Club Bylaws

1: Name

Promotion of Okinawa Welfare, Economy and Resources Club.

2: Definitions

POWER club: Promotion of Okinawa Welfare, Economy and Resources Club.

OIST: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University

NPO: Non-Profit Organization

3: Purpose

Within the frame of promoting outreach activities from OIST to Okinawa on a regular basis and in times of crises, the purpose of POWER club is as follows:

  • Supporting OIST members in the realization of charity projects and events,
  • Initiating dialogue between OIST volunteers and the NPO representatives,
  • Identifying issues that can be addressed by the OIST community,
  • Sharing and communicating about these previously mentioned issues to the OIST community,
  • Identifying means to collect and distribute funds/food/basic necessities, when necessary.

4: Policy

POWER club is an official OIST club organized by OIST volunteer members, independent of other clubs, organizations and NPOs.

POWER club will work in collaboration with other entities and NPOs with a common goal of improving local Economy, Welfare and Resources of Okinawa.
Complete transparency regarding the charity drives in terms of collections and the delivery to NPOs, will be ensured. Pictures, minutes of Public General meetings and achievements will be shared to the community on diverse platforms: Facebook, website, Slack.

All members are welcome to initiate and lead projects. The POWER club will help project leaders by:

  • Obtaining necessary permissions from OIST administration,
  • Providing the networks and platform (SLACK) to ask for volunteers for their projects,
  • Advertising the project via Facebook and the Website,
  • Interfacing with OIST facilities to provide storage space/services.
     

An initial meeting will be set up between the project’s leader and the committee members to assure a good understanding of the project management.

All the internal communications will be conducted in English, and external communications in English and Japanese.

5: Membership

All OIST community members can join the POWER club irrespective of their position at OIST. Membership is completely voluntary. Members can join the club either:

  • as lead volunteers of specific charity projects,

                                      Or,

  •  as volunteers to offer help during current events.

Volunteer leaders will be responsible for:

  • Proposing project plan to the POWER club committee members
  • Taking care of the logistics and organizational framework of the projects
  • Connecting with the NPOs and negotiating the plan with the representatives of the NPOs
  • Sharing regular updates with the committee members

To volunteer, OIST personnel can contact the OIST committee members by e-mail, Facebook or Slack. Important information and organizational decisions for volunteers will be shared on Slack and by email.

6: POWER club Committee Meetings

The POWER committee members will meet regularly to share and talk about:

  • Initiatives and projects from general POWER members,
  • proposals from OIST community,
  • implementation of activities and events for POWER club,
  • any emergency issues,
  • any other matters deemed appropriate.     

7: POWER club General Meetings

Public general meetings will be called by the committee member approximately 3 times a year (once every 4 months).

Public general meetings will function as a presentation of ideas for future projects, on-going projects, and brief summaries of completed projects. Calls for volunteers for different projects will be made.
Open discussion time will be assured at the end of every meeting, when volunteers and audience can talk freely and provide their suggestions and ideas. The minutes of these meetings will be shared on the website.

Volunteer general meetings will be organized at least a week before the beginning of actions with the volunteers registered on Slack or by emails. Discussion of the plan of the on-going projects and distributions of the tasks will be discussed as a group.

8: Financial Management

POWER will not be operated for profit. No part of its assets will contribute to the benefit of any private individual.

In case of financial collection, a bank account will be open in the name of the club at the Bank of Okinawa.

9: Governance

The club is and will be governed by Committee chairs, (up to 3-4 members, as per the need).
The change of committee chairs will be reviewed annually. The positions will be filled on a volunteer basis. If more than 4 people volunteer for the positions, elections will be held.
The committee chairs are in charge of the communication with the recreation service and OIST entities.

File Attachments

PDF icon POWER_club_bylaws_July2020.pdf