The NESFA By-Laws
with Historical Annotations

Article VI: Committees

• [See Article XI for the Boskone Committee, which is governed by rules almost completely different from other committees.]

• 6.1 Standing or special committees, in addition to those committees mentioned in these by-laws, may be established or dissolved by the Membership.
  [The 1967-71 By-Laws explicitly listed the standing committees: Convention (Boskone), Membership, Nominations, Publications, and Rules; all other committees fell under the categories "Temporary, Special, and Ad Hoc". The committees now mentioned in the By-Laws are Rules, Membership, Finance, Boskone, and Nominating.]

• 6.2 The President shall appoint the committee chairmen and shall appoint the members of each committee in consultation with its chairman.

• 6.3 The Executive Board may remove any committee chairman, and the President may remove any committee member for cause upon the recommendation of that committee's chairman. [3/71]

• • 6.4 (a) Only Regular Members can serve on the Rules Committee or the Membership Committee, and no Member can serve on both committees concurrently. No Officer can be a member of the Rules Committee.
    [The text of Sections 6.4 and 6.5 has been amended and reshuffled several times (originally 6.4 dealt with the Rules Committee only). In this subsection, the limitation to Regular Members goes back to 3/71, with the prohibition of serving on both committees added in 12/75.]

  • (b) The Rules Committee and the Membership Committee shall each consist of a minimum of three members, including the chairman. The appointment or removal of the chairman or any member of either committee requires the approval of the Membership, voting by secret ballot.
    [1967-71: Rules Committee approved by Membership. 3/71: Rules Committee minimum size. 12/75: Same restrictions for Membership Committee, secret ballot required for both.]

• 6.5 If at any time the Rules Committee has fewer than three members appointed at or since the last Annual Meeting and the President fails to appoint such new members, the Membership may elect a sufficient number of members to bring the committee up to three members.
  [No such provision originally. In 4/75 it was provided that the committee's "powers and duties ... devolve on the Membership" if there were fewer than three members. Essentially the current text was adopted in 12/75, with "appointed at or since the last Annual Meeting" added in 11/79. (The new Rules Committee is most commonly appointed the month after the Annual Meeting, but nobody has complained yet.)]

• 6.5A The Finance Committee shall consist of the Corporate Treasurer, all currently active Boskone Treasurers, and a minimum of three additional Regular Members appointed by the President. Any of the committee members may be named as chairman. The appointment of the appointed members, and the appointment of the committee chairman, require the approval of the Membership. The removal of an appointed member or of the committee chairman requires the approval of the Membership, voting by secret ballot.
  [4/92. The Finance Committee was originally established in 3/91 as an ad hoc advisory committee. In 4/92 it was made a standing committee and given the responsibility for auditing (Section 5.10). 10/2001, removed the requirement of a secret ballot to approve appointments.]

• 6.6 The Membership or the Executive Board may create any additional appointive position or agency, and may define its duties and determine the authority and procedure whereby the holder of such position or agency shall be appointed or removed. [3/71]

• 6.7 Unless otherwise provided, the term of every committee position and every other appointive post shall be until the next Annual Meeting and thereafter until the successor to the position is appointed.
  [4/75; from 3/71 to 4/75 all committees expired at the end of the Annual Meeting, period.]

• 6.8 Every committee shall keep a general record of the proceedings of its meetings and activities and shall submit such records to the Clerk for inclusion in the records of the Corporation.