shall approve each action and resolution in the organization’s name before it becomes effective
6. The term of the seniormost ex-president as a trustee shall end when a new ex-president becomes available to serve as a trustee.
7. Meetings. The Board shall meet at least annually at the time and place of the annual meeting of the organization and may hold any other meetings as the trustees may determine. The Board may be called to a meeting by the chairman on his own and upon request by a majority of the members of the Board when a petition is filed or appears to be filed for dissolution of the organization. In emergency meetings called for repeal, no other issues will be discussed. A resolution adopted by the Board shall be communicated by the chairman to the executive committee through the secretary of the organization within thirty (30) days except in case of dissolution, whence the executive committee shall be informed as soon as possible of appropriate action, including a call for an emergency meeting of the organization.
8. Powers and duties. As the overseer and policymakers of the organization, the Board shall be the only authority to receive and discuss a proposal for the organization’s dissolution. The committee’s recommendation, both the majority and the minority views in case of dissent, shall be presented by the chairman or the secretary of the Board at the organization’s next annual or emergency meeting. In the event of dissolution, as prescribed under article ten of the constitution, the Board shall be the sole body to disburse the organization’s assets. If three (3) trustees dissent from the decision of the general membership as prescribed in article 10, they may, after disbursing the assets, desire to retain the papers of incorporation and may revive the organization if they so desire.

5 – EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The executive committee shall be composed of officers of the organization.

1. Officers. The executive committee shall be the organization’s President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
2. Meetings. The executive committee shall meet at least once every 6 months to conduct the organization’s business. The time and place of each session will be announced to the executive committee members at least four (4) weeks in advance. The committee may also be called into special meetings at any time by the President or on the petition of at least two (2) of the executive committee members. The purpose of such special meetings shall be stated in the call notice, and no other business shall be transacted. At least once a year, there shall be a combined meeting of the BOT and the executive committee.
3. Quorum. A Quorum of the executive committee shall consist of 50% of its members, provided that such quorum does include at least two (2) officers of the organization.
4. Powers and duties. As the administrative body of the organization, the executive committee shall have the ability and authority to adopt, institute, and carry out such methods and measures as it may deem to be in the organization’s best interest written in the guidelines by the BOT and without limitation thereof.
5. Members of the executive committee will be the official representatives of the organization on all formal and official functions. In cases where fewer members are required to be present on these occasions, the order of the seniority for the composition of a delegation shall be as follows: President, secretary, and treasure.
6. Resolution. An executive committee member shall teach each resolution introduced in the executive committee. It may be referred by the President to the appropriate committee before action is taken thereon.

6 – OFFICERS

1. Term of office. Except as herein provided, the period of office will be January 1 through December 31 of the year following the election. An organization officer shall be a member in good standing for at least two (2) consecutive years immediately before holding such office. No officer will serve two consecutive terms.

2. President. The Treasurer shall be an active member of the organization. The President of the executive committee shall be the organization’s chief executive officer. He shall preside at the organization’s general meetings and deliver the President’s address. He shall appoint necessary committees when not otherwise provided for and fill vacancies thereon. He shall be the presiding officer of the executive committee with the right to vote therein. He shall perform such other duties as imposed upon him by the organization’s constitution and bylaws. The President will work closely with the Board of Trustees to manage the affairs of CTAPPNA.
3. Secretary. The Treasurer shall be an active member of the organization. The secretary shall be the recording officer of the executive committee proceedings and the general membership. They shall also discharge the following duties:
4. He shall supervise all arrangements for each meeting in compliance with the executive committee’s constitution, bylaws, and instructions.
5. He shall send out all official notices of meetings, committee appointments, certification of election to office, and special committee assignments.
6. He shall receive and transmit to the executive committee the annual and other reports of the officers and committees. They shall institute and correlate each new activity of the organization under the supervision of the executive committee.
7. Treasurer. The Treasurer shall be an active member of the organization.
8. He shall be the custodian of all the invested funds and securities of the organization and be accountable through the executive committee of the organization.
9. He will collect all annual membership dues, assessments, donations, and such monies due to the organization and keep membership records.
10. He shall deposit all funds received in an approved depository and disburse funds upon order of the executive committee. He will submit all pertinent information to a certified public accountant approved by the executive committee on a timely and regular basis to prepare annual tax returns.
11. He shall report to the executive committee reviewing the organization’s funds. He shall present his report at the annual general membership meeting. He shall perform such other duties as imposed upon him by the organization’s constitution and bylaws.

7 – ELECTIONS

1. CTAPPNA will conduct an independent and open election every year in which every member with the right to vote as an active member of the CTAPPNA will have an equal right to participate and to contest for any of the positions. No one can compete in more than one position at the same time.

2. Elections will be conducted either by BOT or a Nomination and election committee (E&N committee) created by BOT. Members of the EC will not be involved in the election process.
3. The nomination and election committee (E&N committee) shall consist of a member or members of BOT or individual/individuals nominated by the majority of BOT members. It will consist of up to three members. It will work under the guidance of BOT and will only be answerable to BOT and not to the executive committee.
4. The tenure of the E&N committee will be one year, and each year a new E&N committee will be nominated by BOT. The committee will be responsible for conducting free independent elections of our organization each year under the guidelines within the bylaws.

Elections of Executive office:

1. The E&N committee will conduct annual elections of the organization’s officers, and no organization officer will be involved in the election process.

2. All active members who have their dues paid by the June 30 of the year shall be eligible to contest and vote for the organization elections.
3. The election process will start on September 1 of each year.
4. Any three active members of the organization in good standing can nominate any active member of the organization for the position of President, Secretary, or Treasurer. One person can nominate only one member/position but can nominate for all positions. The deadline for nomination will be September 20.
5. After the consent of the nominated individual, their name will be put on the ballot by the E&N committee. The deadline for obtaining the consent will be October 1.
6. If no one agrees to contest elections, then the majority of BOT (not the E&N committee) will be authorized to nominate individuals for the organization’s executive committee.
7. Officers of the organization (EC) will not be asked to be on the ballot and will not continue as officers for more than one consecutive year. No member of EC will serve in the same position for more than one consecutive year.
8. The Nomination and Election Committee will request nominations for the officers every year. If up to one contestant is for each vacancy, candidates will be elected without sending the ballots to the membership.
9. If there is more than one candidate for each vacant position, the ballots should be mailed or given in person at the polling site on or before October 15. Ballots will be mailed or handed in person at the polling site for elections each year, even2 if only one candidate is contesting. For each position, there will be an open slot for every member to fill in the name of the candidate of their choice, even if they are not on the ballot.
10. Ballots should be returned to the address mentioned on the envelope. They should be postmarked on or before November 15 or delivered in person at the election site as decided by the executive committee under the directions of the Board of Trustees.
11. Results should be announced on or before December 1, and the main APPNA office should be notified within 2 weeks of announcing the election results as deemed necessary.
12. In case of a tie vote, the coin toss method will be undertaken in the presence of tie candidates or their representatives.
13. E &N committee will not be authorized to deny the right of any member to be on the ballot if nominated by three active members of the organization in due time. It will follow the constitution and bylaws of the organization.

8 – Conflict resolution committee

A committee will be appointed by the Board of trustees to work on conflict resolution between the organization’s members and will be called the “conflict resolution committee.” The committee will resolve issues related only to organizational affairs, and its decisions will be binding. The committee will consist of the chairperson of the Board of trustees, and if the committee has more than one member, the total number of members will be odd, and the decisions will be made by consensus. If any committee member is a party in the conflict, they will be excused from the committee, and BOT will announce their replacement (from the Board of trustees) immediately. Matters regarding competition between members of the organization can be referred to the Board of trustees by any member of the organization, including those who are a party to the conflict. Once BOT receives a request to resolve a dispute, none of the parties will be allowed to discuss their case publicly. They will not be allowed to discuss issues under investigation in any public outlet. Failure to do so can result in the termination of their organization membership. The Board of trustees will refer the conflict to the conflict resolution committee within 7 days of receiving a request to resolve a dispute. Committee will decide within 14 days, and its decisions will be binding unless forwarded to the Board of trustees by one of the parties to the conflict within 15 days of its decision. The Board of trustees will vote on the decision within 14 days of receiving the committee decision by the organization’s constitution, and their decision will be binding. The Board of Trustees will have a right to terminate the membership of any member who will not abide by their decision or will not cooperate with the conflict resolution committee and BOT.

9 – Vacancies

1. An office of the organization shall be declared vacant by the executive committee when an officer resigns or leaves the State for a period longer than four (4) months without prior arrangement with the executive committee or becomes unable to carry out duties of the office for reasons of health or otherwise.

2. Should the office of the President become vacant, the Secretary-General should succeed to the presidency for the remaining term. Should the office of the President after that again become vacant, the executive committee, at a regular or special meeting, shall elect a new president from amongst the committee members to serve until the end of the term.