Constitution and By-Laws

The name of the organization is the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs.

The Conference is formed for education and scientific purposes and has no stated capital.  The Conference is created and shall be administered and operated exclusively for the benefit of those interested in the develop­ment and promotion of Asian Studies.            

All those who shall pay the annual membership fee shall be considered members of the Conference.

The Conference shall be administered by the elected officers and the Executive Committee.

The Constitution or the By-Laws of the Conference may be adopted, altered, amended, or repealed, in whole or in part, by a majority of the voting members returning ballots.

Section 1

The officers of the Conference shall be:  President, Vice-President, Past President, Executive-Secretary, Representative to the Council of Conferences of the Association for Asian Studies, Outreach Coordinator, and Program Chairperson.  

Section 2

The terms of office of the President, Vice-President, Past President, and Program Chairperson shall be for one year.  The Vice-President shall be elected by a majority of ballots cast at the Annual Meeting. The Vice President shall, after serving his/her term of office, automati­cally assume the office of President. 

Section 3

The term of office of the Executive-Secretary shall be for three years upon election by a majority vote of ballots cast at the Annual Meeting. 

Section 4

The Program Chairperson and Outreach Coordinator for the Annual Meeting shall be appointed by the Executive Committee for a one-year term.   

Section 5

The term of office and the procedures for the election of the Representative to the Council of Conferences of the Association for Asian Studies shall be as specified in the Association for Asian Studies Constitution and the By-Laws.  Recruitment of candidates shall be the responsibility of the Past President of the MCAA and the Nominating Committee.

Section 6

The Executive Committee of the Conference shall consist of the President as Chair, the Vice-President, the Representative to the Council of Conferences of the Association for Asian Studies, the Executive-Secretary, the Outreach Coordinator, the Program Chair, the immediate Past-President as Chair of the Nominating Committee, and six elected Advisors.

The six elected Advisors shall individually represent four major regions of Asia: two advisors to represent Northeast Asia (Japan and Korea); two advisors to represent China and Inner Asia; and one each to represent South Asia and Southeast Asia respectively.  These Advisors shall be elected to three-year staggered terms by a majority of members casting ballots at the Annual Meeting.  The Advisors will serve as the Nominating Committee, and assist the immediate Past President.

The Executive Committee shall meet at the call of the President or by petition of any seven members of the Committee.  

Section 7

Any officer of the Midwest Conference shall be subject to recall by a two-thirds vote of the voting members at the Conference business meeting. 

As used in these By-Laws, the word "Conference" shall mean the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs; the word "member" shall mean any person who, having paid his/her annual fee, is a member of the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs. 

The office of the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs shall be the same as that of the Executive-Secretary. 

Section 1

The Annual Meeting of the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs shall be held each year at a time and place designated by the Executive Committee.  A call for the Annual Meeting shall be made, by surface mail or electronically, by the Annual Meeting Program Chairperson. 

Section 2

A quorum for the transaction of any business at any meeting of the members shall be the number of members holding in person and/or by proxy at least 10% of the votes outstanding, except that revision of the Constitution or By-Laws shall require a quorum of 30 members.

The President of the Conference or the Vice-President entitled to act in his/her stead shall preside at the meetings of the Confer­ence, and the Executive-Secretary shall act as Secretary thereat.

Section 3

At such meetings the members may by majority vote of the votes present, in person and/or by proxy, transact any business that may properly come before the meeting. Less than a quorum of votes of members may adjourn any meeting from time to time until a quorum shall be present.

Section 1

The officers of the Conference may not be compensated for their service, although legitimate expenses necessary to the exercise of their official duties may be reimbursed at the discretion of the Executive Committee.            

Section 2

The duties of President shall be: To preside at all business meetings of the Conference and of the Executive Committee; to execute all contracts entered into by the Conference, in accord­ance with resolutions or orders properly adopted by the Confer­ence.  The Vice-President shall act in the place of the President in his/her absence or by his/her disqualification or inability to fulfill the duties of his/her office.

Section 3

The Executive-Secretary shall act as Secretary during the Annual Meetings of the Conference and Executive Committee and shall see that the membership list is forwarded to each subsequent Annual Meeting Program Chairperson, maintain the records of the proceedings of the business meetings, and attend to any other matters deemed appropriate to the office of the Secretary of the Conference. The Executive-Secretary shall also act as a disbursement officer for all expenses properly payable by the Conference.

Section 4

The Representative to the Council of Conferences of the Association for Asian Studies shall serve as liaison between the MCAA and AAS in order to promote the develop­ment of Asian studies consistent with the Constitution and By-laws of Conference and duly passed resolutions of its membership.

Section 5

The Program Chairperson shall have the primary responsibility for organizing the Annual Conference subject to the supervision of the Executive Committee. 

Section 6

The six elected Advisors shall advise the rest of the members of the Executive Committee and shall act as the Nominating Commit­tee. 

The Executive Committee shall have and exercise all the authority of the Conference in the interim between the Annual Meetings.  The authority of the Executive Committee shall nevertheless be subject to such limitations as the Conference may prescribe.

The Executive Committee shall be required to keep a record of any ad interim action taken by it and report all such actions to the Annual Meetings of the Conference.

The Conference shall provide for a system of books and records designated to give clear, accurate, full and detailed account of all actions of the Conference.  Such records shall be kept on file at all times in the office of the Conference and shall be open to inspection at all reasonable times by any member of the Conference.

The Executive-Secretary of the Conference shall be in charge of the books and records and maintain them in such a way as to shall show a full and detailed account of all proceedings and transactions of the Conference.  He/she shall see that all notices are duly given in accordance with these By-Laws and the Constitution, and he/she shall execute and sign such instruments as the Executive Committee or the Conference shall direct.

Membership fees shall be collected annually as part of the regis­tration fees for the annual meeting of the Conference.  The portion of the registration fees to be allocated for the expenses of the office of the Conference Executive-Secretary in the inter­im between annual Conference meetings shall be determined by the Executive Committee and be subject to review by the membership.

The Advisors shall assist the immediate Past President as chair of the Nominating Committee, whose duties shall include presenting the names of nominees to elected offices for the election held during the Conference. A good faith effort shall be made to present two candidates for each elective office, save for the office of Executive Secretary.  A write-in option will be provided for each elective office listed on the ballot; however, write-in candidates should have given their consent to run prior to their nomination.

Votes for elected offices shall be cast in person by paper ballot at the annual meeting.