Intersociety Advisory Committee (ISAC) Standard Operating Procedures


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Standard Operating Procedures for the Ad Hoc Intersociety Advisory Committee (ISAC) of the ISMRM
Last updated 10 November 2008

Purpose of ISAC

	To exchange information on topics, venues and dates of future meetings, courses, and workshops of all partner organizations represented in ISAC;
	To facilitate and initiate the organization of joint meetings, courses, and workshops (following the initiation of such a cooperation, details need to be defined in separate contracts);
	To gather information on national regulations (safety, accreditation, reimbursement of MR examinations, etc.) and regional statistical data (e.g., number of MR systems in a country, average number of patients per day, etc.)
	To exchange membership lists and lists of department chairs for invitations to meetings, to special programs (e.g., Zavoisky stipend program, clinical resident program, etc.), or for the organization of surveys (e.g. for statistical data), and polls;
	To exchange and initiate the production of educational material;
	To facilitate the implementation of structures that allow closer cooperation between ISAC members in the future.

Basic Idea for the Organization of ISAC

ISAC provides a basis for communication on pertinent issues and is solely informational; therefore, all partner organizations remain legally independent from ISMRM and vice versa. The governing body of ISAC is the Board of Trustees of the ISMRM. The organization shall thus be similar to the "Corporate Member Advisory Committee" (CMAC) of the ISMRM.

Membership of ISAC

Any organization working in similar fields as ISMRM, in particular any society, group of societies, or governmental entity may join ISAC. No membership of individuals is foreseen. Applications to join ISAC are made to the ISMRM office and should include a description of the applying organization, (e.g., mission statement), an official approval by the applying organization, such as minutes or a statement from the President, and an up-to-date list of the names and addresses of the officers and administrative representatives. A group of societies can apply for membership in ISAC with a list of the individual societies, including a short and signed statement of their representatives that they agree to join ISAC and whom they assign to represent the group.

The Board of Trustees of ISMRM will approve applications for membership of ISAC. Partner organizations will be asked to acknowledge membership annually, at which occasion they will also be asked for an updated list of representatives and officers. Partner organizations can withdraw their membership by a letter from the pertinent legal representative of that organization (typically the President).

The chairs of the Workshop, Meeting Coordination, Global Development, and Safety Committees are ex officio members of ISAC. The chairs of the chapters of ISMRM are ex officio members of ISAC.

Chair and Administration of ISAC

The President of ISMRM appoints the chair of ISAC, who has to be an individual member of the ISMRM. The tenure of the chair is one year, beginning and ending at the Annual Meeting of ISMRM. A reappointment of the chairperson is possible.

The ISMRM office is responsible for the administration of ISAC, in particular for taking the minutes.

Meetings of ISAC

The partner organizations in ISAC, including ISMRM, may send up to three representatives who are not necessarily individual members of ISMRM. Typically, leading officers of the partner organizations should represent their organization (resulting in a "summit" character of ISAC). The chair of ISAC can allow the presence of more than three representatives upon request.

One regular meeting of ISAC will be held during the Annual Meeting of ISMRM. Additional meetings of ISAC may be called by the Executive Committee of ISMRM or by two-thirds of the ISAC members. ISMRM establishes and maintains a listserver and a web page for ISAC.

Finances of ISAC

The ISAC membership does not require fees.

ISMRM pays the costs for meetings of ISAC, as well as for administration, including mailing, listserver and web page.

Travel and accommodation of the representatives from partner organizations are not covered by ISMRM

Costs for other activities of ISAC have to be approved by the Executive Committee of ISMRM.

Rights of the Members of ISAC

Approved members of ISAC have the right to use the expression and logo "Member of the Intersociety Advisory Committee of ISMRM."

Members of ISAC have no right to act on behalf of ISMRM, of ISAC, or of one of the other members of ISAC. This includes in particular contacts with the media, promotions of workshops and meetings or actions that involve financial commitments. In turn, ISMRM has no right to act on behalf of one of the other members of ISAC.

Due to its informational character, ISAC will not vote on any formal and binding decision. If appropriate, the chairperson may initiate a poll amongst its membership on pertinent issues, which may serve as a basis for decisions of the individual organizations. Independent of their size, individual organizations have one vote in such a poll. The voices of ISMRM chapters and chairs of committees will be regarded as independent of the parent Society in such a poll. Subject of such a poll can be recommendations to the partner organizations or to other ISMRM committees.

Within ISMRM, recommendations from ISAC can result in decisions of the ISMRM Executive Committee or the Board of Trustees; however, these decisions are only binding for ISMRM, not for the individual partner organizations.

If ISAC recommends further actions (e.g., to organize a joint meeting of one of the partner organizations with ISMRM), special contracts have to be negotiated or other committees of ISMRM have to be charged by the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees.