| IAPRI Announces Changes to its By-Laws & Operating Policies The membership has approved changes to the by-laws and the Board of Directors have changed the Operating Policies to coincide with the by-laws. This completes the last steps in a review and revision process that the board has been working on for the past few years. Most of these last changes are related to IAPRI membership categories and types. Previously, there was three membership levels: Full, Corporate, and Affiliate. Corporate members had all the benefits and duties of membership, but without a vote. The by-laws were changed to have three categories of membership: Full, Affiliate, and Other and allow the Board to establish the types of membership. This was approved by the membership vote. Now the Board has changed the Operating Policies to establish two types of membership under the Full category: Institutional and Corporate. The number of Corporate memberships is capped at twenty-five percent (25%) of the Full membership category. The adopted by-laws also caps the number of directors from Corporate members at 25%. Currently, the Board has not created any type of membership under the Other category, but is consider such things as Honorary Member, Life Member, and maybe some form of individual membership for researchers working in packaging, but at institutes with no real direct connection to packaging. Here are the Operating Policies requirements for Full Membership. Institutional Membership in IAPRI is open to institutions where research into packaging or the development of test methods in packaging or development and implementation of higher educational programs are a focused center of activity. The institutions must be willing to exchange information with other members of IAPRI regarding the results of their research at conferences, symposia, and within working groups. Corporate Membership is available to for-profit entities having a demonstrable interest in packaging research, testing and/or higher education activities and wanting to receive recognition as supporters of IAPRI. The entities should be willing to exchange information with other members of IAPRI regarding the results of their research at conferences, other events, and within working groups. Corporate membership is limited to a maximum of twenty-five (25%) of the Full Membership category members. Here is a link to the complete By-Laws https://www.iapri.org/docs/IAPRI_By-Laws_Adopted_October_21_2020.pdf and the Operating Policies https://www.iapri.org/docs/Operating_Policies_Adopted_11-20-2020.pdf Published: 11/23/20 |