Through e-mail conversation from January 12, 2016, to May 24, 2016, and at meetings on June 4 and 5, 2016, the Council of the American Historical Association made the following decisions or actions:

• Approved a statement of recommendations for dual enrollment/concurrent enrollment.
• Approved a letter of concern to the minister of culture of France regarding the potential closure of the Musée des Tissus of the city of Lyon.
• Authorized a letter to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressing concern regarding threats made against academics who signed a letter protesting the Turkish government’s actions relating to the country’s Kurdish population.
• Approved the following revised proposed change to Article VII of the AHA Constitution, voted on by the membership in June: “The Council shall call a business meeting, open to members of the Association in good standing and others invited by the Council, to convene at the time of the annual meeting. Such guests’ participation would be limited to the purpose designated by Council (e.g. provision of expertise); they would not be permitted to vote.”
• Approved the following dissolution clause in the AHA Bylaws: “15. Bylaws pursuant to Article XI: Upon dissolution of the Association, its assets shall be distributed to the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, District of Columbia, for the promotion of historical studies in the interest of American history and of history in America. In the event the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, District of Columbia, is no longer in existence at the time of dissolution, the Council shall distribute the assets for one or more exempt purposes, of its choosing, within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.”
• Approved signing on to a memo from the Coalition for International Education to the US Department of Education requesting a suspension and review of a change in policy for Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Academic Year and Summer Fellowships. The new policy no longer allows FLAS fellowships to be awarded to graduate students for beginning-level language training in less commonly taught languages.
• Approved the appointment of Robert Schneider as interim editor of the American Historical Review for 2016–17.
• Approved signing on to a letter from the American Library Association asking that the Senate Rules Committee rapidly vote to recommend to the full Senate that Carla Hayden be confirmed immediately to serve as the nation’s 14th Librarian of Congress.
• Approved the recommendation of the Committee on Affiliated Societies to accept the affiliate application of the Association for Israel Studies.
• Approved a letter to the Polish minister of culture, Piotr Glinski, expressing concern about the possible merging of the planned Museum of the Second World War with a newly proposed museum focusing solely on Poland’s military struggle in 1939.
• Appointed Keith Hocter to the Investment Committee.
• Authorized the chair of the Investment Committee to work with TIAA-CREF to implement a passive management structure for AHA’s Main Portfolio.
• Authorized the chair of the Investment Committee to enter into discussions with TIAA-CREF about transitioning the Oxford University Portfolio to a passive management structure and to implement such a change if he deems it prudent.
• Approved the January 2016 Council meeting minutes.
• Ratified the online Council votes and actions from January through May 2016.
• Approved the following changes to the AHA Bylaws:
  • Bylaw 4(4): The Council shall, on nomination by the editor and in consultation with the Research Division, appoint an advisory Board of Editors of the American Historical Review to assist the editor. The advisory Board shall consist of fifteen thirteen members. Thirteen members shall be appointed for staggered terms of three years. The fourteenth is the editor of the journal, who chairs the board. The fifteenth member is the AHA executive director shall, ex officio, be a member of the advisory Board without vote.
  • Bylaw 11(4)d: To ensure as far as possible the fair and equitable consideration of all member resolutions, the Council in preparing the agenda may, at its discretion, fix the duration and terms of debate on any resolution.
  • Bylaw 11(6): Council may, at its discretion, submit a measure adopted by the business meeting to a vote of the entire membership.
• Approved the Principles of Oversight of the American Historical Review.
• Approved the Best Practices for Accessible Publishing.
• Approved the nominations and alternates of the American Historical Review Board of Editors (names announced at a later date).
• Approved the recipients of the 2016 Awards for Scholarly Distinction (to be announced at a later date).
• Approved changes to the “Organiza­tion, Jurisdiction, and Operation of Asso­ciation Divisions and Committees” document to reflect the following: Committees that conduct assigned work on a designated subject for an ongoing basis will now be called Standing Committees. Committees that exist for the operation of the AHA will now be called Permanent Committees.
• Approved the Fiscal Year 2017 ­budget.
• Approved the descriptions for the Jerry Bentley World History Travel Grants and the Council Annual Meeting Travel Grants, which will be implemented for the 2017 meeting.
• Approved the recipient of the 2016 Troyer Steele Anderson Prize (to be announced at a later date).
• Approved a statement reaffirming the AHA’s support for the American Asso­ciation of University Professors’ 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure.
• Appointed a Council subcommittee on “Textbooks, Scholarship, and Politics” to examine principles on textbooks.

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