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ECFS Handbook
Last updated: 21 January 2008
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ECFS BOARD
STRUCTURE &
TERMS OF REFERENCE |
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STRUCTURE:
The ECFS Board is to consist of:
President
Secretary
Honorary Treasurer
Five ordinary board members
A Vice-President will be elected by the Board from among its
Members.
The board members shall represent different European countries
and the various major disciplines of CF.
All Board members will be elected for a 4 year term, and may be
elected for another 4 years (but no more than 2 consecutive
terms of office).
A minimum of 4 years must elapse before a past Board member may
be nominated again for a Board position.
The Executive Board consists of the President, Secretary and
Honorary Treasurer.
Other Board Members:
President Elect
If not already a member of the Board:
4-06-06: This member will become a member of the Board a year
prior to taking over the Presidency in order to ensure a
handover of tasks.
Past President
4-03: The immediate past President will be an ad hoc member
(non-voting) of the Board for one year following the end of his
presidential term.
Conference President/Conference Vice-President
The President/Vice President of the annual conference will
become non-voting members of the Board and are elected for 2
years (1 year prior to the conference, and 1 year after the
conference).
The Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cystic Fibrosis is a
non-voting member of the Board and normally only asked to attend
the summer Board Meeting to provide a report.
The ECFS Liaison Officer (CFW/WHO) is a
non-voting member of the Board and normally only asked to attend
the summer Board Meeting to provide a report.
The Chairman of the Basic Science Conference is a non-voting
member of the Board, and normally only asked to attend the
summer Board Meeting to provide a report.
Special Project leaders may be
asked to be a non-voting member of the Board and invited to
attend meetings on an ad-hoc basis.
TERMS OF REFERENCE
The ECFS President is
4-06-01: Responsible for the overall administration and control
of the ECFS, and as such will call and chair Board meetings at
regular intervals (minimum twice a year) and an Annual General
Meeting. If there is equal voting in specific business matters,
the President's vote is decisive.
- Elected for 4 years at the Annual General Assembly
- Chairs regular Executive Board meetings (teleconferences) to
oversee and execute the ongoing activities of the ECFS.
- Chairs a Strategy Board meeting (held in conjunction with the
North American CF Conference).
- Keeps the ECFS Executive Board and Executive Coordinator
informed of all activities being proposed for ECFS coordination.
- Reviews contracts and is authorised to sign them in
coordination with one other Board Member.
- Attend site inspections for future conference venues.
- Meet with the Scientific Steering Committee and Executive
Coordinator (February) for the final review of abstracts to be
included as Oral presentations at the following conference and
the final selection of abstracts warranting a Young Investigator
Award.
- Attend (Open) the Basic Science Conference (April)
- Attend the annual ECFS Conference (June) - Chairs Opening Ceremony,
Annual General Assembly, Prize Giving events, and participates
in events requiring the President.
Vice-President
Assists the President by chairing or attending meetings the
President is unable to participate in. Should the President be
unable to continue in office, the Vice President will take over
the presidency until an election can be held at the next Annual
General Assembly.
Honorary Treasurer
4-06-03: Responsible for providing the Board and Annual General
Assembly with up to date information on the Society’s financial
status.
- The ECFS office will augment this position by keeping the daily ECFS
accounts and ensuring their authenticity via a professional
accountant who will also provide an annual audit report.
- The Honorary Treasurer will be a member of the Executive Board.
Secretary
4-06-02: Responsible for the preparation of the agenda and
minutes for Board meetings & Annual General Meetings. The
incumbent is also the point of contact for applications for
membership and annual awards.
- The Secretary will be a member of the Executive Board.
Board Members
4-06-05: Responsible for providing support and advice to the Board on areas of a
specific nature of expertise.
- Elected for 4 years at the Annual General Assembly
- Required to attend the minimum two annual Board Meetings (one
held in conjunction with the annual ECFS Conference (June) and a
Winter Board Meeting. A third Board meeting, to discuss
strategy, will be held in conjunction with the North American CF
conference.
- Be responsive to regular correspondence from the
President/Executive Board/ECFS Office for decisions on ECFS
issues.
- Willing to assist in the selection of nominations for the
Scientific Committee for annual conferences.
- Be prepared to evaluate future conference venues (based on
submissions from the ECFS Office).
- Deputise for the President at meetings on request.
Executive Committee:
The Executive Committee is made up of the President, Secretary, and
Honorary Treasurer.
Responsibilities: In accordance with the above individual terms
of reference, they will participate in regular meetings
(teleconferences) to discuss the ongoing activities of the ECFS
and inform the Executive Coordinator of decisions that require
full Board decision. The minutes resulting from these meetings
will be sent to the full board for comments and where indicated
a vote on issues requiring the full boards participation.
(Deadline with silence procedure will be adopted). The
Executive Board will also, via the minutes, inform the ECFS
webmaster on issues that should be added to the website.
4-09: In the absence of an Executive Coordinator, the running of
the everyday business of the Society will devolve to members of
the Board Executive.
6-04: ECFS business commitments are bound by the signature of an
executive Board member (President, Secretary or Treasurer) and
the signature of one other Board member.
Future Conference President
In conjunction with the choice of venue for a future conference, a
Conference President (and as applicable a Vice President) is
selected. For 1 year prior to the conference and 1 year
following the conference, the Conference President is to report on progress and results
at the Board Meetings.
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Cystic Fibrosis
4-10: ECFS Journal: The Board will appoint an editor of the
journal on a four yearly basis….If the editor is not an elected
member of the board, the editor will attend the Board meetings
in a non-voting capacity.
ECFS CFW Liaison Officer – Terms of Reference
The ECFS CFW Liaison Officer is a non-voting position on the ECFS Board, and
augments the work of the ECFS by:
- Attending CFW and WHO meetings as appropriate, and representing the ECFS
perspective.
- Propose projects being considered by CFW which could be of interest for
ECFS collaboration.
- Coordinating involvement in projects with the ECFS Board.
The ECFS CFW Liaison Officer will provide an annual report on activities to
the ECFS Board at their summer meeting.
REFUND OF EXPENSES:
Board Members attending the Winter Board meeting are entitled to
request a refund of their expenses via the ECFS Office.
Additionally, if any Board member is asked to deputise for the
President at a specific ECFS endorsed activity, a claim of
expenses may be made. However, all such travels are to be
notified and approved by the Executive Committee in advance.
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ECFS WORKING GROUPS
ESTABLISHMENT &
TERMS OF REFERENCE |
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Establishment
Constitution extract:
2-01-03: The ECFS may form sub-Committees, working parties or
study groups from active members for any purpose related to the
objective of the society. Such sub-groups will be appointed and
approved by either the annual general meeting or the board.
The ECFS currently supports the following initiatives:
Neonatal Screening Working Group
CF Diagnostic Working Group
European Registry
European Clinical Trials Network
Terms of Reference
Any active member of the Society may consider the establishment
of a working group supporting a specialist area related to CF.
An application for the establishment for a working group is to be
made in writing to the ECFS Board (via the ECFS Office) giving
information about the aims, objectives, and structure. The
Board may elect to forward the proposal for approval by the
Annual General Assembly.
Each working group is to have a Coordinator who is responsible
for the overall activities of the group. The Coordinator, or
their representative, will provide the ECFS Board with a report
at the summer Board Meeting and to the Annual General Assembly.
The report should include a business plan for the following year
including a programme of meetings to be held for the Board’s
approval. It is to be noted that only ECFS Members
participating in these approved meetings are eligible for a
refund of expenses.
The Working Group Coordinator is to provide information about the group to
the webmaster of the ECFS Website, and they are encouraged to
use the website to provide progress reports and updates on their
activities. The annual report (given to the Board) is to be
published on the website.
The working group is encouraged to use the annual conference as an
opportunity to conduct a meeting of its members. If desired, a
poster can be displayed at the conference outlining the aims,
objectives, structure, latest news, etc.
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ECFS ELECTION COMMITTEE
STRUCTURE &
TERMS OF REFERENCE |
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STRUCTURE
The Election Committee will be composed of a chairman and 4
other members.
The elected committee will appoint a chairman from within their number.
Membership of the committee will be for 3 years.
No more than 2 members of the same nationality can serve on the committee at
any one time.
Any member of the Society who has been a member for longer than a year is
eligible to be a member of the committee.
Nominations for membership of the committee will be requested from the
Society membership at least 3 months prior to the Annual General
Assembly. Received nominations will be circulated to the
membership by the ECFS Office and elections carried out by
postal vote – the results will be announced at the Annual
General Assembly.
TERMS OF REFERENCE
The Election Committee is independent of the ECFS Board, and is
only answerable to the Annual General Assembly.
The task of the committee is to oversee the annual elections for the ECFS
Executive and Board members.
The Chairman will be responsible for the overall co-ordination
of the election committee’s activity.
The committee may request the ECFS office to establish a
teleconference among its members to discuss proposals.
The ECFS Office will also assist the committee in sending out requests
for nominations for suitable candidates.
Constitution extract:
5-02-07: Duties of the election committee:
5-02-07-01 - To oversee the election of the Executive and Board members.
5-02-07-02: The committee will be responsible for the
call for nominations using the facilities of the ECFS Office and
Newsletter and the encouragement of the nomination of suitable
candidates.
5-02-07-03: The committee will assess the qualities of
all candidates and through its chairman present its findings to
the membership prior to the election.
The findings of the committee will be sent to the membership with
the information about each candidate, together with a ballot
sheet 2 months prior to the Annual General meeting. Elections
will be carried out by postal vote.
5-02-07-04: The committee will oversee any election and
the chairman of the committee (or nominated representative) will
present the result to the AGM.
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ECFS SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
STRUCTURE &
TERMS OF REFERENCE |
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STRUCTURE
The Scientific Committee is made up of at least 30 members from different areas of CF expertise.
The Committee will have up to 9 different Assemblies to ensure all
aspects of CF are represented when building the conference programme. Each assembly will have an Assembly Leader.
Categories:
Genetics/Screening
Microbiology
Basic Science/Cell Biology/Physiology
Immunology/Pulmonology
Gastroenterology/Nutrition/Endocrinology/Liver
Psychosocial/Nursing
Physiotherapy
Epidemiology/Registry
Clinical Trials/New Therapies
A Steering Committee will be appointed by the ECFS Board. The main duty
of the Steering Committee is to supervise the scientific content of the
conference and to ensure there is no overlap. The 5 members of the
Steering Committee will be the ECFS President, the Conference President,
1 basic scientist, 1 clinician, 1 allied health professional. The
specialist members of this committee would have a 3-year tenure. They
will be required to attend the abstract review meeting in mid-February
to facilitate the final assignment of abstracts for oral presentations
in Workshops.
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Members of the Scientific Committee must be members of the ECFS.
Members of the Scientific Committee will have a 3-year tenure; however a
30% turnover per year is required in order to refresh the intellectual
pool.
Assembly Leaders will have a 3-year tenure.
Members who have served for 3 years may not be selected again for at
least 2 years.
At the winter Board meeting, the ECFS Board will select suitable
candidates for the Committee based on recommendations from the
Assemblies.
Invitations to selected candidates for the Committee will be issued 18
months prior to the conference (e.g. in January of the year prior to the
June Conference).
- Members will be responsible for collectively discussing proposals for
plenary topics, symposia, workshops and round table discussions, and
also for suggesting appropriate speakers, moderators, and round table
leaders for the different sessions.
- The Assembly leader will be the focal point for coordinating the
submissions from their group and informing the ECFS office of the
group’s decisions.
- The ECFS Office will, in coordination with the Steering Committee,
prepare a timetable for the Scientific Committee. Traditionally this
will include:
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An initial call for inputs prior to the Scientific Committee meeting held
on the last day of the annual conference (June). These suggestions will
be amalgamated into a draft programme and sent out to the Committee
following the meeting.
- Further details for the programme will be required prior to September. At this
time the Steering Committee will review the draft programme. The
revised programme will be resent to the Committee for final details with
a deadline of 31 October.
- Mid-November, the ECFS Office will issue the invitation letters to
speakers. Abstract submission opens.
- Assemblies will be
asked to nominate suitable candidates for the Scientific Committee for
the following year (prior to the winter ECFS Board meeting).
- Late
January - the Abstract deadline closes. The Scientific Committee will
be asked to review abstracts and to select those appropriate for
presentation in the conference workshops. Workshop Moderators will
equally be asked to review abstracts. As part of this process,
reviewers will be asked to select abstracts that would be suitable for a
“Young Investigator Award”.
All accepted abstracts are to be presented in poster format at the
conference, and will be included in a supplement to the Journal of
Cystic Fibrosis.
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Assembly leaders will be asked to renumber the abstracts by subject
within their areas of expertise.
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Mid-February the Steering Committee will meet and review the inputs
received from the Scientific Committee/Moderators for a final decision
on those abstracts selected for oral presentation in the scientific
programme, and will also make the final selection of abstracts
warranting a “Young Investigator Award”.
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Members of the Scientific Committee may be requested to assist the ECFS Office
in nominating alternate speakers should invited speakers decline or not
be available.
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Assembly leaders will be asked to nominate suitable leaders for the
Guided Poster Walks.
The meeting held in conjunction with the annual conference is generally held
on the last day of the conference. Members of the Scientific Committee
are entitled to request an ECFS refund for one additional hotel night
should they not be able to return on the same day as the meeting.
BACKGROUND:
In achieving the ECFS aim for the best possible treatment and the highest quality of life
for the patient with CF, the ECFS has for a number of years conducted
regular consensus meetings to attain European standards. Traditionally
there are one or two such meetings annually covering different aspects
of CF (e.g. Antibiotics, Nutrition, Genetic Testing, Standards of Care,
Clinical Trials, and Inhaled Medication and Inhalation Devices
WHO CAN ORGANISE A CONSENSUS MEETING?
Any active ECFS
Member can propose a topic for a consensus meeting to the ECFS Board for
approval. The request to the Board is to be made via a business case
outlining the aims and objectives of the meeting, the proposed dates of
the meeting, and a list of suggested participants. As appropriate, the
consensus meeting can be proposed to have joint leadership (both members
must be active ECFS members). The content of the proposed consensus
meeting will be judged in terms of its relevance and timeliness at a
European level and its financial viability. The application to the Board
should be submitted 18 months to 2 years prior to the anticipated
meeting dates. Such proposals will be decided upon at the ECFS Board
Meeting.
LOCATION
The ECFS Board reserves the right to decide on the appropriate location
of the meeting which can be held in any European country. The location
for a consensus meeting is traditionally a hotel which can provide a
meeting room large enough to accommodate full briefing sessions and
Round Table sessions, a sufficient number of hotel rooms for the
participants, and full catering.
PUBLICATION:
The final consensus document will be published by Elsevier in the
Journal of Cystic Fibrosis.
After the ECFS Board has approved the proposal:
RESPONSIBILITIES
The Consensus Meeting Leader is responsible for:
- Drawing up a list of participants.
- Drawing up a list of sponsors (industry/national associations, etc.) most likely to support the meeting.
- Preparing a text outlining the aims and objectives of the meeting.
- Preparing the invitation letter for the participants.
- Preparing the initial draft of the consensus document for distribution to the invited participants.
- Preparing a plan of Round Table discussions (by area of topics and expertise).
- Coordinating the final consensus document for publication in the Journal of Cystic Fibrosis.
The ECFS Office will assist the Consensus Meeting Leader by:
- Issuing letters to invited participants and following-up with the meeting details.
- Contacting sponsors for funding support.
- Preparing a budget for the meeting.
- Booking the meeting location, and arranging for the requisite number of rooms and catering.
- Assisting with the organisation of airport (or train/bus terminal)transfers.
- Attending the meeting to assist with on-site administration.
- Refunding participants expenditures on completion of the meeting.
- Providing the ECFS Board and the Consensus Meeting Leader with a copy of the final accounts.
General:
- Travel arrangements are to be made by the most economical mode possible.
- All claims for refund must be accompanied by original receipts (an audit requirement).
- No item on a claim form should be submitted for refund if it has already been refunded or can be
refunded from another source. The claimant will sign to this effect on the Travel Expense Form.
- Claimants may request original receipts to be returned if their expenses
exceed the maximum allowable under the ECFS travel policy and which can be
refunded from another source.
- Claims for refund should be submitted within 4 weeks of the event to which
they are applicable. Claims arriving after 3 months with no prior
correspondence explaining the delay may be rejected.
- Claims from Europeans will be paid by bank transfer (IBAN & SWIFT codes are
mandatory)
- Claims from outside of Europe (with no IBAN/SWIFT equivalent) may be paid by a cheque.
ECFS BOARD MEMBERS
Members of the ECFS Board will have full refund of their travel expenses to the Winter
Board Meetings.
Board Members attending the Strategy meeting at the NACFC are
entitled to claim one night of lodging should attendance at the
meeting require travelling one day earlier.
All other travels where ECFS reimbursement is requested must be submitted for
approval in advance and will be subject to the Executive Committee’s approval.
Hotel costs should in principle be limited to 3 star rate.
INVITED SPEAKERS (CONFERENCES)
ECFS Conference -
Travel and Lodging.
Europe: Max reimbursement: 500 Euro
Outside Europe: Max reimbursement: 1000 Euro
Free Registration is covered for Invited Speakers and Session Moderators, but
not for Round Table Leaders.
Invited Speakers will be issued with a Travel Expense Claim
Basic Science Conference
Europe: Max reimbursement: 350 Euro
Outside Europe: Max reimbursement: 850 Euro
Free Registration and all hotel costs (with catering) are covered for Speakers
(4 nights).
For Speakers from outside of Europe a 5th hotel night may be accepted
for refund.
Invited Speakers will be issued with a Travel Expense Claim
INVITED PARTICIPANTS
Consensus Meetings:
Invited Participants will have a full refund of travel expenses (subject to tickets
being bought at the most economical rate).
Invited
Participants will be issued with a Travel Expense Claim.
Scientific Committee:
Members of the Scientific Committee who are requested to attend a
meeting held in conjunction with the ECFS annual conference are entitled
to claim the cost of an additional hotel night if applicable.
General Principles for Reimbursable expenses:
Reimbursable:
Air Fares
Public Transport (Train, Metro, Bus)
Taxis (with justification)
Private car (Kilometres/Miles to airport/train station etc.)
Kilometre/Mileage allowance:
Claims for Kilometres/Miles
- the maximum reimbursement will be the standard rate in Denmark (2008=0.46 Euro per km)
Parking fees at Airport
Ferry
Bridge Tolls
Motorway Tolls
Not Reimbursable:
Bank commission charges for money exchange
Bank fees and credit card charges
Personal travel Insurance
Damage/Accident costs for private transportation
Visa Entry Fees
Taxis when a shuttle service is offered.
Passport renewal costs
Personal Tips (Porters, etc.)
Hotel charges for personal telephone calls/fax/internet/room service etc.
Meals (unless fully justifiable)
Rental cars (unless justifiable due to lack of alternative transportation)
Lost Luggage fees
Parking violations
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