Table of Contents

• Academy Executive Committee Bylaws
• 1. Interpretation
  • 1.1 General Provisions
  • 1.2 Defined Terms
• 2. Fellows
• 3. Honorary Fellows [s17]
• 4. Transfer between Honorary Fellow and Fellow
• 5. Medals and Awards
• 6. Proceedings of Academy Executive Committee
• 7. Amendment of the Bylaws

Academy Executive Committee Bylaws

These Academy Executive Committee Bylaws were amended on 17 December 2019 in accordance with s39 of the Royal Society of New Zealand Act 1997 (the “Act”).

1. Interpretation

1.1 General Provisions

1.1.1 These Bylaws are to be read and interpreted in conjunction with the Act, the Rules, the Code of Professional Standards and Ethics (“the Code”) and the Procedures for Handling Complaints under the Code (the “Complaints Procedures”).

1.2.2 In cases where conflict arises, the Act takes precedence over the Rules, and the Rules take precedence over the Bylaws, Code and the Complaints Procedures.

1.1.3 In these Bylaws, references made to sections are references to sections in the Act.

1.1.4 Any person undertaking activities under these Bylaws must declare any actual, perceived or potential conflict of interest. The chair of the relevant panel or Committee shall rule on the extent to which the person may participate in the activity for which the conflict is relevant.

1.1.5 No person who holds office on the Council or in a decision-making or recommending body under these Bylaws shall be eligible for consideration for a Fellowship, Award or Medal (as the case may be) for which that body forms part of the decision making process.

1.2 Defined Terms

1.2.1 In these Bylaws, unless the context requires otherwise, terms that are defined in s2 of the Act bear the same meaning ascribed to them in s2 of the Act.

1.2.2 In addition to the terms defined in the Act, the following definitions are provided for the purpose of interpreting these Bylaws:

Academy means the group of members comprising all Fellows and Honorary Fellows;

Annual General Meeting means a meeting held annually to which all Fellows are invited;

Chief Executive means the Chief Executive Officer appointed under the Schedule to s36 of the Act;

Emeritus status means a status in which a Fellow who has contributed to the activities of the Academy, but is no longer able to contribute, is entitled to have continued recognition as a Fellow;

Evaluation Panel means a group of Fellows appointed to undertake the role of evaluating nominations for Fellowship within a discipline-based domain;

Executive Officer means an employee of the Society delegated by the Chief Executive to support the Academy Executive Committee;

Fellowship Selection Committee means a committee of Fellows appointed to decide the list of Fellows to be recommended for election to Fellowship

2. Fellows

2.1 The maximum number of Fellows may be restricted to a number set from time to time by the Academy Executive Committee, taking into account any advice by the Council. [s10(2)]

2.2 In setting any maximum number of Fellows and determining the actual number of Fellows, the Academy Executive Committee may exclude those Fellows holding emeritus status from the count.

2.3 The Academy Executive Committee may restrict the number of Fellows elected each year, after consultation at an Annual General Meeting and taking into account both the difference between the maximum and actual number of Fellows, and the number of highly meritorious nominations in recent years.

2.4 No person shall be eligible to be elected as a Fellow unless he or she:

• a. is a citizen or permanent resident of New Zealand; and
• b. has been a New Zealand resident for at least three years during his or her career; and
• c. normally spends at least six months in New Zealand each year.

2.5 The Academy Executive Committee shall develop and maintain criteria against which nominations for election as a Fellow shall be judged. In setting the criteria the Academy Executive Committee shall take into account differences between different disciplines in evaluating excellence in research and scholarship, and the need to ensure diversity amongst the Fellowship.

2.6 The Academy Executive Committee shall set out the requirements for a nomination to be valid, these requirements including a nomination statement addressing the criteria, supporting information, the names and contact details of referees and the consent of the nominee.

2.7 Each nomination must be made by two eligible persons, those eligible being Fellows, senior officer bearers of Branches, Constituent Organisations, people holding Fellowships of major national or international professional bodies and learned society organisations, and those holding research or executive leadership roles in research organisations.

2.8 The consent of the candidate must be obtained in writing by the nominators and shall include both willingness to be nominated and willingness, if elected a Fellow, to comply with the Act and Rules of the Society and the Bylaws of the Academy Executive Committee.

2.9 Nominations shall stand for a period of five years, but further evidence in support of the nomination may be added from year to year.

2.10 In the event of a nominee losing eligibility under Bylaw 2.4, his or her nomination will lapse but he or she shall normally be eligible for nomination for Honorary Fellowship.

2.11 If the candidate has not been elected within the five year period after nomination he or she shall not be re-nominated for a period of three years. Nevertheless, the Academy Executive Committee may allow a nominee or group of nominees to be re-nominated earlier if, in its opinion, such waiver could assist in increasing the diversity of the Fellowship.

2.12 The Academy Executive Committee shall decide the number and composition of Evaluation Panels, define the discipline-based domain for each, and set out a procedure to be followed by each such Panel in developing recommendations to be considered by the Fellowship Selection Committee.

2.13 The Academy Executive Committee shall define the composition and procedures of the Fellowship Selection Committee.

2.14 The Academy Executive Committee may delegate authority to the Executive Officer to appoint members of Evaluation Panels or the Fellowship Selection Committee.

2.15 The Fellowship Selection Committee shall consider the recommendations of the Evaluation panels in order to prepare a consolidated list of candidates to be recommended to the Academy Executive Committee for election to the Fellowship, the number of recommended candidates being less than or equal to any maximum set in Bylaw 2.3.

2.16 The Academy Executive Committee shall consider the list and make elections to Fellowship [s10(1)].

2.17 The names of the newly elected Fellows shall be reported at the Annual General Meeting.

2.18 From time to time, under very exceptional circumstances, the Academy Executive Committee may consider it desirable to elect to the Fellowship an eminent person who has made an outstanding contribution to the nurture and support of science, technology, or the humanities in New Zealand, or the Society, and whose election to the Fellowship the Academy Executive Committee believes would benefit the Academy and the advancement of science, technology, or the humanities.

2.19 A nomination to be considered under Bylaw 2.18 must be supported by three Fellows and must have the unanimous approval of the Academy Executive Committee for the recommendation of election to proceed.

2.20 No more than two persons may be elected under Bylaw 2.18 in any three consecutive years.

2.21 The Academy Executive Committee shall evaluate any notice from a Fellow seeking transfer to emeritus status. Emeritus status shall normally only be available to Fellows who, in the opinion of the Academy Executive Committee, are no longer able to contribute to the activities of the Academy.

2.22 Each Fellow who does not hold emeritus status shall pay to the Royal Society of New Zealand an annual subscription. Subscription fees shall be set by the Council under s26(2)(b), rather than by the Academy Executive Committee under s39(2)(a).

2.23 If a Fellow fails to pay his or her subscription for two consecutive years, and does not remedy the situation within three months, or such other time as the Academy Executive Committee may decide, the Academy Executive Committee may recommend to the Council that the Fellowship be revoked [s18(2)].

2.24 The Academy Executive Committee may provide advice to the Council on the level of the subscription and any rebates that may be applied to any particular Fellow or group of Fellows.

2.25 The Society shall keep a register of Fellows of the Society, with the dates of their election, their degrees, honours and titles, in which shall be recorded the death of any Fellow, and the names of the deceased Fellows thus recorded shall be notified at the next succeeding Annual General Meeting.

3. Honorary Fellows [s17]

3.1 The total number of Honorary Fellows shall be at the absolute discretion of the Academy Executive Committee.

3.2 The number of Honorary Fellows elected in any one year shall be decided by the Academy Executive Committee.

3.3 The Academy Executive Committee shall prescribe criteria for election as an Honorary Fellow which shall be related to research or scholarly excellence in his or her discipline, and the nature of his or her association with New Zealand.

3.4 Nominations for Honorary Fellowship may be made by groups of three or more Fellows, or in the case of Constituent Organisations, Regional Constituent Organisations and other scientific organisations, by two Fellows and one other person who shall be a senior office-bearer of that organisation.

3.5 Each nomination shall be accompanied by a completed nomination form, curriculum vitae, list of research outputs and a supporting statement, as well as proposing the appropriate Evaluation Panel to consider the nomination. In exceptional circumstances the requirement for part of the above documentation may be waived by the chair of the Academy Executive Committee.

3.6 Nominations shall stand for a period of two years, but further evidence in support of the nomination may be added in the second year. If the candidate has not been elected within that period he or she shall not be re-nominated for a period of three years.

3.7 Nominations shall be referred to the appropriate Evaluation Panel which shall present its evaluation as to whether the criteria are met to the Fellowship Selection Committee.

3.8 The Fellowship Selection Committee shall prepare a list of recommended candidates for election to Honorary Fellowship and present that list to the Academy Executive Committee.

3.9 The Academy Executive Committee shall consider the list and make elections to Honorary Fellowship.

3.10 The names of those elected to Honorary Fellowship shall be reported to the Annual General Meeting.

4. Transfer between Honorary Fellow and Fellow

4.1 An Honorary Fellow who through change in circumstance is now, and intends to continue spending at least six months per year, in New Zealand may apply to the Academy Executive Committee for transfer to Fellow.

4.2 A Fellow who through change in circumstance is no longer spending nor intending to spend at least two months per year in New Zealand may apply to the Academy Executive for transfer to Honorary Fellow.

4.3 The Academy Executive Committee may define criteria for transfer between Honorary Fellow and Fellow, or vice versa. Such criteria may take into account any differences between the criteria for Fellow and Honorary Fellow that existed at the time of first election of the person concerned, the likelihood of the person being able to contribute to the affairs of the Academy, and whether the person has been previously transferred.

4.4 The Academy Executive shall, at its sole discretion, decide whether to approve an application for transfer.

5. Medals and Awards

5.1 The Academy Executive Committee shall develop and maintain criteria for the selection of recipients for the Medals and Awards of the Society given for excellence in research and scholarship. In setting the criteria it shall take into account the need for medals and awards to be accessible to a wide diversity of researchers and scholars.

5.2 The Academy Executive Committee may limit eligibility for any Medal or Award to ensure that no person is recognised more than once by the Society for what is substantially the same contribution to research or scholarship.

5.3 Each year, the Academy Executive Committee shall appoint the required Medals and Awards panels.

5.4 The Academy Executive Committee may delegate authority to the Executive Officer to appoint members of Medals and Awards panels.

5.5 Each Medals and Awards selection panel shall present its recommendations to the Academy Executive Committee for approval. Before doing so, each such panel must ensure that the recommended recipient meets the requirements of Bylaw 5.2.

5.6 Unless the Academy Executive Committee decides there are extraordinary circumstances to justify an exception, there shall normally be a single winner of each Award or Medal in a given year.

5.7 Unless the Academy Executive Committee decides there are extraordinary circumstances to justify an exception, no person shall be entitled to be awarded more than one medal or award in a given year.

5.8 The Academy Executive Committee shall be the final arbiter on the selection of Medals and Awards of the Society.

6. Proceedings of Academy Executive Committee

6.1 The composition of the Academy Executive Committee is set out in Rule 6.2 of the Society.

6.2 In accordance with Rule 6.5, and as soon as possible after the commencement of each new Academy Executive Committee, the Committee may co-opt up to an additional 3 Fellows who do not serve concurrently on the Royal Society of New Zealand Council, to ensure sufficient diversity of representation across the Fellowship. Each Fellow co-opted shall be for a term of at least two (2) but no more than three (3) years.

6.3 The Chief Executive shall appoint an Executive Officer for the Academy Executive Committee. That Executive Officer shall act as secretary to the Committee.

6.4 The Academy Executive Committee shall normally meet at least four times a year.

6.5 The quorum at each Academy Executive Committee meeting shall be 50 percent or more of the number eligible to attend.

6.6 At meetings of the Academy Executive Committee each member shall be entitled to one vote; any matter on which the voting is tied shall be deemed to be lost.

6.7 Upon receipt of a request signed by not less than two members of the Academy Executive Committee and stating clearly the business to be transacted, the Chair of the Academy Executive Committee shall, within seven days, call a special meeting of the Academy Executive Committee, and at such a meeting no business other than that set forth in the request shall be introduced.

6.8 In the event of the absence or incapacity of the Chair of the Academy Executive Committee, the Deputy Chair, or failing that the next longest-serving member of the Academy Executive Committee shall serve as its acting Chair.

7. Amendment of the Bylaws

7.1 The Academy Executive Committee may propose changes to the Academy Bylaws at any time.

7.2 Any proposal for change, and the accompanying rationale shall be circulated to all members of the Academy. Prior to a date that shall be set by the Academy Executive Committee, but shall not be less than fourteen (14) days nor longer than thirty (30) days from the date on which the proposal is circulated, those Fellows who do not hold emeritus status shall be entitled to register with the Executive Officer their approval, or disapproval of the proposal.

7.3 In the event that the proposal receives a majority of at least two thirds in support of its approval through the process set out in bylaw 7.2, the Academy Executive Committee and the Council must proceed to ratify the proposal as soon as reasonably possible.

7.4 New bylaws come into effect immediately after their ratification by the Council and Academy Executive Committee.

7.5 Any activity that commenced under the previous bylaws may be completed under either the new or previous bylaws, whichever is deemed by the Academy Executive Committee to be more appropriate to the particular activity.