Referenda
Referendum for the Name of the Society
Below are the final results of the referendum for the Society's name, which closed on Friday 15 August 1997. The turnout was quite good, with 61% of the members voting by the due time (there were 208 contactable people in the membership list).
There was a clear choice of name for the Society, retaining the current working title. This is true irrespective of whether this is decided by a simple count of members who chose it as one of their three choices (45% of the voters chose it, compared to 39% for its nearest rival) or whether this is decided by a weighting based on rank-order of preference expressed by the voters (it got 35% of the weighted votes). There was a distinct lack of preference for any name with the initials ASS.
The names are listed below in order of their weighted voting preference, and grouped by the number of people who chose them as one of their options.
Society of Australian Systematic Biologists (SASB)
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Systematics Society of Australia (SSA)
Society for Australian Systematic Biology (SASB)
Australian Society of Systematic and Evolutionary Biologists (ASSEB)
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The Australian Systematics Association (ASA)
Systematic Biology Society of Australia (SBSA)
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Society of Australian Systematists (SAS)
Systematic and Evolutionary Biology Society of Australia (SEBSA)
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Australian Society for Systematics (ASS)
Australian Systematic Society (ASS)
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Australian Society of Systematists (ASS)
The name of the Society will therefore be the Society of Australian Systematic Biologists.
Referendum for the Organisation of Future Conferences
Below are the final results of the referendum for the organisation of the Society's conferences, which closed on Friday 15 August 1997. The turnout was quite good, with 61% of the members voting by the due time (there were 208 contactable people in the membership list).
There was a clear preference for the frequency of conferences (every other year), but not such a clear preference for the conference organization (except that other societies should be involved at some stage).
The conference options are listed below, with their voting preference.
Suggested frequency:-
Conference/Meeting Every Year 31%
Conference/Meeting Every Second Year 69%
Suggested organization:-
Always in Conjunction with Another Society 44%
Always Separate to Other Societies 8%
Alternating Between the Above 48%
The Society will therefore hold a conference/meeting every second year, and it will usually (but not always) be held in conjunction with another society. This arrangement can be varied at any time, subject to the approval of the members.
Referendum for the Constitution & By-Laws
Below is the final result of the referendum for the SASB Constitution and By-Laws, which closed on Friday 22 May 1998. The turnout was quite reasonable, with 47% of the members voting by the due time (there were 246 contactable people in the membership list).
There was a clear acceptance of the Society of Australian Systematic Biologists Constitution and By-Laws, with all of the votes being an endorsement of the documents as distributed to the members.
The documents as displayed on the SASB Home Page are thus those by which SASB will govern itself from now and in the future. However, the President, Andy Austin, has foreshadowed that minor changes may be necessary if we proceed to incorporation. The documents can be viewed at:- SASB Constitution and By-Laws
Thanks to Mark Harvey, for his time and effort in preparing these documents.
Referendum for Changes to Constitution & By-Laws
Friday 23 October 1998
Below is the final result of the referendum for the proposed changes to the SASB Constitution and By-Laws, which closed on Friday 23 October 1998. The turnout was quite reasonable, with 50% of the members voting by the due time (there were 266 contactable people in the membership list).
There was a clear acceptance of the changes to the Society of Australian Systematic Biologists Constitution and By-Laws, with all of the votes being an endorsement of the proposed changes.
The amended documents as displayed on the SASB Home Page are thus those by which SASB will govern itself from now and in the future. The documents can be viewed at:- SASB Constitution and By-Laws
As a result of the changes, Steve Donnellan is now eligible for re-election to the position of Treasurer.
Friday 15 June 2001
Below is the final result of the referendum for the proposed changes to the SASB Constitution and By-Laws, which closed on Friday 15 June 2001. The turnout was quite reasonable, with c. 30% of the members voting by the due time (there were 318 contactable people in the membership list).
There was a clear acceptance of the changes to the Society of Australian Systematic Biologists Constitution and By-Laws, with all of the votes being an endorsement of the proposed changes except three rejections of Proposal 1 and one rejection of Proposal 2.
The amended documents as displayed on the SASB Home Page are thus those by which SASB will govern itself from now and in the future. The documents can be viewed at:- SASB Constitution and By-Laws
As a result of the changes, all current Council members are now eligible for re-election to their position, and the President will be explicitly nominated from among the current Council members.
