Our Constitution
Aim:
To promote the interests of those teaching and studying English language and literatures in Canadian colleges and universities by facilitating the dissemination and exchange of research and the exploration of professional issues, by organizing scholarly and professional meetings, by seeking to improve working conditions, by mediating disputes between members and institutions, by representing the interests of members before provincial and federal decision-making and funding bodies, and by supporting the interests and aspirations of members entering the profession.
Membership:
A. Teachers of English in Canadian colleges and universities, and graduate students in English in Canadian universities are eligible for membership. All other interested persons are eligible for associate membership.
B. The personal liability of all members is limited to the amount of their annual subscription.
Meetings:
There shall be an annual general meeting held at the time of the meetings of the Learned Societies, and other meetings at the call of the Executive. The agenda for a meeting shall be distributed to the membership two weeks before the meeting. Meetings will be conducted by Robert’s Rules of Order unless otherwise determined.
Executive:
A. The membership of the Executive will consist of eight persons:
(a) three members at large, elected for two-year terms;
(b) a Secretary-Treasurer, elected for a two-year term;
(c) either a Past-President (for one year after the completion of his or her term as President) or a Vice-President (elected for the second year of the current President’s term);
(d) the President of the Association, who assumes office for a two-year term by virtue of having been elected Vice-President the previous year;
(e) the Editor of English Studies in Canada, ex-officio;
(f) a graduate student, elected for a one-year term;
(g) the chair of the Canadian Association of Chairs of English (CACE), ex officio;
(h) a sessional member, to be determined annually at a special sessional meeting held in conjunction with the Congress.
B. The Executive shall be responsible for presenting nominations for officers to be elected at the general meeting to fill vacancies caused by either completion of term or resignation. Suggestions for nomination shall be solicited from the membership by means of announcement in the “Newsletter.” A list of nominations shall be sent to the membership before the general meeting.
Committees:
The Executive is empowered to establish committees from time to time as the need arises.
The President shall be responsible for presenting a programme proposal for the annual meeting to the Executive for its ratification and shall be empowered to appoint such persons or committees as he or she deems necessary to the organization of this programme.
The Executive shall appoint a current Member-at-large as Chair of the Committee for Professional Concerns (CPC), instead of recruiting the Chair from the general membership.
Amendment of the Constitution:
Members may propose amendments to the Constitution. Proposed amendments must bear the signatures of ten members of the Association, must be submitted to the President by 15 March preceding the AGM and circulated with the agenda for that meeting. A motion calling for a mail ballot of any duly proposed amendment will be presented to the AGM; if that motion passes by a simple majority of those present, the mail ballot of the membership will be held between the September and May following the AGM. A two-thirds majority of those voting in the mail ballot will be required for the adoption of the amendment.
