Articles

Download the articles of association (german only)

Below you can find an English translation of our organisation’s articles of association. Please note that the original German version is the only legally binding version.

Contents

• Name, registered location and purpose
• Membership, funds and liability
• Organisation
• Sundry and final provisions

When referring to people, it can be assumed that these articles apply equally to men and women, whatever the gender of the language used.

Name, registered location and purpose

Art. 1 Name
The name of the association is “Informatik Alumni ETH” and is established in accordance with articles 60 ff. of the Swiss Civil Code (hereafter “the association”). The abbreviated name of the association is “IAETH”.

Art. 2 Domicile
The association is domiciled in Zurich, postal address Informatik Alumni ETH, c/o Abteilungssekretariat IIIC, CAB F62, ETH-Zentrum, CH-8092 Zurich.

Art. 3 Zweck
The association exists to

• Encourage contact among its members, with students and ETH Zurich
• Represent its members’ interests with respect to other parties
• Offer relevant and attractive services to its members.

Membership, funds and liability

Art. 4 Membership
¹ The association consists of ordinary members (hereafter “alumni”) as well as honorary members.
² Membership as an alumnus is open to certificate, diploma and doctorate degree holders of ETH Zurich’s IIIC department, diploma, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degree holders of ETH Zurich’s computer science department, current and former members of the ETH Zurich computer science department teaching staff, and master’s degree holders from ETH Zurich’s “Computational Biology and Bioinformatics” and “Robotics Systems and Control” programmes. The general assembly decides on exceptional cases at the request of the board.
³ Alumni who wish to join must submit their application in writing.
⁴ On the suggestion of an alumnus, individuals who have been of particular service either to the association or to computer science in Switzerland may be appointed as honorary members.
⁵ Applications to join are reviewed by the board. If all conditions are met and the membership fee has been paid, the person becomes a provisional member. This is then ratified at the general assembly (usually all provisional members at one go) and the person becomes a full member. In exceptional cases, a member can request an application to be rejected having stated their reasons. The application in question must then be decided upon separately.

Art. 5 Rights and obligations
¹ Alumni are invited to the association’s events and can make use of the association’s services. They have full voting rights and can stand for office.
² Honorary members are invited to the association’s events and can make use of the association’s services. They have no voting rights and may not stand for office. They are exempted from any obligation to contribute in accordance with Art. 8.

Art. 6 Leaving the association
Anyone leaving the association must submit a written statement. The yearly membership fee will not be refunded (including in part) to anyone leaving or excluded from the association.

Art. 7 Exclusions
¹ Should a member fail to make their contribution in accordance with Art. 8, that member is served one overdue notice before being summarily excluded. They are able to rejoin after paying the dues by submitting a statement to that effect.
² An alumnus can request the exclusion of any member who is not fulfilling their other obligations to the association, violating the association’s articles and agreements, either intentionally or through negligence, or else behaving in any other way that shows them unfit for membership.
³ Exclusion in accordance with paragraph 2 is decided by a simple majority from the alumni present at the general assembly. Having been excluded for serious reasons pursuant to paragraph 2, if such a member seeks to rejoin their application is to be treated as an exceptional case, and must be decided upon separately.
⁴ Anyone threatened with exclusion in line with paragraph 2 is to be specially notified that their potential exclusion is on the agenda for the meeting when they are invited to the general assembly.
⁵ Exclusion takes place without stating the reason to the member to be excluded.

Art. 8 Financing and funds
¹ The association finances itself through the yearly contributions of its alumni, voluntary donations, and any income from third parties.
² The yearly membership fee for alumni is no more than CHF 100. The exact fee is set each association year by the general assembly. It can also decide to implement concessions for particular member groups – e.g. new members – or waive the fee entirely.
³ Members who leave or are excluded from the association have no claim on its financial resources.
⁴ Should the association be disbanded, the general assembly decides on what to do with the association funds in line with the aims of the association.

Art. 9 Liability
All association liabilities are covered exclusively by the association funds.

Art. 10 Data protection
¹ Externally, the association guarantees to act in accordance with Swiss federal and Zurich canton data protection regulation.
² By being formally accepted into the association, each member gives their consent to their data being used within the association and within the ETH Alumni association. Entry into the membership directory is compulsory.
³ Within the association, each member has the right to use data that the association has made available internally for their own private and business purposes. In this, all members are obliged to ensure data protection in the same way as the association itself. In particular, data made freely available within the association must not be passed on to external third parties, either for viewing or further processing. Any member found to be contravening this regulation will be immediately excluded.

Organisation

Art. 11 Board
¹ The board comprises the following members:

• President
• Vice president
• Treasurer
• Secretaries

² Board members are elected for a period of one year. There is no restriction on the number of times they can be re-elected.
³ The board is responsible for any business not given to another body.
⁴ The board requires at least three board members to be present to be quorate.
⁵ The board makes decisions based on a simple majority. The president has the deciding vote.

Art. 12 General assembly
¹ The general assembly is the association’s supreme governing body and has the following responsibilities:

• Electing the board
• Electing the auditors
• Approving the minutes of the last general assembly
• Approving the board’s activity report
• Approving the financial and audit reports
• Determining the budget and yearly fees
• Donations
• Ratification of new members and returning members in accordance with Art. 7 paragraph 3
• Appointment of honorary members
• Exclusions
• Modifications and additions to the articles
• Disbanding the association
• Disposing of the association funds should the association be disbanded.

² The president convenes the general assembly once per year (annual general meeting). He is required to call an extraordinary general meeting if requested to do so either by the board or at least one fifth of the alumni.
³ Invitations and agenda items must be sent to members at least 30 days in advance of the meeting. The president should be notified of agenda items in writing at least 40 days before the general assembly.
⁴ The general assembly is led by the president, or the vice president if the president is incapacitated.
⁵ Each properly convened general assembly is to be considered quorate, irrespective of the number of eligible voters present.
⁶ Unless otherwise dictated by the articles, decisions are made based on a simple majority of alumni present.
⁷ The following situations call for a two-thirds majority among the alumni present:

• Disbanding the association
• Changing or making additions to the articles.

⁸ All votes and elections are open unless an eligible voter requests a secret ballot.
⁹ The board keeps minutes of the business of the general assembly, signed by the keeper of the minutes and the head of the general assembly.

Art. 13 Auditors
¹ Two auditors are to review the annual financial statement and present their findings in a report to the general assembly along with any recommendations they might have.
² Auditors are elected for a period of one year. There is no restriction on the number of times they can be re-elected.
³ Auditors may not be members of the board.

Sundry and final provisions

Art. 14 Association year
The association year is equivalent to the calendar year. The first association year ended on 31 December 1997.

Art. 15 Implementation
Articles entered into effect on the day of their approval by the inaugural general assembly. Changes require a two-thirds majority among the alumni present at the general assembly.

Approved at the inaugural general assembly of 24 October 1996 in Zurich
1st revision approved at the general assembly of 14 May 2001 in Zurich
2nd revision approved at the general assembly for 2007 held on 27 March 2008
3rd revision approved at the general assembly for 2010 held in Zurich on 21 March 2011