STATUTE

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Statute of the Scientific Association GATE – Italy

Gifted and Talented Education-Italy

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STATUTE OF THE ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL PROMOTION

“Gifted and Talented Education” GATE-Italy

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Article 1 - NAME

It consists of, in accordance with the Law 383/00, the association of the social promotion named “Gifted and Talented Education- Italy” that pursues the exclusive purpose of social, human, civil solidarity and scientific research. The GATE-Italy is a non-profit, non-political scientific association of social promotion, which may be joined to other associations or schools whose purposes are compatible with those of the association.

Business activities or participation in these are not permitted, except those necessary for the activities of professional training, continuous training, and science along with publishing related activities.

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Article 2 - HEADQUARTER

The association is based at the Institute served by its own President. The association currently has its headquarters in Via Padova Monselice 15/A and may establish or close secondary branches or sections in other cities of Italy or abroad by resolution of the Board of Directors.

The headquartercan be transferred by simple resolution of an assembly.

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Article 3 - DURATION

The duration of the association is unlimited.

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Article 4 - ACTIVITIES

The association is disciplined from the present statute and from any regulations that, approved in accordance with the bylaws, may be necessary to regulate better specific association relationships or activities.

The activity of the members is mainly performed at no charge. The reimbursements of expenses incurred and documented for carrying out the activities within the limits set by the shareholders are admitted. The association, in cases of particular necessity, can assume employees, make use of self-employed work, or resort to its own members.

The association was formed in compliance with the rules of the Constitution and of the Italian Civil Code and current legislation.

It will adopt the procedures required by the law to obtain legal recognition of moral entity.

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Article 5 - PRINCIPLES

GATE-Italy is a non-profit Scientific Association that pursues the exclusive purpose of social and civil solidarity as mentioned above.

The association is nonpartisan and adheres to the following principles: no-profit, democratic structure, elective offices of the association in accordance with the principle of the equal opportunities between women and men, and the gratuitousness of the Board.

Article 6 - ACTIVITIES

The association will operate in a specific and structured manner and its aim is the development, promotion, implementation of projects of social solidarity, including the implementation of scientific and socio educational initiatives on the theme regarding the quality of the talents in the education, social, and working fields. The spirit and practice of the association have their origin in accordance with the principles of the Italian Constitution and are based on the full respect of the human, cultural and spiritual development of the person and of the equal opportunities.

1) To pursue social goals, the scientific association GATE- Italy in particular aims to:

-To add sensibility to the professional world, such as the scholastic one and also in public opinion in general on the issue of the difference in talents (qualitative and quantitative), through out the development and life cycle of the children.

- To promote studies and research in various areas of intervention: aimed at the school world, that of social and health services, to those of the national and international academic world etc.

- To promote tools and protocols of psychological, educational and social support, as well as specific training and professional sustainment. The aim is to support the human potential by helping everyone to harmonize the way of doing and knowledge through the means of their own talents for the span of their entire life cycle.

In relation to the purposes for which it is established, the association aims to:

- Promote the institution of a Centro Nazionale GATE-Italy (National Centre GATE-Italy) of research and intervention on methodologies of support, and strengthening of the talents of every child during the entire life, as a perspective of life long learning.

The Center will also support young talents with studies and work orientation, promoting excellence in every area (even at university and entrepreneurial level). To launch the Center, the Association will operate using different ways of financing:

- by own resources

- by public resources

- by donations

- specific projects that will rely on various sources of national and international funding

- banking foundations

Also by establishing protocols and/or conventions with the public administration, research centers, universities and foundations.

2) Promote the research and training to contrast the difficulties that the gifted children encounter at school, in the family, cooperating with the institutions and with the services that deal with the development along with the education.

3) Work to promote the best educational and professional opportunities f or children or students to give value to the various talents in the working world.

4) Offer teachers of all levels and researchers a qualified point of reference to obtain information and support.

5) Offer all executive figures in public administrations (for example MIUR, Regional Education Offices, and Regions) a point of reference to support the new guidelines and programming.

Contribute to programs of study and research undertaken.

Directly perform studies and research.

Create a collection as complete as possible of the scientific, technical and popular documentation.

Publish and/or disclose monographs, documents, publications and other means of knowledge aimed at education and information actions, implemented on computer media.

Organize congresses and meetings, training courses, courses for culture and improvement, participate in conferences, conferences and meetings on themes related to the aims of the Association.

Promote contacts between operators, including foreigners, with various titles are concerned or occupy themselves with giftedness.

 

Article 7 - COMMITTEES

The Association is open to specialists: doctors, psychologists, rehabilitation therapists, speech therapists, educators, teachers, researchers and entrepreneurs. However, it is also open to the supporters of the theme in question. It is divided into four committees: Scientific Committee, the School Committee, Ethics Committee, Technical Committee, each of them represent the areas where it is needed to operate. The committees have the task of directing the programming of the multiannual interventions; of the research; of the scholarships; advice for competence; to help the President and Technical Group in the work performance and objectives along with the purposes of the Association. The opinions are advisory but not binding.

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Article 8 - MEMBERS, SECTORS, AND MEMBERSHIP FEE

There is an unlimited number of members of the association. All those who identify themselves in the Statute and intend to collaborate to achieve the same social aim. Those who wish to apply and be admitted as members can be both legal people or individuals, and even associations. This happens by submitting a written application on which the decision relies on the Board of Directors. Temporary participation in collective life is not permitted.

The following members that are part of the Association are:

- Founding Members

Founding members are those, individuals along with legal people, who have signed a constitutive act and those who have subsequently, with an appealable and final deliberation by the management committee, admitted with a qualification to their effective work in the associative environment.

- Operating Members

Operating members areindividuals that adhere to the association paying a mainly free and voluntary activity according to the procedures established by the Governing Council. These will give a specific levy established by the same Council.

- Honorary Members

Honorary members are composed of both individuals and legal people along with entities that have acquired particular credit for their work on behalf of the association or who are unable to join due to the effective expressed normative prohibition.

- Supporting Members and Promoters

Supporting members are all those who contribute to the aims of the association in a free manner or through a type of contribution that could be money or other.

Every member is to pay a registration fee annually established by the Executive Board. Honorary members are not required to pay membership fees. The membership fee is personal, not transferable, non-refundable, and cannot be transferred to third parties or revalued.

 

Article 9 - RIGHTS OF THE MEMBERS

Members that fulfil the requirements of the annual membership fee are entitled to:

- participate in activities, scientific meetings, and events organized by the Association

- participate in assemblies with voting rights

- to obtain the reimbursement of eventual expenses incurred and documented in the name or behalf of the Association and/or in any case for the performance of activities or related institutional assignments.

 

Article 10 - MEMBER OBLIGATIONS

The members are required to comply with the statutory dispositions as well as the directives and measures that are issued by bodies of the association. This is done to abide decisions and deliberation of its various branches and follow the profession along with the ethical rules established in the Regulations.

 

Article 11 - LOSS OF MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall be lost due to the following:

- Death

- Withdrawal: the member who wishes to withdraw is he who does not intend to further collaborate in the activities of the Association by giving a written communication to the President

-  Missed payment of the membership fees: the withdrawal on the decision on the behalf of the Governing Council after six months from the missed deadline of the annual membership fee.

-  Resignation: Any member may withdraw from the Association at any time as long as a written notice has been sent to the Governing Council; such withdrawal will take place immediately. However, the payment for the current year is obliged.

- Expulsion: The Governing Council may decide on expulsion, prior to the objection of the charges, and in concern of other members, for contrast in behaviour regarding the present Statute or if serious reasons were brought up that make the membership no longer compatible. The exclusion may be declared by the Governing Boardif the member commits serious misdemeanour towards the obligations of the members, both because of disorder and disagreements between the members. The Governing Council will notify the expulsion of a member by  certified mail.

The excluded member may appeal to this decision before the Collegio dei Probiviri(Board of Arbitrators) an ethics and disciplinary committee that decides on the appeal within 30 days of receiving notice. The deceased, excluded or withdrawing member  cannot claim any rights to the assets of the Association, nor claim the refund of the paid membership fees.

In general, the associates who have still not ceased to belong to the association may not require the contributions paid and have no rights to the assets of the association.

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Article 12 - ECONOMIC RESEOURCES

Economic resources for the achievement of the purposes in which the association is engaged and to cover the costs of operation of the association will be given by:

A) the annual membership fees established by the Governing Council

B) any income from associated activities (events and initiatives)

C) any other contribution, including donations, bequests and reimbursements due to conventions that members, non members, public or private entities, give for the attainment of the aims of the association.

D) contributions of international organizations

E) incomes from commercial activities and marginal production, supplies of goods and services to associates and third parties.

The indivisible assets consist of:

- movable and immovable property

- donations, bequests and inheritances

Even during the life of the Association, individual members may not requests the division of the common resources. The profits of the activities, management surpluses as well as funds, reserves or capital, will not be distributed, not even indirectly, during the life of the organization unless the destination or distribution are not imposed by the law and therefore, there will be brought as new, capitalized, and utilized for the performance of the institutional activities as well as the achievement of the goals pursued by the association.

 

Article 13 - BRANCHES OF THE ASSOCIATION

a) meeting/assembly of the members

b) the Governing Council

c) the President

d) the Scientific Committee

e) the School Committee

f) the Ethic Committee

g) the Technical Committee

h) the Board of Auditors

i) Arbitrators

All the elected offices are free, only the reimbursement of the documented expenses are permitted.

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Article 14 - MEMBER MEETING/ASSEMBLY

The meeting or assembly lawfully established represents all of the members and its deliberations taken in accordance with the law and the present statute obliges all the associates to attend.

The assembly can be ordinary and extraordinary.

The assembly is the highest decision-making branch.

In particular the assembly has the task:

a) to ratify the entity of the annual shares established by the Governing Council

b) to approve the estimated and final budget; to deliberate on the modifications of the association Statute and the possible dissolution of the association.

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Article 15

The assembly is convened at the registered office or elsewhere as long as in the national territory at least once a year within the month of April.

It must also be convened whenever it is requested by the President of the association, the Governing Council or by at least one third of the members.

The assembly is not only convened by the listed above but also by a designated person, by a registered email sent to the associates or delivered by hand at eight days before the date of the meeting, or by posting a notice of the convocation at the association register at the headquarter at least fifteen days before the date of the meeting, or also by fax and email. The argument of the day, the date, the time and place of the meeting will have to be specified in both the first and possible second convocation. The assembly cannot be convened on second call on the same day of the first call.

 

Article 16

The members that have paid the membership fees have the right to intervene in the assembly. A designated person can represent them by a written delegation. It is not allowed to appoint more than one proxy to the same person. It is up to the president of the assembly to ascertain the regularity of the proxies.

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Article 17

Every member has the right to vote. The deliberations are made under majority votes and in the first convocation with the physical presence or delegation of at least half of the members. However, in the second convocation, the deliberations are still under majority vote no matter the number of participants. Abstention votes will be taken in consideration when counting the majority votes.

A favourable vote of at least seventy-five per cent of the members, present in both of the convocations, along with the approval of the Governing Council is needed to allow modifications of the present statute or to deliberate the dissolution of the association. This favourable vote and approval are also needed for allowing a possible property disposal.

The assembly is chaired by the president of the association or in his absence by the vice-president. In the absence of the latter, a member of the Governing Council designated by the same assembly will substitute him.

The secretarial functions are performed by the secretary of the association, or in his absence by a person appointed by the Assembly.

The assembly transcripts will be compiled by the secretary of the assembly, and signed by the latter and by the president.

The decisions taken by the assembly, both ordinary and extraordinary, occupy all members, even those that are absent or dissenting.

Every member has the right to consult the work transcript compiled by the secretary and allowed by the president have the right;

-  of information and control established by laws,

- of access to documents,

- to deliberate

- access to budgets, reports and records of the Association

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Article 18 - GOVERNING COUNCIL

The Governing Council is composed of a number not inferior to three members and not superior to eleven including the president who is elected from the assembly. The assembly elects the Governing Council, determining from time to time the number of the members. The Governing Council’s task is to execute the general guidelines established by the assembly and to promote any initiative to achieve social goals.

The Council is also responsible to take all necessary measures for the ordinary and extraordinary administration, the organization and operation of the association, the hiring of employees, to arrange the budget of the association that subsequently undergoes approval, to establish annual membership fees.

The Council may devolve to one or more advisers to carry out certain tasks and delegate the studies of specific problems to working groups.

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Article 19

The members of the Governing Council hold office for three years and may be reappointed. If one or more advisers are missing, the council provides on substituting them with a member or members that in the last assembly election are next in the voting list.

In any case, the new advisers expire along with those who are in charge at the time of their appointment.

If more than half of the advisers are missing, the president must convene a meeting for new elections.

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Article 20

The Governing Council will appoint the vice president, the treasurer and secretary among its members. It will be in power of the Governing Council to prepare and draw up a special regulation that, by complying with the provisions of the present statute, will have to regulate the practical aspects and details of the life of the association. The regulation must be submitted for approval to the assembly, which will decide according to majority.

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Article 21

The Governing Council meets by invitation of the president whenever there is the opportunity, or by a written request by at least two members of the council.

Every member of the Governing Council must be invited to the meetings at least three days before; only in case of emergency the council may be convened within twenty-four hours. The convocation of the meeting can be informed by registered mail or delivered by hand, by fax, email and telegram. The convocation shall indicate the topics on the agenda.

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Article 22

For the validity of the meeting of the Governing Council, the presence of majority of the members is necessary. The meeting is chaired by the president of the association or in his absence from the vice president. In absence of the latter, the meeting will be chaired by another member of the oldest council for participation in the association.

The secretarial functions are carried out by the secretary of the association or in his absence by a designated person chairing the meeting. The resolutions are passed by a majority vote; in the event of a tie, the vote of the chairman prevails. The resolutions will be prepared and signed by the president and the secretary.

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Article 23

The treasurer is responsible for keeping and updating the financial records along with preparing the budget of the association. The secretary keeps all the other books.

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Article 24 - THE PRESIDENT

The president is elected by the assembly and is appointed for three years. The first appointment is ratified in the constituent act.

The president is the legal representative of the association and is chairman of meetings of both the Governing Council as well as the Assembly of the members. The president takes all measures in the interest of the association, although they may fall under jurisdiction of the Governing Council in case of urgent matters and it is obliged to report all that passed to the president in the next meeting.

The president has the powers of the ordinary management of the association and the Governing Council may delegate other powers to him, for example extraordinary administration.

The President is responsible for:

- prepare the guidelines of the annual activities program and mid term of the association;

- compile the annual progress report on the activities of the association;

- oversee the facilities and services of the association;

- determine the organizational criteria that guarantee efficiency, effectiveness, functionality, punctual identification of opportunities and needs for the association and members;

The president locates, establishes, and is the chairman of operating, technical and scientific committees determining the duration, operating procedures, goals and compensation. In case of absence or other impediment of the president the vice president will substitute him.

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Article 25- THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

Composed of members of the national and international scientific community that have interests related to the themes of GATE- Italy.

The principle goals of the scientific committee are:

1. The promotion of training the staff responsible for the identification of giftedness in children in their development years;

2. The spread of correct approaches that follow the identification criteria and support validated by the international scientific research;

3. The promotion of research and scientific activities to increase the knowledge in the field;

4. The organization of an International Congress every two years;

5. The promotion of scholarships and research

6. The promotion of scientific and popular publications

7. Guidelines for the multiannual program

 

Article 26 - SCHOOL COMMITTEE

Brings teachers and educators together with the aim to promote a development of educational tools and operating methods that respond more to the needs of the gifted children.

The Association GATE – Italy intends to promote all activities to support teachers, to cooperate with school authorities to introduce specific educational support in the school and to achieve, as a final result, the training of teachers able to work effectively with the gifted child in classroom context.

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Article 27 - ETHIC COMMITTEE

The Ethic Committee is an independent branch and brings together a representative of the Scientific Committee, a representative of the School Committee, an external representative of the Parent Association and, if necessary, a representative indicated by the Ministry(CNE), a representative of the National Ethics Committee and/or a representative of the Regione Veneto (Venetian region).

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Article 28 - TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

It constitutes a technical group consisting of a minimum of three to a maximum of five professionals, who have a documented professionalism in the field and endorsed by the Scientific Committee. This committee and its technical group are the specialist operating branch that works with the services of the territory providing specialized interventions on request of the respective entities.

The instruments with which the Technical Committee intend to work with are:

- Construction of the multidisciplinary team of specialists;

- Seminars and conferences

- Seminars to raise awareness on the issues of identification, early intervention, educational intervention, and family counselling.

- Specialized face to face training for the members

- Accredited ECM training courses

- Training for school operators and public administration

- Training courses for parents

- Orientation-training courses also addressed to its members

- Applied research

- Scholarship provision

- Research proposals

-  Scientific and popular seminars

- Promote fund raising activities and in particular promote activities in the regional, national and European areas

The association uses every useful instrument to achieve the social goals and in particular the cooperation with the public administration even through the conclusion of appropriate agreements, participation in other associations, companies or entities whose objects are similar or related to its own.

The association may also conduct any other cultural or recreational activities and may perform any economic or financial, security or real estate operations, for the better attainment of its purposes.

The association may, solely for the purpose of self-financing and non-profit, pursue marginal activity foreseen by the current legislation. The Association is open to anyone who shares principles of solidarity.

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Article 29 - ARBITRATORS

The assembly may, when it is appropriate, elect a Board of Arbitrators with a maximum number of three and is appointed with a period of three years, which are mandated under accordance to be determined, to supervise the activities of the association and to resolve disputes that may arise among the members. The deliberations of the Board of Arbitrators are unappealable.

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Article 30 - BOARD OF AUDITORS

Three members and two alternates compose the Board of Auditors of the association. The board is named by the assembly and is appointed for three years. It has the duty to participate in the meetings of the Governing Council and assembly, verify and monitor the work of the Governing Council and the work of the association to verify their compliance with the statutory purposes and current regulations.

The examinations are recorded in a book. The board may also address to the president and to the members of the Governing Council the recommendations it deems useful in order to enable the best performance of their duties in compliance with the rules and statute. The compensation of the members of the board, if external to the association, is determined by the Governing Council in accordance with the law.

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Article 31 - BUSINESS YEAR

The business year closes the 31st of December of each year and with the closure of the business the budget will be formed which will be presented to the assembly for approval within four months of the closure of the business year.

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Article 32 - DISSOLUTION

In case of dissolution, the association’s assets cannot be divided among the members but, by proposal of the Governing Council approved by the assembly, it will be entirely donated to other charity associations operating in the same or similar field.

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Article 33 - FINAL REGULATIONS

The norms and principles of the Civil Code have validity although they are not contained in the present statute.

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