SASS Constitution Amendments: Referendum (March 16, 2014 deadline) At the 2013 annual meeting of the SASS executive council, the following proposed constitutional changes were discussed, moved and approved. The proposed changes were then presented to the membership at large at the 2013 annual general meeting during the 2013 annual conference. There, these changes were again moved and approved. Therefore, the following changes are now being submitted to the entire SASS membership by written ballot. Please record your response to each measure by typing an X in the space the the right of the response of your choice. Scan and return the ballot as an attachment to Richard Jensen at [email protected], or mail the ballot to Richard at the following address: Richard Jensen 535 East 2200 North Provo UT 84604 United States Ballots must be received by Richard Jensen by March 16, 2014 to be counted. 1. Motion to amend Article 5 of Constitution to include following statement: In the event that two candidates receive an equal number of votes in an election, the winner will be chosen by a coin flip. The President will flip a coin and give the result to the Vice President. The Vice President will ask one of the two candidates to choose heads or tails. The candidate designated to choose will inform both the President and the Vice President of his or her choice of heads or tails. This candidate wins the election if his or her choice matches the President’s coin flip. Otherwise the other candidate wins. (For full text of Article 5, please see below.) YOUR VOTE: YES NO 2. Motion to amend Articles 3, 5, 9, and 11 of Constitution regarding change of title and method of appointment of the Executive Director (formerly the Secretary-­‐Treasurer), Managing Editor, Associate Editor or Co-­‐Managing Editors (Article 3). (For full text of Articles 3, 5, 9, and 11, please see below. These changes make the Executive Director an appointed rather than elected position.) YOUR VOTE: YES NO 3. Motion to amend Constitution to change fiscal year dates to match calendar year and to require president’s annual report to be published in the journal as soon as possible rather than in the August issue of the journal (Article 9) (For full text of Article 9, please see below. These changes simplify the society’s book keeping and adjust the date of production of the president’s report in keeping with the production schedule of the journal at the University of Illinois Press.) YOUR VOTE: YES NO_______________________ (altered wording is in bold) Article 3: Officers
The officers of the Society shall be a President, a Vice-President, an Executive Director, a
Managing Editor of publications (hereinafter called Managing Editor), and an Associate
Managing Editor. The Executive Director, the Managing Editor, and the Associate Managing
Editor shall be appointed by the President with the concurrence of the Executive Council.
The President may appoint Co-Managing Editors with the concurrence of the Executive
Council.
Article 5: Elections
The Vice-President (president-elect) shall be elected for a two-year term [DELETE: and the
Secretary-Treasurer shall be elected for a four-year term] by the majority of votes from the
membership of the Society which reach the Executive Director within sixty days of the
mailing of the ballots, two candidates for each post having been nominated by a majority
vote of the Executive Council. The Vice-President shall succeed automatically to the
Presidency for a two-year term. The President of the Society may not be nominated for the
position of Vice-President. Those thus elected shall take office at the close of the annual
meeting of the year in which they are elected. The members of the Advisory Committee
shall hold office for four years. Their terms of office shall be staggered so that two new
members are elected each year, replacing the two who shall have served their full terms.
The Executive Council shall nominate two members whose professional background and
interests are in history and the social sciences to run for one position and two members
whose professional background and interests are in language and literature to run for the
other position. The candidates for the Executive Council shall be elected by the majority of
votes from the membership of the Society which reach the Executive Director within sixty
days of the mailing of the ballots. Those thus elected shall take office at the close of the
annual meeting of the year in which they are elected.
[ADDITION:] In the event that two candidates receive an equal number of votes in an
election, the winner will be chosen by coin flip. The President will flip a coin and give the
result to the Vice-President. The Vice-President will ask one of the two candidates to
choose heads or tails. The candidate designated to choose will inform both the President
and the Vice-President of his or her choice of heads or tails. This candidate wins the
election if his or her choice matches the result of the President’s coin flip. Otherwise the
other candidate will win.
Article 9: Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting shall normally be held the first Friday and Saturday in May or on two
consecutive Friday and Saturday dates in April and (or) May and at such place as the
Executive Council shall designate. The meetings shall be held primarily for the purpose of
reading and discussing learned papers presented by the members, the discussion of
methods and materials for the teaching of Scandinavian studies, and, in general, for the
discussion of means for the furthering of the aims and purposes of the Society. The Annual
Meeting and its program shall be organized by a Program Committee appointed by the
President in consultation with the Executive Council. A member of the Program Committee
shall be appointed by the President to serve as Chair of the Committee. During the Annual
Meeting, a business meeting shall be held at which reports by officers of the Society for the
fiscal year, which is January 1 through December 31 [DELETE: April 1 through March 31].
The Managing Editor shall report on the activities and plans of the editorial staff. The
President shall report on the state of the Society and on the activities of the Executive
Council; measures adopted by the Executive Council shall be briefly summarized by the
President. A separate financial report and the minutes of the annual business meeting shall
be published in the next possible number of Scandinavian Studies [DELETE: shall be
published in the next following August number of Scandinavian Studies]. The business
meeting shall be open to all registrants of the annual meeting. Only members of the Society
are entitled to vote (see Article 8). Recommendations to the Executive Council may be
made by a simple majority of the membership present at the annual business meeting. A
two-thirds majority of the membership present at the annual business meeting may vote to
submit decisions made by the Executive Council to the membership of the Society in the
form of a referendum, which will be decided by a simple majority of the votes which reach
the Executive Director within sixty days of the mailing of the ballots. A decision made in
this manner can be altered only by another referendum. By-laws to this Constitution
proposed by the Executive Council must be approved by a simple majority of members
present at the business meeting.
Article 11: Expenditures
The Society shall not expend funds to engage in any activities or exercise any powers that
are not in furtherance of the purposes of this Society. No elected officers shall receive
salaries. Expenditures in support of the Executive Director, the Managing Editors, and
Scandinavian Studies and other forms of communication shall be subject to guidelines
established by the Executive Council. [DELETE: The Society shall pay no traveling
expenses from dues and Endowment Fund income.] No part of the dues and Endowment
Fund income of the Society shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributed to, its members,
officers, or other private persons, except that the Society may pay reasonable compensation
for services rendered and make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes
set forth above. The Society may establish separate funds or seek extramural support for
activities that benefit the Society. The Executive Council may expend funds to bond the
Executive Director to an amount determined by a two-thirds majority vote of the Executive
Council and to conduct an annual audit of the Society’s accounts.