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Research Committees

Statutes

Introduction

Statutes were drawn up at the first General Meeting of the RC50 Sociology of Tourism held in Bielefeld during the XIIIth ISA World Congress of Sociology, July 1994. They were subsequently endorsed by mail ballot of membership in October 1994. The following Statutes were revised in 2012-13, and endorsed by RC50 General Meeting at the XVIII ISA World Congress of Sociology, Yokohama, Japan, July 2014.

Article I: Nature of the RC50

  1. The RC50 was founded in accordance with Article 5.2 of the Statutes of the International Sociological Association (ISA) by decision of the Research Council of the ISA.
  2. The RC50 "Sociology of Tourism" is a Committee of the ISA for research and other academic activities relating to the phenomenon of tourism.

Article II:  Purposes

  1. To secure and develop individual and organizational contacts among sociologists of tourism throughout the world.
  2. To encourage the international dissemination and exchange of information on significant developments in the sociology of tourism and to promote related scientific activities throughout the world.
  3. To facilitate and promote international meetings and research in the sociology of tourism.
  4. To encourage scholars from those countries not represented in its membership to make use of the Committee and its facilities.

Article III: Membership

  1. The RC50 comprises individuals or associations active in research and/or teaching in the field of sociology of tourism.
  2. Members shall either be regular members or affiliated members
    2.1. Regular members shall be individuals or institutions in good standing within the ISA
    2.2. Affiliated members shall be individuals or institutions interested in the activities of RC50, who are not members of the ISA. 
  3. All regular and affiliated members of RC50 shall be entitled to vote as individual members in the discussions about organizational matters at the General Meetings according to the principle "one member, one vote" that means that one institution also has one vote.
  4. All regular and affiliated members of RC50 shall be entitled to:
    4.1. Participate in the scientific activities of the Research Committee
    4.2. Receive the newsletter issued by RC50 free of charge
  5. All regular and affiliated members of RC50 shall be obliged to:
    5.1. Uphold the present Statutes of RC50 and to adhere to the stipulations of the present Statutes
    5.2. Conscientiously fulfill the tasks entrusted to them by the General Meeting or other bodies of RC50
    5.3. Pay their fee for the respective period (i.e. 4 years). This fee shall be fixed by the Board of the Research Committee at each General Meeting for both individual members and organizations. The respective amounts to be paid shall be specified in the By-Laws to the present Statutes.

Article IV: Governing Bodies

  1. The RC50 conducts its activities through a General Meeting and its Executive Board.
  2. The General Meeting comprises all paid up voting members and takes place at each World Congress of the ISA. The General Meeting determines the direction of activities, prepares a plan of work of the Committee, and receives reports from the Executive Board. Decisions of the General Meeting are taken by a simple majority in open vote.
  3. Elections to the Board are conducted by confidential ballot.
    Nomination Procedure
    3.1. To ensure participation of all regular and affiliated members, nomination shall be done by mail. 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 RC50.
    3.2. All regular and affiliated members of RC50 shall be entitled to nominate candidates for the Board. Nominated candidates shall be regular members of RC50. 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.
    3.3 Pairs of candidates may also be nominated for the position of President, Vice-President I, II and III, Secretary/Treasurer, or Communications and Promotion Officer to function as Co-positions.
    3.4 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 RC50 by mail at least ten weeks before the Election Day.
    3.5 Regular and affiliated members shall send their ballot by mail or email to the designated electoral officer(s). Ballots received later than two weeks before the beginning of the World Congress shall not be counted.
  4. The Executive Board consists of 6 positions: a President, three Vice-Presidents, a Secretary/Treasurer and a Communications and Promotion Officer.
    4.1 The Executive Board carries out the plan of activities of the Committee, promotes professional contacts with the governing bodies of the ISA and with other research committees of the ISA, and reports its activities to the General Meeting and the governing bodies of the ISA.
  5. The Executive Board takes decisions by majority vote.
  6. The President of the Executive Board shall normally only be elected for one four year term. Other officers may be re-elected for an additional period of four years.
    6.1 Each member of the Board must at all times be:
    (i) A member in good standing of the ISA in accordance with the ISA Statutes, and
    (ii) A member in good standing of RC50.
    6.2 Temporary vacancies in the Board between consecutive ISA World Congresses may be filled by appointment by the President, in accordance with ISA Statute 4.5.
    6.3 The place of any Board member not in good standing with either the ISA or RC50 may be declared temporarily vacant by the President, at the President’s discretion, and the vacancy filled according to paragraph 6.2.
    6.4 One of the Board members, identified by the Board, will assume the responsibilities of the President of the Board in the case of the death, incapacitation, resignation, or other inability of the incumbent to carry out the responsibilities of the office of the President.
    6.5 The Board shall identify (i) the Research Committee’s delegate to organizations and (ii) the alternate delegate to the Research Council.

Article V: Obligations of Board Members

  1. The First Vice-president is responsible for research and for preparation of the academic sessions of the RC50 at World Congresses of Sociology.
  2. The Second Vice-president is responsible for collaboration with other organizations outside the ISA, and for identifying the themes and topics of at least one mid-term conference and take responsibility for the organization of those sessions.
  3. The Third Vice-President is responsible for publications other than in-house publications.
  4. The Secretary/Treasurer: prepares the financial report of the Board for presentation to the General Meeting. The Secretary/Treasurer is also responsible to:
    a. Organize the General Meetings and the meetings of the Board of RC50 in co-operation with the President
    b. assist the President in organizing the work of the Board and observe the fulfillment of its decisions
    c. Collect the membership fees and other incomes
    d. keep financial documentation
    e. Realize the financial relations between RC50 and the ISA
    f. Provide a newsletter or equivalent to the membership at least twice annually.
  5. The Communications and Promotion Officer maintains the RC50 website, working closely with other members of the Board.

Article VI: Change 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 RC50.
  2. Such a proposal must be received by the Board at least one year before the World Congress.
  3. The proposal will be circulated among all RC50 members, together with an explanation of its rationale, at least six months before the next World Congress. The Board will be entitled to propose amendments, to be circulated at least two months before the World Congress.
  4. The proposed amendments will be put to the General Meeting, and adopted if approved by a two-thirds majority of regular and affiliated members.

By Laws
Membership Fee
The membership fees are fixed as follows:
USD 60 for members from category A countries as defined by the ISA.
USD 40 for members from all other countries, and USD 20 students from category A, USD10 for category B & C
In line with ISA practice, membership fees are collected once for a period of four years.

Where applicants are unable to pay the membership fee, and their qualifications are deemed appropriate by the Board, they may be admitted as members of the Committee "in good standing".