Constitution

Article 1. Name and headquarters
The “Italian EAGE/SEG Section” is a non-profit Association that gathers the Italian professionals and scientists working in applied geophysics. Its headquarters is located at OGS (Italian National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics), in Sgonico (Trieste, Italy).

Article 2. Objectives
The objectives of the Section are to promote geophysics, the training and the professional update of its members, with particular attention to Applied Geophysics for environment protection, mining, civil engineering, cultural heritage and archaeology, search of energy sources, reservoir modeling and hydrology.

Article 3. Membership
Any individuals who are members of EAGE (“European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers”) or SEG (“Society of Exploration Geophysicists”) may become members of the Section, if they are Italian citizens or residents of Italy. Furthermore, other entities involved in geophysics, such as universities, research centers, public or private organizations or companies, may become members of the Section too, if they provide financial or logistic support to the Section.

Article 4. Membership types
There two different types of membership to the Section: Ordinary members and Corporate members. An Ordinary member is an individual who is a member of EAGE or SEG, of any of their member types (“Active, Associate, Honorary, Life, Emeritus, Student, Retired, Global”), who have applied for membership in the Section.
Corporate members are universities, research centers, public or private organizations or companies that provide financial support of no less than 500 Euro per year, or an equivalent contribution in terms of manpower.
Furthermore, any individual or organization, active in Applied Geophysics, may require to be informed via the Internet about the Section activities. These parties, called “Internet observers”, are not members of the Section, but could benefit from some of its activities, according to the decisions made by the Executive Committee.

Article 5. Membership procedure
In order to become a member or an Internet observer of the Section, the candidate must complete an application and allow the computer archiving of their basic personal data. For ordinary members, the enrollment is free and automatic. The member data will be used exclusively for the practical needs of the Section. Applications will be submitted to the Executive Committee for approval.
A member may terminate the Section membership, in writing, at any time. Similarly, any Internet observer may require to be excluded by any contact.
For severe and publicly justified reasons, the Executive Committee may decide to expel members and Internet observers that damage the Section and its reputation, upon approval of two thirds of its members.

Article 6. Patrimony
The Section patrimony is composed of:

  1. possible properties that could be acquired by the Section;
  2. possible reserve funds derived by final balance surplus.

The Section incomes are composed of:

  1. member dues;
  2. income due to the organization of events or cooperation to them;
  3. any other income related to activities carried out for the Section goals.

Article 7. Section organs
The Section organs are:

    – the Executive Committee – the President – the Vice-President – the Treasurer- the Committee of the Auditors of Accounts.

Article 8. Executive Committee
The Executive Committee is the executive organ of the Section, and decides all ordinary and extraordinary business. It is composed of a President, a Vice-President, a Treasurer, and four councilors, one of which is the Past-President.
The Executive Committee may assign to the President or to its members special operative powers, in addition to those ruled by the Constitution, by defining its type and duration. The meetings of the Executive Committee are convened by the President, or by the majority of its members, and may be held by teleconference. The Secretariat Responsible may attend the meetings of the Executive Committee as secretary and consultant, but with no voting rights. The Executive Committee decisions are valid when they are voted (even via Internet) and passed by at least half of its members. In case of vote parity, the decision of the President prevails.

All activities of the Executive Committee are carried out on a voluntary basis.

Article 9. Election of the Executive Committee
The election of the Executive Committee is carried out every two years. All ordinary members are eligible and may propose their candidature for different roles in the Executive Committee, i.e. President, Vice-President and Councilor. Both ordinary and corporate members can vote. Each role will be attributed to the candidate who receives the most votes for that role. If two or more candidates receive the same number of votes, the role will be attributed to the candidate who has been a member of EAGE or SEG the longest.
If two or more members of the Executive Committee are unable to fulfill their term, the President must organize a supplementary election, or decide to dissolve and renew the entire Executive Committee.
The election of the Executive Committee is organized by the President four months before the expiry of the Committee. The members are required to communicate their vote confidentially to the President (via mail, fax or e-mail), by his established deadline. The day after this deadline, the President communicates the vote results to the members, also via Internet. If the President is impeded or missing, the election is organized by the Vice-President or, as a subordinate, by the Secretariat Responsible.

Article 10. President
The President is in charge for two years, and cannot be elected twice consecutively. He represents the Section to third parties and in the court; he signs any act on behalf of the Section; he convenes the Executive Committee; he corresponds with EAGE and SEG and provides them annually the member list and a copy of the current Constitution; he supervises the social activities.

Article 11. Vice-President
The Vice-President substitutes the President in all its functions, when he is impeded or missing. In these cases, he fully replaces him in all of his functions and power.

Article 12. Treasurer
The Treasurer is a member of the Executive Committee, and decays when he is not more a part of it. He takes care of the incomes and expenditures of the Section, in accordance with the decisions made by the Executive Committee, and keeps a record of all related actions. He prepares a proposal of the budget for the following year in December, and the final balance of the past year in March. The balance will not allow in any case the distribution of revenues.
The final balance and the report of the Committee of the Auditors of Accounts will be provided (even by Internet) to all members.

Article 13. Committee of the Auditors of Accounts
A Committee of the Auditors of Accounts monitors the financial management of the Section. It is composed of three actual members and two substitutes, who are nominated by the Executive Committee and are chosen preferably from among the OGS auditors of accounts, and in any case are among those belonging to the Register of the Auditors of Accounts.
The Auditors of Accounts produce a report on the budget and the final balance. They elect a President among themselves and, when this person is absent, will be governed by the oldest member. The Committee of the Auditors of Accounts also monitors the decisions of the Executive Committee regarding member expulsion (art. 5, last paragraph).

Article 14. Secretariat
The Section Secretariat is located at OGS. The Secretariat maintains the file of member data and its updates; manages its web site; organizes conferences, technical and scientific meetings related to applied geophysics; informs the members and the Internet observers by mail and e-mail, both about the Section and about other events of interest for the Italian geophysicists; promotes the Section at the national and international level, in accordance with the instructions of the Executive Committee; and provides assistance to the President and the Executive Committee.
The Secretariat Responsible is nominated by the Executive Committee, upon OGS proposal.

Article 15. Annual balanceArticolo
The annual balance is computed at December 31.

Article 16. Member assembly
The President convenes annually a member assembly. Here he reports the Section activities and its financial figures, and presents possible decisions proposed by the members to be discussed and voted on. The annual assembly and additional assemblies convened during the year, can exploit information technology: for example, it is possible to propose, discuss and vote motions via fax and Internet, using the same procedures adopted for electing the Executive Committee.

Article 17. Cessazione eventuale della Sezione
Should the Section terminate its activity due to a decision of the member majority or due to force majeure, its eventually available funds will be provided to the ‘Associazione per la Geofisica Licio Cernobori

Article 18. Constitution amendments
The current Constitution may be modified upon approval of the majority of the Section members.

Article 19. Other norms
The rules of the Italian Civil Code will govern what is not explicitly mentioned in the present Constitution.