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Research Committees

Statutes

The Statutes of the Research Committee on Community Research (hereafter RC03) were adopted in 1966 and revised in subsequent years. Last revised in September 2020 and adopted by RC03 membership in July 2021.

I. Denomination

  1. The Research Committee on Community Research is referred to below as RC03

II. Nature

  1. RC03 was established in 1966 in accordance with the Statutes of International Sociological Association (ISA)
  2. RC03 raises its funds by levying a subscription on its members, and in other ways.
  3. RC03 administers its funds in accordance with Article Four of the ISA Statutes.

III. Objectives

The objectives of the RC03 are:

  1. To promote the development of theory and comparative research on urban and community issues
  2. To create and maintain an international network of scholars dealing with urban and community issues
  3. To promote and support the development of different theoretical perspectives on urban and community issues oriented to advance comparative empirical research in this field.

IV. Activities

The activities of RC03 in pursuit of these objectives included, among other things:

  1. The promotion of conferences and similar activities
  2. The promotion of comparative research
  3. The encouragement of research networks and exchanges of information
  4. The publication of a newsletter and a membership list

V. Membership

Membership is open to all individual and institutions working in the field of urban and community research.

  1. Members shall either be regular members or affiliated members
  2. Regular members shall be individuals or institutions in good standing within the ISA
  3. Affiliated members shall be individuals or institutions interested in the activities of RC03, who are not members of the ISA
  4. All regular and affiliated members of RC03 shall be entitled to vote as individual members in the discussions about organisational matters at the General Meetings according to the principle "one member, one vote" that means that one institution also has one vote
  5. All regular and affiliated members of RC03 shall be entitled to:
    (a) Participate in the scientific activities of the Research Committee
    (b) Receive the newsletter and access to website/blog free of charge maintained by RC03
  6. All regular and affiliated members of RC03 shall be obliged to:
    (a) Uphold the present Statutes of RC03 and to adhere to the stipulations of the present Statutes
    (b) Conscientiously fulfil the tasks entrusted to them by the General Meeting or other bodies of RC03
    (c) Pay their fees for the respective period. The fees shall be fixed by the RC Board at each General Meeting for both individual members and organisations. The respective amounts to be paid shall be specified in the By-Laws to the present Statutes.

VI. Officers

  1. The officers of the Research Committee shall be elected once every four years prior to the ISA World Congress of Sociology, as stipulated in Article X.
  2. The composition of the Board shall be: President, Vice-President, Secretary/Treasurer, Editor of the Newsletter, and five board members elected according to Article X of the Statute.
  3. The President:
    (a) shall preside the Board and the General Meeting of RC03
    (b) will initiate and carry out policies in order to fulfil main objectives of RC03
    (c) is responsible for the communicating activities and plans to the members at least twice annually through the Newsletter
    (d) one of the Board members, designated by the Board, will assume the responsibilities of the President in the case of death, incapacitation, resignation, or other inability of the incumbent to carry out the responsibilities of the office of President
  4. The Vice-President
    (a) shall support the President in the office                          
    (b) substitutes the President in the representation of the ISA in case of his/her unavailability
    (c) shall, in the event the Board determines the President can no longer perform his/her duties, accept the invitation of the Board to act as President
  5. The Secretary/Treasurer
    (a) shall organise the General Meetings and the meetings of the Board of RC03 in co-operation with the President
    (b) shall assist the President in organising the work of the Board and observe the fulfilment of its decisions
    (c) shall collect the affiliated members’ fees and other incomes
    (d) shall prepare the financial report to the Board of the RC03 every four years to be accepted by the Business Meeting
    (e) shall realise the financial relations between RC03 and the ISA
  6. The President can serve maximum two terms; Vice-President, Secretary, and Board Members can serve no more than three consecutive terms.

VII. Board

  1. The members of the Board are:
    (a) Board consist of the Officers and five elected Board members.
    (b) The elected members of the Board should be ISA and RC03 regular members in good standing, and they shall be elected according to Article X of the Statutes.
    (c) Temporary vacancies in the Board between consecutive ISA World Congress may be filled by appointment by the President, in accordance with Article 4.5 of ISA Statutes.
    (d) The places of any Board member not in good standing with either the ISA or RC03 may be declared temporarily vacant by the President and the vacancy filled according to paragraph (c).
  2. The function of the Board
    (a) to promote all activities of RC03.
    (b) to provide a newsletter to the members of RC03 at least twice annually.
    (c) to designate the delegate and an alternate delegate to the ISA Research Council.
    (d) to co-organize one mid-term conference between ISA World Congress.
  3. The Board shall designate a Steering Board
    (a) the members of the Steering Board are the President, a Vice-President, and the Secretary/Treasurer.
    (b) the President will act as the President of the Steering Board.
    (c) the Treasurer will act as the Secretary of the Steering Board.

VIII. Honor Board

  1. The members of the Honor Board are:
    (a) Honor Board is formed by past Officers and Board Members who significantly contributed to the development of the RC03-
    (b) Honor Boards members either shall be regular or affiliated members.
    (c) Honor Board consist of the President of the Honor Board and Honor Board Members.
    (d) The President and members of the Honor Board are nominated by the RC03 Board.
    (e) The Honor Board members are lifetime.
    (f) The Presidency of the Honor Board is lifetime and the first President of the RC03 takes the seat of the President of the Honor Board.
    (g) One of the Honor Board members, designated by the Honor Board, will assume the responsibilities of the President of the Honor Board in the case of death, incapacitation, resignation, or other inability of the incumbent to carry out the responsibilities of the office.
  2. The function of the Honor Board is:
    (a) to promote activities of RC03.
    (b) to advise the Board.

IX. The Assembly or General Meeting

  1. A General Meeting shall be held during each ISA World Congress of Sociology.
  2. The General Meeting is chaired by the President or by one Vice-President of the RC03.
  3. The functions of the General Meeting are:
    (a) to receive and evaluate the four-year-report about activities developed by RC03.
    (b) to discuss and give guidance regarding the activities of RC03.
    (c) to elect the Board and Elected Officers of RC03 if election did not take place by electronic ballot.
    (d) to discharge members of the Board or/and the Treasurer of their financial responsibilities according to the statement of financial affairs of the RC03 given to the Board and the General Meeting.
  4. Only regular and affiliated RC03 members in good standing who are present at the Meeting are entitled to vote in the Business Meeting Assembly.
  5. Decisions in a Business Meeting Assembly are taken by simple majority.

X. Electoral procedures for the elected officers and members of the board

  1. The election for Officers and Board Members, as defined in Articles VI and VII, shall be conducted by secret electronic ballot once every four years prior to the ISA World Congress of Sociology.
  2. All regular and affiliated members of RC03 in good standing are entitled to vote.
  3. To ensure participation of all regular and affiliated members, nomination shall be done by email. To this end, the Secretary shall prepare a form to be sent to all regular and affiliated members at least twenty weeks before the election day together with a list of all regular members of RC03
  4. All regular and affiliated members of RC03 shall be entitled to nominate candidates for the Board. Nominated candidates shall be regular members of RC03. They shall confirm their preparedness to accept the respective position on the Board in case they are elected and to remain a regular member in good standing for the duration of their mandate, and shall return the nomination form to the Secretary, together with a brief curriculum vitae
  5. Pairs of candidates may also be nominated for the position of President, Secretary/Treasurer, or Editor of the Newsletter, to function as Co-President, Co-Secretary/Treasurers or Co-Editors of the Newsletter.
  6. If no nominations have been received on time, the outgoing officers of the RC03 are empowered to nominate officers and members of the Board.
  7. The Secretary shall prepare a ballot listing all nominated candidates along with the respective positions on the Board. In case of several nominations for the same position, the nominated candidates shall be listed in alphabetical order. The ballot shall be sent to all regular and affiliated members of RC03 by email at least ten weeks before the election day.
  8. Regular and affiliated members shall send their ballot email to the designated electoral officer(s). Ballots received later than two weeks before the beginning of the World Congress shall not be counted.
  9. The person receiving the largest number of votes shall be declared elected. In the event of a tie, the choice among those receiving the same number of votes shall be decided by lot.

XI. Amendment of Statutes

  1. Any proposal for amendments to the Statutes or By Laws may be made by any member of the Board, or by any five members in good standing of RC03
  2. Such a proposal, together with an explanation of its rationale, must be received by the President of the Board at least one year before the General Meeting of the RC03.The proposal will be circulated among all RC03 members, together with an explanation of its rationale, at least six months before the next General Meeting of RC03.
  3. The Board will be entitled to propose amendments, to be circulated at least two months before the General Meeting of RC03.
  4. The proposed amendments will be put to the General Meeting and adopted if approved by two-thirds majority.

By-laws

Membership Fee
In line with ISA practice, membership fees are collected for a period of four years and are fixed as follows:
(a) US$ 40 for a 4-year period for members from Category A countries as defined by the ISA
(b) US$ 20 for a 4-year period for members from Category B and C and for student members