Constitution

Updated October 5, 2012

Article I: Name

The organization shall be known as "The Post-doctoral Association at Western" and herein after referred to as PAW. The term "postdoctoral scholars" refers to both postdoctoral fellows and postdoctoral associates.

Article II: Membership

The membership of the PAW shall consist of three categories:

All persons in post-PhD research projects at The University of Western Ontario, excluding those persons hired as technicians and those who hold faculty positions or those who are registered at The University of Western Ontario as students, and who meet the definition of postdoctoral appointee of the accompanying document "PAW Mission Statement" shall be classified as Active Members. Membership begins upon commencement of post-PhD research and continues until termination of project or reclassification of the individual concerned.
Non post-doctoral persons may be asked to be Associate Members. Associate members include but are not restricted to past active members, visiting post-doctoral associates, president or designate of the Graduate Students' Association of The University of Western Ontario and president or designate of the Faculty Association of The University of Western Ontario. Associate members, excluding past active members, shall be appointed for a period of 1 year with start and termination dates to be determined by a majority vote of the PAW Executive Committee. Associate members shall enjoy all privileges of membership but may not vote or hold office and may not speak or otherwise participate in meetings of the PAW executive except by permission by a majority vote of the PAW Executive Committee. Associate members shall not be required to pay fees.
The PAW Executive Committee may confer Honorary lifetime Memberships on any person. Nominations may only be made by active members. Honorary members shall enjoy all privileges of membership but may not vote or hold office and may not speak or otherwise participate in meetings of the PAW Executive Committee except by permission by a majority vote of the PAW Executive Committee. Honorary members shall not be required to pay fees.

Article III: Mission

The missions of the PAW shall be:

To provide a collective voice for the issues of particular relevance/interest to post-doctoral associates.
To provide a liaison between post-doctoral associates and the administration of The University of Western Ontario.
To promote and develop effective training and career counselling of post-doctoral associates at The University of Western Ontario.
To develop and maintain the "Registry of Post-doctoral Associates of The University of Western Ontario". 5) To disseminate information pertinent to post-doctoral associates.

Article IV: Government

The government of the PAW arises from, and shall always follow, the principle of democratic rule.
The PAW shall have three branches, the PAW Council, the PAW Executive Committee and the Judicial Board.
The PAW Executive Committee shall be elected by the active members of the PAW, shall speak for the PAW, shall act as representatives and advocates of the PAW, shall be responsible for the administration of the affairs of the PAW and shall always be accountable to the membership at large and to the PAW Council.
The PAW Council shall consist of the PAW Executive Committee as well as representatives from Research Groups among the University Faculties that have postdoctoral scholars, with the number and distribution of representatives decided by the PAW Executive Committee as outlined in the Bylaws. The PAW Council shall be the policy making body of the PAW. All executive officers, all committees or other groups formed by the PAW except the Judicial Board, and all elected or appointed representatives to University committees, boards, or other representative groups are all accountable to the PAW Council.
The Judicial Board shall be appointed by a random selection from the PAW Council Representatives (excluding the PAW Executive Committee). The Judicial Board shall arbitrate all disputes regarding adherence to the Bylaws and to PAW policies.

Article V: Rights and Obligations

Active members of the PAW shall be obligated to:

Observe the Bylaws of the PAW
Pay fees levied by the PAW in accordance with the Bylaws.

All active members of the PAW shall have the right to:

Nominate to or be nominated for positions on the Executive Committee of the PAW.
Cast a ballot in any PAW election, referendum, or plebiscite.
Petition the Executive Committee of the PAW with respect to any matter, including the removal of any officer from their elected position.
Exercise any other powers inherent in this Constitution and Bylaws.

Article VI: Meetings

All meetings of the PAW shall be run according to Robert's Rules of Order, unless provisions of the Bylaws or resolutions of a General Meeting or Referendum or of the PAW Executive Committee require otherwise.
The Executive Committee of the PAW shall meet regularly in accordance with the Bylaws.
The PAW Council shall meet regularly in accordance with the Bylaws and Council meetings are open to all members of the PAW.
General meetings of the PAW shall be held yearly in conjunction with the Post-doctoral Career Development Days whenever possible. Annual General Meetings of the PAW are open to all PAW members.

Article VII: The PAW Executive Committee

The PAW Executive Committee shall comprise the following elected officers:
- President - The president shall preside over all PAW Executive Committee, PAW Council and PAW Annual General meetings, enforce due observation of the Bylaws and undertake all duties that usually fall to the President of any association.
- Secretary - The Secretary of the PAW shall be responsible for scheduling and taking minutes of PAW Executive Committee, PAW Council and PAW Annual General meetings. The secretary is also responsible for maintaining the PAW Constitution and Bylaws, posting meeting information, booking meeting rooms and working closely with the Vice-President of Communications to disseminate information of importance to post-doctoral associates.
- Vice-President Internal - The Vice-President Internal of the PAW shall be responsible for the organization of professional development and PAW events excluding PAW meetings. The Vice-President Internal, in conjunction with the administration of The University of Western Ontario, will also oversee setup and maintenance of grievance procedures for post-doctoral associates. In the event of absence or illness of the President, the Vice-President shall have the authority to perform the duties of the President.
- Vice-President Finance - The Vice President of Finance of the PAW shall be responsible for all financial activities of the PAW including preparation of the yearly budget, receipt of monies due the PAW, maintenance and custody of all books pertaining to the PAW, making all payments, preparing all financial statements and arranging for audit of the books by an auditor who shall be approved by the PAW Executive Committee and who shall be a member of the Chartered Accountants of the Province of Ontario, or of the Association of Certified General Accountants of the Province of Ontario.
- Vice-President Communication - The Vice-President of Communications of the PAW shall be responsible for disseminating information of importance to post-doctoral associates including maintenance of the PAW Registry and E-mail database.
- Vice-President External - The Vice-President External shall act as public relations officer and, whenever possible, shall be the PAW's liaison to other post-doctoral associations, off-campus groups, government agencies including granting agencies and the public at large.
The offices of the PAW Executive Committee shall be open to any active member except the office of PAW President which is open to any active member of the PAW who has been an active member for a period of 6 months prior to his/her nomination and must intend to remain an active member until the end of the usual term of office.
Terms of office for the PAW Executive Committee members are one year.
Any officer of the PAW Executive Committee may resign at any time by submitting a letter of resignation to the PAW Council. An executive officer must resign from office upon termination of post-doctoral research at The University of Western Ontario or upon reclassification of position.
An executive officer may be removed from office by a resolution passed by a minimum two thirds vote, at a PAW Council meeting at which at least eighty per cent (80%) of thePAW Council are present or at a PAW Annual General Meeting with quorum as stated in the Bylaws.
If the office of President becomes vacant, the Vice-President Internal shall become the Acting President until such time as a new President is elected. If any other executive office becomes vacant, the duties of that office will be assumed by other officers of the PAW Executive Committee, as the PAW Executive Committee may direct, until such time as the vacancy is filled. 7) Meetings of the PAW Executive Committee shall be held at the discretion of the President or upon 24 hours notice of a PAW Executive Officer.

Article VIII: The PAW Council

The PAW Council shall comprise the following members:
- The PAW Executive Committee
- Representatives from the Departments of The University of Western Ontario in accordance with the Bylaws. All representatives, hereafter referred to as Councillors, must be active members of the PAW and shall be elected or appointed to the position of Councillor by the active members of the research group/department they represent.
The PAW Council shall be the policy making body of the PAW.
PAW Councillors must be members of the research group/department they represent.
The terms of office for PAW Councillors are one year.
Any PAW Councillor may resign at any time by submitting a letter of resignation to the PAW Council. A Councillor must resign from office upon termination of post-doctoral research at The University of Western Ontario or upon reclassification of their position.
An PAW Councillor may be removed from office by a resolution passed by a minimum two thirds vote, at a PAW Council meeting at which at least eighty per cent (80%) of the PAW Council are present or at a PAW Annual General Meeting with quorum as stated in the Bylaws.
If the office of Counsellor becomes vacant, another individual, an Active Member of the PAW, from the research group/department the Councillor represents shall assume the role of PAW Councillor until such time as a new Councillor is elected. Research groups/departments will have 60 days to elect a new Councillor. Failure to elect a new Councillor will result in loss of PAW voting privileges for that research group/department.

Article IX: The PAW Judicial Board

There is established by this Constitution, a body entitled, "The PAW Judicial Board". Notwithstanding any article of this Constitution, the PAW Judicial Board will function within the jurisdiction of the PAW to address grievances against the PAW Executive Committee and to arbitrate all disputes regarding adherence to the Bylaws and to PAW policy.

The PAW Judicial Board shall be appointed by the PAW President from a random selection of PAW Councillors at the first PAW Council meeting following PAW Executive Committee elections.
The PAW Judicial board shall comprise five (5) PAW Councillors excluding those members of the PAW Executive Committee.
The terms of office for members of the PAW Judicial Board shall be one (1) year.
In the event of the resignation of a member of the PAW Judicial Board, that position shall remain vacant until the next PAW Council meeting at which time a replacement will be chosen randomly from those PAW Councillors not on the Judicial Board.
Any member of the PAW may raise a dispute regarding failure to adhere to the Bylaws, Constitution, or policies of the PAW to the President, in writing, clearly stating the nature of the dispute, and which provisions of the Bylaws or Constitution are relevant. Where applicable, the President shall forward a copy of this communication to all individuals and bodies within the PAW that are involved in the dispute, and shall request a written response from these parties to the communication. If disputes involve the PAW President, submissions may be made directly to the Judicial Board.
The president (where appropriate) shall attempt to mediate a solution to any dispute under section 5.
If after fourteen (14) days of receipt of the original communication by the PAW President, the dispute has not been solved, the parties raising the dispute may request in writing to the President that the dispute be forwarded to the PAW Judicial Board. The President shall then forward to theJudicial Board all written communications he/she has received or sent regarding the dispute to the Judicial Board. The President may refer the dispute to the Judicial Board before the fourteen (14) day mediation period is over if he/she deems such action is in the best interest of the PAW.
The Judicial Board shall consider all submissions that it receives regarding the dispute and may request any additional information it deems necessary to make an informed decision. The Judicial Board, by majority vote, shall make a ruling as to whether the Bylaws, Constitution or policies of the PAW have been violated. All members of the Judicial Board must vote on each ruling.
The PAW Executive Committee shall be responsible for enforcing the rulings of the Judicial Board.

Please note: This constitution has not been officially ratified by the PAW membership. It is a working copy. Any complaints, comments, omissions, or proposed amendments can be addressed to the PAW executive. This document is based almost entirely on the constitution of The Postdoctoral Association of the University of Calgary (PDAC).

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