ACLA CONSTITUTION

Article I. NAME
The name of this Association shall be:
THE AMERICAN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE ASSOCIATION.

Article II. OBJECTIVES
1. The aim of the Association is the support and strengthening of comparative literature studies.
2. The Association will strive to foster an interest in literature as a form of artistic, historical, and cultural expression beyond national and linguistic boundaries throughout the world. It will further strive to promote discussion among related disciplines, and to foreground, wherever possible, the integrity of the individual language. It is the Association's aim to help acquaint the community at large with the aims and values of comparative literature studies, and to help place young scholars in academic positions where they may be effective as teachers and scholar-critics. In order to achieve these goals the Association will:
(a) hold regular meetings for the purpose of presenting and discussing studies in comparative literature;
(b) aid individual members in their studies in comparative literature;
(c) support and strengthen the activities of the International Comparative Literature Association;
(d) cooperate with other organizations interested in the attainment of these objectives;
(e) publish a newsletter at least once a year.

Article III. MEMBERSHIP
Membership in the Association shall be open to anyone of any geographical, scholarly, and linguistic area who is interested in furthering its objectives upon payment of annual dues.

Article IV. OFFICERS
1. The Officers of the Association shall be a President, a Vice-President, and a Secretary/Treasurer, all of whom shall be members in good standing of the Association.
2. These officers, together with the members of the Advisory Board, shall constitute the Executive Committee of the Association.

Article V. ELECTION AND TERMS OF OFFICERS AND ADVISORY BOARD
The Vice President and the members of the Advisory Board shall be elected by the membership of the Association. The President and Vice-President shall serve two years. The Vice-President shall succeed to the Presidency and may not be re-elected. The Secretary/Treasurer, to be approved by the Executive Committee, shall serve for four years and may be re-elected for consecutive four-year terms. The members of the Advisory Board shall be elected for terms of four years, one half of the Board to be elected every two years. Members of the Advisory Board shall not be eligible for immediate re-election following their full four-year terms.

Article VI. LOCATION
1. The Association shall have a mailing address and office, which shall be located at the institution at which the Secretary/Treasurer is employed.
2. The membership may at any time decide by majority vote to transfer the location of the Association.

Article VII. AMENDMENTS
1. Amendments to the Constitution and By-Laws of the Association shall be made only at a regular meeting and only by a majority vote of members present.
2. Proposed amendments shall be presented in writing to the membership at least four weeks before a regular meeting of the Association.
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BY-LAWS
Article I. OFFICERS
President
1. It shall be the duty of the President to provide executive leadership in the activities of the Association.
2. The President shall preside at all regular meetings of the Association and the Executive Committee. In the event of a tie in the voting, the President shall cast the deciding vote.
3. The President, in consultation with, and subject to the approval of, the Executive Committee, shall appoint the chairs of all Committees and, in further consultation with the chairs of these Committees, shall appoint members to them.
4. The President, in consultation with the other officers, shall perform all duties related to the corporate status of the Association, including the appointment of a member to be resident agent in the state of Maryland.Vice-President
5. The Vice-President shall preside at meetings in the absence of the President and shall have the powers and duties of the President, should the President be incapacitated.
6. The Vice-President shall be the chair of a regularly constituted Program Committee. (See Article VI below.)
7. The Vice-President shall supervise fair representation in nominations, elections, and Committee assignments. (See Article VII below.)
Secretary/Treasurer
8. The Secretary/Treasurer shall maintain the records of the activities of the Association.
9. The Secretary/Treasurer shall serve as Editor of the Newsletter.
10. The Secretary/Treasurer shall issue notices of all meetings and conduct the official correspondence of the Association, in consultation with the President.
11. The Secretary/Treasurer shall collect the dues of the Association and all other funds payable to it, and shall pay all bills incurred by the Association.
12. The Secretary/Treasurer shall keep a record of all income and expenditures of the Association, and shall make a report at each regular meeting, giving the condition of the treasury. The Secretary/Treasurer shall have the responsibility for the management of the funds of the Association, with the budget approved by the Executive Committee.

Article II. THE ADVISORY BOARD
1. The Advisory Board shall advise the President and other officers on the matters of both immediate and long-range interests.
2. The Advisory Board shall serve as the nominating committee for elective offices of the Association.
3. The Advisory Board shall consist of not more than ten persons, all of whom shall be members in good standing of the Association, elected by the membership at large. Two additional seats on the Board will be reserved for student representation duly designated by the graduate students of the Association. The student representatives shall have the same voting rights as the other members of the Advisory Board. Student representatives shall serve for a term of two years. If an elected graduate student representative is unable to attend the Board meetings or otherwise serve, the ACLA Secretary will invite the next alternate (according to the results of the most recent election) to serve, either for the remainder of the term or for a shorter period according to the President's discretion. In view of close ties between the ACLA and the Association of Departments and Programs of Comparative Literature (ADPCL), the ADPCL President (or another representative designated by the ADPCL) is a member of the ACLA Advisory Board.
4. The term of office of members of the Advisory Board, one half of whom shall be elected every two years, shall be four years. No member shall be eligible for immediate re-election.
5. During the intervals between regular meetings of the Association, the Advisory Board shall assist the officers in conducting the business of the Association.

Article III. THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
1. The Executive Committee shall assume responsibility for advancing and developing the aims and purposes of the Association.
2. The Executive Committee shall meet at every regular meeting of the Association, prior to the business meeting of the full membership. It shall present reports for consideration by the membership at the business meeting.
3. The Executive Committee is authorized to take all such action as will carry out the Association's purposes and promote its interests. The Executive Committee may authorize the award of grants and prizes, honorary fellowships and memberships, publications of the Association, and the establishment of contractual relationships with other organizations in order to support and carry out the policies and objectives of the Association.
4. If an elected member of the Executive Committee is unable to attend a meeting, he or she shall notify the presiding officer in writing of a designated substitute, who shall be a member of the Association in good standing.
5. The Executive Committee shall approve the Association's budget.
6. A quorum of seven members of the Executive Committee is required for the transaction of business.

Article IV. HONORARY COMMITTEE
1. Former Presidents of the Association shall become members of the Honorary Committee. Each outgoing President shall be a non-voting member of the Advisory Board for one term (two years) after leaving the Presidency.
2. Thereafter all members of the Honorary Committee shall be invited to advise the Executive Committee on all matters concerning the history and policy of the Association.

Article V. COMMITTEES
1. The President, in consultation with, and subject to the approval of the Executive Committee, shall appoint both standing and ad hoc committees. Standing committees, to be appointed for a renewable term of two years, will deal with such matters as membership and publicity; finances (including gifts and grants); graduate student affairs and faculty placement; and programs for annual meetings. Ad hoc committees, appointed for the duration of their assigned tasks, will attend to any other matters related to the interests of the Association that come up from time to time (e.g., standards, constitution, etc.). A Report on the State of the Discipline must be issued at least every ten years.
2.Committees are authorized to spend funds on the Association only after their requests for funds have been approved by the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee may authorize out-of-pocket expenditures up to a certain amount for each committee to cover routine operating expenses.
3. The duration of all committees shall be as specified in Section I above. Committee appointments shall be at the discretion of the President after due consultation with the appointed chairs.

Article VI. MEETINGS
1. Regular meetings of the Association shall be held every year. The Association shall give whatever support it can to special meetings or conferences supported by its membership.
2. The time of the regular meeting shall be in the spring of each year. The place shall be determined by the Executive Committee. A standing Program Committee (See Article V, Section I), chaired by the Vice President, shall assist local arrangements committees, supervise Calls for Papers, and respond to and transmit suggestions by the membership.
3. Upon due notice in writing, the President may call special meetings of the Association.
4. Upon petition of at least fifteen percent of the members in good standing, the President shall be required to call a special meeting with written notification of the meeting given four weeks in advance, time and place to be determined by the Executive Committee.
5. A quorum of at least seven members of the Advisory Board (or their designated substitutes) must be present at a meeting for any votes to be taken.

Article VII. NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS
1. The Advisory Board shall serve as the nominating committtee of the Association. By March 1 of the election year, it must submit nominations, accompanied by a brief vita of the nominee and the signature of the nominator. From these nominations it shall, at its spring ACLA meeting, draw up a slate of at least two candidates for the position of Vice-President, who shall be President-Elect, and two for each open position of the Advisory Board. Additional nominations may be made by written petition of at least ten members in good standing. These must be accompanied by a vita of the nominee and signature of the nominator, and must reach the Secretary/Treasurer no later than March 1. These nominations will be added to the slate proposed by the Advisory Board. All official nominations will then be included in the official ballot, mailed to the membership at large no later than September 15 of the election year.
2. No one currently serving on the Advisory Board may stand for election to the position of Vice-President.
3. For the office of Secretary/Treasurer and only for it, the
Executive Committee shall serve as a nominating and an electing committee.
4. In the event of a vacancy in office occurring between regular meetings of the Association, the President, in consultation with the Executive Committee, shall make an interim appointment.
5. Elections for the Advisory Board and Vice-President shall be carried out by mail ballot. Ballots shall be collected by the Secretary /Treasurer and then opened and counted in the presence of at least one other member in good standing of the Association.
6. Elections of the officers and one half the Board occur every two years.
7. Self-nominations for the two graduate student members of the Advisory Board shall be solicited by a letter sent to all student members by the Secretary/Treasurer in the Fall preceding each election year. Each self-nomination must include a brief statement of purpose and be received by the Secretary/Treasurer no later than the following March 1. This slate of graduate student candidates will then be included in the official graduate student ballot, mailed to the student membership at large by September 15 of each election year.

Article VIII. DUES
1. The annual dues shall be payable at the beginning of the calendar year. All members shall receive the Association's newsletter and may subscribe to selected journals at reduced rates available to members of the Association. Students shall pay reduced rates.
2. The payment of dues to the Association shall convey membership in the International Comparative Literature Association.
3. The right to vote or to stand for office in the Association shall be contingent upon payment of dues; and no one shall be considered a member of the Association whose dues are more than twelve months in arrears.
4.Honorary fellows or members of the Association shall enjoy life membership without payment of dues.
5. The annual dues shall be determined by the Executive Committee of the Association.

Article IX. AUDIT
The Executive Committee shall be responsible for inspecting the accounts of the Secretary/Treasurer and may, at its discretion, designate a commercial auditing firm to audit these accounts.

Article X. RULES OF ORDER
Traditional rules of parliamentary procedure shall be observed at all meetings of the Association.

Article XI. DISSOLUTION
The Association may be dissolved only at a special meeting called for the purpose, and in the manner prescribed by the laws of the state of Maryland, by vote of three-fourths of the members present. Subject to compliance with the applicable provisions of such laws, upon any such dissolution of the Association all its property remaining after satisfaction of all its obligations shall be distributed to such one or more learned societies organized and operated exclusively for literary or educational purposes, as the Executive Committee may select.