AAA Charter
Table of contents
● General regulations
● Membership regulations
● Governing regulations
● Projects activity regulations
● Liaison information
GENERAL REGULATIONS
This Charter governs the role and procedures of the Association, and general regulations of its activities and operations. All the decisions regarding special cases that are not described in current Regulations are made by the Executive Council or by the AAA plenary vote. Upon initial Charter approval, any change or amendment should be presented to the members and voted at the meetings of the Executive Council.
About AAA:
Astana Alumni Association is a non-profit organization created under initiative of the Alumni of the US-government funded educational programs. The AAA is established in May 1, 2010.
The Astana Alumni Association’s (AAA) headquarter is based in Astana. Residents of Akmola, Kokshetau, Kostanay, Karaganda, Pavlodar and Petropavlovsk regions are also welcome to join AAA.
The goals of the AAA:
● To unite US-government programs alumni and local leaders in targeted regions, use their expertise and knowledge for social good
● To contribute into society development through alumni collaboration and implementation joint projects.
● To promote civil activity
● To create positive reputation of the US-government programs alumni in Kazakhstan
The areas of AAA’s interest:
● Education
● Social issues
● Healthcare
The official languages of the AAA are:
● Kazakh
● Russian
● English.
Any of these languages may be used for communication purposes by any of the AAA members.
AAA motto is “Aspire! Act! Achieve!”
MEMBERSHIP REGULATIONS
It is a main requirement for AAA regular and associate membership to be involved at least in one of Association current projects or activities. The AAA has three kinds of membership status:
● Regular membership,
● Associate membership,
● Honorary membership.
Regular membership
Any alumni of non-Kazakhstani college or university and/or having studied on one of the US Government-funded programs (even if non-degree) has a right to apply for a regular membership of the Association. Regular members have all the rights and privileges that are provided by the Association Charter. Fitting all the requirements does not guarantee membership approval.
Regular membership requirements are:
● To have a permanent residency in Astana or Akmola, Karagandy, Kostanay, Pavlodar, Petropavlovsk regions
● To visit the AAA plenary meetings
● To contribute the AAA activities
● To follow the organization motto “Aspiration! Action! Achievement!”
Associate membership
Any adult person has a right to apply for associate membership of the Association. Completion of one of the US Government-funded programs is not necessary for Associate membership. Associate members have all the rights and privileges that are provided by the Association Charter. Fitting all the requirements does not guarantee membership approval. Associate members can not apply for Presidency of the AAA.
Associate membership requirements are:
● To have a permanent residency in Astana or Akmola, Karagandy, Kostanay, Pavlodar, Petropavlovsk regions
● To visit the AAA plenary meetings
● To contribute the AAA activities
● To follow the organization motto “Aspiration! Action! Achievement!”
Honorary membership
Honorary membership is a privilege of an individual in recognition of outstanding special service to the Association and its members. Applicant cannot apply her/himself to get honorary membership. The proposed candidate will be presented at the general assembly and voted in by the assembly. The honorary members have all the rights and privileges that are provided by the Association Charter except the right to be elected for the Executive Council.
Membership Applying Procedures
The application process is organized as followed:
Fill-in the application form and e-mail it for the consideration of the AAA Executive council. VP of Membership issues defines an application status. All applicants have a 1 month probation period during which they need to prove fitting membership requirements and AAA goals. Final decision about membership is a priority of the Executive Council vote. Vote is based on Absolute majority principle.
Membership deprivation procedures
Non-fulfillment of the membership requirements or the AAA Regulations is the major reason to lose membership. Making decisions about membership deprivation is a priority of Executive Council. The vote is based on Absolute majority principle. Special cases are also considered by the Executive council. Deprived members are eligible to re-apply for membership.
AAA members’ rights:
Members have a right:
● To create and design independent projects fitting to the AAA goals
● To participate in common projects of the AAA initiated by other members
● To ask for help o other AA members in implementing projects
● To attend the AAA meetings and initiate suggestions regarding AAA activity
● To get full information regarding operational, financial and another AAA activities
AAA members’ responsibilities
Members are responsible:
● To actively participate in the AAA activities
● To give a respect to the AAA decisions about operational, financial and another issues
● To put a strong effort to the projects he or she implements
● To communicate with other AAA members, involve them and to be involved into common activities of the organization
GOVERNING REGULATIONS
The AAA has three types of self-regulation: General Assembly, Executive Council and Regular meetings.
General Assembly
General Assembly meeting participants on a plenary vote basis make decisions regarding main operation issues of the organization. All the AAA members are expected to attend General Assembly meeting. General Assembly is organized at least once a year. Decisions made by the General Assembly must be recorded and stored. General Assembly objectives are:
● Approval or Disapproval of the Executive Council annual report on AAA activities;
● Discussion and Approval of AAA activities plan for an upcoming year;
● Decision-making about all other issues included into the meeting agenda, including any types of elections.
Executive Council
Executive council is an administrative body of the AAA. Executive Council is in charge of representing AAA at public events, making decisions regarding AAA daily activities including membership status; informing AAA members about current activities, organizing and preparing agenda for AAA regular meetings. Decisions made by the Executive Council must be recorded and stored. All AAA Executive council members have permanents status and quantity except of Project supervisors. Quantity of project supervisors depends on a number of current projects at AAA. Closure of the project means withdrawing from the Executive council members list with termination of its rights and responsibilities. The Council includes AAA members holding following positions:
● President – 1 year term. It is the responsibility of President to provide coordination over AAA activities, events and projects; to report about AAA activities at General Assembly meetings; to be involved in legal issues regarding AAA activity. Only the US Government educational programs alumni has a right to ballot for AAA presidency.
● Vice-President of Membership issues – 1 year term. It is the responsibility of VPM to coordinate the recruitment activities. VPM shall be responsible for the recruitment of members, the maintenance of members, monitoring member satisfaction, and responding to member complaints for all categories of membership.
● Vice-President of Public Relations – 1 year term. VPPR shall be responsible for Association activities and projects promotion, public relations and media affairs. It is the responsibility of VPPR to coordinate AAA web-site and other AAA media outlets as well as inform public about AAA activities, events and projects.
● Executive Secretary – 1 year term. It is the responsibility of Executive Secretary to be in charge of taking notes from AAA meetings and inform in time. It is responsibility of Executive Council to store the protocols and record the decisions made by Executive Council, by General Assembly, at Quarter meetings and other forms of AAA gatherings.
● Project supervisors – project supervision term
The Council is elected by AAA members through general elections. It has to be renewed each 12 months. Any outgoing members will be re-elected. Project supervisors prepare quarter reports for Quarter meetings about current of closed projects and annual reports as a part of General annual report for AAA General Assembly consideration.
Quarter meetings
At quarter meetings quarter reports are presented by the Executive council. Meetings agenda includes reports regarding current and completed projects from project supervisors. Membership deprivation procedures are also subject of quarter meetings. Decisions made at quarter meetings must be recorded and stored.
Regular meetings
Regular meetings are organized by Executive Council in order to discuss and make decisions about such issues as financial regulations, current projects and other AAA operational activities. Regular meetings are organized at least two times a month. Schedule of the meeting is set via regular communication ways of the AAA. Members presenting in Astana are welcome to attend regular meetings.
Voting procedures
Except of Executive Council life elections conducted at General Assembly, online vote is a preferable way of decision-making process at AAA. Quorum is the main requirement of valid online vote. Quorum is set to two thirds (2/3) of AAA members invited to make a vote. The vote is based on Absolute majority principle which means that the most prevailing decision of vote participants is considered as a vote decision.
PROJECTS IMPLEMENTION REGULATIONS
AAA is a project-based organization, which means that except of permanent bodies and subdivisions it has project teams. Project teams are created on a voluntary basis based on AAA members preferences and interest of project topics and involvement status. Authorities of a project team lasts till a closure of a project. Project’s closure means termination of team members authorities.
AAA supports, initiates and implements exclusive and joint projects fitting the AAA goals and areas of interest. AAA exclusive projects need to be supervised by AAA members whereas joint projects might have external supervisors. Supervisor is responsible for successful implementation of the project. All the AAA projects are welcome for help from AAA members’ and other volunteers’ side.
Each project team defines a project supervisor and puts him in charge of governance, finance, documentation and organization details of the project. Project supervisor tacitly obtains an AAA Executive council membership status. One person may participate in several projects in time with a requirement to be active and contributive members to all his/her teams.
LIAISON INFORMATION
AAA chooses different ways of communication including web-outlets depend on convenience. Official web-site of the AAA is regulated by special regulations, described in a separate document.
Official communication channels of the AAA are considered as followed:
● astana-aliumni@gmail.com
● www.astana-alumni.kz
● www.en.astana-alumni.kz
● “Astana Alumni Association” group at Facebook
● General regulations
● Membership regulations
● Governing regulations
● Projects activity regulations
● Liaison information
GENERAL REGULATIONS
This Charter governs the role and procedures of the Association, and general regulations of its activities and operations. All the decisions regarding special cases that are not described in current Regulations are made by the Executive Council or by the AAA plenary vote. Upon initial Charter approval, any change or amendment should be presented to the members and voted at the meetings of the Executive Council.
About AAA:
Astana Alumni Association is a non-profit organization created under initiative of the Alumni of the US-government funded educational programs. The AAA is established in May 1, 2010.
The Astana Alumni Association’s (AAA) headquarter is based in Astana. Residents of Akmola, Kokshetau, Kostanay, Karaganda, Pavlodar and Petropavlovsk regions are also welcome to join AAA.
The goals of the AAA:
● To unite US-government programs alumni and local leaders in targeted regions, use their expertise and knowledge for social good
● To contribute into society development through alumni collaboration and implementation joint projects.
● To promote civil activity
● To create positive reputation of the US-government programs alumni in Kazakhstan
The areas of AAA’s interest:
● Education
● Social issues
● Healthcare
The official languages of the AAA are:
● Kazakh
● Russian
● English.
Any of these languages may be used for communication purposes by any of the AAA members.
AAA motto is “Aspire! Act! Achieve!”
MEMBERSHIP REGULATIONS
It is a main requirement for AAA regular and associate membership to be involved at least in one of Association current projects or activities. The AAA has three kinds of membership status:
● Regular membership,
● Associate membership,
● Honorary membership.
Regular membership
Any alumni of non-Kazakhstani college or university and/or having studied on one of the US Government-funded programs (even if non-degree) has a right to apply for a regular membership of the Association. Regular members have all the rights and privileges that are provided by the Association Charter. Fitting all the requirements does not guarantee membership approval.
Regular membership requirements are:
● To have a permanent residency in Astana or Akmola, Karagandy, Kostanay, Pavlodar, Petropavlovsk regions
● To visit the AAA plenary meetings
● To contribute the AAA activities
● To follow the organization motto “Aspiration! Action! Achievement!”
Associate membership
Any adult person has a right to apply for associate membership of the Association. Completion of one of the US Government-funded programs is not necessary for Associate membership. Associate members have all the rights and privileges that are provided by the Association Charter. Fitting all the requirements does not guarantee membership approval. Associate members can not apply for Presidency of the AAA.
Associate membership requirements are:
● To have a permanent residency in Astana or Akmola, Karagandy, Kostanay, Pavlodar, Petropavlovsk regions
● To visit the AAA plenary meetings
● To contribute the AAA activities
● To follow the organization motto “Aspiration! Action! Achievement!”
Honorary membership
Honorary membership is a privilege of an individual in recognition of outstanding special service to the Association and its members. Applicant cannot apply her/himself to get honorary membership. The proposed candidate will be presented at the general assembly and voted in by the assembly. The honorary members have all the rights and privileges that are provided by the Association Charter except the right to be elected for the Executive Council.
Membership Applying Procedures
The application process is organized as followed:
Fill-in the application form and e-mail it for the consideration of the AAA Executive council. VP of Membership issues defines an application status. All applicants have a 1 month probation period during which they need to prove fitting membership requirements and AAA goals. Final decision about membership is a priority of the Executive Council vote. Vote is based on Absolute majority principle.
Membership deprivation procedures
Non-fulfillment of the membership requirements or the AAA Regulations is the major reason to lose membership. Making decisions about membership deprivation is a priority of Executive Council. The vote is based on Absolute majority principle. Special cases are also considered by the Executive council. Deprived members are eligible to re-apply for membership.
AAA members’ rights:
Members have a right:
● To create and design independent projects fitting to the AAA goals
● To participate in common projects of the AAA initiated by other members
● To ask for help o other AA members in implementing projects
● To attend the AAA meetings and initiate suggestions regarding AAA activity
● To get full information regarding operational, financial and another AAA activities
AAA members’ responsibilities
Members are responsible:
● To actively participate in the AAA activities
● To give a respect to the AAA decisions about operational, financial and another issues
● To put a strong effort to the projects he or she implements
● To communicate with other AAA members, involve them and to be involved into common activities of the organization
GOVERNING REGULATIONS
The AAA has three types of self-regulation: General Assembly, Executive Council and Regular meetings.
General Assembly
General Assembly meeting participants on a plenary vote basis make decisions regarding main operation issues of the organization. All the AAA members are expected to attend General Assembly meeting. General Assembly is organized at least once a year. Decisions made by the General Assembly must be recorded and stored. General Assembly objectives are:
● Approval or Disapproval of the Executive Council annual report on AAA activities;
● Discussion and Approval of AAA activities plan for an upcoming year;
● Decision-making about all other issues included into the meeting agenda, including any types of elections.
Executive Council
Executive council is an administrative body of the AAA. Executive Council is in charge of representing AAA at public events, making decisions regarding AAA daily activities including membership status; informing AAA members about current activities, organizing and preparing agenda for AAA regular meetings. Decisions made by the Executive Council must be recorded and stored. All AAA Executive council members have permanents status and quantity except of Project supervisors. Quantity of project supervisors depends on a number of current projects at AAA. Closure of the project means withdrawing from the Executive council members list with termination of its rights and responsibilities. The Council includes AAA members holding following positions:
● President – 1 year term. It is the responsibility of President to provide coordination over AAA activities, events and projects; to report about AAA activities at General Assembly meetings; to be involved in legal issues regarding AAA activity. Only the US Government educational programs alumni has a right to ballot for AAA presidency.
● Vice-President of Membership issues – 1 year term. It is the responsibility of VPM to coordinate the recruitment activities. VPM shall be responsible for the recruitment of members, the maintenance of members, monitoring member satisfaction, and responding to member complaints for all categories of membership.
● Vice-President of Public Relations – 1 year term. VPPR shall be responsible for Association activities and projects promotion, public relations and media affairs. It is the responsibility of VPPR to coordinate AAA web-site and other AAA media outlets as well as inform public about AAA activities, events and projects.
● Executive Secretary – 1 year term. It is the responsibility of Executive Secretary to be in charge of taking notes from AAA meetings and inform in time. It is responsibility of Executive Council to store the protocols and record the decisions made by Executive Council, by General Assembly, at Quarter meetings and other forms of AAA gatherings.
● Project supervisors – project supervision term
The Council is elected by AAA members through general elections. It has to be renewed each 12 months. Any outgoing members will be re-elected. Project supervisors prepare quarter reports for Quarter meetings about current of closed projects and annual reports as a part of General annual report for AAA General Assembly consideration.
Quarter meetings
At quarter meetings quarter reports are presented by the Executive council. Meetings agenda includes reports regarding current and completed projects from project supervisors. Membership deprivation procedures are also subject of quarter meetings. Decisions made at quarter meetings must be recorded and stored.
Regular meetings
Regular meetings are organized by Executive Council in order to discuss and make decisions about such issues as financial regulations, current projects and other AAA operational activities. Regular meetings are organized at least two times a month. Schedule of the meeting is set via regular communication ways of the AAA. Members presenting in Astana are welcome to attend regular meetings.
Voting procedures
Except of Executive Council life elections conducted at General Assembly, online vote is a preferable way of decision-making process at AAA. Quorum is the main requirement of valid online vote. Quorum is set to two thirds (2/3) of AAA members invited to make a vote. The vote is based on Absolute majority principle which means that the most prevailing decision of vote participants is considered as a vote decision.
PROJECTS IMPLEMENTION REGULATIONS
AAA is a project-based organization, which means that except of permanent bodies and subdivisions it has project teams. Project teams are created on a voluntary basis based on AAA members preferences and interest of project topics and involvement status. Authorities of a project team lasts till a closure of a project. Project’s closure means termination of team members authorities.
AAA supports, initiates and implements exclusive and joint projects fitting the AAA goals and areas of interest. AAA exclusive projects need to be supervised by AAA members whereas joint projects might have external supervisors. Supervisor is responsible for successful implementation of the project. All the AAA projects are welcome for help from AAA members’ and other volunteers’ side.
Each project team defines a project supervisor and puts him in charge of governance, finance, documentation and organization details of the project. Project supervisor tacitly obtains an AAA Executive council membership status. One person may participate in several projects in time with a requirement to be active and contributive members to all his/her teams.
LIAISON INFORMATION
AAA chooses different ways of communication including web-outlets depend on convenience. Official web-site of the AAA is regulated by special regulations, described in a separate document.
Official communication channels of the AAA are considered as followed:
● astana-aliumni@gmail.com
● www.astana-alumni.kz
● www.en.astana-alumni.kz
● “Astana Alumni Association” group at Facebook
