A. PHILOSOPHY
New England based society is formed to promote awareness, standards of information and assistance to providers, the public and ultimately patients in the field of infertility in the New England area.

B. NAME
The name of this society shall be: New England Fertility Society.

C. OBJECTIVES
1) The society will promote the interchange of ideas, data, observations and anecdotes amongst its members and to the New England medical community at large.
2) The society will establish a forum for the presentation of timely reports on current activities, and summaries of data on programs in the area of infertility.
3) The society will provide a forum for the presentation of new data and research projects pertinent to reproductive medicine, and in particular, to the special interests of these technologies in the New England area.
4) The society will air the status and developments of the particular needs of the providers and the patients in the field of infertility in New England
5) The society will be the trustee of funds and other sponsorship of researchers working in New England .
6) The society will be the spokesman in the New England region for current and future developments in the field of infertility.
7) The society will be the trustee of historical documentation of developments in infertility in the New England area.
8) The society will seek out the interchange of information on articles 1-7 with neighboring societies in this field, similar societies at regional and the national level; as well as promotion of such interchange with societies at the international level.

D. MEMBERSHIP
1) Membership is open to all professionals with a special interest in the field of infertility.
2) The mechanism for attaining membership will be to complete an application which can be obtained from the administrative coordinator and submit a letter of introduction from a current member. Dues are payable upon remittance of membership application or the applicant can pay the guest fee registration for the remaining meetings in that same year and at the beginning of the next year submit full dues amount.
3) Membership will be terminated by the treasurer should the member not respond to usual and customary notifications of failure to pay dues. The member will be reinstated immediately upon payment of such dues.
4) The Executive Committee shall have the right to review and revoke membership if a member has been adjudged by a professional body to be unfit to practice his or her profession; or a judicial body has determined that a member has committed a criminal offense.
5) Duties of a member shall be to support the philosophy and objectives of the society. At official meetings a member may vote on motions, amendments, and members who are running for office. A member may also choose to run for executive office.

E. MEMBERSHIP TERMINOLOGY
The society will comprise members, senior members, honorary life members, the founder of the society and executives.
1) MEMBER - A member is a person in good standing in the society having paid the dues.
2) SENIOR MEMBERS - Senior members are members of the society who have retired from clinical practice or research and are at least 62 years of age.
3) HONORARY LIFE MEMBER - Honorary life members are appointed by the society if a majority of the Executive Committee concur that such a person has made a major and landmark contribution to the assisted reproductive technologies. Such an honorary life member should accept the appointment and be willing to receive timely reports from the society. The honorary life member will be exempt from dues and will have voting rights.
4) FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY - The founder of the society is Selwyn P. Oskowitz, M.D. who assisted in the establishment of the society and prepared a slate of executives which formed the first Executive Committee, the duties of the founder as such have since ceased.
5) EXECUTIVES - Executives are members of the Executive Committee and shall include the following: president, vice president, president-elect, immediate past-president, secretary, treasurer, and members-at-large. There will be a member-at-large from each state, a member-at-large from industry, and an executive member-at-large. The president will appoint the vice president, secretary, and the executive member-at-large, all of whom including the president-elect and immediate past-president shall serve for a one- year term. The treasurer will be elected to serve a 3 year term. If for some reason the treasurer is unable to serve out his/her term, the president will appoint someone to fill the position for the remainder of that term. The members-at-large will serve for a two-year term with the excption of the member-at-large from industry who will serve for a one year term..
6) THE VACATED EXECUTIVE POSITIONS:
a. ELECTED POSITIONS:
(PRESIDENT-ELECT AND MEMBERS-AT-LARGE)
Members-at-large from the states will be elected to staggered two-year terms; the Member-at-large from industry will be elected to a one year term. A majority vote by the Executive Committee will decide the member to fill any vacancy. The member must belong to the geographical area represented by a vacated Member-at-Large. Treasurer will be elected to a three year term. A vacated President position will be filled by the Vice-President (Bylaw G.1 and G.2) who will appoint a new Vice President.
A ballot for open positions will be created by a Nominating Committee made up of several members of the Executive Committee. The Nominating Committee will review nominations sent in by the general membership, review the qualifications of the nominees, and create a ballot for the election which is appropriate for the needs of the society. In the case of the Member-at-large from industry, the Nominating Committee is expected to pick a individuals from a variety of companies, and to not favor any one company. If the position of President-elect is vacated, an election will occur at the next quarterly meeting.
b. APPOINTED POSITIONS:
The president will appoint another member to fill the appointed positions.

G. DUTIES OF EXECUTIVES
1) DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT - The president shall be the master of ceremonies at all meetings. In the absence of the president the vice president will undertake these duties. In the event of any decision being dead-locked, the president shall have the casting vote.
The president shall organize the educational program.
2) DUTIES OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT - The vice president will preside over all meetings in the absence of the president and will assume the duties of the president if he or she cannot complete their term in office.
3) DUTIES OF THE EXECUTIVE ADMINISTRATOR - The duties of the executive administrator are to assist and work with the president and the executive committee to maintain all aspects of NEFS function. Specific functions of Executive Administrator are listed in the job description for that position.
4) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY - The duties of the secretary are to assist and work with the executive administrator in maintaining documentation, minutes of meetings, notification of meetings, notification of members elected to the board or removed from the society and maintenance of records of presentations.
5) DUTIES OF THE TREASURER - The treasurer shall oversee administration of all funds entering into and from the society. The treasurer shall be responsible for compiling or seeking help to compile appropriate financial statements necessary for balancing the budget and for fulfilling the requirements of a non-profit organization. At the final meeting of each calendar year, a report will be presented to the Executive Committee on the condition of the finances with a budget agenda for the coming year.
The treasurer will watch over the matters of any scholarship funds and steer scholarship issues at Executive Committee meetings. The treasurer will also steer fund raising concepts.
6) DUTIES OF THE IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT-ELECT AND MEMBERS-AT-LARGE - The executives will attend Executive Committee meetings and participate in voting at such meetings. They may also represent the special interests of the geographical areas in which they are working.

H. DEFINITION OF A QUORUM AND MANAGEMENT OF MOTIONS AND MEETINGS
1) Quarterly meetings will be held in New England .
2) A quorum shall be defined as any official meeting where at least fifty members are present. There will be four meetings held each calendar year, usually in February, May, September, and December.
3) Election of executives will take place during final Fall meeting with the new executives taking responsibility as of the first meeting of the calendar year.
4) Additional society meetings may be called from time to time by request of the Executive Committee or after request by at least twenty members made to the Executive Committee. The purpose of the additional meetings will be for issues pertinent to the society that cannot wait until the next quarterly meeting.
5) A quorum of the Executive Committee will comprise at least six executives.
6) The Executive Committee meeting will usually precede the main meeting at each session. A summary of the Executive Committee meeting may be presented in the main meeting that follows.
7) Motions can be approved at any official meeting attended by a quorum.
8) SUBCOMMITTEES - The Executive Committee may approve a written request by any of the Society members to form and sponsor a subcommittee providing the subcommittee conforms to the following conditions:
All subcommittee members should be members of the Society. The sub-committee should adopt a formal statement of philosophies and goals which would include a statement of which members would qualify to attend the meetings and the number of such members who would comprise a quorum. Guests to the subcommittee can be invited on a one-time basis, as appropriate. Minutes of subcommittee meetings shall be presented to the President for review at the quarterly Executive Committee meetings. A copy of these minutes shall be kept in the permanent New England Fertility Society records. A yearly budget request shall be presented to the Executive Committee for approval. If a subcommittee does not contain a member already on the Executive Committee, a member of the subcommittee shall be appointed to be a non-voting member of the Executive Committee.
9) SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - The Executive Committee may approve a written request from a Society member to form and sponsor a special interest group. The member should present the concepts and goals in writing to the President. The Special Interest Group will be named, defined, and approved by the Executive Committee, provided the group conforms to the following conditions:
A yearly written report of activities by the Special Interest Group will be presented to the Executive Committee. A copy of this report shall be kept in the permanent New England Fertility Society records. All expenditures of NEFS funds by the Special Interest Group will be approved by the Executive Committee.

I. DUES
1) Dues shall be set by the Executive Committee at the Fall meeting.
2) Changes in the dues can be made by a majority vote of the Executive meeting.
3) Dues are payable upon remittance of a membership application or, a new applicant to the Society can pay the guest fee registration for the remaining meetings in that same year and at the beginning of the next year submit full dues amount.
4) Professional Courtesy for members with hardship: Members who are experiencing financial hardship may attend the meetings as Guests of the President.
5) The Executive Committee can authorize spending of up to $2,500 on any worthy charitable donation based on a majority vote of the Executive Committee; if over $2,500 the entire membership will vote.

J. RESEARCH FUNDS AND AWARDS
1) Funds for research and awards must be approved by a majority vote of a quorum of members of the Executive committee and then by a majority vote of a quorum of members of the society.
2) Special awards (i.e., Prize Paper Competition) will be determined by a subcommittee appointed by the Executive Committee. The New England Fertility Society may use funds from any and all sources (i.e., membership dues, guest fees, corporate donations) to subsidize these prizes with no obligations to a specific source.
3) A special Lifetime Achievement Award may be voted by the Executive Committee to an individual whose contributions to the field of infertility are worthy of special recognition by the New England Fertility Society.
4) Reproductive Technologies (formerly called Assisted Reproduction) is the official journal of the Society. Members are encouraged to submit abstracts for publication.

K. AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS
An amendment can be made to the Bylaws by a majority vote of a quorum of members at a quarterly meeting. Membership will be advised that ByLaws changes have been posted on the Society's web site at least 7 days prior to the quarterly meeting at which a vote will be taken. A majority vote of the Executive Committee at that same meeting will confirm the ByLaws changes.

AMENDED 2/6/92 ; 10/18/93 ; 1/19/95 ; 12/6/95 ; 6/3/96 ; 9/24/97 ; 11/30/99 ; 6/13/00 ; 12/10/00 ; 09/06/01
EDITED AND REVISED: 1/16/04

AMENDED: 3/12/05