By-Laws of the Association for Rational Thought

Revised March 3, 2001

Preamble

The Association for Rational thought is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the development of rational thinking and the application of the scientific method to claims of paranormal and fringe-science phenomena in southwestern Ohio, northern Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana.

The Association for Rational Thought is an independent and autonomous organization, working with the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP, Amherst, NY, USA), with which it shares principal interests and goals. Spokespersons for the Association for Rational Thought are not authorized to speak for CSICOP, and their views do not necessarily reflect the views of CSICOP.

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 claims of the paranormal.
To conduct meetings, which shall also be open to the general public.
To publish a newsletter.
To monitor local news media and to help ensure that they subject paranormal claims to critical scrutiny.
To conduct investigations of alleged paranormal phenomena and make the results of these investigations known to the public.
To share information concerning local paranormal and pseudoscientific claims with other skeptics' groups that have the same objectives as the Association for Rational Thought.
To advise local teachers and students of the dangers of uncritical acceptance of pseudoscientific claims, as well as the need to subject such claims to critical scrutiny.
To go to schools and other organizations, on invitation, to give presentations dealing with the rational study of claims of the paranormal.

Article III - Membership

Payment of annual dues establishes membership.
Membership includes a subscription to the newsletter.
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, sex, age, religion, ethnic background, sexual orientation or disability.
Members who joined before the first annual meeting, which was held in April, 1992, are Charter Members.

Article IV - Officers

The officers of the Association for Rational Thought shall consist of a president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, membership secretary, membership committee chair, investigations officer, newsletter editor, publicity coordinator, media resources coordinator, meeting organizer, and webmaster.
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 April 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.
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 executive council meeting 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 membership meetings.
The Vice-President shall assist the President in the performance of his 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 and shall prepare the annual report for distribution to the general membership in a newsletter issued after the end of the program year.
The Treasurer shall collect dues, maintain financial records, make necessary disbursements, and prepare the annual financial report for distribution to the membership as part of the annual report.
The Recruitment Committee Chair shall take appropriate steps to maintain existing members and enroll new members.
The Membership Secretary shall maintain a list of the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the current members and appropriate mailing lists for the newsletter.
The Investigations Officer shall chair the Investigations Committee and oversee all official investigatory projects.
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 Newsletter Editor shall be responsible for publishing the newsletter. All members are asked to submit articles and news items. The Newsletter Editor will coordinate the exchange of newsletters with other chapters, and make the newsletters of other chapters available to members.
The Meeting Organizer shall chair the Program Committee and have primary responsibility for arranging the membership meetings.
The Media Resources Coordinator shall chair the Scientific and Technical Consulting Committee and shall respond to any inquiries made by the media about pseudoscientific or paranormal phenomena.
The Webmaster shall maintain any web sites and e-mail discussion lists.

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 members.

Article VII - Committees

The standing committees shall be:
- The Program Committee, which shall plan and arrange membership meetings in accordance with membership interests and the purposes of the Association for Rational Thought, and prepare a calendar of regularly scheduled membership 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 Investigations Committee, which shall supervise all official investigations conducted by the Association for Rational thought.
- The Recruitment Committee, which shall work toward maintaining and increasing membership and shall publish and distribute all notices to the membership.
Each standing committee shall consist of at least three members of the Association for Rational Thought.
In addition to the standing committees, ad hoc committees may be established by any member of the Executive Council if seconded by another member.
The Chairperson and members of all standing and ad hoc committees shall be appointed by majority vote of the Executive Council.

Article VIII - Membership Meetings

Membership meetings shall be held as planned by the Program Committee and must be held in places open to all members and the general 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 membership meetings a year, including the annual meeting held in April.
Written 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 any 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.
Rulings on any point of procedure not provided for in these by-laws shall be made by the President.

Article XI - Dissolution

In the event of dissolution of the Association for Rational Thought, all paid members shall receive a prorata refund for all unpublished issues of the newsletter due them, 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.