Constitution
APASWE Constitution in Japanese (provisional translation 1.12.16) 
| Article I Article II Article III Article IV Article V |
- Name - Office - Purpose - Membership - Financing |
Article VI Article VII Article VIII Article IX Article X |
- Government of the Association - Election - Interpretation - Amendment - Dissolution |
Background
Affiliated to the International Association of Schools of Social Work. Registered Office: Palais Palffy, Josefs Plats 6, 1010 Vienna.
Adopted on July 9, 1974, at Nairobi, Kenya; amended on July 16, 1976 at the General Body Meeting held in San Juan, Puerto Rico; at the General Body Meeting held in Colombo, Sri Lanka; Singapore, September, 1989; amended Global Social Work Conference, Adelaide October 5th 2004; amended on July 17, 2011 at the General Body Meeting held in Tokyo, Japan; amended on September 20, 2019 at General Body Meeting held in Bengarulu, India.
Preamble:
Representing Asian schools of social work and social welfare training programs from Asia attending the XVth International Congress of Schools of Social Work at The Hague, Netherlands from August 8-11, 1972, believing that Asian social work education can be more responsive to the development needs of their respective countries, through mutual assistance and sharing of educational resources, resolved that a regional association of schools of social work be established in Asia. In 1981 the Association was expanded to incorporate the Pacific region.
The name of the Association shall be the ASIAN AND PACIFIC ASSOCIATION FOR SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION hereinafter referred to as the Association.
The main office of the Association shall be at the same location as the president, but may be located in any country agreed upon by a simple majority of the voting members of the Association.
The Association which is non-profit and non-sectarian shall serve the following purposes:
1. To promote the exchange of ideas, teaching materials, educational resources, faculty and students between social work training institutions to further social work education in the region;
2. To serve as a clearing house for communication, plan and implement projects, arrange consultations and engage in such other activities which can further the field of social work in general and social work education in particular;
3. To function as a body through which resources may be channeled to schools and projects within resources may be channeled to schools and projects within the Asian and Pacific region; and
4. To promote intra-regional and inter-regional co-operation in social work practice and education.
The Association which is non-profit and non-sectarian shall serve the following purposes:
1. To promote the exchange of ideas, teaching materials, educational resources, faculty and students between social work training institutions to further social work education in the region;
2. To serve as a clearing house for communication, plan and implement projects, arrange consultations and engage in such other activities which can further the field of social work in general and social work education in particular;
3. To function as a body through which resources may be channeled to schools and projects within resources may be channeled to schools and projects within the Asian and Pacific region; and
4. To promote intra-regional and inter-regional co-operation in social work practice and education.
Section 1
The financial resources of the Association shall consist of:
A. Bequests
B. General, personal contributions and donations
C. Assistance from governments and socio-civic organizations
D. Membership Fees
E. Other resources as authorized by the Board
Section 2
The finances of the Association shall be managed by the Executive Board.
Section 3
Funds received by, for and on behalf of the Association shall be properly receipted and deposited in a bank selected by the Executive Board. Withdrawals and disbursements shall be made only upon previous authority of the Board or the authorization of the President and shall be executed by the treasurer.
Section 4
The Association shall keep a book of accounts which shall be audited by a certified public accountant once a year or whenever circumstances so warrant.
Section 5
The fiscal year of the Association shall be January 1st through to December 31st.
Section 6
The Executive Board of Directors shall approve a budget at least two years consistent with the policies approved by the General Assembly.
Article VI - Government of the Association
Section 1. General Body Meetings
The business meeting of the General Body shall be convened biennially at the regional conference (or at the next international Congress if there is no regional conference) to receive, discuss and adopt:
a. A report from the President/ Secretary
b. A statement of accounts from the Treasurer
c. A motion to appoint an Honorary Auditor or alternate and to transact such business as is necessary to the work of the Association.
An ordinary General Body meeting may be convened by the Executive Board at any time to transact the necessary business of the Association. The notice provided should be at least one month. For convening an extraordinary meeting of the Association, the notice period may be waived at the discretion of the President. A member of the Association seeking to call a General Body Meeting shall obtain the signatures of at least two-thirds of the membership.
Section 2. Executive Board
1.1. Composition of the Executive Board
A. The general membership shall elect:
a. a President
b. a Vice-President
c. a Treasurer
d. a Secretary and
e. 4 Board Members
B. In addition, the Executive Board shall composed of:
a. The President (or representative) of each national association of schools of social work, provided more than seven of its member-schools are paying members of APASWE.
b. The Immediate past APASWE President for a single two-year term immediately following his/her stepping down from office.
c. The representative of the International Association of Schools of Social Work.
C. Persons listed under B (b) to B (c) above shall have no voting powers.
D. The Executive Board shall have the power to co-opt no more than four persons, being convenors of Board sub-committees.
E. No more than two voting members of the Board of Directors including officers shall be elected from any one country/region during the same period.
1.2 Term of Office
A. All members of the Executive Board shall serve for a period of four years, normally from one biennial regional conference to the next. Re-election to the same office is not permitted.
B. In case of a vacancy occurring with in this period of four years, the said vacancy shall be filled by the Executive Board for the duration of the un-expired term.
C. The president, Secretary and two Committee Members shall be elected at the same General Body Meetings and the Vice-President, Treasurer and two Committee Members shall be elected at the next biennial General Body Meetings.
1.3 Powers of the Executive Board
A. To develop and implement policies of the Association as provided for in the by-laws.
B. To approve the annual budget as submitted by the Treasurer.
C. To create appropriate committees as the need arises.
D. To decide final acceptance for membership in the Association.
E. To adopt rules and regulations for the conduct of meetings and manage the affairs of the Association as it deems proper but not inconsistent with the laws of the member countries and the Constitution and By-Laws
F. To undertake such other actions which shall promote the purposes of the Association
1.4 Duties and Responsibilities of the Officers
1.4.1 President
The President shall be the head of the Association and shall call and preside at all Association meetings. He/she shall appoint all committee chairpersons. It shall be his/her duty to see to it that all the objectives and functions of the Association are carried out.
He/she shall perform other duties, which ordinarily devolve upon the President of the Association. He/she shall sign all important correspondence and give his/her written consent to all disbursements and bank withdrawals authorized by the Board.
1.4.2 Vice-President
The Vice-President shall act the President of the Association in the absence or disability of the President and, in case of resignation or death, shall be automatically vested with the powers and duties of the President. He/she shall so perform such other duties as may be assigned to him/her by the Board.
1.4.3 Treasurer
The Treasurer shall collect, receive, and deposit in an authorized bank of the Association all the money and property of the Association. He/she shall disburse only expenses authorized by the President or Executive Board, keep an itemized account of all receipts and expenditures and shall render a report of the same during the Board and annual meetings or whenever requested. He/she shall take charge of all properties belonging to the Association. He/she shall prepare an annual budget and a financial report to be submitted to the Board and to general membership.
1.4.4 Secretary
The Secretary shall be recorder of all meetings and shall keep all records of the Association and execute directives of the President and Executive Board. He/she shall perform such other duties, which ordinarily devolve upon the Secretary of the Association.
1.4.5 Elected Board Members
The elected Board members shall attend Executive Board meetings and shall perform duties assigned by the President and/or the Board.
1.4.6 Quorum
Quorum at the meetings of the Executive Board and the General Body shall be one-third of the membership.
Section 1
Elections will be held biennially during the regional conference, if no regional conference is held, elections may be conducted through voting by mail, email or secure online voting system.
Section 2
All regular members are eligible for election provided their prior consent in writing is obtained and that they undertake to endeavor to attend the annual meetings of the Executive Board.
Section 3
Only the authorized representatives of regular members are eligible to vote.
Section 4
A. Nominating Committee consisting of 3 members, of whom one should be an Executive Board member, will be appointed by the Executive Board.
B. The Executive Board shall also appoint the chairperson who shall be one of the 3 members of the Nominating Committee.
C. The Nominating Committee shall be empowered to establish rules and procedures for the smooth, fair and efficient conduct of the election of officers of the Association.
D. The Nominating Committee shall be responsible for inviting nominations, checking on the eligibility of nominators and nominees, compiling the list of bona fide nominees who have given their consent and circulating the list to authorized regular members of the Association together with the ballot papers six weeks prior to the date of election.
E. The election of officers of the Association shall be presided over by the President of the Association assisted by the Secretary of the Association.
F. Voting shall be held by secret ballot on the day designated for the election of officers of the Association. Proxy votes by authorized regular members shall be accepted as well as voting by mail, email or secure online voting system for those unable to be present at the time of the election. Procedures for the mailing votes or electronic voting should follow those voting by mail Section 1.
G. Candidates shall be declared elected by majority vote.
H. When an election is conducted through voting by mail, email or secure online voting system, procedures outlined in Section4 (A) to 4 (D) shall apply except that the ballot papers shall be returned to the Nominating Committee by a date to be fixed which shall be no sooner than six weeks following the circulation of the list of bona fide nominees by the person responsible for tallying the results of the election and declaring the outcome to all categories of members of the Association.
Where the Constitution of the Association is silent on any matter or where the possibility of alternative readings exist, the Executive Board shall have the sole discretion to make such decisions and interpretations as it believes, in good faith, to be in the best interest of the Association, provided that it first satisfies itself that the By-Laws of the Association shed no light on the matter.
Section 1
These By-Laws may be altered or amended by a simple majority of the voting members including ballot voting by post, email or secure online voting system.
Section 2
Proposed amendments to these By-Laws must be in the hands of the Secretary forty-five (45) days prior to such a meeting. The Board must approve the proposed amendments before notice thereof is sent to the members.
Section 3
Written notice thereof must have been sent to the members of the Association thirty (30) days before such meeting.
Section 1
The Association shall not be dissolved except with written consent of four fifths of its regular membership.
Section 2
The Association shall not be dissolved prior to discharging all its financial obligations. After this dissolution, app the monies and assets of the Association shall be donated to the international Association of Schools of Social Work.
Membership Fees Regulation
Section 1
For the purposes of calculating membership dues, member institutions shall be grouped as follows:
Section 2
Each institution admitted to regular membership shall pay an annual membership fee of US $20 (Category A) or US $ 15 (Category B).
Category A: Member institutions from Australia, Japan, S. Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, U.S.A.
Category B: Everybody else.
Section 3
The annual membership fee for each provisional member shall be US $10.00.
Section 4
The annual membership fee for each affiliate member shall be US $10.00.
Section 5
Each individual member admitted to membership shall pay an annual membership fee of US $6.00.
Section 6
Membership fee shall be paid upon admission and thereafter before the 20th of January of each year.
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