1. Procedures for selection of members of Council of the EFRR
The membership of the Council are set out according to the constitution. Members of Council are elected by participants of EFFR Congress, which is held every two years.
The Secretary of Council will keep records of membership and will notify the President and members of Council when their period of office expires.
Council will agree the number of vacancies. At least 4 months prior to the Congress, the Secretary will circulate a call for nominations for new members on the EFRR website.
Members of the EFRR may submit names of candidates to be considered for membership of Council. This must be accompanied by a letter and resume from the candidate indicating that they are willing to stand.
Candidates must be members of EFFR and be a recognized health care practitioner, rehabilitation counselor, case manager or social worker working in the rehabilitation field.
The Secretary will circulate details of eligible candidates at least 2 weeks prior to Congress.
Voting for candidates will take place in the General Assembly. Only those can vote who participate at the Assembly.
The Assembly will be Chaired by the President or Vice President.
Only members of the EFRR will be eligible to vote and there must be a minimum of 50 members present for the meeting to be quorate.
Voting shall be overseen by 3 scrutinisers, two of whom will be chosen at random from the membership by the Chairman.
Candidates must be present and will be expected to speak in support of their application.
If the number of candidates is less than or equal to the number vacancies, then voting can take place by a show of hands.
If the number of candidates exceeds the number of places, the Secretary shall prepare voting slips.
There are no proxy votes and one slip will be given to each person.
Members will make their choices on the slip and write on their registration number.
The scrutinisers will collect the slips and will count, tabulate and sign off a sheet recording the number of votes for each candidate. This will be presented to the Chair who will announce the results to the General Assembly.
If the meeting is not quorate, or there are unfilled vacancies, the Council may co-opt members. However these must stand down at the next General Assembly and offer themselves for re-election.
2. Membership of the EFRR
Membership of the EFRR is open to all professionals from the fields of medicine, vocational and educational rehabilitation, social and psychosocial rehabilitation or any other field of rehabilitation.
Active Member: All professionals from the fields of rehabilitation medicine, vocational and educational rehabilitation, social and psychosocial rehabilitation or any other field of rehabilitation who live in European countries, can be a candidate for being an active member. After Council approval and the payment of membership fee, they become an active member. The active members have the right to vote in the General Assembly and can be elected as a Council Member.
Associate Member: Associate members have all rights and obligations as active members, except that they will not have the right to vote in the Assembly and they are not able to stand as candidates for Council Member. They will have to pay a membership fee.
Membership of the EFRR is by:
Submission of the application form to the EFRR Council and payment of the membership fee
Submission of a membership form while registering for an EFRR Congress, EFRR sponsored scientific meeting or EFRR sponsored training event. In this case, the organiser will invite non-members to apply for membership and when they register for the event will pass on the membership fee to the EFRR.
Membership will last till the next congress. If the member participates in a subsequent EFRR congress, membership will be automatically renewed. If the member has not participated, but wants to be member, has to transfer the membership fee for the following two years. If payment is not received within 3 months their membership is cancelled and the candidate will need to reapply.
The Council of the EFRR will review all applications for membership (individually or as a block). New members will be eligible to attend and vote at the General Assembly held at the EFRR Congress as soon as their applications have been approved by the Council.
The Treasurer of the EFRR will be responsible for receiving payments and the Secretary of the EFRR is responsible for official register of Members.
Notes on membership fees:
The membership fee will be 10 Euro/year.
Organisers of EFRR Congress, EFRR sponsored scientific meeting or EFRR sponsored training events will agree to transfer 20 Euro to the EFRR for each delegate regardless if a participant applies to become a member of the EFRR or not.
3. Organization of the European Forum for Rehabilitation Research Congress
Membership of the EFRR is open to all professionals from the fields of medicine, vocational and educational rehabilitation, social and psychosocial rehabilitation or any other field of rehabilitation.
- Applications from nationally recognised Institutions who wish to organize an EFRR Congress must be sent to the EFRR Secretary at least 30 months before the date of the Congress. This should include an outline business plan for the meeting. The Council will make a decision on the venue no later than 26 months in advance; this will allow the EFRR Council to announce the date and venue at the previous Congress.
- The Congress organizer (CO) may be nationally recognised Scientific Institutions, Rehabilitation Societies, or University Departments.
- The CO may employ or subcontract a Professional or Commercial Organisation to support or run the meeting, however, it is the CO who holds the contract with EFRR and undertakes to fulfil all necessary responsibilities for organisation of the Congress.
- The Council will nominate members of the Congress Scientific Committee and approve the list of scientific topics, in consultation with the CO.
- The Council agrees to provide reasonable support to the CO, this includes promotion of the Congress and contact details of EFRR members for the purposes of promotion of the Congress.
- The Council of EFRR (represented by the President) and the CO will agree a written contract to deliver the Congress.
This will include:
– A business plan for approval by the EFRR Council, at least 12 months before the date of the Congress.
– An undertaking by the CO to organize a congress with appropriate scientific content that will further the aims and promote the work of the EFRR.
– To hold the Congress at the agreed date and venue.
– To nominate a local organising committee for approved by the EFRR Council
– The final programme will be approved by the Scientific Committee.
– Agreed registration fees. These will be set by the CO following consultation with the EFRR Council. The CO may make the final decision, given that the CO will carry the financial risk.
– The CO, in liaison with the EFRR Secretary and President, will maintain a Congress website from at least 18 months prior to the date of the Congress.
– The CO will invite the Council members to the venue for a preparation visit at least one year before the date of the Congress. Costs, apart for travel, are covered by the CO.
– The costs of running the Congress must be met by the CO, the EFRR accepts no responsibility for any financial loss by CO in connection with the running of the conference.
– The CO undertakes to provide the EFRR with names and contact details of delegates and to transfer to the EFFR nominated bank account, 20 Euro per participant within one month of the end of the Congress. Any residual profit from the organisation of the Congress may be retained by the CO.
– The abstracts of the Congress will be published as a Supplement of the International Journal of Rehabilitation Research. The costs of this publication should be covered by the CO.
– In case of legal debates the Finnish law should be taken into consideration, because the EFRR was registered in Finland.