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NAASR GOVERNANCE
Certificate
of Incorporation in the state of Vermont, February 23, 1987 (PDF)
Original Constitution and
Bylaws, November 23, 1986 (PDF)
Articles of Association
(AA), February 19, 1987 (PDF)
Executive Council
Organizational Chart (PDF)
NAASR BYLAWS
Initially Proposed and Considered: November 23, 1997
Adopted: November 21, 1998
Dues Rate Amended by Majority Vote: November 18, 2006
The Bylaws are also available here
as a PDF
Article I - MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. The membership of the Association shall consist of those
persons who are members at the time of the adoption of these Bylaws and
of those persons who shall subsequently join the Association in the manner
hereinafter provided.
Section 2. membership is obtained by written application to the
Executive Secretary and payment of the current year's dues. Membership
is sustained by annual payment of dues, by payment of lifetime dues, or
by payment of multi-year dues.
Section 3. Duties and responsibilities attaching to membership
include:
a) annual payment of dues as determined by the voting membership (see
below, Article III);
b) commitment to provocative, energetic and frontier presentations.
Section 4. Termination
A member who has failed to pay dues annually or for life or for a multi-year
term will be dropped from the Association.
Article II - OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Section 1. Selection of Officers and Members of the Executive
Council
(a) At least two months prior to the Annual Meeting at which an election
is to take place, the President shall appoint a Nominating Committee of
at least three members which shall consider and recommend the names of
at least one candidate for each office (including membership on the Executive
Council) to be elected at said meeting. Additional nominations may be
made from the floor. Election shall be by ballot and the person receiving
the majority of the votes cast for each office shall be declared elected.
(b) The President and Vice President are elected by the general membership;
the Executive Secretary/Treasurer is appointed by the Executive Council
(AA XI, d).
Section 2. Terms of Office
(a) The terms of office of President and Vice-president shall be three
(3) years. The Executive Secretary/Treasurer will serve for not more than
two consecutive five (5) year terms (AA XI, d; g).
(b) The six elected members of the Executive Council shall be known as
Councilors. The Councilors are elected to serve three (3) year terms in
a staggered fashion, with two elected each year. They shall serve until
their successors have been elected or appointed.
(c) In the case of death or resignation or permanent inability to act
of any officer or Councilor, the vacancy shall be filled by the Executive
Council for the unexpired term.
Section 3. Powers and Duties
(a) The officers shall perform such duties as are normally incident to
the offices and implied by their titles including the following:
President. The President shall be the chief executive officer
of the Association : presiding at all meetings of the members and of the
Executive Council; seeing that all orders and resolutions of the membership
and of the Executive Council are carried into effect; executing all contracts
and other documents on behalf of the Association.
Vice-President. The Vice President's chief responsibility
is to appoint and chair the annual Program Committee (Article III). In
the absence or temporary disability of the President, the Vice-president
also shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the President.
Executive Secretary/Treasurer. The Secretary shall keep full and
complete minutes of all meetings of the members, Executive Council and
Standing Committees as well as complete records of all action taken by
these bodies. The Secretary shall keep and file all documents belonging
to the Association that are committed to the Association's custody, and
shall, as required by the President, the Executive Council, or by any
of the Standing Committees, submit to the membership by mail, such matters
as require the approval of or action by the membership.
The Treasurer, under the direction and supervision of the Executive Council,
shall be the custodian of all cash and securities of the Association and
shall keep full and accurate account of the receipts and disbursements
in books belonging to the Association. The Treasurer shall collect all
dues and shall deposit all monies in the name and to the credit of the
Association with such depositories as may be designated by the Executive
Council, and shall disburse the funds of the Association as directed by
the Executive Council, making a proper voucher for such disbursements
and shall render to the Executive Council and to the membership periodically
or upon request, an account of all transactions as Treasurer and of the
financial condition of the Association.
(b) The Executive Council has six (6) members elected at large; in addition,
Council membership also includes the editor of MTSR (or a delegate), the
Association's three (3) officers (President, Vice-President and Executive
Secretary/Treasurer), and the Association's three (3) corporate officers
(President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer), all serving ex officio.
The Council shall initiate and submit to the members for their approval
proposed policies of the Association and it shall have and exercise the
power to take such actions as in its judgment is necessary and proper
to carry out the purposes of the Association. For purposes of any action
taken by the Executive Council, five members of said Council including
at least two officers shall constitute a quorum and the act of a majority
of the members of the Council present at a meeting at which a quorum is
present shall be the act of the Council.
Article III - PROGRAM
Section 1. The NAASR shall conform to scholarly conventions of
openness and publicity. To this end:
(a) The Program Committee will be chaired by the Vice President, and will
consist of three (3) members appointed by the Vice President for a one-year
term.
(b) All meetings, programs, and other opportunities for scholarly communication
sponsored by the Association, including programs held under the auspices
of other scholarly societies, shall be advertised to all Association members
at least six months prior to their occurrence; and in any case well in
advance of the determination of program contents.
(c) Members shall be invited to submit abstracts for papers as well as
proposals for entire sessions.
(d) Proposals for papers and sessions shall also be solicited from other
religious studies scholars and from the humanities and social sciences
community at large through Email lists, advertisements sponsored by other
scholarly societies, and other appropriate means.
(e) The Program Committee shall set deadlines, style, and other guidelines
for the submission of proposals.
(f) If more proposals are received than there is available space, proposals
shall be evaluated by the Program Committee or an appointed subcommittee
of the Program Committee, through a blind review process (a process in
which author's identity is unknown to evaluators) on the basis of merit
and contribution to the Society's goals (AA II, a).
(g) A non-member whose paper is accepted for presentation shall be asked
to become a member and to contribute one year's membership dues as a condition
of participation in NAASR programs.
(h) Scholarly themes or foci for the following year's programs may be
discussed and decided by the membership at the Annual Meeting. The Program
Committee shall be directed by any such decisions.
Section 2. Working Groups on a specific
topic or theme in religious studies may be created by a vote of the membership.
(a) The existence of such Working Groups shall be publicized to all NAASR
members and to the field of religious studies at large.
(b) Membership in any NAASR Working Group shall be made available to any
NAASR member who so requests.
(c) Membership in a Working Group may also be solicited from among scholars
in the humanities and social sciences who show a serious interest in the
Group's subject of study.
(d) A non-NAASR scholar who wishes to join a Working Group shall be asked
to become a member of NAASR and to contribute one year's membership dues
as a condition of participation.
(e) Members of a Working Group shall appoint their own Chair by nomination
and majority vote.
(f) Working Groups shall have the privilege of petitioning the membership
for NAASR funds to support their scholarly work.
Article IV - MTSR
Section 1. NAASR's official journal is Method
& Theory in the Study of Religion (MTSR). Like NAASR, MTSR
is committed to the presentation of provocative, energetic, and frontier
scholarship (AA II, a). To this end:
Section 2. Editor
(a) The Executive Council shall appoint an editor for MTSR.
(b) The term for the editor shall be five years, renewable for one additional
five year term.
(c) If the editor, for any reason, vacates the position prior to the end
of a five year term, the Executive Council shall appoint a new editor
for a new five year term.
(d) The editor shall be ultimately responsible for all details of publishing
MTSR in a timely fashion. To this end the editor may appoint an
editorial team (including a Book Review editor) to assist in the publication
of MTSR during the editor's term of office.
(e) The editor (or a delegate) shall represent MTSR as an ex-officio
member of the Executive Council.
(f) The editor shall report on the state of MTSR to the membership
at the annual meeting.
(g) The Executive Council may, at any time, dismiss the editor. The editor
may be removed only by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Council. Grounds
for dismissal may only be contravention of the organization's stated goals
(AA II, a) or administrative/professional malfeasance.
Section 3. Editorial Advisory Board
(a) The editor shall appoint or remove members of the editorial advisory
board, in consultation with the Executive Council.
Section 4. Editorial Freedom
(a) Though the editor is a member of the Executive Council and reports
to the general membership at the annual meeting, the editor of MTSR
shall enjoy complete editorial freedom as well as full freedom in the
day-to-day administration of the journal's business and publication.
Article V - DUES
The annual dues shall be determined from time to time by the majority
vote of the members, and shall be payable at the beginning of each calendar
year. Special assessments may be made only when approved by majority vote
of the membership and when levied shall be payable as dues. Currently
(2006), dues are: $35 annually, $350 for a lifetime membership, $180 for
a six-year membership, and $15 annually for students and retirees.
Article VI - GENERAL
Section 1. For purposes of any action to be taken at an annual or special
meeting of the membership, the members of the Association present shall
constitute a quorum (AA XIII, c).
Section 2. All checks and notes of the Association shall be signed by
such officer or officers as the Executive Council may from time to time
designate.
Section 3. The Bylaws may be amended or repealed at any meeting of the
membership provided that notice and the text of the proposed amendment
shall have been submitted to the members at least thirty days prior to
said meeting. The amendment or repeal of the Bylaws shall require the
affirmative vote of a majority of the members present and voting at a
meeting at which a quorum is present.
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