Introduction

AOA holds an annual Congress each year between June 1 and July 31. Each affiliated association is entitled to have delegates represent their association, as well as a number of votes that can be cast on matters that come before the House. In order for a member to be considered in good standing and be counted toward credentialing, the first quarter of the current year dues plus all prior balances must be paid in full.

Delegates

To determine the number of delegates by affiliate, each affiliate is entitled to one delegate for every count of fifty member units.

For members of its full dues-paying General classifications (inclusive of federal services and ascending dues) and Optometric Educators, each member is given a count of 1 in the determination of delegates.

Members that are in a classification obligated to pay less than full dues, excluding Optometric Educators, such as Partial Practice, Retired With Benefits, Life, Distinguished, and Post-Graduate members, are given a count of ½ a full paying member in determining the delegates.

Honorary, Student and Retired Without Benefits classifications do not get a count value in determining delegates and will not show at all in the reports.

An affiliate that has fewer than 50 members or has fewer than 50 members in good standing will automatically receive one delegate.

Votes

To determine the number of votes by affiliate, each affiliate is entitled to one vote for every count of ten member units.

For members of its full dues-paying General classifications (inclusive of federal services and ascending dues) and Optometric Educators, each member is given a count of 1 in the determination of votes.

Honorary, Student and Retired Without Benefits classifications do not get a count value in determining votes.

Members that are in a classification obligated to pay less than full dues, excluding Optometric Educators, such as Partial Practice, Retired with benefits, Life, Distinguished, and Post-Graduate members, are given a count of ½ a full paying member in determining the votes.

An affiliate that has fewer than 10 members or has fewer than 10 members in good standing will automatically receive one vote.

Processing of Credentials – The declaration date of credentialing is usually on April 30th of a given year, unless April 30th falls on a weekend, then the deadline becomes the following Monday at 5pm. (Please note the April 30 deadline date is contingent upon the date of the actual congress – however more than likely it will always be April 30).  Before this date, AOA submits to each affiliate preliminary credentialing reports throughout the months of January to April to inform each affiliate of the progress being made to determine the final number of delegates and votes after any payment is made to AOA. The generation of these reports is a manual process in current operations and is generated on a per affiliate basis. For a dues payment to be considered as received by AOA and be included in consideration of credentialing, the actual payment and the dues allocation to individual members must be in hand at AOA by 5:00 PM on the declaration date established for that years’ credentialing.  Payments can take up to a week to apply.  These payments must be included in the credentialing period, even if they are applied on a following day (backdated payments).

To meet this requirement, a batch process was created (USR_MBR103) to evaluate all orders for open balances, calculate the amount due for the first quarter, compare the amount that has been paid to the order line, and determine if the member has met or not met Credentialing requirements.

Associated Bylaw

Section 2. Congresses

A. An annual congress shall be held each year between the 1st of June and the 31st of July, or at such other time as is deemed appropriate, at a specific geographical location approved by the House of Delegates in accordance with procedures established by the Board of Trustees. The exact facility, time and duration of such annual congress shall be designated by the Board of Trustees. Should circumstances arise which would make the designated time and place unavailable or impracticable, the Board may select another time or place for such annual congress and shall give notice of such change to the affiliated associations and to the representatives of the other delegate groups as soon thereafter as reasonably possible.

B. A special congress shall be called by the Board of Trustees upon the written application of twelve (12) or more affiliated associations setting forth the purpose or purposes for which the special congress is being requested. In addition, the Board of Trustees may call a special congress on its own initiative. The Board of Trustees shall determine the time and place for holding a special congress, and written notice thereof shall be given to each affiliated association and to representatives of the other delegate groups no later than thirty (30) days prior to the time selected. The notifications shall specify the purpose or purposes of the special congress, and the business of such special congress shall be limited to such purpose or purposes except as may be otherwise approved by unanimous vote of the House of Delegates at such special congress.

Section 3. Delegates

A. Delegates Representing Affiliated Associations.

1. Each affiliated association shall be entitled to one (1) delegate for each fifty (50) of its members and optometric educator members, except that any student, honorary, or associate members shall not be counted at all, and any members, except optometric educator members, who pay less than the full active member dues (not taking into account the reductions in dues permitted under Paragraphs C.8., E and F of Section 2 of Article I of these Bylaws) shall be counted as one-half (1/2) member. A member shall only be eligible to be counted in the foregoing calculation if the proper amount of dues owed by that member for the Last Quarter (as defined in Article II, Section 11) and all previous financial quarters have been paid and received (not merely postmarked) at this Association by the Credentialing Deadline (as defined in Article II, Section 11). However, an affiliated association having less than fifty (50) members under the foregoing calculation shall nonetheless be entitled to one (1) regular delegate.

2. The delegate strength of an affiliated association for the annual congress shall be determined from the records of this Association as of the last Business Day of the Last Quarter (as defined in Article II, Section 11).

3. Each affiliated association may also select one (1) alternate delegate for each delegate to which it is entitled under this section.

4. The president and secretary of each affiliated association, at least fifteen (15) days prior to the first day of the annual congress, shall certify to the secretary-treasurer of this Association the names of the delegates and alternate delegates who shall represent the affiliated association at the congress. The certification shall also state that all attributable quarterly dues of this Association collected by the affiliated association have been remitted to this Association by the Credentialing Deadline (as defined in Article II, Section 11).

B. Delegates Representing Student Members.

1. Student members at each school or college of optometry in the United States, accredited or pre-accredited by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education as of May 31 of each year, shall be entitled to select one (1) delegate, and the affiliated association representing student members shall be entitled to three (3) delegates selected by such affiliated association.

2. Such student members and the affiliated association representing student members shall be entitled to select one (1) alternate delegate for each delegate to which they are entitled under this section.

Section 5. Voting and Debates

A. Each affiliated association shall be entitled to one (1) vote on any matter coming before the House for each ten (10) of its members and optometric educator members, except that any student, honorary, or associate members shall not be counted at all, and any members, except optometric educator members, who pay less than the full active member dues (not taking into account the reductions in dues permitted under Paragraphs C.8., E and F of Section 2 of Article I of these Bylaws) shall be counted as one-half (1/2) member. A member shall only be eligible to be counted in the foregoing calculation if the proper amount of dues owed by that member for the Last Quarter (as defined in Article II, Section 11) and all previous financial quarters have been paid and received (not merely postmarked) at this Association by the Credentialing Deadline (as defined in Article II, Section 11). However, each affiliated association shall be entitled to at least one (1) vote. The voting strength of the delegations representing each affiliate association shall be determined from the records of this Association as of the last Business Day of the Last Quarter (as defined in Article II, Section 11). The delegation representing the student members shall be entitled to three (3) votes on any matter coming before the House. The total vote of each delegation may be cast by its delegate or delegates present when the vote is called.

B. Each delegate shall be entitled to the privileges of the floor and to participate in debates and make motions on any matter coming before the House.

C. In the event that a delegate is unable to attend a Congress or is otherwise absent from a session of the House, the delegation shall designate any of its alternate delegates to act in place of such absent delegate. A distinguished member or a member of the Board of Trustees who is an ex officio delegate shall not be entitled to designate an alternate delegate to act in the delegate’s place.

D. Distinguished members and members of the Board of Trustees who are ex officio delegates and delegates representing sections shall not be entitled to vote, but may attend sessions of the House and shall be entitled to participate in debates and make motions on any matter coming before the House.

Timeline

Batch Process

To run this process, select Reporting/Job Submission and enter USR_MBR103 for the Application.  This batch process is combined with the Suspension Process (see Suspension Process document) to allow for staff to run both processes at once to save time.  The process can be run for one affiliate or all affiliates at once. 

Parameters include:   

Calculation

Only AOA product order lines are considered in the calculations.

The threshold amount is calculated in the following manner:

Sum of product price from all order lines * (# of months remaining after cutoff date/12)

Example:

Cutoff date (hard-coded): 3/31/2013

Product price: $795 dues + $85 PR = $880

880 * (9/12) = $660

The threshold amount is $660, meaning that the order cannot have a balance owed that is greater than $660.  This includes any prior year balances as well.  Any member with a prior year balances does NOT meet for Credentialing.

The credentialing requirement amount is then calculated in the following manner:

Sum of product price from all order lines - threshold amount

With the example above, the credentialing requirement amount would be $880 - $660 = $220.

The member must have paid at least $220 by 5/31 in order to meet for Credentialing. 

Waivers, writeoffs, adjustments are also considered with payments in determining the account balance and met/not met status. For instance, if a writeoff of $250 had occurred prior to this process, the order balance would be $630 falling below the $660 threshold.  The Credentialing requirement amount would be -$30.  As long as the Credentialing requirement amount is <= $0, the member will be considered as met for Credentialing.

One key note about the Credentialing process:  While the member has to be active prior to 3/31 to be considered for Credentialing, the process is hard-coded to count any payments, writeoffs, waivers or adjustments with a transaction date of 4/30 or prior.  Many times, this process will carryover into May, and the Dues Accounting team will work in adjustment batches with a 4/30 date during early May.

Reports

Reports include: