ASEH Bylaws |
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| Article IV: Elections and Resignations Section 1) The President and Vice-President shall hold office for a term of two years, and may be re-elected. The Secretary and Treasurer shall hold office for four years, and may be re-elected. The other elective members of the Council shall serve staggered four-year terms. Elections are to be held in odd calendar years, at which time all officers with expiring terms and three or four (roughly half) of the members of the Council shall stand for election. No member of the Council (with the exception of the Secretary, Treasurer, Executive Director, and Editor of Environmental History and H-Environment) may serve more than two consecutive terms in office. Section 2) The Editor of Environmental History shall be appointed for a term agreed upon by majority vote of the governing boards of ASEH and FHS, and shall serve at the pleasure of those boards. In the event that the editor is unable to perform his/her duties, the presidents of ASEH and FHS, in consultation with their governing boards, shall make the necessary temporary arrangements. Prior to the expiration of the editor's term, a new editor shall be selected by a joint search committee of the two organizations for approval as provided in this section. Section 3) Ninety days prior to odd calendar year meetings of the society, a nominating committee, elected by the membership, shall meet or shall communicate in some other fashion and shall select a slate of officers and elected members of the Council. The candidate for President shall normally be the standing Vice-President. The nominating committee shall consist of four members to serve four years each, with two members being elected biennially from a slate of four nominees. The slate they select shall consist of one nominee for Vice-President/President-elect, one nominee for other officers with expiring terms, and two nominees for each vacancy on the Council and nominating committee, and shall be communicated to the Secretary, who shall in turn communicate it to the membership by mail or electronically as provided in Article II, Section 4 of these bylaws. Elections shall take place during odd calendar year meetings, or by mail or electronic ballot prior to the meeting. The candidates receiving the highest number of votes are elected. All ballots shall have provisions for write-in nominees. Section 4) Elections may be held by mail or electronic ballot if circumstances warrant. A decision to do so may be made by the President and any five other members of the Council. This same group may make such other alterations in the election procedure as they deem necessary, except that a slate of nominees must still be selected by the nominating committee, and the Secretary must still provide notice of the election to the membership in the usual fashion. All terms of office shall begin and end the day after the stated meeting. Section 5) A discussion of the merits of the nominees for office may be held during the stated meeting election procedure if the membership desires. Section 6) If no nominee for office receives a simple majority of the votes cast, voting shall continue until a decision is reached. Section 7) Resignations from office or from the society shall be promptly reported to the Secretary. If an officer must be replaced before the conclusion of his term and the Council is not able to meet immediately, his successor may be selected by means of a mail or electronic ballot. Section 8) ASEH shall include a Graduate Student Caucus that will convene during the annual meeting. The officers of the caucus shall consist of a President, a President Elect, and a Media Officer. With the assistance of the Executive Director, the caucus shall hold an election, no later than 75 days following the annual meeting, for President Elect and Media Officer. The President Elect shall serve one year in this position and a second year as president of the caucus. The media officer shall serve one year. |
| Article VI: Committees Section 1) ASEH has two kinds of committees: standing committees and ad hoc committees. Section 2) The council creates and, if appropriate, terminates standing committees. Standing committees typically have three members serving staggered terms of three years. Individuals serve as members in their first years, chairs in their second years, and members in their third years on the committees. Section 3) The President or council creates ad hoc committees. Ad hoc committees terminate twelve months after creation unless (a) the President or council terminates them earlier, or (b) the President or council extends their duration for up to twelve more months. If the council thinks an ad hoc committee’s work should continue after 24 months, it typically creates a standing committee to carry out the work. Section 4) All committee chairs submit written reports to the council annually. The reports briefly summarize activities during the previous year and plans for the upcoming year. Reports from prize committees include the number of submissions, the names of winners and works, and, if prepared, prize citations. After being vetted for public consumption, all committee reports become part of the minutes of the council meeting that reviewed the reports. Section 5) ASEH aims to have committees that overall reflect the diversity of the membership. ASEH announces openings on committees and invites individuals to nominate themselves and/or others. The individuals or entities appointing committee members consider these nominations but are free to appoint other individuals. |
The American Society for Environmental History |
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