TRAVEL EXPENSES

".. The expenses of the Secretariat shall be and travel expenses for members of the Executive Board and the Council may be part of the budget, but no remunerations or fee will be allowed to them."

Guidelines for reimbursement of travel expenses for Board Members and Council Members

• The budget of the Association may include a provision for travel expenses. This provision is not binding. Reimbursement of travel expenses will be effected only and when all other expenses being paid, the end of the year financial statement shows a positive balance. In no way should any reimbursement of travel expenses deplete the remaining fund. As a general guideline, travel reimbursement will be effected up to an amount equal to 50% of the total remaining positive balance.
• Travel expenses will no be reimbursed when meetings take place within the context of another event.
• Travel expenses will be reimbursed first to requesting Board Members, and then to Council Members.
• Any request for reimbursement must be made in writing and be accompanied by some kind of proof indicating that the institution will not reimburse the expenses (for example a copy of the request which has been made to the institution accompanied by the refusal).
• The reimbursement will take into account the travelling distances and the possibility for travel between train and plane. In all cases, within a distance of less than 900 km, reimbursement will not be more than the amount equal to a train fare. No reimbursement will be made for distances less than 40 km.
• Because each country offerts special travel gargains (Apex, superapex, charter etc.), the amount to be reimbursed, beside the consideration of distance, will be fixed for all requesting members, independently of the distance if the travelling is done by air.
• Request for reimbursement should not be made if the institution or any other kind of funding reimburse all or part of the trip.
• Every member has to understand that reimbursement will be made only in the most extreme conditions and depending on the state of the finances.
• All requests for reimbursement will be filed. Reimbursements will be effected at the end of the year when the accounting for the year is near closing, as long as the Association has to operate on a year to year budget, without any capital.

Adopted by the Executive Board, February 1992

POLICY STATEMENT NR. 2

REPRESENTATION OF INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS

Among the Association Members, EAHIL statutes recognize institutional full members, which are: libraries schools, bibliographical and research institutes, Faculty of medicine, etc. Institutional full members have voting rights (Art. 4, paragr. 1.2.).

It is a policy of EAHIL that each institutional member should be represented by a named person from the institution. The named person shall be designated by any person within the institution who can exercise such an authority.

The name of the officially designated person shall appear on the institution membership card. The named person shall be the only person to exercise voting rights within EAHIL, unless that named person has especially designated a proxy who must be a EAHIL Full member, as the case may arise and as is allowed by EAHIL statutes.

Adopted by the Executive Board, January 1993

POLICY STATEMENT No. 3

ATTENDANCE AT GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Anyone is allowed to attend the General Asssembly of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries (EAHIL) as an observer. As such, a non EAHIL member is allowed to speak from the floor. However, a non EAHIL member is not allowed to vote on any issue and should not in any circumstance be the designated beholder of a proxy form since only EAHIL Full members are allowed to exercise voting rights.

Adopted by the Executive Board, January 1993

POLICY STATEMENT NR. 4

SUB GROUPS OF THE EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR HEALTH INFORMATION AND LIBRARIES

What are sub groups?

EAHIL sub groups work within EAHIL to bring together groups of members on a subject, special interest, national, regional or other basis. They contribute to the strength of EAHIL and encourage members to take an active interest in professional affairs. They are financially self supporting an may not enter into sponsorship arrangements without the approval of the EAHIL Board. Sub groups are expected to be run in accordance with EAHIL's aims and objectives and to work in collaboration with other professional bodies.

How are sub groups formed?

The setting up of new sub groups must be approved by the Board. Normally proposals for a new sub group should take the form of a paper submitted to the Board which includes the following information:
the name of the proposed sub group a simple statement of the aims and objectives the names of at least 10 current, paid up members of the Association

How are sub group affairs managed?

The aim is to keep procedures as simple as possible. There must be a Chair, a Treasurer and a Secretary, these officers must be elected by secret ballot either at a meeting or by post, and there must be new elections at least every four years. A copy of all sub group papers (minutes, circulars, newsletters, etc.) must be sent to the EAHIL secretariat for the archive. The sub group must also submit a formal annual report to the EAHIL Board including the following information:
names of Chair, Treasurer and Secretary Details of activities in the past year Membership Summary of financial accounts

Who can be members of sub groups?

Only people and organisations who are paid up members of EAHIL. EAHIL depends for its income on members' subscriptions, and sub groups play an important role in attracting and retaining members. For example, sub group events should always have one price for members and a higher price for non members.

EAHIL support for sub groups

EAHIL officers and its secretariat are there to help sub groups operate as effectively as possible. Help can be practical, such as supervision of postal elections, or take the form of advice and guidance on practical or professional matters. Sub groups may use EAHIL's name and logo for communications, for announcements of events and for similar purposes.

The Newsletter

Subject to the Editor's discretion, EAHIL's Newsletter may be used to propose the setting up of new sub groups and to keep all members in touch with sub group news and activities.

How are sub groups dissolved?

The EAHIL Board may wind up a sub group if it has (a) become defunct, (b) failed to submit an annual report, (c) become bankrupt, or (d) failed to observe any of the other conditions set out in this document. Normally sub groups will only be wound up as a last resort and after other courses of action have been tried and failed.

Adopted by the Executive Board, January 1995