Constitution

• The Society for Asian Music (hereafter the Society).

• The advancement of research and study of music and associated performing arts of Asia and Asian origins. The objectives are set forth in the Society’s Certification of Incorporation (New York State).

• All members as defined in the By-Laws.

• Members of the Board of Directors (hereafter the Board) shall be members of the Society.
• The Board shall consist of at least ten members, including the Journal Editor, the Book Review Editor, the Media Review Editor, and the Web Manager.
• Remaining Board members shall be nominated by the Nominating Committee and elected by the membership.
• The responsibilities of the Board shall be:
• To manage the Society’s affairs
• To determine the policies of the Society
• To nominate officers
• To develop an annual budget for the Society’s activities
• To steward membership
• Terms: 5 years (with the possibility of renewal).

• The five Officers of the Society shall be drawn from within the seated Board.
• Their duties shall be:
• President: to preside over meetings, plan agendas, oversee operations;
• Vice-president: to preside over meetings in the absence of the president, in charge of membership recruitment;
• Secretary: to take minutes, submit written minutes to the Board, maintain a list of members of the Board and Editorial Advisory Board;
• Treasurer: to have custody of the funds of the Society;
• Web Manager: to coordinate web communications and social media outreach./li>
• Terms: 3 years (with the possibility of renewal for one term).

• The official publication of the Society is the journal Asian Music.
• The Journal Editor of Asian Music shall be appointed by the President, in consultation with, and following the approval of, a majority of the Board.
• The Book Review Editor and Media Review Editor shall be appointed by the Board, upon the recommendation of the Journal Editor.
• An Editorial Advisory Board consisting of experts in the several areas of the study of Asian music shall be appointed by the Board, upon the recommendation of the Journal Editor.
• Terms of the Editorial Advisory Board: 5 years (with the possibility of renewal).

• The Society is an official ancillary organization of the Society for Ethnomusicology and thus the Annual Meeting of the Board and annual meeting of the Society’s membership (hereafter the General Meeting) shall take place each year during the annual meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology, unless otherwise arranged by the Board.
• The business and fiscal year of the Society ends on 31 December.

• Amendments to the Constitution and By-Laws of the Society can be proposed by any member if such suggestions are endorsed in writing by fifty members or ten percent of the membership of the Society (whichever is the smaller number) and submitted to the Secretary.
• Any amendments so proposed must be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the voting members of the Society.

• In the event of the dissolution of the Society, any assets remaining shall be disposed of by the Board.

By-laws

1. Whenever any notice is required to be given under the provisions of the laws of the State of New York or under the provision of the Certificate of Incorporation or By-Laws of the Corporation, a waiver thereof, in writing, signed by the person or persons entitled to notice, whether before or after the time stated therein, shall be deemed equivalent thereto.

1. The Society shall have four classes of members: Individual, Student, Life, and Institutional.
2. The Board shall review the annual dues for all classes of membership periodically (at least every three years) and make adjustments that may be deemed necessary or advisable in view of the finances of the Society and its journal, Asian Music.
3. The Board shall have the power to revoke a membership in any class except Life membership.
4. Dues of Members shall be payable to the Society for Asian Music or to the publishing house of the journal Asian Music (as of the year 2018, the University of Texas Press). Both types of remittances of dues shall be sent to the publishing house for the journal and a list of current Members shall be maintained by that publishing house and made available to the Board at any time upon its request.
5. Dues of Members shall be payable by January of each year. Members who are in default of dues after April 15th of any year shall be listed as delinquent. Delinquent Members shall receive neither notices of meetings nor publications until they are restored to good standing by payment of their current dues. Dues of new Members applying as of October 5th of any year may, if desired, be credited to the following year. Life Members shall make a single payment to the Society, and they shall receive gratis copies of all publications of the Society. Student Members may remain in this membership category as long as they can show full-time student status.
6. All Members in good standing shall: a) have the right to vote; b) be eligible to hold elective positions in the Society; c) have the right to nominate candidates for elective positions by petition; d) have the right to propose amendments to the Constitution and By-Laws by petition (see Article Eight of the Constitution).
7. The rights and privileges stated above apply to all membership categories except that Institutional subscriptions to the journal do not qualify for membership in the Society.

1. Notice of Meetings of the Board shall be sent by the President at least a month in advance.
2. At a Meeting of the Board, a quorum shall consist of one half of the current seated Board members plus one.
3. The President and Secretary jointly shall be empowered to act in emergencies. Such action shall be subject to the earliest possible approval by the Board. Such agreement can be effected by means of personally identifiable email communication by a majority of currently seated individual board members.
4. The President, in consultation with the currently seated Board, shall appoint a Nominating Committee to fill vacancies on the Board. This committee shall consist of four members of the seated Board, including the President, who shall serve as chair and secretary of the committee.
5. Following the Nominating Committee’s deliberation and its nomination of candidates for election to the Board, the list of candidates shall be submitted to the Membership of the Society electronically for a vote, to be completed at least one month prior to the annual meeting.
6. A Member’s name shall be placed in nomination only upon the Nominating Committee’s receiving prior written (including email) consent from that Member. This consent given, the nominee shall be honor bound not to withdraw and, if elected, to serve and to assume the full burden of the Office. Attendance at all Meetings of the Board is expected.
7. A Member of the Board can be removed from office only by the unanimous vote of all other Members of the Board, with no abstentions. All Members of the Board must participate in such a vote at a meeting of the Board, and votes may be cast by written (including email) proxy, as long as a quorum of the Board exists in person at the meeting of the Board where the vote takes place and any written proxies are in the Secretary’s hands at the time of that meeting.

1. All Officers shall be elected by a majority vote of the seated Board at the Annual Meeting of the Board. In order to reach a majority vote of the seated Board at its Annual Meeting, votes for officers may be cast by written (including email) proxy, as long as a quorum of the Board exists in person at the meeting of the Board where the vote takes place and any written proxies are in the Secretary’s hands at the time of that meeting.
2. The Treasurer, as provided for in the annual budget or by regulations as may from time to time be prescribed by the Board, shall have the custody of the funds and securities of the Society and disbursements of its money.
3. The Treasurer shall deposit the funds of the Society in such banks or trust companies as may from time to time be designated by the Board. The withdrawal of funds or securities shall be made only on the signature or signatures of such one or more of the Directors, Officers, Members, or employees of the Society as may be designated from time to time by the Board for such purpose.

1. Proposals to amend the Constitution or By-Laws along with comments such as may be made upon them by those submitting the proposals, shall be presented to the Secretary of the Society at least one month before the Annual Meeting of the Board. The Secretary shall submit the text of the amendment, along with the proposer’s comments as well as such comments as may be made upon them by Members of the Board, to the Members electronically.