Modified by business meeting on 15 March 2024
Article I - MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. Eligibility for membership:
Any person who displays an interest in anthropology may apply for membership in the Society, without regard to geographical location. Membership with full rights and privilege will be conferred by application and payment of the annual dues assessed to the membership. Membership will be lost by nonpayment of annual dues. Members may be reinstated by bringing dues to a current status.
Section 2. Classes of membership:
There shall be four classes of membership in the Society, all with full rights and privileges of membership.
- A regular member of the Society shall pay 100% of the regular annual dues of the Society as established by the Board of Directors.
- Joint members of the Society, as a couple, shall jointly pay 150% of the regular annual dues of the Society as established by the Board of Directors.
- Student members of the Society shall pay a reduced rate of the regular annual dues of the Society as established by the Board of Directors.
- Life members of the Society shall make a one-time payment of dues to the Society, the amount to be established by the Board of Directors. Such one-time payment shall relieve the life member of the obligation to pay further annual dues and insures him or her of full rights and privileges for life.
- Honorary life membership of the Society can be conferred by the Board of Directors upon those individuals who have provided outstanding service to anthropology in the South. Such members pay no dues.
Article II - MEETINGS
Section 1. Time and place of regular meetings.
The Society shall hold at least one general business meeting annually at a place and time which shall be determined by the Board of Directors of the Society.
Section 2. Special meetings
Special meetings of the Society may be called by an affirmative vote of a majority of the Board of Directors, or upon the written requests of twenty (20%) percent of the Members of the Society.
Section 3. Notice of meetings
Notice of all meetings of members shall be in writing and shall state the place, date, and hour of the meeting and, unless it is an Annual Meeting, indicate that it is being issued by or at the direction of the person or persons calling the meeting. Notice of all Special Meetings of members shall state the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called. Notice of any meeting shall be given, personally or by mail, to each member entitled to vote at such meeting. If the notice is given personally or by first class mail, it shall be given not less than twenty (20) nor more than thirty (30) days before the date of the meeting. If mailed by any other class of mail, it shall be given not less than thirty (30) nor more than sixty (60) days before the meeting. If mailed, such notice is given when deposited in the United States mail, with postage thereon prepaid, directed to the member at his/her address as it appears on the record of members, or if he/she shall have filed with the Secretary of the Society, a written request that notices be mailed to some other address, then directed to such other address.
Section 4. Quorum.
Members of the Society attending business meetings shall constitute a quorum.
Section 5. Minutes.
The minutes of the annual meeting or of any Special Meeting of the Society shall be read and approved at the next succeeding meeting of the board of directors or any annual or special meeting of the society, whichever first occurs.
Article III - BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Section 1. Administration.
The administration of the affairs of the Society shall be vested in a Board of Directors composed of the President, the President-Elect, the immediate Past-President, the Secretary-Treasurer, and the three counselors duly elected as hereinafter set forth.
Section 2. Term.
The Directors who are also officers of the Society shall assume office at the close of the Annual Business Meeting in which their election is declared and shall serve for the full term of the office to which they are elected. Directors who are counselors shall serve for their full term of election to the position of counselor. Counselors shall be elected to a term of three (3) years and thereafter until their successors shall have been duly elected.
Section 3. Duties.
The Board of Directors shall manage the business of the Society. It shall make a report at the Annual Meeting of the Society as to the progress of the Society during the previous year, and shall have in addition the powers normally incident to a Board of Directors, including the power to appoint all Committees serving the Society. It may delegate to the President the power to appoint ad hoc committees. In addition, the Board of Directors shall appoint the Proceedings Editor for a three-year term, and Local Arrangements Chairperson. The Proceedings Editor in cooperation with the Board of Directors will have final responsibility for the Proceedings and will determine the articles for the Proceedings.
Section 4. Meetings.
Regular meetings of the Board of Directors may be held upon such notice or without notice, as the Board of Directors shall from time to time determine. Notice of the time and place of Special Meetings shall be given to each Director personally or by mail, with postage thereon prepaid, to such Director at the Director's address as it appears on the records of the Society, in either case at least ten (10) days prior to the time fixed for such meeting.
If given by mail the notice shall be deemed given when deposited in the United States mail. The call, notice or any waiver of notice need not specify the purpose of any meeting of the Board of Directors. Special meetings may be called by the President and shall be called at the written request of any three (3) members of the Board of Directors.
Section 5. Quorum.
Four (4) members of the Board of Directors shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of the Board of Directors.
Article IV - OFFICERS
Section 1. Eligibility.
The Officers of the Society shall be a President, a President-Elect and a Secretary-Treasurer, all of whom must be members of the Society.
Section 2. President, Duties and Election.
The President shall preside at meetings of the Society and the Board of Directors. He/she shall be an ex-officio member of all committees except the Nominating Committee. The President shall appoint with the approval of the Board of Directors all committees except standing committees. The President shall serve a two-year term of office, and, under normal circumstances, will be succeeded by the previously elected President-Elect.
Section 3. President-Elect, Duties and Election.
The President-Elect of the Society shall also serve as the Vice-President. The President-Elect shall assume the office and duties of the President when that office becomes vacant and will temporarily assume the duties of the President in the absence or temporary incapacity of the President. The President-Elect shall be elected by the membership of the Society every year and shall serve for a term of two years.
Section 4. Secretary-Treasurer, Duties and Election.
The Secretary-Treasurer shall receive, administer and disburse all Society funds and shall maintain the records of the Society. He/she shall have charge of all correspondence; conferrals of membership, and shall maintain an official membership list. The Secretary-Treasurer shall be elected by the membership of the Society every three years and shall serve for a term of three years.
Article V - ELECTION
The Board of Directors will appoint a Nominating Committee of three (3) members. The immediate Past-President of the Society should chair the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee will provide a ballot with space for write-in candidates. The ballot will be circulated by mail at least thirty (30) days before the Annual Meeting. Ballots will be returned to the Secretary-Treasurer with the member's name signed on the envelope containing the ballot, but said member's name shall not appear upon the ballot itself. The person receiving the majority of votes for any office shall be certified as elected to said office, and in case of a tie vote for any office, the winner shall be determined by vote of the Board of Directors, with the immediate Past-President entitled to cast a vote in case of a tie vote within the Board of Directors.
Article VI - VACANCIES
Vacancy on the Board of Directors.
In case a vacancy shall occur on the Board of Directors, or in any office of the Society, the vacancy shall hold office until the next Annual Meeting at which the election of officers and counselors is in the regular order of business.
Article VII - SEAL
The Seal of the Society shall be in circular form and shall have subscribed thereon the words: "THE SOUTHERN ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY, INC.CORPORATE SEALGEORGIA"
Article VIII - FISCAL YEAR
The fiscal year of the Society shall begin on the first day of January and end on the thirty-first of December until or unless otherwise provided by the Board of Directors by proper resolution.
Article IX - AMENDMENTS
Procedure.
These Bylaws may be amended by vote of the majority of the members present at an Annual Meeting, or at any Special Meeting being called for that purpose, provided that notices of such proposed amendments shall be mailed at least ten (10) days prior to the day for which the meeting is called. The proposed amendment shall be submitted in writing to the Directors at least thirty (30) days before the date of the Annual Meeting or of any Special Called Meeting wherein the purpose is to amend the bylaws.