Incorporated Research Institutions

“Educational and not-for-profit institutions chartered in the united states, with a major commitment to research in seismology and related fields, may become "voting members". Research institutions and other not-for-profit organizations, both inside and outside the u.s., engaged in seismological research and development, which may not otherwise qualify for iris membership, may be elected educational affiliates, u.s. Affiliates, or foreign affiliates.”

“Representatives of the voting member institutions elect the nine-member board of directors by written ballot. Directors are elected for three-year terms, which have been staggered, so that three new members are typically elected each year at the iris annual members' meeting in december.”

“The cfo is responsible for the timely preparation of the form 990. Annually, iris retains a cpa firm to prepare the form 990, working with the cfo. The cfo will submit the draft form 990 to the board of directors and the iris budget & finance subcommittee for review prior to the filing deadline and request approval of the filing. The subcommittee may identify questions, concerns or issues that should be brought to the board's attention. All questions, concerns, etc. Of the budget & finance subcommittee and the board of directors will be addressed by the cfo and president and incorporated into the form 990 as appropriate. The cfo and the president will make final corrections and approve the form 990. The cfo will file the final form 990 as required. Copies of all filed form 990 returns will be maintained by iris financial services and are available upon reasonable request.”

“Annually, iris hq will distribute the conflict of interest policy and form to committee members and senior staff. The policy requires all board and iris committee members to submit their signed conflict of interest forms to the dc headquarters offices. The president's assistant will collect all the forms and identify forms that have required disclosures to the president, for any necessary action, and missing forms to the president and/or the program manager, who is assigned to follow up with the necessary party.”

“Compensation of employees is negotiated at the start of their employment and evaluated annually with their supervisor, and approved by the president. The president's compensation is evaluated annually by the board of directors. The board of directors approves the president's compensation and the overall average salary increase for other staff, based on comparability data such as the federal government pay increases and the social security administration's cost of living adjustments. The board's deliberations and decisions are recorded in the board minutes.”

“Governing documents are available online through the iris website. The iris conflict of interest policy is not generally made available to the public. Financial statements are available upon reasonable request to iris financial services.”

“The nine-member iris board of directors, elected by representatives of iris member institutions, serve rotating three-year terms. In fy-2014, three of the board members whose terms expired were replaced by new board members during the fiscal year.”