Membership Policy
CLASSES OF MEMBERSHIP
The Medical Foundation shall have five (5) classes of members: Active, Associate, Honorary, Emeritus, Affiliate.
ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP
- Graduate physicians with the degree of M.D., D.O., or equivalent; graduate dentists with a degree of D.D.S., or D.M.D., or equivalent; graduate podiatrists with a D.P.M., or equivalent.
- Students in an accredited school of medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, or podiatry working in a program leading to the above degrees.
- Persons who hold the degree of Ph.D., or equivalent and are actively associated with an accredited medical, dental or podiatry school, or who are engaged in full-time medical research at the time of their application for membership.
- Students working toward a Ph.D. in biomedical science will be given associate membership until the recipient of degree at which time reapplication shall be made for active membership. This associate membership shall not exceed seven (7) years, however maybe renewed upon recommendation of the Board.
- Persons working in areas allied to or associate with the medical or dental professions, or Persons who hold the degree of RN ( registered nurse), RMT(registered Medical Technologist, PT ( Registered Physical therapist), RT (registered Respiratory therapist)
- Persons who accept and support the purposes of The Foundation’s vision but do not meet the requirements stated above.
HONORARY MEMBERSHIP
May be conferred upon physicians and dentists, or other persons in fields other than medicine or dentistry, but who have interests allied to, or associated with, those professions, or who have made significant contributions to medicine or dentistry or to The Foundation. Candidates for Honorary Membership may be nominated by Board member/s. Confirmation of membership will be made by the Board of Trustees.
EMERITUS MEMBERSHIP
May be conferred upon any active member upon request if the member is 65 years of age or old, or has retired from practice because of illness, provided the individual has been an active or associate member for at least five (5) years.
ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP
May be conferred upon individuals or organization that contributes to a significant amount of the finances of the foundation.
AFFILIATE MEMBERSHIP
may be conferred upon organizations that assist the foundation’s activities and vision.
REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMBERSHIP
- The acceptance of Jesus Christ as personal Savior.
- Written acceptance of the Statement of Belief, principles and stated purposes of Universal Touch of Life Medical Foundation Inc. (UTOL)
- Conduct consistent with the high calling of a Christian and according to the standards of Scripture.
- Good professional and academic standing.
- Completed application to be forwarded to the Office of Universal Touch of Life Medical Foundation Inc. Recommendations from members of UTOL are preferred. The Executive Director shall act on every membership application. In cases of questionable applications, the Executive Director shall consult with the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees.
RIGHTS OF MEMBERS
Each active member shall be entitled to one vote and to hold office. Associate, Honorary and Emeritus members and Affiliate are not entitled to vote.
PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERS
Active members are privileged to attend and participate in meetings of UTOL and to vote on matters submitted to the Active Membership. They are eligible to hold office in accordance with the provisions of these Bylaws. All members shall receive the regular newsletter of Universal Touch of Life Medical Foundation Inc.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF MEMBERS
Every member of UTOL shall give personal attendance and support to the Foundation whenever they find opportunity and shall pray for the success of The Foundation, its officers and wherever its resources are committed. To remain a member of UTOL, the member shall pay the regularly assessed dues as established by the Board of Trustees. After failure to pay dues for one consecutive year, the member will be given notice his/her status and may be dropped from membership rolls and thereafter reapplication shall be made to be reinstated. In cases of financial hardship, any member shall write the Executive Director who may waive dues at his/her discretion.
LIMITATIONS ON MEMBERS
No member shall officially represent UTOL Medical Foundation Inc. unless so charged by its governing body or officers. Nor may a member establish affiliation with other organizations in the name of the Foundation without like authorization.
MEMBER DISCIPLINE
Any member of UTOL who has reason to believe that membership of another member should be reviewed because of lack of qualification of such person for membership, or because of any action of such person believed to be contrary to statement of faith, principles or purposes of The Foundation shall, before taking any action, approach and/or confront the said member in the spirit of Matthew 18:15-17 for the purpose of first finding out and confirming facts and second to attempt to restore the member and/or resolve any resulting dispute. In the event that the charging member has followed this first step (which might involve several meetings or conversations) and the matter is not resolved, then the charging member may file a detailed statement of the known facts in writing with the foundation. The charging member shall certify in the statement that he/she has taken this required first step and that the matter is incapable of resolution apart from taking this step.
The written charge shall then be presented to the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. The Executive Committee shall set a reasonable time and place to consider the charge by the said Committee and both the charging member and the charged member will be given a reasonable opportunity to present pertinent information for the Committee’s consideration.
The said Committee may upon majority vote dismiss the charges or recommend to the Board of Trustees that the charged member be subjected to a range of disciplinary action including suspension or cancellation.
A person charged may be subjected to disciplinary action, or have his/her membership suspended or terminated upon a 2/3 vote of the Board of Trustees. At any meeting of the Board of Trustees where the disciplinary action is considered the charged person shall be given an opportunity to respond to and answer all charges.