By-Laws of the Association for Rational Thought

Revised April 29, 2010

Preamble

The Association for Rational thought is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the application of rational thinking to science, the arts and other intellectual endeavors.

The Association for Rational Thought is an independent and autonomous organization, aligned with the Center For Inquiry (CFI, Amherst, NY, USA), with which it shares principal interests and goals. Spokespersons for the Association for Rational Thought are not authorized to speak for CFI, and their views do not necessarily reflect the views of CFI, and vice versa.

Article I - Name

This organization shall be named the Association for Rational Thought.

Article II - Purpose

The Association for Rational Thought is organized for, and shall be operated exclusively for, educational and scientific purposes. In pursuance thereof, its specific objectives shall be:

To establish a network of people interested in the critical examination of classic scientific, cultural and the artistic worlds, pseudo science as well as that of paranormal issues.
To conduct meetings, which shall be open to the general public.
To maintain a website, to promote the organization and to communicate with the public.
To monitor local news media to help ensure that they subject claims to critical scrutiny.
To support investigations of alleged paranormal phenomena and make the results of these investigations known to the public.
To support local teachers and students in identifying the dangers of uncritical acceptance of pseudoscientific claims, as well as the need to subject such claims to critical scrutiny.

Article III - Membership

Payment of annual dues establishes annual membership. Payment of lifetime dues establishes lifetime membership.
Membership includes timely notice of meetings.
Members are not authorized to speak on behalf of the Association for Rational Thought unless specifically authorized by the Executive Council by unanimous vote.
The association for Rational Thought shall not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability.
Members who joined before the first annual meeting, which was held in April, 1992, are Charter Members.
The Executive Council, by a 2/3 vote, may decline/terminate membership, and refund dues if collected for the year.

Article IV - Officers

The officers of the Association for Rational Thought shall consist of a president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, program committee chair, membership/recruitment secretary, publicity coordinator, meeting organizer, webmaster, and corresponding secretary.
Temporary officers shall be selected by the initial ad hoc organizational committee, and thereafter by the Executive Council. At the annual meeting, to be held in May of each year, officers shall be elected, by a majority vote of members present, for the coming year.
Vacancies in any office resulting from resignation, removal, or disability shall be filled by a majority vote of the Executive Council. Unfilled positions may be filled by the Executive Council.
Any officer who fails to attend three consecutive meetings of the Executive Council, without providing adequate reason for and appropriate prior notification of each absence, shall be deemed to have vacated office.
Any officer may be removed from office by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the Executive Council.
Officers shall assume their duties at the September general meeting or following the meeting at which they were elected.

Article V - Duties of Officers

The President shall preside over all meetings of the Executive Council and all general meetings.
The Vice-President shall assist the President in the performance of all duties and shall serve as acting President in the absence of the President.
The Secretary shall keep minutes of all general meetings and all Executive Council meetings.
The Treasurer shall collect dues, maintain financial records, make necessary disbursements, and prepare the annual financial report for distribution to the Executive Council.
The Program Committee Chair shall be in charge of the Program Committee.
The Membership/Recruitment Secretary shall maintain a list of the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the current members and appropriate mailing lists and shall take appropriate steps to maintain existing members and enroll new members.
The Publicity Coordinator shall chair the Publicity Committee and inform the media about upcoming meetings and, in general, disseminate to the media information in keeping with the purposes of the organization.
The Meeting/Event Organizer shall have primary responsibility for arranging event sites.
The Webmaster shall maintain any web sites and e-mail discussion lists.
The Corresponding Secretary shall be in charge of all written correspondence.

Article VI - Executive Council

The Executive Council shall consist of the officers of the Association for Rational Thought, as well as any others chosen by a majority vote of the current officers.
Except as otherwise provided in these by-laws, the Executive Council shall act on behalf of the Association for Rational Thought in all matters.
There shall be at least two Executive Council meetings each year.
Special meetings of the Executive Council shall be called upon the request of any member of the Executive Council, when there is good reason, and when seconded by another Executive Council member.
A quorum shall be one-half of Executive Council officers.

Article VII - Committees

The standing committees shall be:

· The Program Committee, which shall recruit speakers, plan programs for general meetings in accordance with membership interests and the purposes of the Association for Rational Thought, and prepare a calendar of regularly scheduled general meetings each year.

· The Publicity Committee, which shall maintain a media mailing list and provide publicity of the activities of the Association for Rational Thought as warranted.

· The Recruitment Committee, which shall work toward maintaining and increasing membership and shall publish and distribute all notices to the membership.

In addition to the standing committees, ad hoc committees may be established by a majority vote of the Executive Council.
The Chairperson and members of all standing and ad hoc committees shall be appointed by majority vote of the Executive Council.

Article VIII - General Meetings

General meetings shall be held as planned by the Program Committee and must be held in places open to all members and the public.
Routine business shall be the first item on the agenda and shall be limited to 30 minutes. A quorum of 10% of the general membership is required for conducting business.
There shall be at least eight general meetings a year, including the annual membership meeting held in May.
Written and/or electronic notices of each meeting shall be distributed to all members at least one week in advance.

Article IX - Disbursements and Dues

Disbursements from the treasury for expenditures shall be made under authorization of the Executive Council and shall be documented in the minutes of that meeting.
Annual dues shall be set by a majority vote of the Executive Council.

Article X - Amendments and Procedure

Amendments to these by-laws may be proposed at either the annual or specifically-called meeting of the Executive Council. A two-thirds votes of all members of the Executive Council shall be required for passage.
The rules in Roberts' Rules of Order, Revised shall govern the Association for Rational Thought in all cases in which rules of order are applicable, except where the rules of order are inconsistent with these by-laws.

Article XI - Dissolution

In the event of dissolution of the Association for Rational Thought, all paid-up members shall receive a pro rata refund for their current annual dues, if there are available funds in the treasury. All remaining assets shall be donated to an organization having aims similar to those of the Association for Rational Thought, as determined by the Executive Council.