The Society for the Philosophic Study
of Genocide and the Holocaust
Constitution
Article I / Purpose
The purpose of the Society (SPSGH) is to foster the philosophic study of issues relating to genocide and the Holocaust. The means to this end shall include learned meetings to promote the scholarly exchange of views.
Article II / Membership
Any person may be admitted to membership subject to such stipulations as the Society may enact, provided that no stipulations shall reflect ethnic, religious, political, sexual, or philosophically sectarian considerations. Membership shall carry certain voting and petitioning rights hereinafter indicated, the right to be informed in advance of all learned meetings, and the duty to pay annual dues.
Article III / Officers
A. The officers shall be a President and the APA and SPEP divisions shall have a Vice-President.
B. The term of every office shall be open.
C. The three officers of the Society shall constitute the Executive Board, which shall be responsible for conducting annualelections when called for by the membership. Interim vacancies of all offices except that of President shall be filled by majority decision of the Executive Board (Vice-Presidents) that is operative at the time a vacancy occurs.
D. The President shall have general charge of the affairs of the Society and may act with power on all matters not otherwise specified in the constitution or legislation of the Society. The President shall normally preside at meetings of the Boardand at business sessions of the Society. The Vice-Presidents shall be the President’s deputy, and shall normally presideat Board and business meetings in the President’s absence. If the office of President becomes vacant in the interval between regular elections, the Vice-Presidents shall become President. The Vice-Presidents shall be in charge of all Society information, including the roster of members, the records of meetings, the file of significant documents, and the publication of a membership list. The Executive Board shall determine the composition of committees for programs,for nominations, for publications and for research, except that it may delegate any such power to a subset of itself. The Executive Board shall propose the amount of the annual dues fee and the due-date. The Executive Board shall be kept informed concerning the work of all committees, shall have the final decision regarding slates prepared by a nomination committee, and shall determine the formal agenda of the Society’s business meetings. It shall resolve tied elections. As noted previously, the Executive Board shall fill interim vacancies (IIIC) and may temporarily augment itself (IIIA). The Executive Board may decide to submit a matter of business which is not otherwise covered in this constitution to a poll of the membership in the interval between learned meetings.
Article IV / The Conduct of Business
A.
The learned meetings of the Society shall include a business session at which Society members shall decide by majority vote matters presented by the Executive Board and from the floor, except for such matters as are reserved to the officers(IIIC, IIID).B. Election of officers shall be by ballot which has been prepared by and approved by the Executive Board and will take place at a business meeting of the Eastern Division annual meeting. A majority of votes of those members of the Society attending the meeting shall be conclusive. Tie votes shall be resolved by the Executive Board. Write-in votes shall be valid. Nominations to the Executive Board from members normally shall be accepted at any time in advance of eachbusiness meeting.
Basic policy issues, including conditions of membership and constitutional amendments, shall be referred by the Executive Board to the entire membership at the next meeting. A majority of votes of those members of the Society attending the meeting shall be conclusive. Tie votes shall be resolved by the Executive Board.
C. The Executive Board shall meet at the time of learned meetings, and additionally either by its own decision or uponpresidential invitation. It may substitute another form of communication for any meeting. At Executive Board meetings a majority of members shall be a quorum; in other cases the quorum shall be responses from a majority of members, received within an announced period of time designated by the President. The Executive Board’s decisions shall be by majority vote of the quorum.
D. Any ten (10) percent of the members of the Society may direct the Executive Board to consider any may demonstrably within the purview of the Society and to report its conclusions to a business session. Any fifty (50) members may direct the Executive Board to consider such a matter and to report promptly to the entire membership by mail.
E. This Constitution and its By-Laws supersedes the Constitution of December 29, 1988 and shall be effective as of January 1, 2008 and was adopted on November 8, 2007 at the business session of SPEP meeting of the SPSGH.
By-Laws
1.
The annual dues shall be ten U.S. dollars, or the equivalent thereof, if it is possible to convert the payer’s currency into dollars. If this is not possible, membership is free. Other exceptions may be made by the Executive Board for students, beginning teachers, and emeriti. The imposition of these dues will begin in January of 1994.
Submitted by James R. Watson, President of The Society for the Philosophic Study of Genocide and the Holocaust at the business session of the SPEP meeting of the SPSGH, November 8, 2007.
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