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Restated Articles of Organization of the Western Risk and Insurance Association

ARTICLE 1. The name of the Association shall be The Western Risk and Insurance Association.

ARTICLE 2. The period of existence of the Association shall be perpetual.

ARTICLE 3. The purpose of the Association shall be as follows.

  1. To promote education in risk and insurance.
  2. To encourage research in the field of risk and insurance.
  3. To publish such materials on risk and insurance as may from time to time seem appropriate in furthering the general purposes of the Association.
  4. To provide an open forum for scientific discussion of any matter relating to risk and insurance.
  5. To cooperate with other organizations, both domestic and foreign, interested in furthering risk and insurance education and research.

In pursuit of its purposes, the Association will take no position as an organization on any problem affecting the insurance industry other than in the area of insurance education and research, nor will it be responsible for any expression of opinion by any of its members.

ARTICLE 4. Location of the principal office shall be the College or University of the Secretary-Treasurer.

ARTICLE 5. Membership.

  1. Any person or organization interested in education or research in risk and insurance may, by making application and paying the appropriate dues, become a member of the Association.
  2. The membership shall be divided into two primary classes: (a) Voting members, who shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges of membership, including specifically the right to vote in any election or on any question properly brought before this Association and the right to hold office in the Association. (b) Nonvoting members, who shall have the rights and privileges of membership excep the right to vote and to hold elective office.
  3. (a) Voting members. Any person who, at the time of an election, is a fully affiliated faculty member of a degree granting accredited college or university, and who is (i) offering for degree credit one or more courses devoted entirely to risk or insurance, or (ii) is engaging in research relating to risk and insurance, shall be eligible for membership as a voting member. A person shall be considered fully affiliated with a college or university when such person makes the institution the center of his or her educational research and professional effort, and the affairs of the institution primarily determine the employment of his or her time and talents. (b) Nonvoting members. All other persons eligible for membership shall be eligible only as nonvoting members.
  4. For any purposes other than determination of the right to vote or to hold office in the Association, further Classifications of membership may be established by the Bylaws of the Association.

ARTICLE 6. Board of Directors and Officers.

  1. There shall be a Board of Directors with full authority to act on behalf of the Association in any matters not reserved to the membership in the Articles of Organization or Bylaws and which are necessary or incidental to effecting the purposes of the Association. The Board of Directors shall consist of the elected officers, the immediate Past-President, the Editor of the Journal of Insurance Issues, and at least one additional member.
  2. The Association shall have the following elected officers: a President, a President-Elect, a Vice-President, and a Secretary-Treasurer.
  3. The Editor of the Journal of Insurance Issues shall be an officer appointed by the Board of Directors, according to the procedures specified in the Bylaws of the Association.

ARTICLE 7. Standing Committees. The Association shall have such standing committees as may be prescribed in the Bylaws.

ARTICLE 8. Nominations and Elections. The procedures for affecting nominations for offices and the conduct of elections shall be set forth in the Bylaws.

ARTICLE 9. Meetings. At least one meeting of the Association for the purpose of transacting business and such other purposes as may promote the objectives of the Association shall be held each year, the time and place of which shall be determined as provided in the Bylaws.

ARTICLE 10. Dissolution. In the event of dissolution of the Association, all of its assets, after payment of its debts and liabilities, shall be made to: American College of Life Underwriters, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and the American Institute for Property and Liability Underwriters, Inc., Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, to share equally, for use in meeting and fulfilling the educational and research purposes as they have or may determine.

ARTICLE 11. Amendments.

  1. The Articles of organization may be amended by submitting the proposed amendment, signed by at least two-thirds of the members of the Board of Directors or ten voting members of the Association, to the voting members of the Association by mail. The voting members shall either ratify or reject the amendment by a written communication to the Secretary-Treasurer of the Association. The amendment shall be deemed ratified and effective only if two-thirds of the votes received within one month of the date on which the copy of the amendment is forwarded to the voting members are in favor of such amendment.
  2. The Bylaws may be amended by submitting the proposed amendment, signed by at least two-thirds of the members of the Board of Directors or ten voting members of the Association, to the voting members of the Association by mail. The voting members shall either ratify or reject the amendment by a written communication to the Secretary-Treasurer of the Association. The amendment shall be deemed ratified and effective only if a majority of the votes received within three weeks of the date on which the copy of the amendment is forwarded to the voting members are in favor of such amendment.


Bylaws of the Western Risk and Insurance Association

I. CLASSES OF MEMBERS

  1. Voting members of the Association shall be divided into two classes:
    (a) Active members, who shall comprise all voting members except those classified as retired members.
    (b) Retired members, who shall comprise those voting members who shall have been voting members for five consecutive years preceding their retirement. The Secretary-Treasurer of the Association shall determine the adequacy of proof of such retirement.
  2. Non-voting members of the Association shall be divided into four classes:
    (a) Associate members: Any person not eligible for voting membership who is involved on a full-time basis in education, research, business, or governmental activity relating to risk and insurance shall be eligible for membership in the Association as an associate member.
    (b) Student members: Any person not eligible for voting membership or associate membership who is enrolled as a graduate student in a degree granting accredited college or university and who is pursuing graduate study or research in insurance toward a graduate degree shall be eligible for membership in the Association as a Student member.
    (c) Institutional members: Any insurer, any association of insurers or those engaged in the insurance business, and any business corporation or partnership with a special interest in insurance shall be eligible for membership in the Association as an institutional member.
    (d) Honorary members: Any person whose activities have contributed substantially to the advancement of education in risk and insurance may, upon recommendation of the Board of Directors, be elected to honorary membership in the Association by a majority vote of the voting members at the time of and in the same manner as provided for election of officers.

II. STANDING COMMITTEES

  1. There shall be an Annual meeting Program Committee. This committee shall consist of the Vice-President as chairperson and such additional members as the President may appoint in consultation with the Vice-President. The duties of this committee shall be to assist the Vice-President in planning and directing the program of the annual meeting.
  2. Journal of Insurance Issues Awards Committee. The President, with the advice and consent of the Board of Directors, shall appoint a committee to designate the recipients of any Journal of Insurance Issues awards which the Association may wish to present; provided, however, that their designation shall not be considered final if two-thirds of those voting at the Board of Directors meeting, called upon to accept the committee choice, do not concur with the committee's designation.

III. OTHER COMMITTEES

The President with the approval of the Board of Directors shall have the power and duty to appoint such other committees as are necessary or desirable in carrying out the purposes of the Association. Where such other committee is to consider an award to be made by the Association, selection of the recipient is not to be considered final until approved by the Board of Directors.

IV. ELECTIONS AND ELECTION PROCEDURE

  1. An election of officers and least one other member of the Board of Directors shall be held each year. The President, President-Elect and Board members who are not officers shall be elected for a term of one year each. The Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer shall be elected for a term of two years each. Terms of office begin at the close of each Annual Meeting, but each officer and Board member shall hold office until his or her successor is elected and qualified. No elected officer shall serve for more than two consecutive years in the same office.
  2. The Board of Directors shall make nominations for the offices and Board member positions to be elected in a particular year and shall announce the nominations at the Annual Meeting. Additional nominations may be made by any voting member of the Association in attendance at the Annual Meeting.
  3. Balloting shall take place at the Annual Meeting in a manner specified by the Board of Directors. All elections of officers and members of the Board of Directors shall be determined by a plurality of votes cast.
  4. Vacancies in the elected offices of the Association or on the Board of Directors, which shall occur between annual meetings, through death, disability, resignation or otherwise, shall be filled for a term continuing only until the next regular election by a majority vote of the members of the Board of Directors, except that the President-Elect succeed the President and the Vice-President shall succeed the President-Elect.

V. MEETINGS

  1. Meetings of the Association shall be held at such times and places as may be determined by the Board of Directors. However, if the general time period of a proposed meeting is different from the last preceding meeting, at least three months advance notice must be given.
  2. A majority of voting members registered shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at the annual meeting. Ten voting members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at other meetings provided thirty days advance notice of any such meeting is given to the entire membership of the Association.
  3. An agenda or program shall be prepared and mailed to all members in advance of any meeting of the Association.

VI. PUBLICATIONS

  1. The official publication of the Association shall be known as the Journal of Insurance Issues (the Journal). It shall be published at least once a year as a medium for the interchange of research, information, and ideas of value to the Association. The Journal shall include, but not be limited to, works dealing with theory, empirical study, implications, applications, and practices as they affect the fields of insurance, risk management, financial planning, and employee benefits. Its contents should be of value to undergraduate and graduate classroom teachers, to practitioners, and to pure researchers.
  2. Ultimate control of the Journal shall reside in the membership of the Association, which may choose to terminate the Journal for whatever reason it deems satisfactory.
  3. The Editor of the Journal shall be appointed by the Board of Directors for a three-year term, with the possibility of a second three-year term upon the mutual agreement of the Editor and the Board of Directors. To be eligible for appointment and to continue as Editor, the person shall be a voting member of the Association. The Board of Directors' decision to offer or deny renewal of appointment shall be made not later than the end of the second year of the Editor's first term, and the Editor shall be notified of such decision at the earliest reasonable time. The Editor shall be allowed not longer than six weeks to respond with an affirmative response to an offer to renew the appointment. Lack of affirmative response shall be construed as a refusal of the offer, and the Board of Directors shall proceed to seek a replacement Editor.
  4. The Board of Directors by simple majority vote shall have the power to remove the Editor. Appointment to replace an Editor removed or resigning before the end of a three-year term shall be the sole decision of the Board of Directors, and shall be merely to complete the three-year term of the Editor so replaced. The partial term of the new Editor so selected shall not be included in the two-term limit of that new Editor.
  5. The Associate Editors Of the Journal shall be appointed by the Editor for three-year terms, staggered so that an equal number of the new Associate Editors shall be appointed and/or reappointed each year. To be eligible for appointment and to continue as an Associate Editor, a person must be a voting member of the Association, in good standing. The Editor shall have the power to remove any Associate Editor. The Editor is encouraged to respect the appointments of the previous Editor and allow all Associate Editors to complete their three-year terms.
    Appointments of an Associate Editor removed or resigning before the end of a three-year term shall be the sole decision of the Editor, and shall merely complete the three-year term of any Associate Editor so replaced.
    Associate Editors are not limited with regard to the number of terms, consecutive or otherwise, that they may serve.
  6. Other publications on insurance and related subjects may be issued in such form and at such times as may be determined by the Board of Directors of the Association.

VII. FINANCES

  1. Annual dues shall be fixed by the Board of Directors and shall be billed for the fiscal years. Dues may be fixed at different amounts for members of the different classes into which membership may be divided.
  2. The Board of Directors is authorized to accept such gifts and contributions as will, in its judgment, contribute to attainment of the objectives of the Association and not involve the Association in any obligation to the donor.
  3. The Board of Directors is authorized to incur and the Secretary-Treasurer to pay the necessary expenses of conducting the affairs of the Association. Any compensation to any officer or member, beyond the necessary expenses incurred in the conduct of his or her office of work for the Association, shall require the approval of at least two-thirds of the Board of Directors. Travel expenses incurred by an officer or member of the Board of Directors in attending the annual meeting of the Association shall not generally be deemed necessary expenses of said offices.
  4. The Board of Directors is prohibited from incurring any obligations for the Association greater than the sum of the uncommitted funds on hand and the estimated income of the Association for the remainder of the fiscal year at the time such obligations are under consideration.

VIII. DUTIES OF OFFICERS

  1. The President shall preside over the Annual Meeting and shall chair meetings of the Board of Directors. The President shall coordinate the responsibilities of the other officers and members of the Board of Directors and shall appoint necessary committees, including the annual Hardigree Award Committee.
  2. The President-Elect shall serve as assistant to the President and shall perform such duties as are assigned by the President, including service as acting President in the event that the President is unable to carry out his or her regular duties.
  3. The Vice-President shall serve as Chairperson of the Annual Meeting Program Committee and shall be charged with the function of organizing and directing the Annual Meeting, including negotiating all arrangements with appropriate hotels.
  4. The Secretary-Treasurer shall: (a) maintain the membership roster for the Association; (b) accept dues and other income and provide for its safekeeping; (c) keep the files of correspondence and official records; (d) take minutes of all meetings; (e) supervise on-site registration at the Annual Meeting; (f) distribute a membership list to the WRIA Board of Directors, showing the status of paid and unpaid memberships for the prior two years; and (g) give financial reports at the Annual Meeting and at meetings of the Board of Directors.
  5. The Editor shall be in charge of the publication of the Journal of Insurance Issues performing such activities as are normally associated with the duties of an editor. He or she shall be assisted in the performance of these functions by the Associate Editors, who shall also advise the Editor on matters of editorial policy. In addition, The Editor shall: (a) name the annual JII Distinguished Reviewer(s) at the annual meeting immediately following the end of each calendar year; (b)provide an Editor's Report to the WRIA Board at the annual Board of Directors's meeting; (c) maintain the database of library subscriptions and collect library subscription fees, to be forwarded to the WRIA Secretary-Treasurer.