Constitution

The mission of the Federation is as follows:

1. To promote all aspects of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology
    
2. To coordinate the activities of its members and ensure adequate circulation of documents concerning the Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology discipline throughout the world
    
3. To coordinate interdisciplinary relations among Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology and other specialties dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of central nervous system disorders.

4. To promote the development of appropriate methods of teaching Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology and to ensure that standards of training and, where applicable, proper certification are obtained and maintained.

The Society shall be composed of:

1. Full members
2. Honorary Members
3. Emeritus Members

1. Full Membership

This category is limited to physicians active in Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology. Full Members in good standing shall enjoy all rights and privileges of membership of the Federation, including the right to vote, to serve on committees, and to hold any office in the Federation. They shall pay annual dues, the amount of which will be determined by the executive and agreed to by membership vote at the General Assembly. Members who default on their annual dues for a period of two calendar years shall forfeit their membership. Defaulting members are eligible for reinstatement upon paying double the current annual fee. In order to become a Full Member, applicants must submit a completed application form together with annual dues, at which point they will be considered provisional members. The list of provisional members will be publicly posted at the next General Assembly, allowing the WFITN membership the opportunity to identify any spurious submissions. If no objections are raised, the provisional members will be considered approved and will thereafter enjoy the rights and privileges of Full Members.

2. Honorary Membership

This title is conferred by the Federation upon individuals who are judged to have made outstanding contributions to Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology. Nomination for Honorary Membership can be made in writing by any full member to the Secretary General. Conferment of membership will be proposed by the Executive Committee at a General Assembly and must be confirmed by a simple majority of voting members. As an exception to conferment by vote, all Past Presidents of the WFITN automatically become Honorary Members at the end of their term as Past President. Honorary Members will have all the rights and privileges of full membership of the Federation. Honorary members are not required to pay annual dues.

3. Emeritus Membership

A full member who is no longer in active practice may apply to the Executive Committee to modify his or her status to become a Member Emeritus. Emeritus Members have all the rights and privileges of Full members but are not entitled to vote, serve on Committees (except as consultants), nor hold any elected office. Annual dues are not required from Emeritus members.

Termination of Membership

Membership to the federation is terminated in the following circumstances:

1. A member resigns voluntarily
2. Upon recommendation of the Executive Committee to terminate a member for due cause  
3. A member defaults on his or her annual dues or contribution for a period of two calendars year in the case of full members

The Executive Committee consists of the following officers:

1. The President
2. The Vice-President
3. The Past President
4. The General Secretary
5. The Treasurer
6. Five Members-at-Large
7. Editor in chief of INR journal (non-voting)

The Executive Committee is responsible for managing and directing the scientific, financial, as well as other day-to-day activities of the Federation. The Committee will meet when directed by the President, or at the request of a majority of its members.The President may invite any other persons involved in the business of the Federation, where appropriate, to an executive meeting.

Election of Officers

Any full Member in good standing of the Federation can seek the candidacy for any of the following offices: Vice-President, Secretary General, Treasurer or Member-at-Large of the Executive Committee. However, in order to ensure continuity in the organization of the WFITN, members of the Federation interested in one of the leading positions in the Executive Committee (Vice President, Treasurer or Secretary General) should have been elected previously for at least one mandate to the position of Member at Large.

These Officers are elected by the general membership by means of a vote, which is held every other year preceding the scientific meeting officially held by the federation.
The procedure for electing the executive committee officers is as follows:

1. The General Secretary shall notify members that application for an elected position is open six months before the biannual scientific meeting.
    
2. Application for candidacy to one of the elected offices on the Executive Committee has to be submitted to the Secretary General at least three months prior to the date of the General Assembly. Applicants must submit a completed application form (available from the Secretary General) together with a curriculum vitae and supporting letters from two full members. The secretary general will verify that the candidate is a full member of the federation and in good standing. Should too many candidates come from a single region or continent, relative to the overall membership, the executive committee may request of a continental or regional society from that over-represented area to select a subgroup of candidates among those nominated. The Secretary General will then notify the membership by email of the names of the candidates standing for each position. Voting will take place by ballot at the General Assembly. Votes will remain confidential.
3. The results of the elections shall be announced at the General Assembly; the candidate receiving the simple majority of votes for a given office shall be elected the winner for that office. In the case of a tie, the vote will be repeated by secret ballot at the General Assembly until one candidate is declared the winner. Newly elected Officers will take office immediately following the general assembly.

Term of Office

1. The President will serve one term. The length of that term is determined by the society to be two consecutive years. The President is not eligible for election for a second consecutive term. However, a Past President can run for any elected office four years after his election as President.
    
2. The Vice president term is for two years before assuming the office of President.
    
3. The Secretary General and Treasurer shall serve for a 2 year term and, during their tenure, shall be eligible to apply for one additional mandate to retain the same office. The Secretary General and Treasurer will be eligible to again apply for the same position, provided that a period of four years has elapsed since their most recent election to this position.
    
4. Members-at-Large will serve for two years and, during their tenure, shall be eligible to apply for one additional mandate to retain the same office. The Member-at-Large will be eligible to again apply for Member-at-Large, provided that a period of four years has elapsed since their most recent election to this position.
    
5. The Past President term is for two years.

Duties of the Officers

President

The President shall be the presiding officer of the Federation and will perform the duties customarily associated with his or her office. The President shall preside over meetings of the Executive Committee. The President may from time to time convene advisory boards or ad hoc committees to consult on specific issues or projects concerning the federation.
The President, with the approval of the Executive Committee, assigns duties to the Members at large, and may appoint full members to ad hoc committees Should the President become incapacitated or unwilling to perform the duties of the Presidency, the Vice President shall assume the office of the Presidency until the next General Assembly of the Federation, a special business meeting called for by the Executive Committee, or electronic vote for the purpose of electing a new President and Vice President.

Vice-President

The Vice-President will assist the President as appropriate and assumes the duties of the Presidency whenever the President becomes incapacitated or is unable to fulfill his responsibilities as indicated in the preceding clause. He or she will also carry out other duties that may be assigned to him by the President. The Vice-President is automatically a member of the Scientific Committee for the Federation congress held during their term of office. At the end of his or her elected term, the vice president automatically ascends to the office of the Presidency.

Should the Vice President become incapacitated or unwilling to perform the duties of the vice presidency, the office will remain vacant until the next General Assembly of the Federation, a special business meeting called for by the Executive Committee or a specific electronic vote for the purpose of electing a new Vice President. Nominations for the vacated office will be solicited by the Executive Committee The newly elected Vice-President will then serve until the end of the term of office of the current President.

Past President

After one term in office the President will automatically become Past President for a period of two years. He or she will assist the President as appropriate, and will also carry out such other duties as may reasonably be assigned by the President. If for some reason the Past President becomes unable or unwilling to continue in office before the end of his or her term, the post will remain vacant until the end of the term of office of the current President.

Secretary General

The Secretary General will maintain the required legal and official records of the Federation including those related to the membership and the proceedings of the General Assembly and Executive Committee meetings. He or she will also carry out such other duties as may reasonably be assigned by the President. The Secretary General will serve for two years and can be eligible for re-election for one further term.

If for some reason the Secretary General becomes unable or unwilling to continue in office before the end of his or her term, his or her duties will be assumed by the Treasurer, until the next General Assembly. An electronic vote or a special business meeting will be convened for the purpose of electing a new Secretary General. The Executive Committee will seek nominations for the vacated office. The newly elected secretary General will then serve in that capacity until the following general elections for the offices of the Executive Committee are held.

Treasurer

The Treasurer will be responsible for administering the funds of the Society, keeping a record of financial transactions, and providing a financial report to the General Assembly. He or she will also carry out such other duties as may reasonably be assigned by the President. The Treasurer will serve for two years, and can be eligible for re-election for one further term.
If for some reason the Treasurer becomes unable of unwilling to continue in office before the end of his or her normal tern, his or her duties will be assumed by the Secretary General until the next General Assembly, an electronic vote or a Special business Meeting convened for the purpose of electing a new Treasurer. The Executive Committee will seek nominations for the vacated office The newly elected Treasurer will then serve in that capacity until the following general elections for the offices of the Executive Committee are held.

Members at Large

Members at large will be assigned by the President specific portfolios with tasks to fulfill. Members at large serve a term of 2 years and are eligible for re-election for one further mandate.

Editor in Chief

The Editor in Chief of the official WFITN journal “Interventional Neuroradiology” (INR) is responsible for soliciting peer review of scientific papers for the journal and making editorial decisions. The Editor is appointed by the Executive in consultation with the publisher of the Journal INR.

The number of standing or ad-hoc committees can vary according to the changing needs and projects of the federation. Existing standing committees are as follows:

1. Scientific Program Committee
   This Committee is constituted by the President(s) of the past two WFITN scientific meetings and the Vice President. This group can choose any number of Full Members in good standing to help them. This Committee shall seek the cooperation of local scientific committees and shall be responsible for the scientific program and organization of the federation's official meeting(s). It shall do so in close consultation with the executive committee.
    
2. Scientific Award Committee
   This Committee shall be appointed by the Congress President from Full Members in good standing.
    
3. Other Committees
   The executive committee may from time to time and, at its discretion, establish specific ad hoc committees to assist in the planning and execution of various endeavors that will promote the purpose and goals of the federation i.e. fund raising, relationship with other organizations, expanding the membership, etc.

1. A meeting of the Executive Committee members of the WFITN shall be held at least once per year.

2. The WFITN shall hold one scientific congress at least once every two calendar years. The selection of the President and of the host city for the meeting shall be determined through a vote held at the General Assembly.

3. The prospective WFITN congress President needs to be a member in good standing of the WFITN for at least the last 4 consecutive years prior to the submission of his or her application for the organization of the congress.

4. The Secretary General will alert members to submit applications for hosting a WFITN congress 6 months before the General Assembly during which the vote will take place. The deadline for submitting applications will then be 3 months before the date when the vote takes place. Applications should be submitted to the office of the WFITN for the attention of the current President and Secretary General of the WFITN, in order to allow the Executive Committee to evaluate the applications.

5. Each application must include a letter of motivation for hosting the congress and a short CV of the prospective President. It should detail the potential scientific and organizational objectives of the congress, and give information about the proposed hosting city. As the primary function of the congress is to serve as a scientific meeting, the merits of the proposed venue in terms of maximizing the scientific discussion should be stressed in the proposal. As the meeting is not a course, any kind of live demonstration must be avoided.

6. If it is proposed that the WFITN congress be linked to another meeting, this must be mentioned in the application form; the relationships with the linked meeting or with other scientific societies must be explicitly delineated in terms of both the scientific and financial aspects of the linked meetings.

7. Each complete application will be reviewed by the Executive Committee. It is the duty of the Executive Committee to process the applications and check if they are admissible for presentation to the membership for vote. Submitters of applications that are judged by the WFITN executive committee to be non-admissible will be notified.

8. The WFITN should foster a worldwide rotation for the organization of its congress. To this end, applications for host sites for the WFITN congress will not be accepted from cities in the same continent as that of the upcoming congress, barring exceptional circumstances that necessitate allowing such geographic proximity. The WFITN recognizes six continents: Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, South America, and Australia.

9. The accepted applications will be sent to all members in good standing of the WFITN 1 month before the General Assembly during which the vote will be held, as only members in good standing and Honorary Members will be allowed to vote.

10. A 3-5 minute oral presentation concerning the goal and spirit of the meeting and the potential hosting city will be made by the competing prospective Presidents of the WFITN congress during the General Assembly before the vote will be held.

11.  The applicant who gets the absolute majority of votes (50% + 1 vote) at the first ballot will be elected President of the WFITN meeting. If an absolute majority is not reached initially, a second ballot will be held during the same General Assembly in order to choose between the two candidates who will have obtained the highest number of votes. The applicant who will have obtained, after this second round of voting, the majority of votes will be elected President of the WFITN meeting.

Any amendment or change to the constitution must be approved by the membership at large during an official meeting of the General Assembly or during a special business meeting called for by the Executive Committee. This requires a two-third majority vote of the members present at the meeting. The proposed amendments and or changes to the constitution must be presented to the membership at large 6 weeks prior to the General Assembly or to the special business meeting.