Members Discussion Forum: AHA Constitution Changes

In the September issue of Perspectives we introduced a number of proposed changes in the constitution that Council approved at its June, 2007, meeting. An identical version of the proposed changes appeared here from October 1 through 15, with an invitation for comments from members.

The comments received from members pointed out a few editing and formatting errors, and others reflected a need for further information about the changes. Perhaps most significantly, a number of members expressed concerns about the petition required to place items before the business meeting. We should have noted that this requirement currently appears in the Association's by-laws, so this was not a new requirement. This was intended to enshrine the opportunity for petition in the constitution, while raising the threshold for petitions. Given the ease with which petitions can be circulated on the Internet, we initially thought it made sense to raise the bar a bit, from 25 members to one percent of the membership. In light of the concerns expressed about this provision and with Council's approval, the 1 percent requirement has now been deleted. So the requirement reverts back to 25 members described in the bylaws.

 

Article X: Amendments

Existing Text With Mark Up

Amendments to this constitution may be proposed by: (1) by the Council, (2) by petition to the Council of one hundred or more members in good standing, or (3) by resolution at an annual business meeting on a majority affirmative vote of twenty-five members in good standing. Any amendment shall be reported to the membership with arguments pro and con, if appropriate, and shall be included in the next annual vote for election of officers and committee members. Any amendment receiving a plurality of the votes cast in the election shall be considered adopted. An amendment so proposed shall be reported to the membership through an appropriate Association publication at least six weeks in advance of the subsequent earliest annual business meeting for which such notice is possible, and shall be placed on the agenda of that meeting for discussion and advisory vote. Thereafter, the proposed amendment shall be submitted to the membership of the Association, accompanied by summary statements of the pro and con arguments thereon, for approval or rejection by mail ballot.

 

Proposed Revised Text

Amendments to this constitution may be proposed by: (1) the Council, (2) petition to the Council of one hundred or more members in good standing, or (3) resolution at an annual business meeting. Any amendment shall be reported to the membership with arguments pro and con, if appropriate, and shall be included in the next annual vote for election of officers and committee members. Any amendment receiving a plurality of the votes cast in the election shall be considered adopted.

Explanatory Notes

This Article increases the number needed to petition for a constitutional amendment from 25 to 100.
 

AHA Member's Comments on Article X: Amendments

3 members have commented
as of 8:57:43 AM 5/23/13
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Standardization of Petitions
Article VIII, Section 1.b requires that petitions to place a candidate for election be submitted sixty days before ballots are distributed, or around one hundred days before the annual meeting. Here, there is no set date to turn in petitions. I would suggest both having a set time to turn in amendment petitions, and for it to be the same as the due date for election petitions.

—Mr. Russell M. Fehr , Posted: November 01, 2007 7:06 PM

General
Being an overseas member I doubt if I will be able to attend any meeting. I find this electronic system very good. Can not agree with the comments from the member about just being a member for the conferemces. It sounds as if he should join something else. I am also a member of the Australian History association both use AHA which is confusing;to avoid wrong labelling the country name should always be used in full--- American HA; Australian HA. Keith R.Dawson Toowoomba, Australia.

—Mr. Keith Roland Dawson , Posted: October 12, 2007 7:39 PM

Amendment Discussions
Utilizing a forum such as this for the pre-vote discussions is another good way to garner more member involvement in the decision-making process. Thank-you for formalizing this.

—Dr. Kelly A. Woestman , Posted: October 01, 2007 10:20 AM

The period for discussion is now past. However, additional revisions are being prepared, and will be posted for further commentary on or about October 19th.

Article I: Name
Article II: Purpose
Article III Membership 12 Comments | Last Comment Posted: 2:59 PM Nov 02, 2007
Article IV: Officers 4 Comments | Last Comment Posted: 2:18 PM Nov 12, 2007
Article V: Council 3 Comments | Last Comment Posted: 2:13 PM Nov 01, 2007
Article VI: Divisions 4 Comments | Last Comment Posted: 4:17 PM Nov 08, 2007
Article VII: Business Meeting 4 Comments | Last Comment Posted: 1:24 PM Oct 15, 2007
Article VIII: Committees 2 Comments | Last Comment Posted: 12:43 PM Oct 14, 2007
Article IX: Elections 7 Comments | Last Comment Posted: 9:40 PM Nov 06, 2007
Article X: Amendments 3 Comments | Last Comment Posted: 7:06 PM Nov 01, 2007
Article XI: Bylaws
Article XII: Interim Procedures