K-12 GERA Bylaws

K-12 GERA Bylaws
Chapter I. Name & Objectives
Article 1. The name of this corporation is “K-12 GERA, Inc.”, short for “Global K-12 Education Research Association”, hereinafter “Corporation” or “Association”.  The website of the Association is: www.k12gera.com.Our logo is:

 
Article 2. K-12 GERA Mission: build a global K-12 education research platform; carry out international education exchange and cooperation; promote K-12 education reform and innovation; serve the sustainable development of society. Therefore, we gather together to explore the solutions of our shared educational challenges and methodology so as to promote the development of our schools’ teachers and students.
 
Article 3. The corporation was founded in October 2014 by thirty-two schools from twelve nations on voluntary basis at Shijiazhuang Foreign Language Education Group, Shijiazhuang City, China, with the goal of sharing educational resources and promoting development.  The corporation is entering into its international phase by expanding our operation to the United States of America through our U.S. office in Frederick, Maryland. As of April 27, 2017, our corporation has been incorporated in the State of Maryland as a non-profit organization.  Our corporation accepts new member schools based on their applications.
 
 

Chapter II. Organization

 

Article 4. The association has established the Executive Board (consisting of schools selected from member schools), the Academic Board (education experts from higher education, research institutes and organizations), the Advisors (educators, educational organizations, governments, mass media, etc.), the Strategic Cooperation Partnership Units, and the Secretariat.
 
Members of the Executive Board and of the Academic Board are appointed for a term of five years. If a board member could not attend the board meeting for some reason, he/she can entrust representatives from his/her school or his/her area. If a board member moves to another school, he/she can apply to stay on the board, and can also recommend somebody from his/ her former school to sit on the board. After the term of five years, new members will be appointed to each of the two boards. A current board member may be appointed for additional terms after the expiration of the term of five years if he/she does not raise an objection. To meet the development requirements of the Association, new board members can be selected from its member schools based on the examination of their support and contribution to the Association’s work. New board members will be finally determined after a bill is brought in by the secretary-in-general of the board and approved by voting among the board members.
 
The Executive Board, also known as the Board of Directors, consists of the following members:  president, vice-president, secretary-in-general, and board members.
 
 
Responsibilities of the president:
· To be in charge of the comprehensive work of the association.
· To convene and preside over the board meeting.
· To draw up and implement the general plan and annual working plan.
· To report to the board about the annual work.
· To preside over the daily work of the corporation.
 
Responsibilities of the vice president:
· To assist the president to complete the annual working plan.
· To attend the board meeting and exercise the right to vote
· To complete the assigned work given by the association.
· To provide constructive suggestions.
· To recommend excellent educational resources and potential member schools to the association.
 
Responsibilities of the secretary-in-general:
· To convey the president’s work ideology and guidelines.
· To organize and publish the work progress of the association.
· To draw up the working plan, summary and regulations of the association.
· To be responsible for the internal and external liaison work of and between the association members.
· To prepare board meeting, draft meeting documents and write meeting report.
· To be responsible for the association’s media output and managing documents.
 
Responsibilities of the Executive Board:
· To formulate and modify the association articles.
· To evaluate and make decisions about major events.
· To consider applicant schools and make admission.
· To determine the host school, theme and time of the annual conference.
 
Responsibilities of the Academic Board:
· To provide suggestions on the education development plans of the association from an academic perspective and support our decision-making process with academic expertise.
· To offer guidance and evaluation on academic issues.
· To provide constructive suggestions and recommendations, offer consultancy, recommend excellent educational resources to the association.
· To invite professional educators and professors to come to the annual conference and to give academic reports related to the theme of the year.
· To offer students university guidance and vocational plan advice to member schools.
 
Responsibilities of the Advisors:
· To assist and support the operation of the association.
· To provide advice and consultation.
· To coordinate resources and fund-raising and support the delivery of the association’s activities.
· To expand the influence and raise awareness of the association.
· To invite extraordinary professional educators to give keynote speeches during the conference.
 
Responsibilities of the Strategic Cooperation Partnership Units
· To mutually help and share resource.
· To maximize the education cooperation resource.
 
Responsibilities of the Secretariat:
· To implement the decisions of the Board.
· To manage the general activities of the association.
· To contact member schools.
· To manage the association website.
 
Rights and obligations of member school:
· To participate in the annual conference and other activities.
· To share with member schools advanced educational insights and experiences.
· To recommend new member schools to the association.
· To share educational ideas, educational resources and educational outcomes.
· Any of the member schools can apply to host the Association annual conference or Academic Board meeting.
· Actively broadcast educational ideas, resources and outcomes of the association to for instance local government, education departments, institutes and mass media in their districts and country.
 
 

Chapter III. Activities

 

Article 5. Association Activities
· To hold an annual conference to promote communication.
· To promote the communication and partnerships among member schools.
· To assist regular communication between teachers and students in different schools, such as teachers and students summer camp, forum, online interaction, virtual classrooms and cross–school projects.
 
Article 6. Annual Conference of the Association
It is on the voluntary basis for member schools to hold the conference. If member schools want to hold the next year’s conference, they have to submit the applications to the secretariat before the end of that year’s annual conference. If no member schools want to hold the conference, the president school will hold it.
 
Article 7. The theme of the annual conference will be proposed by member schools to the secretariat and ratified by the board.
 
Article 8.  Executive Board/Board of Directors will hold at least one annual meeting per calendar year at a time that is agreeable among the members.  A majority of the members must be present to constitute a quorum.  For decisions that require voting, a majority of the members present at the annual meeting must be in agreement.
 
 

Chapter IV. Expenses

 

Article 9. The association holds the international conference every year. Expenses (food, boarding and relevant transportation) are, in principle, raised and paid by the host school.
 
Article 10. No association membership fees are charged.  Members of the Executive Board, members of the Academic Board, Advisors, members of the Strategic Cooperation Partnership Units, the Secretariat, and members of any other committees do not receive any financial compensation for the duties they carry out for the association.
 
Chapter V. Non-Profit Status and Exempt Activities Limitations
 
Article 11. Nonprofit Legal Status:  Our Corporation, focusing primarily on the educational development of teachers and students, is a Maryland non-profit public benefit corporation. Our Corporation seeks to be recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code.
 
Article 12.  Exempt Activities Limitation:  Notwithstanding any other provision of these Bylaws, no director, officer, employee, member, or representative of this corporation shall take any action or carry on any activity by or on behalf of the corporation not permitted to be taken or carried on by an organization exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code as it now exists or may be amended, or by any organization contributions to which are deductible under Section 170(c)(2) of such Code and Regulations as it now exists or may be amended.  No part of the net earnings of the corporation shall inure to the benefit or be distributable to any director, officer, member, or other private person, except that the corporation shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes set forth in the Articles of Incorporation and these Bylaws.
 
Article 13.  Distribution Upon Dissolution.  Upon termination or dissolution of the corporation, any assets lawfully available for distribution shall be distributed to one (1) or more qualifying organizations described in Section 501(c)(3) of the 1986 Internal Revenue Code (or described in any corresponding provision of any successor statute) which organization or organizations have a charitable purpose which, at least generally, includes a purpose similar to the terminating or dissolving corporation.
 
Chapter VI. Amendments
 
Article 14. The bylaws may be amended, provided the Executive Board/Board of Directors approves the amendment in writing.
（Third Edition on Oct. 14^th, 2019 ）