The Central European Association for Canadian Studies

L'Association d'Etudes Canadiennes en Europe Centrale

1. Name

The name of the Association shall be the Central European Association for Canadian Studies/ Association d'Etudes Canadiennes en Europe Centrale.

2. Aims and Activities

The Association shall support and encourage Canadian Studies (i.e. studies relating to Canada) in the countries of the Central European region, interpreted broadly. It shall also encourage regional cooperation in such studies, and seek to promote active cooperation with organizations interested in Canadian Studies in other countries.

To this end the Association shall concern itself with the holding of triennial conferences and other meetings, with the maintenance of a Website and the regular publication of a journal, and with endeavouring to develop programmes appropriate for the development of Canadian Studies in the region.

3. Membership

Membership of the Association shall be open to teachers, researchers, students and other individuals with an active interest in Canadian Studies, upon payment of the appropriate fee as determined by the General Meeting.

There shall be two categories of membership, individual and institutional.

4. General Meeting

A General Meeting of the Association shall be held every third year, normally as part of the triennial conference. Notice of a General Meeting shall be given at least two months in advance by the President of the Association.

An extraordinary General Meeting may be convened at the request of a majority of the members of the Executive Committee or of the Executive Council, or of one fifth of the members of the Association. Notice of an extraordinary General Meeting shall be given at least two months in advance.

All duly registered members of the Association shall have the right to vote at General Meetings.

The President of the Association, or in his/her absence, the Vice-President, shall preside at all sessions of a General Meeting.

Any matter before a General Meeting shall be decided by a simple majoritv of the votes cast thereon, with the President abstaining. In case of a tie, the President has the casting vote.

5. Executive Council

There shall be an Executive Council to oversee the administration by the Executive Committee of the affairs of the association. The Executive Council shall consist of the President of the Association plus one representative from each country in the region, with the proviso that a country must have at least seven dues-paying members involved in teaching or doing research in Canadian Studies in order to quality for representation on the Executive Council. A majority of the country representatives shall constitute a quorum.

Duly registered members from each country shall choose their representatives themselves. Where a national organization already exists (or is subsequently created), it is up to the organization to choose the method of selection. Members of the Executive Council shall hold office for a term of three years. Each country shall determine whether its representative on the Executive Council is eligible for more than a three-year term.

If the representative for a country is unable to complete his or her three-year term of office, the country in question will fill that vacancy by selecting a new representative through a process in which every dues-paying member from that country is able to vote. Where a national organization exists (or is subsequently created), the method of selection of the individual to fill the vacancy is up the that national organization.

Upon the wish of one-third of the members of a national chapter, as expressed to the Executive Committee, the dues-paying members of that country may vote to replace their representative on the Executive Council. Where a national association exists, it may choose to replace its representative on the Executive Council by a vote of all its members.

There shall be at least one meeting per year of the Executive Council, at a place and time to be determined by the President or the Executive Committee, provided that two months written notice of such meeting shall be given to each member of the Council. The members of the Executive Committee are entitled to participate in, but not vote at, the meetings of the Executive Council.

6. Executive Committee

The day-to-day business of the Association shall be dealt with by an Executive Committee consisting of five members, four regular voting members and the editor of the Central European Journal of Canadian Studies, who is a non-voting member. One of the regular members of the Executive Committee shall be the President of the Association.

.

The President of the Association, who is one of the four regular members of the Committee, and the other three regular Executive Committee members shall be elected at a General Meeting of the Association. The four regular members of the Executive Committee must come from different countries. Each national chapter, consisting of the dues-paying members from a particular country (or a national organization, where this exists), shall nominate one person for a regular position on the Executive Committee. This must be done a least two months before the General Meeting at which the election of the new Executive Committee will take place. It is up to each national chapter to decide on the method of selecting its candidate. The four members elected to the new Executive Committee at the General Meeting shall select one of their number as President, a second as Vice-President, a third as Secretary and a fourth as Treasurer. The Executive Committee will select the editor of the Central European Journal of Canadian Studies. All members of the Executive Committee will serve for a term of three years. They shall be eligible for re-election.

If a vacancy arises in the Executive Committee before the expiration of a member's term, the national chapter of that member's country will select a new member to fill the vacancy from among the dues-paying members from that country. In the case of the editor of the Central European Journal of Canadian Studies, the new editor will be chosen by the Executive Committee.

The President of the Association shall serve as chairman of the Executive Committee; the other members shall decide which of them should hold the posts of Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. The Secretary shall keep records of proceedings and act as membership secretary .The Treasurer shall keep accounts.

The Executive Committee shall meet at least once a year. Three committee members constitute a quorum.

The Executive Committee shall prepare a report of the activities of the Association for the General Meeting, make a budget and be responsible for the finances of the Association. To inspect the finances of the Association, two auditors shall be elected by the General Meeting. The accounts of the Association shall be audited annually. An auditors' report shall be presented at the General meeting.

7. National Chapters

All the dues-paying members from a particular country shall form a "national chapter". In the case of a country with a national Canadian Studies association, this association shall fulfil the responsibilities of a national chapter

Each national chapter shall be free to arrange conferences, meetings, seminars, lectures, etc., and to concern itself with other Canadian Studies activities.

The national chapters shall keep the Executive Committee informed of all their activities.

8 .Amendments

These articles may be amended by a simple majority of members present at a General Meeting, due notice of the proposed amendment having been given to all members at least six weeks in advance.