CONSTITUTION

EASTERN STATES ARCHEOLOGICAL FEDERATION

Article 1

The name of this organization shall be the EASTERN STATES ARCHEOLOGICAL FEDERATION.

There are three categories of membership in the federation

(1) Society Memberships shall be open to archeological societies situated east of the Mississippi River in the United States and in the Provinces located in the eastern half of Canada. Archeological groups affiliated with or sponsored by an educational agency or institution in the same area may apply and become members upon acceptance by the Executive Board of the FEDERATION. A person holding membership in a member society is a non-voting member of the FEDERATION (unless designated the official ESAF Representative); (2) Individual Memberships; and (3) Institutional Memberships (Society Members are not eligible for Institutional Membership). Memberships in the latter two categories are open to all who support the objectives of the FEDERATION.

Article 3

The objectives of this FEDERATION are:

a. To serve as a bond between the Member Societies.

b. To encourage and promote scientific archeological work by the Member Societies, Individual Members and Institutional Members.

c. To publish and encourage the publication of reports and articles about the Archeology of the region; Anthropological studies related to the Archeology of this area; and contributions from inter-disciplinary fields related to the study of Eastern North American Archeology.

d. To promote the spread of archeological knowledge.

e. To engage in the archeological projects which exceed the capabilities of the Member Societies.

The administration and operation of the FEDERATION shall be carried out by an Executive Board comprised of a Representative from each Member Society, the Elected Officers, Committee Chairs, the Archeology of Eastern North America (AENA), and Bulletin Editors, and a Business Manager. The Executive Board shall be governed by By-Laws, which, when adopted, shall implement this Constitution.

This Constitution may be amended, when necessary. Any Individual Member or any member of the Executive Board may submit a proposed amendment to be voted upon by the Executive Board at the Annual Executive Board meeting or at a special meeting of the Executive Board. If two-thirds of the Executive Board members present approve the amendment, the proposed amendment shall be distributed to Member Societies and Individual Members at least six months before the Annual General Business Meeting of the FEDERATION. Two-thirds of the members attending the Annual General Business Meeting must favor the amendment to enable it to be adopted.

This Constitution was adopted at the Annual General Business Meeting of EASTERN STATES ARCHEOLOGICAL FEDERATION held November 5, 1994 in Albany, New York, and replaces the November 12, 1955 and the November 4, 1967 documents, as well as the amendments incorporated into the Constitution in January 9, 1977.

By-Laws

EASTERN STATES ARCHEOLOGICAL FEDERATION

The officers of the FEDERATION shall consist of a President, President-Elect, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, and Treasurer. Officers shall be elected for two-year terms at the Annual General Business Meeting of the FEDERATION held in the even-numbered years. Vacancies occurring between elections may be filled by appointments made by the President, with the concurrence of the Executive Board.

The President shall preside over all meetings; if the President is absent, the President-Elect shall preside. If the President and President-Elect are absent, the Executive Board shall elect one of its own members as President pro-tem. The President-Elect shall serve as the Vice-President of the FEDERATION and shall become President for the ensuing two-year term.

At least six months before an election, the President shall appoint a Nominating Committee to prepare a slate of nominees to submit to the Annual Executive Board meeting and to the Annual General Business Meeting. To be eligible for office, a nominee must either be an Individual Member or hold membership in a current Member Society. The Nominating Committee shall obtain the consent of the nominees before submitting their names for election. With permission from the nominee, additional nominations may be made from the floor during the Annual Executive Board Meeting and/or Annual General Business Meeting by any individual Member of the FEDERATION or any member of the Executive Board. Officers shall be elected by a simple majority of votes cast at the annual General Business Meeting.

Each Member Society of the FEDERATION shall elect or appoint a Representative to serve on the Executive Board.

The five elected officers, the Appointed Committee Chairs, the Editor of AENA, the Editor of the Bulletin, the Business Manager, and one Representative from each Member Society shall compose the Executive Board. The Executive Board shall meet once each year during the Annual Meeting; on call on the President; or at the written request of at least five members of the Executive Board.

Those serving on the Executive Board may be elected or appointed from the rolls of the Member Societies and from the FEDERATION’s Individual Members. Each Executive Board member shall have one vote. If a member serves the Executive Board in more than one capacity, a vote may be cast for each capacity. A simple majority of votes cast by Authorized Executive Board members shall decide passage or rejection of matters coming before the Executive Board.

The Executive Board shall establish policies; admit or drop societies to and from membership; act on all matters of substance; and generally conduct the business of the FEDERATION, subject only to possible veto or amendment of any action by a two-thirds vote of the eligible votes at an Annual General Business Meeting.

The President, with the approval of the Executive Board, shall appoint a Bulletin Editor and Committee Chairs as required to meet the needs of the FEDERATION. Terms of the appointments are concurrent with the President. The appointees shall submit a report of each year’s activities to the annual meeting of the Executive Board. The President shall confer with a panel of at least two Past Presidents of the FEDERATION prior to bringing an appointment of the AENA Editor or the Business Manager to the Executive Board for ratification.

The duties of the officers shall be as follows:

a. The President of the FEDERATION shall preside at meetings of the Executive Board, at Annual Meetings, and at the Annual General Business Meetings. The President shall conduct the business of the FEDERATION, subject to ratification by the Executive Board and make appointments deemed appropriate for the good of the FEDERATION and under parameters set forth in Article 6.

b. The President-Elect shall preside at meetings in the absence of the President, assume the Presidency in the event of its vacancy, perform other duties as may be assigned by the President, and review the operations of the FEDERATION under the Constitution and By-Laws. The President-Elect shall consider all questions and inquiries regarding the Constitution and By-Laws, and shall periodically advise the Executive Board and make suggestions regarding interpretation, implementation, and amendment of the Constitution and By-Laws.

c. The Recording Secretary shall transcribe and maintain minutes of all Executive Board and Annual General Business Meetings of the FEDERATION and prepare yearly reports of Executive Board and Annual General Business Meetings for publication in the Bulletin. The Recording Secretary shall periodically forward past records of the FEDERATION for curation in the Archives.

d. The Corresponding Secretary shall conduct the official correspondence of the FEDERATION and prepare and maintain a roster of the federation Executive Board and the Officers of the Member Societies. The roster shall be distributed yearly through one of the regular FEDERATION membership mailings. The Corresponding Secretary shall send meeting notices to the Member Societies 90 days prior to the FEDERATION meetings.

e. The Treasurer, in conjunction with the Business Manager, shall receive all monies and maintain a systematic record of receipts and disbursements, maintain banking and investment accounts, and report annually to the Executive Board and the FEDERATION on the financial condition of the organization. A summary of each year’s balance sheet shall be forwarded to the Bulletin Editor for inclusion in the Annual Reports of the FEDERATION. The Treasurer shall make the FEDERATION financial records available for an annual internal audit.

The duties of the following members of the Executive Board shall be as follows:

a. The AENA Editor shall be responsible for all matters pertaining to the compilation and production of AENA and present a yearly status report to the Executive Board. The AENA Editor shall confer with the Business Manager concerning the distribution of the publication.

b. The Bulletin Editor shall be responsible for all matters pertaining to the yearly publication of reports from the Recording Secretary, Treasurer, and Member Societies as well as the Abstracts of papers presented during the FEDERATION’s Annual Meeting.

c. The Business Manager shall oversee the receipt and processing of memberships. In conjunction with the Treasurer, the Business Manager shall oversee the financial management of the FEDERATION as well as manage the distribution of AENA, the Bulletin, meeting notices, and mailings.

d. The Member Society Representative shall attend Executive Board meetings and present a report about their Society at the Annual General Business meeting; a written form of the annual report shall be submitted to the Bulletin Editor. The Representatives shall forward FEDERATION notices to the officers and constituents of the Member Society.

e. A Committee Chair shall perform duties assigned by the President of the FEDERATION and report the results to the annual meetings of the Executive Board.

Member societies shall be assessed annual dues to support the work of the FEDERATION. The rate shall be determined by the affirmative action of the Executive Board and confirmed by the FEDERATION at its Annual General Business Meeting. Dues shall be paid annually by the Member Societies to the FEDERATION Treasurer. Changes of rates for Individual and Institutional membership fees and foreign country postage shall be by action of the Executive Board and affirmed at the Annual General Business Meeting of the FEDERATION.

All activities of the FEDERATION involving expenditure of FEDERATION funds shall be approved in advance by the Executive Board. The expenditures so approved shall be paid by the Treasurer.

There shall be an Annual Meeting and Annual General Business Meeting of the FEDERATION. A Member Society or Institutionally-based Individual Member may sponsor an Annual Meeting by making application to and receiving approval by the Executive Board no less than one year in advance. Special meetings of the FEDERATION and/or the Executive Board may be called by the President or at the written request of at least five members of the Board.

A quorum at Executive Board or any special meeting shall represent at least half of the Member Societies. To assure the presence of a quorum, notice of any meeting shall be mailed to each Member Society at least ninety (90) days before the meeting date.

Each Member Society will be represented on the Executive Board by one official representative with the authority to vote on all matters coming before the Executive Board. Individual and Institutional Members as well as Members of a Member Society may attend Executive Board meetings and speak on all issues. They may not vote at the Executive Board meeting unless designated the official representative of a Member Society. The name of a Member Society’s official representative shall be provided to the Recording Secretary of the FEDERATION prior to the opening of each Executive Board and Annual General Business Meeting.

Individual FEDERATION Members may attend the Annual General Business Meeting and speak on all issues. Individual Members and Members of the Executive Board may vote on all matters coming before an Annual General Business Meeting.

The Annual General Business Meeting shall include in its agenda any matter deemed desirable or necessary by a member of the Executive Board; a synopsis of actions taken by the Executive Board; elections of officers (when due); and discussion and voting on any action of the Executive Board which may be challenged by a member of the FEDERATION. An action taken by the Executive Board may be annulled or amended by a two-thirds vote of the eligible voting membership present and voting at the Annual General Business Meeting.

Abstracts of papers presented at the Annual Meeting; reports of the Member Societies; the minutes of the Executive Board; the minutes of the Annual General Business Meeting; and the Treasurer’s Year-End Balance Sheet shall be published in the FEDERATION Bulletin annually and distributed to the official representatives of each Member Society, to Individual Members, and to Institutional Members.

These By-Laws may be amended by action of the Executive Board, subject always to possible veto or amendment by a two-thirds majority of the assembled, eligible voting members at the Annual General Business Meeting of the FEDERATION.

These By-Laws were adopted at the Annual General Business Meeting of the EASTERN STATES ARCHEOLOGICAL FEDERATION held at the Best Western Airport Inn, Albany, New York, on November 5, 1994.

These By-Laws and Constitution of the EASTERN STATES ARCHEOLOGICAL FEDERATION are certified as accurate and contain all amendments made by the FEDERATION action as of the below date.

November 5, 1994

John Reid, Constitution Committee Chair

Verna L. Cowin, President

Change: