Mineralogical Society of America

“The Council is the governing body of the Society. The Council comprises the President, Vice-President, Past President, Secretary, Treasurer, and six Councilors. The President, Vice-President, Past President, Secretary, and Treasurer form the Executive Committee which exercises the powers of the Council between meetings.”

“Membership in the Society is open to any person interested in mineralogy and related sciences, regardless of residence or citizenship. To become a member, an individual must submit an application and payment of dues. Fellowship is open to individuals nominated by three members of the Society. The Society also provides for student memberships. To become student members, individuals must be verified as such by a faculty of their schools. Student members are ineligible to hold office.”

“All members of Council and Council officers are elected by the members, fellows, and student members of the Society via a ballot.”

“Amendments to the bylaws must be approved by at least two-thirds of the membership.”

“A draft of the Form 990 is prepared by the outside accountant and is sent to management for review. After their review, the form is sent to the Financial Advisory and Audit Committee (FAAC) for review and acceptance. If acceptable, the FAAC includes the Form 990 in its report which is included in the Council meeting book and is an agenda item of the Council meeting. Once approved, the Executive Director signs the Form 8879. The return is then electronically filed by the outside accounting firm.”

“Monitoring and enforcement of the conflict of interest policy is performed by including it in the agenda for the fall Council meeting. Each member is reminded to disclose any conflicts after reviewing the policy and asked to complete and sign a disclosure statement.”

“Salaries are determined and approved by the Council's management committee with the use of performance reviews, published salary data, and the projected salary budget. The Committee's decisions are documented and presented to the Council in an oral report as a recommendation at the fall meeting that is summarized in the minutes. Council approves any change in salary. The management committee Chair provides a written summary to the Executive Director that is used to inform staff in writing and revise payroll. Published salary data used as comparable data can include, the "Association Compensation & Benefits Study" compiled and published by the American Society for Association Executives, "Management Compensation Report for Not-for-Profit Organizations" compiled by PRM Consulting Group.”

“Some governance documents are available on the Society's public website, such as the articles of incorporation, bylaws, minutes, Secretary's and Treasurer's reports to the members. Others, such as the employee handbook and policies, such as record retention, long-standing financial policies, joint venture, policy investing, fund administration, compensation, Mineralogical Society of America conflict of interest, audit administration, are available online to the Council or by request. Financial information is available in the Form 990, which is available on a public website and by request.”