Charter

ARTICLE I. NAME

The name of this organization is the Section on Medical Device and Diagnostics (MDD) of the American Statistical Association, herein after referred to as Association.

ARTICLE II. SCOPE

The objective of the Section on Medical Devices and Diagnostics is to serve Association members with special interests in the application and appropriate use of statistics to the design, development, evaluation, quality control and use of medical devices and diagnostic tests in humans and animals, where a simple definition of a medical device is any medical product that does not work solely by chemical or biological means.

ARTICLE III. FUNCTIONS

To support the interests specified in the above scope, the Section may perform any or all of the following functions, together with such others as are appropriate:

    a. Organize sessions on statistical issues in medical devices and diagnostics at meetings of the Association;
    b. Co-sponsor and publicize meetings or sessions of meetings devoted to statistics for medical devices and diagnostics;
    c. Establish and maintain liaison and cooperation with other scientific and professional organizations devoted to statistics pertaining to medical devices and diagnostics;
    d. Establish and maintain liaison and cooperation with other sections of the Association;
    e. Facilitate the general development of statistical methods with application to medical devices and diagnostics;
    f. Serve as a resource for public and private groups or agencies with interest in the statistics for medical devices and diagnostics;
    g. Facilitate cooperation among government, industry and academia in resolving important statistical issues pertaining to medical devices and diagnostics;
    h. Provide continuing education for members of the Section through workshops and sessions;
    i. Conduct and participate in other programs consistent with the scope stated above, in cooperation with other segments of the Association membership where appropriate.

ARTICLE IV. MEMBERSHIP

Membership in the Section shall include all members of the American Statistical Association who pay section dues. The membership year for each member of the Section shall coincide with the member’s membership year in the Association.

ARTICLE V. MEETINGS

The annual business meeting of the Section shall be held in connection with the annual Joint Statistical Meetings. Business may also be conducted with section members by mail or electronic mail.

ARTICLE VI. OFFICERS AND REPRESENTATIVES

The officers of the Section shall consist of the Chair, Chair-elect, Program Chair, Program Chair-elect, Correspondence Secretary, Communication Secretary and Treasurer. The Section shall also have one or more Representative(s) on the Association’s Council of Sections, the number to be determined by the Charter of the Council of Sections.

The Chair is responsible for two meetings at JSM in the current year. The first is a meeting of the Executive Committee and the second is the Annual Business meeting of the Section. The Program Chair is responsible for the scientific program of the Section at the JSM and contributing to other scientific meetings in the current year as supported by the executive Committee of the Section. The Correspondence Secretary is responsible for taking minutes at the Annual Business meeting of the Section, posting such minutes on the website and submitting articles concerning section activities to publications such as Amstat News. The Communication Secretary is responsible for the Section website at www.amstat.org

Only the Chair-Elect, Program Chair-Elect, and representative(s) to the ASA’s Council of Sections are elected. The Chair-Elect and the Program Chair-Elect shall automatically succeed the Chair and the Program Chair, respectively, at the ends of their terms. All other officers are appointed by the Chair. Terms of all the officers shall be begin January 1 for one year except for the Correspondence Secretary, the Communication Secretary and the Treasurer, whose term will be two years. The terms of these last three shall be staggered, with the Correspondence Secretary beginning January 1 in odd numbered years and the Communication Secretary and the Treasurer January 1 in even number years.

No officer shall be eligible for immediate re-election to the same office except the Correspondence Secretary, the Communication Secretary and the Treasurer.

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 VII. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The Executive Committee shall consist of the officers and representatives of section and the immediate Past Chair and the immediate Past Program Chair. The Executive Committee will manage the affairs of the section. Actions taken by the Committee during the year and future activities will be presented at the annual business meeting of the section for discussion. In addition to meeting of the Section at the Joint Statistical Meetings, the Executive Committee of the section shall meet in person or by phone at least one other time during the year.

The Section Chair shall be responsible to plan and publicize meetings among the members of the Executive Committee, develop and distribute the agenda before the meeting, conduct the meeting and track assignments from each meeting.

ARTICLE VIII. VACANCIES IN OFFICE

If the office of Chair or Program Chair becomes vacant, the Chair-elector Program Chair-elect shall become the Chair or Program Chair respectively, the terms extending through the following year. In such a case the Chair will then fill the Chair-elect or Program Chair-elect vacancy by appointment with approval of the Executive Committee. Other officer vacancies shall be filled by appointment by the Chair with the approval of the Executive Committee.

ARTICLE IX. NOMINATION AND ELECTION

The Nominating Committee will consist of four members: each Chair-elect shall appoint a section member to serve a two-year term on the Nominating Committee commencing on January 1 of the ensuing year. The section’s immediate Past Chair shall serve as Chair of the Nominating Committee and then serve an additional year. No member of the Nominating Committee may be nominated by the committee for any section office during the term of the member.

Each year the Nominating Committee shall submit to the Secretary of the Association and the Section Chair at least two nominations for each elected position to be filled. The Association’s general deadline for submission of nominations shall apply. In addition, any section member nominated by petition of 15 or more members of the Section shall also appear on the annual ballot, provided that the petition is presented to the Secretary of the Association and the Section Chair within 45 days after the mailing date of the publication announcing the names of the candidates submitted by the Nominating Committee. All candidates are required to be current members of the American Statistical Association and of the Section. Balloting shall be carried out as part of the Association’s annual mail ballot for electing Association and Section officers.

ARTICLE X. AMENDMENTS

Amendments to this charter may be proposed by the Executive Committee of the Section or by petition signed by at least 15 members of the Section and submitted to the Executive Committee. The proposed amendment shall be submitted to the members of the Section for vote at the time of the annual election of officers. If approved by a majority of the members of the Section voting, the amendment is subject to the approval of the Association’s Council of Sections. If approved by the Council, the amendment shall be effective immediately, unless otherwise specified in the amendment itself.