Charter

CHARTER FOR THE ASTROSTATISTICS INTEREST GROUP

ARTICLE I. NAME

The name of this organization is the Astrostatistics Interest Group of the American Statistical Association, herein after referred to as the Interest Group.

ARTICLE II. SCOPE

The objective of the Interest Group is to:

1. Expose statisticians to astronomy as a fruitful area of collaborative methodological development and educate them as to the abundant, diverse, and challenging quantitative problems faced by astronomers — from the small-scale particle nature of dark matter to the large-scale structure of the Universe, and everything in between.

2. Advertise and promote conferences, workshops, summer schools, and events at the intersection of astronomy, astro-particle physics, astrophysics, computer science, cosmology, solar physics, and statistics.

3. Establish and maintain connections with related working groups in astronomy in the U.S. and internationally, such as with the International Astrostatistics Association (IAA), and including an affiliation with the Astrostatistics and Astroinformatics Portal (ASAIP).

ARTICLE III. MEMBERSHIP

Membership in the Interest Group is open to anyone interested in Astrostatistics. There are no dues.

ARTICLE IV. MEETINGS

The annual business meeting of the Interest Group shall be held in connection with the annual Joint Statistical Meetings and shall be announced in advance, preferably in the program for that meeting. Business may also be conducted with the Interest Group members by mail and/or email.

ARTICLE V. OFFICERS

The officers of this Interest Group shall consist of the Chair, Chair-elect, Program Chair, Program Chair-elect, and the Secretary. Terms of all the officers shall be one year except for the Secretary which shall be two years.

The Chair is responsible for the Interest Group Annual Business meeting at JSM. The Program Chair is responsible for the Interest Group program at the JSM meeting. The Secretary is responsible for taking minutes at the Interest Group Annual Business meeting and maintaining a roster of the Interest Group’s members.

No officer shall be eligible for immediate re-election to the same office except the Secretary. The Chair-elect and the Program Chair-elect shall automatically succeed the Chair and Program Chair, respectively, at the annual change of officers, which shall occur on January 1.

ARTICLE VI. VACANCIES IN OFFICE

If the office of Chair or Program Chair becomes vacant, the Chair-elect and Program Chair-elect shall become the Chair and Program Chair respectively, the terms extending through the following year.

ARTICLE VII. NOMINATION AND ELECTION

The Interest Group’s immediate past Chair shall serve as Chair of the Nominating Committee. The Interest Group’s immediate past Program Chair will also serve on this committee. The Chair will also nominate one person to serve on the Nominating Committee.

Each year the Nominating Committee shall submit no later than September 1st to the Secretary and the Chair of Interest Group nominations for each position to be filled. In addition, any Interest Group member nominated by petition of 5 or more members of Interest Group shall also appear on the annual ballot, provided that the petition is presented to the Secretary and Chair of the Interest Group by September 1st announcing the names of the candidates submitted by the Nominating Committee. Balloting shall be carried out by the Past Chair for electing Interest Group officers and completed by November 1st. Ballots shall be sent to all those who express an interest in the Interest Group; this includes all who so indicate as well as those attending business meetings or participating in JSM sessions.

ARTICLE VIII. AMENDMENTS

Amendments to this charter may be proposed by the six officers of the Interest Group or by petition signed by at least 15 members of the Interest Group and submitted to the Interest Group officers. The proposed amendment shall be submitted to the Interest Group members for vote at the time of the annual election of officers. If approved by a majority of the Interest Group members voting, the amendment is approved. An approved amendment shall be effective immediately, unless otherwise specified in the amendment itself.