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 V: Council

Existing Text With Mark Up

Section 1: There shall be a Council constituted as follows:

(a) The president, elected for a term of one yearthe president-elect, elected for a term of one year president-elect, immediate past-president, and the three vice-presidents, elected for staggered terms of three years.

(b) Nine members who have been elected to one of the Ddivisions of the Council. Elected members, six in number, chosen by ballot in the manner provided in Article VIII. These members shall be elected for a term of three years, two to be elected each year, except in the case of elections to complete unexpired terms.

(c) The immediate past president, who shall serve for a one-year term.

(d)(c) The executive director, editor of the American Historical Review, deputy executive director and deputy executive director, serving and controller as a non-voting members.

Section 2: The Council shall conduct the business, manage the property, and care for the general interests of the Association. The Council shall fix the amount of dues and the date on which any change of dues becomes effective. It may appoint such committees as it deems necessary. The Council shall call an annual meeting of the Association at a place and time it deems appropriate. It shall report to the membership on its deliberations and actions through the publications of the Association and at the business meeting.

Section 3: To transact necessary business in the interim between meetings of the Council, there shall be an Executive Committee composed of the president, the president-elect, immediate past-president, and three vice presidents. not more than three other voting members of the Council elected annually by the Council. The Executive Committee in the conduct of its business shall be subject always to the general direction of the Council.

Section 4: For the general management of the financial affairs of the Association, there shall be a Finance Committee composed of the president, the president-elect, and not more than three other voting members of the Council elected annually by the Council.

 

Proposed Revised Text

Section 1: There shall be a Council constituted as follows:

(a) The president, president-elect, immediate past-president three vice-presidents.

(b) Nine members who have been elected to one of the divisions of the Council.

(c) The executive director, editor of the American Historical Review, and controller as non-voting members.

Section 2: The Council shall conduct the business, manage the property, and care for the general interests of the Association. The Council shall fix the amount of dues and the date on which any change of dues becomes effective. It may appoint such committees as it deems necessary. The Council shall call an annual meeting of the Association at a place and time it deems appropriate. It shall report to the membership on its deliberations and actions through the publications of the Association and at the business meeting.

Section 3: To transact necessary business between meetings of the Council, there shall be an Executive Committee composed of the president, president-elect, immediate past-president, and three vice presidents.

Explanatory Notes

Section 1: Due to a small formatting error in Perspectives and on the web, the president elect and three vice presidents appeared to be deleted from this section. They are back in their proper place here.






















Section 1(c):This clause adds the editor of the AHR as a non-voting member of the Council











































Section 4 (deleted): For the proposed make-up of an enlarged Finance Committee, see Article VIII, section 2. The enlarged Finance Committee also replaces the Board of Trustees.

 

AHA Member's Comments on Article V: Council

3 members have commented
as of 6:17:22 AM 6/20/13
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vice-presidents?
Perhaps I am being dim, but it appears that the three (!) vice-presidents are abolished in Section a. with a strike-out line, but exist to transact business in Section 3 (although they seem not to be present in Section 2). The Article on Officers has quite a bit about the vice-presidents and their duties, so I suspect that they have not been abolished. It might be useful to consider whether the two Articles, or the sections in this article, have been sufficiently reconciled or explicated.

—Dr. Abigail Firey , Posted: October 13, 2007 7:48 AM

President-elect?
I am also confused, not only concerning membership on council for the vice-presidents but also for the president-elect. In Section 1(a) the president-elect is struck from council but in Section 3 is part of the Executive Committee of Council. Article V needs to be re-edited.

—Dr. Sara Joan Miles , Posted: October 13, 2007 9:38 AM

Council membership
In general I favor the simplifying these changes seek; but in the case of membership on the Council, limiting it people already elected to the three divisional committees strikes me as a mistake. The special talents and interests that lead to selection for a divisional committee are not necessarily the same qualifications that are ideal for Council decisions (i.e. broad experience of the profession, multiple aspects of the activities of academic and non-academic historians, and so forth).

—Prof. Raymond Grew , Posted: October 15, 2007 4:45 PM

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