THE CONSTITUTION OF

The American Academy of
Cardiovascular Perfusion

ARTICLE I. NAME

Section 1. This Association shall be known as The American Academy of Cardiovascular Perfusion.

ARTICLE II. PURPOSE

Section 1. The purpose of The Academy shall be to encourage and stimulate investigation and study which will increase the knowledge of cardiovascular perfusion, to correlate and disseminate such knowledge.

Section 2. To attain this purpose, The Academy shall hold at least one scientific meeting every year in which free discussion shall be featured; shall conduct a Journal for the publication of the papers presented at this meeting, and other acceptable articles; and shall undertake such other activities as the Council or The Academy as a whole may decide.

ARTICLE III. MEMBERSHIP

Section 1. There shall be five (5) classes of members: Honorary, Senior, Fellow, Member and Student. Admission to membership in The Academy shall be by election. Membership shall be limited, the limits on the respective classes to be determined by the By-laws. Only Fellow and Senior Members shall have the privilege of voting or holding office, except as provided by the By-laws.

Section 2. Election to Honorary, Senior, Fellow, or Member Membership shall be for life, subject to the provisions of Section 3 following.

Section 3. Membership may be voluntarily terminated at any time by members in good standing. The Council, acting as a Board of Censors, may recommend the expulsion of a member on the grounds of moral or professional delinquency, and submit his name, together with the grounds of complaint, to the Academy as a whole at any of the regularly convened meetings, after giving the member so accused ample opportunity to appear in his own behalf.

ARTICLE IV. OFFICERS AND GOVERNMENT

Section 1. The officers of The Academy shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and five (5) Councilors. These officers and councilors shall be the governing body of The Academy, shall be called the Council, and shall have full power to act on all matters, except as follows:

1. They may not alter the initiation fees or annual dues, nor levy any general assessments against the membership, except that they may, in individual cases remit annual dues or assessments.

2. They may in no way change the Constitution or By-laws.

3. They may neither elect new members nor alter the status of existing members, other then to apply the provisions of Article III, Section 3.

Section 2. Officers and Councilors shall be elected at the annual meeting of The Academy, and shall take office upon conclusion of the meeting.

The President and the Vice-President shall be elected for a one-year term of office and neither may be re-elected to succeed himself in the same office.

The Secretary and Treasurer shall be elected for a one-year term of office, and any or all may be re-elected indefinitely.

The outgoing President shall automatically become a Councilor for a one-year term of office.

The other four Councilors shall be elected one each year, for a four-year term of office, but no Councilor may be re-elected to succeed himself.

Section 3. Vacancies occurring among the Officers and Councilors during the year shall be temporarily filled by the action of the Council, subject to approval of The Academy at the next regularly convened meeting.

ARTICLE V. COMMITTEES

Section 1. At the opening session of the annual meeting there shall be elected, after nomination from the floor of The Academy, a Nominating Committee of three. This Committee shall prepare a slate of nominees for officers and councilors and shall present their report at the Executive Session of The Academy.

Section 2. The Council is empowered to appoint a Membership Committee; an Auditing Committee, Program Committee and such other committees as may in its opinion be necessary. All such committees shall render their report at the Executive Session of The Academy.

ARTICLE VI. FINANCES

Section 1. The fiscal year of The Academy shall coincide with a calendar year. The books of The Academy shall be kept and audited on this basis.

Section 2. Members shall contribute to the financial maintenance of The Academy through the medium of initiation fees, annual dues, and special assessments. The amount of the annual dues and the initiation fees shall be determined by the By-laws. If, at the end of any fiscal year, there be a deficit in the current funds of The Academy, the Council may send out notices to that effect and invite Fellow members to contribute the necessary amount so that no deficit be carried over from one fiscal year to another. The Academy may, in any regularly convened meeting, vote a special assessment for any purpose consistent with the objects of The Academy (Article II) and such special assessment shall become an obligatory charge against the classes of members affected thereby.

ARTICLE VII. MEETINGS

Section 1. The time, place, duration, and procedure of the annual meeting of The Academy shall be determined by the Council, and the provisions of the By-laws.

Section 2. A special meeting of The Academy may be called on one month's notice on the written request of fifteen members. The specific purposes of the meeting must be stated in the request and in the official call for the meeting.

Section 3. There shall be an annual meeting of the Council.

ARTICLE VIII. AMENDMENTS

Section 1. This Constitution shall in no wise be changed except by three-fourths vote of the members present at an annual meeting, and further provided the proposed alteration or amendment shall have been moved and seconded at a previous annual meeting, and that printed copies of the suggested alteration or amendment shall have been circulated among the members, and that the members shall have been specifically advised that such alterations or amendment will be voted upon.

ADOPTED: January, 1980

REVISED: January, 1986

REVISED: January, 1996

REVISED: January, 2008

The American Academy of Cardiovascular Perfusion