BY-LAWS

By-laws of the Society for Transparency, Openness, and Replication in Kinesiology

Article I: Name and Purpose

The Society for Transparency, Openness, and Replication in Kinesiology (STORK) is a service organization aiming to increase the quality of research produced by those working in the field of kinesiology.

Article II: Membership

• Members of the society shall have a research or scholarly interest in the improvement of research practices in kinesiology. Full members will ordinarily be holders of a doctoral degree in kinesiology, movement science, sport and exercise science or allied fields. Student members will ordinarily be those currently enrolled in graduate study within any of these fields. Educators, coaches, practitioners, researchers, students, or athletes without the required academic qualifications will be welcomed into the society as non-academic members.
• The Executive Committee of the society may establish application procedures for membership and set additional qualifications (including payment of dues).

Article III: Officers

• The Society shall be governed by an Executive Committee consisting of nine officers elected by the members of the Society.
• The Executive Committee shall select a Chair (President) and Co-Chair (Secretary/Treasurer) from among its members by a secret ballot annually. Each shall perform usual duties of the respective office, specific duties outlined in these by-laws, and other duties as assigned by the Executive Committee.
• Exactly 3 Executive Committee members will be Society members who are graduate students or post-docs at the time they are elected. Exactly 3 Executive Committee members will be Society members who, at the time they are elected, graduated within a doctoral degree within the past seven years. Exactly 1 Executive Committee member will be a non-academic member. The remaining 2 Executive Committee positions will be held by Society members who do not fit one of those two groups.
• A meeting of the Executive Committee may be called by the Chair or by a majority of Executive Committee members, with 7 days’ notice provided to all Executive Committee members. Meetings may be conducted in person or by audio or video conference. A quorum of the Executive Committee shall consist of a majority of its members. A quorum is sufficient for passage of a motion.
• The Executive Committee may act without a meeting by consent of the majority of its members. In such cases, communications among Executive Committee members shall be by telephone, email, or any other communication medium deemed suitable by that majority. Such action shall have the same force as an action carried out at a meeting of the Executive Committee.
• In the case of an officer being unable to fulfil the remainder of his or her elected term, the Executive Committee will appoint a member of the Society to serve the remainder of the term.
• Executive Committee members may not serve consecutive terms of 3 years or longer. After a hiatus of one year, members may serve again on the Executive Committee.
• All members of the Executive Committee shall assume office on January 31st following their election and hold office until their successors are elected and assume office.

Article IV: Elections

• Executive Committee members will be elected by a vote of the Society membership. Executive Committee members shall serve one-year terms unless specified otherwise during the election, with terms staggered within each group. The first election will occur prior to the second January following adoption of these bylaws. Thereafter, elections will ordinarily occur annually with three Executive Committee members elected each year.
• Prior to the election, nominations will be sought for a period of at least ten days from those who have been Society members for a minimum of one calendar year at the time of the election being called. As 2019 is the society’s inaugural year, a minimum membership period of six consecutive months will be utilised for the first full vote in 2020. Any eligible member may be nominated (including self-nominations). Nominees will be asked to provide information to appear on the ballot, including name, affiliation, and a candidate statement. All nominees who provide the necessary information will appear on the ballot, subject to confirmation of eligibility by the current Executive Committee. Nominees may only stand for one position per election.
• Society members who have held membership for at least one calendar year at the time of the election being called are eligible to vote on all ballots. As 2019 is the society’s inaugural year, a minimum membership period of six consecutive months will be utilised for the first full vote in 2020. Voting shall be conducted by electronic ballot.
• There will be one ballot for a graduate student or post-doc Executive Committee member, one ballot for an early career researcher Executive Committee, one ballot for non-academic Executive Committee member, and one ballot for an Executive Committee member who does not fit one of those three groups.
• Voters will rank the candidates on each ballot. From each ballot, one Executive Committee member will be chosen using instant runoff voting with zero elimination and backward tiebreaking.

Article V: Committees

• The Executive Committee has the authority to create or dissolve committees as deemed necessary to conduct the business of the Society.
• Committee members shall be appointed by the Chair and approved by the Executive Committee. All society members are eligible to serve on committees and may join any number of committees.

Article VI: Amendments

Amendments or repeal of any bylaws may be initiated by the Executive Committee or by a petition of at least 10% of the members of the Society. Proposed amendments or repeals will be announced to Society members at least one week prior to voting. Voting shall be conducted by electronic ballot. A majority vote of those who return ballots within two weeks shall carry the vote.

Article VII: Adoption

• Founding Executive Committee officers already serving at the time these bylaws are adopted will serve terms of two, three, or four years in length in order to create staggered terms within each of the three officer groups (graduate students and postdocs; early career researchers; and others).
• Following a majority vote of the founding Executive Committee officers, these bylaws will take effect for 90 days. During that time the Executive Committee will conduct a vote among Society members to ratify the bylaws. Approval by a majority of those who return ballots within two weeks shall result in indefinite adoption.

Article VIII: Dissolution

In the event of dissolution of the Society, whether voluntary or involuntary, the assets of the Society, after the payment of all debts, shall be distributed to one or more organizations operated exclusively for charitable, educational, or scientific reasons in satisfaction of the purposes listed in Article I of these bylaws.