See proposed amendments, to be voted on in October 2011

ARTICLE I. NAME
ARTICLE II. NATURE AND PURPOSE
ARTICLE III. MEMBERSHIP
ARTICLE IV. AFFILIATION
ARTICLE V. ORGANIZATION
ARTICLE VI. MEETINGS
ARTICLE VII. RATIFICATION AND AMENDMENT OF CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE VIII. ACTIVITIES PROHIBITED
ARTICLE IX. DISSOLUTION OF ORGANIZATION

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ARTICLE I. NAME
The name of the society shall be: The Northeast American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies.

ARTICLE II. NATURE AND PURPOSE
Section 1. The Society shall be a general not-for-profit corporation as defined under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States of America as set forth by requirement under Section 508 (b) of the Internal Revenue Code, or amendment(s) thereto.

Section 2. The purpose of the Society shall be the encouragement of studies and research in the history of eighteenth-century culture in its broadest sense.

Section 3. The Society shall pursue its purpose by promoting the interchange of information and ideas among members of the various scholarly disciplines engaged in studies of the eighteenth century, through interdisciplinary meetings, publications, joint research projects, and other means it deems appropriate.

ARTICLE III. MEMBERSHIP
Membership in the Society shall be open to any person interested in the purposes of the Society.

ARTICLE IV. AFFILIATION
The Society shall be affiliated with the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies under the title "The North East Regional Conference of the ASECS."

ARTICLE V. ORGANIZATION
Section 1. Officers.

The Society shall have the following officers: President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, Editor of the NEASECS Newsletter, and Chair of the Program Committee.

The duties of these officers shall be those normally assigned to officers of learned societies, and other duties assigned to them by the Executive Board.

Section 2. Executive Board

The governance of the Society shall be vested in the Executive Board, which shall consist of the above-named officers ex officio, the most recent past President, ex officio, nine elected members of the Society, and the editor of the NEASECS Newsletter, ex officio.

The Executive Board shall (a) supervise the operations of the Society; (b) fix the place and date of the annual meeting; (c) fix the membership dues and, when appropriate, adopt a budget of expenditures; (d) nominate a successor to any officer who resigns or is otherwise disqualified from serving; (e) nominate the Chair of the Program Committee; (f) transact other business which may appropriately come before it; (g) authorize the President or the Vice-President and the Secretary/Treasurer to deal with emergencies in the interim between annual meetings; and (h) submit its proposals, recommendations, and nominations to the annual business meeting for approval and ratification.

Section 3. Eligibility and Tenure

Any member of the Society is eligible for election to any office and to membership on the Executive Board, provided however that:

(a) The President and the First Vice President shall not be specialists in the same scholarly discipline; nor shall the First and Second Vice Presidents be specialists in the same scholarly discipline;
(b) Not more than three elected members of the Executive Board shall be specialists in the same scholarly discipline; and
(c) Not fewer than four scholarly disciplines shall be represented on the elected portion of the Executive Board.

The nine elected members of the Executive Board shall hold office for three years, at least three to be elected each year, except that the first nine members elected shall decide by lot which three shall serve for one year, which three shall serve for two years, and which three shall serve for three years, provided that the discipline limitations described above in (b) and (c) and in Article V, Section 4 are adhered to. Elected members of the Executive Board shall be eligible for re-election for one additional term.

The President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, and Chair of the Program Committee shall hold their offices for one year, and shall not be re-elected to their respective offices before five years shall have elapsed. The First Vice President shall automatically succeed the President, and the Second Vice President shall automatically succeed the First Vice President, at the end of their respective terms.

The Secretary /Treasurer and the Editor of the NEASECS Newsletter shall be elected for indefinite terms and shall serve at the pleasure of the Executive Board. When either position becomes vacant, it shall be filled by appointment by the Executive Board, the locum tenens to serve until a successor shall have been elected at the next business meeting.

Section 4. Committees

(i) The Program Committee shall consist of a Chair, normally resident at the proposed host institution, and such members as he/she considers appropriate for the organization of the conference. The Chair is chosen by the Executive Board on the basis of an application in writing that contains evidence of experience in organizing conferences and/or consultation with previous conference Chairs, and specific financial guarantees of the viability of the proposed conference. The Program Committee shall arrange the activities of the following annual meeting.
(ii) The Nominating Committee shall be appointed by the President prior to the business meeting. It shall consist of one officer or member of the Executive Board who is not eligible to be, or who does not choose to be, a candidate for re-election; and three members of the Society who are not officers or members of the Executive Board. The Nominating Committee shall present to the business meeting nominations for the following positions: Vice President, members of the Executive Board, one member of the Program Committee, and, when appropriate, Secretary/Treasurer. Nominations may be made from the floor, and the election shall take place at the business meeting.
(iii) The Review Committee, consisting of members from at least three disciplines, at least one of which is not (a), (b), (c), or (d) (see below) shall be appointed every few years by the Executive Board for the purpose of reviewing the discipline structure of the Society.

Section 5. Definition of "Discipline"

For the purposes of this Article, "discipline" shall be defined as follows: any one of the following conjunctions or disjunctions of the fields of
(a) English and American language and literature
(b) Other modern languages and literatures
(c) Classics, comparative literature, linguistics, speech, and drama
(d) History, economics, political science, and related fields
(e) Philosophy, religion, and the history of ideas
(f) Music and visual arts
(g) Science, medicine, and technology
(h) Other fields of scholarly study.

Within not more than five years after the ratification of this Constitution, and at regular intervals thereafter, the Executive Board shall provide a review of the discipline-structure of the Society with a view to possible changes therein. Reviews shall be made by a committee appointed by the Executive Board consisting of members from at least three disciplines, at least one of which is not (a), (b), (c), or (d) above.

ARTICLE VI. MEETINGS
There shall be annual meetings of the Society, comprising an Executive Board meeting, a business meeting, and a program of scholarly papers. The President or, in his/her absence, the Vice-President, shall preside at the executive and business meetings. The purpose of the business meeting is to approve and ratify all proposals, recommendations, and nominations coming from the Executive Board or from any of the three committees described above, and to transact any business that may properly come before it.

Section 1. The business meeting

The President, or in his/her absence the Vice President, shall preside at the business meeting. The Secretary and the Treasurer shall make reports to the business meeting. The business meeting shall transact business that may properly come before it, and shall elect officers and members of the Executive Board.

Section 2. The Program

The Program Committee shall arrange a program of scholarly papers and sessions for the following annual meeting.

Subsection A. The Program Committee

The Program Committee shall consist of a Chair, one member elected at the business meeting, and other members appointed by the President in consultation with the Chair of the Program Committee. The Chair of the Program Committee shall, normally, be resident at the institution which is to be the host for the meeting for which the program is planned.

ARTICLE VII. RATIFICATION AND AMENDMENT OF CONSTITUTION

Section 1. Ratification.

This Constitution shall come into force when it is adopted by the Executive Board.

Section 2. Amendments

This Constitution may be amended, upon recommendation of the Executive Board, by a two-thirds affirmative vote of members attending an annual business meeting.

This Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds affirmative vote of two consecutive business meetings.

ARTICLE VIII      ACTIVITIES PROHIBITED

As required by the Internal Revenue Service, pertinent to NEASECS attaining exemption status from Federal Taxation Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, the following provision is established.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this constitution, the organization shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on (a) by an organization exempt from Federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (or corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law) or (b) by an organization contributions to which are deductible under section 170(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (or corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law).

ARTICLE IX     DISSOLUTION OF ORGANIZATION

As required by the Internal Revenue Service, pertinent to NEASECS attaining exemption status from Federal Taxation Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, the following provision is established.

Upon winding up and dissolution of this organization, after paying or adequately providing for the debts and obligations of the organization, the remaining assets shall be distributed to a non-profit fund, foundation, or corporation which is organized and operated exclusively for charitable, educational, religious, and or scientific purposes and which has established its tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.


Constitution adopted April 1, 1977, amended October 7, 1989 and November 8, 2003.

Article IV in effect May 5, 1977.