The International Commission on Mathematical Instruction
ICMI
Bulletin No. 47
December 1999
The World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions
Constitution
The World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions is a voluntary
organization, created through the inspiration of
Professor Peter O'Halloran of Australia, that aims to promote excellence
in mathematics education and to provide those
persons interested in promoting mathematics education through mathematics
contests an opportunity of meeting.
Article 1 - NAME
- The name of the organization is the World Federation
of National Mathematics Competitions, hereafter referred to as
WFNMC or the Federation.
Article 2 - STATUS
- The Federation is affiliated with ICME, the International
Congress on Mathematical Education, and as a special interest
group with ICMI, the International Commission on
Mathematical Instruction
Article 3 - AIMS
- The aims of the Federation are :
- to promote excellence in and research associated with mathematics
education,
through the use of school
mathematics competitions;
-
provide meetings and conferences where persons interested in mathematics
contests can exchange and
develop ideas of use in their countries;
-
provide opportunities for the exchanging of information for mathematics
education through published
material, notably through the Journal of the Federation;
- recognize through the WFNMC Awards system persons who have made notable
contribution to
mathematics education through mathematical challenge around the world;
-
organize assistance provided by countries with developed systems for competitions
for countries
attempting to develop competitions;
-
promote mathematics and to encourage able young mathematicians.
Article 4 - CONFERENCES
- The Federation will hold a conference every two
years at a site to be determined by the Regional Representatives
Committee.
- Special conferences of the Federation may be held
on a regional basis at the discretion of the Executive.
Article 5 - MEMBERSHIP
- Membership is open to any person or organization
interested in the employment of mathematics competitions in
enhancing mathematics education, and who agrees
to assist the WFNMC in the realization of its aims.
- Membership fees will be set by recommendation
of the Executive and approved by the members.
- Membership is necessary of any who wish to hold
office in the WFNMC. Persons standing for office must have been
members for at least one year before taking office.
Article 6 - FORMAL GENERAL MEETINGS
- At least once every four years the Federation
will hold (usually at one of its two-yearly conferences) a Formal General
Meeting open to all members.
Article 7 - VOTING
- Questions arising at meetings shall be decided
by voting. This will be by show of hands unless a secret ballot is deemed
necessary by the President. Questions will be decided
by a simple majority of voting individual members, except for
amendments to the Constitution.
- Members present, and only those present who are
members, are eligible to vote.
- A declaration will be made by the President (or
his substitute) that any motion has been carried or not carried, and the
result will be recorded in the minutes.
Article 8 - ORGANIZATION
- The Federation will be administered by Officers
who are individuals elected from the members. The Officer positions are
eight as defined in Section 8.3, and these Officers
will constitute the Executive Committee of the WFNMC.
- The Officers will be elected by the members for
four-year renewable terms, as follows :
-
President
-
Vice-President (of which there shall be three, one of whom will be designated
senior Vice-President)
-
Publications Officer
-
Chair, Awards Committee
-
Secretary
-
Treasurer
- Duties of the Officers are defined as follows:
-
President: The President will preside at meetings of the Executive
and of the WFNMC members, will
serve ex-officio on all committees, will ensure the coordination of all
Federation activities, will prepare
agendas for general meetings, and will represent the WFNMC at official
functions as necessary, and will
maintain relations with international bodies with which WFNMC is affiliated.
-
Vice-President: The Vice-Presidents will be responsible for membership,
program, and presentation of
candidates for office at times of election. These duties will be shared
among the three. The senior
Vice-President will chair the Executive Committee in the absence of the
President.
-
Publications Officer: The Publications Officer will be responsible
for the production of Federation
materials, specifically the Journal of the Federation, and for other materials
as approved by the Executive.
-
Chair, Awards Committee: The Chair of the Awards Committee will
be responsible for the gathering of
nominations for the Federation?s awards, for working with the Awards Committee
to select worthy
recipients, and for recommending recipients to the Executive Committee.
-
Secretary: The Secretary is responsible for the recording and distribution
of minutes for all regular and
special meetings of the members or the Executive Committee, and for the
preparation of any necessary
correspondence pertaining to the business of the Federation.
-
Treasurer: The Treasurer is responsible for the collection of any
assigned fees, contributions from
supporting bodies, or other monies as may be assigned to the Federation,
and is also responsible for
disbursements on behalf of the Federation. The Treasurer will present an
annual financial statement to be
published in the Journal.
Article 9 - COMMITTEES
- Standing Committees
are responsible to the Executive, and are as follows :
-
Program: The Program Committee will be responsible for the development
of program for Federation
conferences. The Committee will work in conjunction with persons at the
local site of a conference. The
Committee will be chaired by one of the Vice-Presidents, and will include
at least two members who are
not members of the Executive.
-
Awards: The Awards Committee will receive and assess nominations
for Federation awards, and will
recommend candidates for awards to the Executive Committee. The Committee
will consist of at least
two, but not more than four, members who are not members of the Executive,
in addition to the Chair.
-
Regional Representatives: The Committee of Regional Representatives
is responsible for the
implementation of Federation programs in the various regions of the world.
The Committee will meet at
Federation conferences with the President, who will chair the committee,
and Executive members as
desired to consider sites for future meetings. There will be regional representatives
for Africa, Asia,
Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America.
- Special committees may be created by the Executive
as needed.
- Each committee will keep minutes of meetings and
will report their deliberations to the Executive through the President.
Article 10 - DISSOLUTION
- In the event of dissolution of the Federation,
any funds or assets remaining after all debts have been paid shall be
transferred to the Australian Mathematics Trust.
Article 11 - FINANCIAL YEAR
- Unless otherwise ordered by the executive, the
financial year of the Federation shall be from July 1 to June 30.
Article 12 - AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION
- Amendments to the constitution may be proposed
in writing to the President at least sixty days before any meeting of
the Federation.
- Such amendment, alteration, or repeal of the constitution
will be placed before the members only if confirmed by a
majority of votes cast at an Executive Meeting.
- Any amendment, alteration, or repeal must be approved
by two-thirds of the members present at a duly constituted
Federation meeting.