Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing

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Changes to Constitution 2007-2008: Message by ALLC Chair (April 2008)

Dear Colleagues

I am writing to you as Chair of the ALLC, to inform you of changes to the Association's constitution which were approved by the Committee in the meetings we held in Leipzig in December. We have been waiting for the UK Charity Commission to give us their approval, but if we are to hold elections this year under the new constitution, which the Committee wishes to do, we cannot wait longer. In any case, there is only one specific change for which Charity Commission approval is required, and that is to do with the Association's 'objects', and these do not affect the elections. Under our existing constitution, the Committee is authorised to approve changes, and Charity Commission approval is required only for changes to Objects (clause 2) and Dissolution (clause 26). We propose to update the Objects clause, and we propose no change to the Dissolution.

We propose therefore to go ahead with the new procedures. I must apologise for not having notified all members immediately after the December meetings of the Committee, but I confess I had expected a faster response on the Objects clause. If we start the nomination/election process now, however, we will be able to meet the timetable of the revised constitution.

The new constitution is attached as a Word document. The changes, including both emendations and additions, are highlighted in bold. These changes are the fruit of a deliberation and consultation over a period of a year or more, and the December meetings introduced many refinements to a basic set of changes developed by a small working party consisting of David Robey, Edward Vanhoutte and myself, with many of the ideas having been discussed in successive Committee meetings.

The key changes cover the following areas:

• We have updated the constitution to reflect the situation following the creation of ADHO (the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organisations) and the adoption of LLC as the print journal of all ADHO associations. ALLC continues to be the owner of LLC, but individual subscribers choose which association(s) they wish to be considered members of, and LLC revenue is allocated to all ADHO constituent organisations according to the formula agreed in the establishment of ADHO. (For further information, see the formal ADHO documents at www.digitalhumanities.org.)
• The Officers of the Association (Chair, Secretary, Treasurer) will continue to be elected by the Committee, but for 3-year rather than 1-year terms, and will be limited to serving a maximum of two such terms consecutively. The election of Officers by the Committee will follow a rotation principle, so that only one Officer is elected in a given year.
• Similar provisions have been introduced for the election of the Association President, who will continue to be appointed by the Committee, but for a maximum of two consecutive three-year terms.
• The number of Co-opted Members that can be appointed by the Committee has been increased from two to three.

Transition arrangements The Committee was concerned to ensure that the transition from the old to the new constitution should be as smooth as possible, and have approved the following arrangements.

• A. Committee members: 2008-2010 Because the constitutional arrangements were in process, the Committee agreed that the members elected at the Illinois conference should be elected for 1 year rather than 3, but with the option of standing for election for a further 2 years, in order to complete the normal 3-year term. This was reported at the 2007 AGM. The three committee members elected in this way were:
  • Elisabeth Burr
  • Liliane Gallet-Blanchard
  • Laszlo Hunyadi
  All three have indicated their willingness to be nonimated. Three members need to be elected in this part of the election, and the three elected will serve two years.
• B. Committee members: 2008-2011 The 'normal' constitutional arrangements apply to this group, who will be elected for three years. The three normally retiring members are:
  • Alejandro Bia
  • Espen Ore
  • Thomas Rommel
  Alejandro Bia is eligible for re-nomination and election, but Espen Ore and Thomas Rommel have served two consecutive three-year terms, and are therefore not eligibile for immediate re-nomination this year.
• C. Officers In order to offer the chance of continuity while the new provisions come into effect, the Committee decided - with the current Officers absent from the discussion - that the following procedure should be followed:
  • 2008 Elections:
    • Treasurer: appointed for 3 years (Jean Anderson had in any case indicated her wish to stand down after many years of exceptional service, so this will be a new appointment).
    • Secretary: appointed for 1 year. Lisa Lena Opas Hanninen, the current Secretary, will exceptionally be eligible for nomination.
    • Chair: appointed for 2 years. Harold Short, the current Chair, will exceptionally be eligible for nomination.
  • 2009 Elections: a new Secretary to be appointed for 3 years.
  • 2010 Elections: a new Chair to be appointed for 3 years.

Call for nominations

In order to put all of these provisions into effect, a further email will therefore be sent out immediately to invite nominations for the three categories of vacancy:

• 3 Committee Members to serve 2008-2010 (Elisabeth Burr, Liliane Gallet-Blanchard, and Laszlo Hunyadi are all eligible for nomination)
• 3 Committee Members to serve 2008-2011 (only Alejandro Bia of the retiring Members is eligible for nomination)
• 3 Officers: Treasurer for 3 years; Chair for 2 years (with Harold Short eligible for nomination); Secretary for 1 year (with Lisa Lena Opas-Hanninen eligible for nomination).

Committee Roles

In addition to the formal consitutional changes, the Committee also decided at the December meetings to introduce a less formal Appendix to the Constitution, in which specific Committee Roles are defined. One such role - Membership Services Co-ordinator - has been very effectively filled by Melissa Terras for the past three years. We have discussed additional roles. The idea is that these roles would normally be carried out by elected members of the Committee.

A document is in preparation, which will be circulated to Association members prior to the June meetings and conference in Oulu, for information.

Best wishes

Harold Short

Chair, ALLC

April 2008

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