- Article I – Name and Object
- Article II – Membership and Dues
- Article III – Officers, Executive Committee, and Council
- Article IV – Elections and Meetings
- Article V – Publications
- Article VI – Changes of By-Laws and Amendments to the Constitution
Amendments
to the Constitution
Constitution
Article I
Name and Object
Section 1. The name of this organization shall be the Association for Symbolic Logic.
Section 2. Its object shall be furtherance of studies in the field of formal logic, and especially of symbolic logic; and the publication of a periodical devoted principally to studies in symbolic logic.
Article II
Membership and Dues
Section 1. Membership shall be open to interested persons upon vote of the Executive Committee and payment of dues.
Section 2. Classes of membership other than individual membership, and dues for each of these, shall be determined by the Council. Dues for individual membership shall also be determined by the Council, subject to the following two conditions: (i) individual members must be notified of any increase, and of their right to petition [see (ii)], by May 1 of the year prior to the increase; (ii) if by August 1 of that year at least five percent of the individual members petition the Secretary to this effect, the increase must be approved at the annual election of the year by a majority of those voting.
Section 3. Members whose dues are six months or more in arrears shall not be entitled to any of the rights or privileges of membership. Those whose dues are one year in arrears shall be dropped from membership. Payment of arrearage shall result in reinstatement.
Article III
Officers, Executive Committee, and Council
Section 1. The Association shall elect a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer whose functions shall be those usually exercised by such officers.
Section 2. There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, ex officio, and six other persons elected by the Association.
Section 3. There shall be a Council consisting of the members of the Executive Committee and members of the Editorial Board, past Presidents and Vice-Presidents for six years after the close of their term, the Chairs of the Association’s regional Committees, and not more than six members-at-large of the Council. The Executive Committee shall in each year fix the number of members-at-large to be elected in that year, and nomination and election of the members-at-large shall then proceed as provided in Article IV, Section 3.
Section 4. The function of the Council shall be to shape the major policies of the Association. The Executive Committee shall make such decisions as are necessary to give effect to these policies. A proposal before either of these bodies shall be considered adopted if approved by a majority of those of its members who voted upon it. A referendum on any action of either of these bodies shall be held at the time of the annual election if a demand for it is filed with the Secretary by ten members before November 15.
Section 5. Authority for the receipt and disbursement of funds shall rest in the Executive Committee, with the Treasurer acting under its direction.
Section 6. The terms of office of the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary, and the Treasurer shall be three years each, so arranged that the terms of the President and Vice-President shall expire together. The terms of office of the members of the Council where not otherwise specified shall be three years each.
Section 7. The President and Vice-President shall not be eligible for immediate re-election to their respective offices.
Section 8. In case of vacancy in any elective office the Executive Committee shall have power to fill it for the remainder of the regular term, and the person so appointed shall be eligible for continuance in office by election.
Article IV
Elections and Meetings
Section 1. Elections and other business of the Association, the Executive Committee, or the Council may be conducted by mail.
Section 2. The Executive Committee shall have power to call formal meetings of itself, of the Council, or of the Association, by a two-thirds vote.
Section 3. Nominations for elective offices shall be made by a Nominating Committee appointed by the Executive Committee. These nominations shall be filed with the Secretary and notice of them shall be sent by him to the members of the Association before October 1. When the Nominating Committee nominates for an elective office an individual already holding another such office, then, unless he declines the nomination, the term of the latter office shall be deemed to expire on the following January 1, and nomination and election to it shall proceed in the usual way, except that the term of the person thus elected to the latter office shall be one, two, or three years, as is necessary to avoid conflict with the provisions regarding expiration of the terms of offices as stated in Article III, Section 6. In case of ambiguity, the longer term shall be selected. Nominations for any elective office may also be made by twenty or more members through written notice filed with the Secretary not later than November 1. Should a person holding an elective office be thus nominated for another office, and should he accept the nomination and be elected, the remainder of the term of his former office shall be filled by appointment by the Executive Committee.
Section 4. Elections shall be held in December of each year, on a date specified by the Executive Committee. A plurality vote of those casting ballots for any office shall suffice for election to that office. A tie vote shall be resolved by the President.
Section 5. Newly elected officers shall assume office January 1.
Article V
Publications
Section 1. The Executive Committee is empowered to publish a periodical entitled The Journal of Symbolic Logic, and such other material as the Council may approve.
Section 2. All members of the Association shall receive the periodical free of charge. Rates of subscription to the periodical for non-members and prices of other publications shall be determined by the Executive Committee.
Section 3. The publications of the Association shall be in the immediate care of an Editorial Board. The Editorial Board shall consist of: the Coordinating Editor of The Journal of Symbolic Logic, the Coordinating Editor of The Review of Symbolic Logic, the Managing Editor of The Bulletin of Symbolic Logic, the Managing Editor for Reviews of The Bulletin of Symbolic Logic, the Managing Editor of the Lecture Notes in Logic, the Managing Editor of the Perspectives in Logic, the Publisher as well as such other editors as the Council shall determine. The Editors of each journal and book series shall determine the editorial policies of the journal or book series to which they have been appointed; in case of a tie vote of the Editors, it shall be resolved by the President of the Association.
Section 4. The members of the Editorial Board shall be appointed by the Council for such terms as that body shall determine.
Section 5. The Editors, with the approval of the Executive Committee, may appoint Consulting Editors to assist in the refereeing of papers, the preparation of reviews, and other such tasks.
Section 6. The Editors, with the approval of the Executive Committee, may appoint Contributing Editors.
Article VI
Changes of By-Laws and Amendments to the Constitution
Section 1. Changes in the By-Laws or Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed by the Executive Committee or by ten or more members. Such proposals must be filed with the Secretary before October 1, and notice of them shall be sent to members by October 15.
Section 2. Proposals for changes in the By-Laws shall be adopted if approved by a majority of the members voting upon them at the annual election.
Section 3. Proposed Amendments to the Constitution shall become part of the Constitution if approved by at least two-thirds of the members voting upon them at the annual election.
By-Laws
Article I
Section 1. Ordinarily a past President shall deliver his retiring address one year after retirement; however, at the request of the retiring President, it may be read either one year sooner or one year later.
Article II
Section 1. A member in good standing of the Association who has been a member for twenty years or since 1937 may, upon retirement from active service and upon written request to the Secretary, have his dues remitted. He would not receive The Journal but he would receive the notices of meetings and would have the right to vote.
Article III
Section 1. Institutional Membership will be open only to universities and non-profit research and educational organizations, or subdivisions of any of these; Corporate Associateships and Corporate Membership will be open to all other organizations.
Section 2. The Executive Committee shall have authority for accepting Institutional and Corporate Members and Corporate Associates.
Section 3. The word “member” as used in this By-Law prefixed with “Institutional” or “Corporate” shall not be synonymous with the same words as used in the Constitution. The privileges and obligations of Institutional and Corporate Members are solely those stated in the following Sections of this By-Law.
Section 4. As a privilege of membership, an Institutional or Corporate Member or Corporate Associate may make three selections from the following options, any of which may be selected more than once: (1) A year’s subscription to the current volume of The Journal of Symbolic Logic. (2) The privilege of nominating an individual to ordinary membership for one year with all constitutional privileges; no payment of dues for that year will be required of the nominee. (3) Any back volume of The Journal of Symbolic Logic.
Section 5. An Institutional or Corporate Member or Corporate Associate may, if it elects to do so, pay additional dues to the Association to help support its undertakings. It will be entitled to three additional option selections as stated in
Section 4 for each additional multiple of its annual dues.
Section 6. A list of Institutional and Corporate Members and Corporate Associates will be published yearly by the Association in its The Journal.
Remarks
The following is a list of the actions which have been taken by the Council as implementations of various Sections of the Constitution and By-Laws.
In accordance with Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, as amended, the Council at its business meeting in December, 1985, approved a motion to create the category of Individual Subscriber; this will carry the same subscription rate as the dues for an individual member, and is intended for individuals who wish to receive The Journal of Symbolic Logic for their own use but who are unable to become members of the Association for political or related reasons. Individual Subscribers will receive The Journal of Symbolic Logic but will not be listed in the annual membership list or otherwise be identified as members and will not receive the Newsletter or other mailings which are sent to members.
In accordance with Article V, Section 3 of the Constitution, as amended, the Council at its business meeting in December, 1987, approved a motion that the other editors on the Editorial Board shall be the Coordinating Editor of the Journal of Philosophical Logic and the Managing Editor of the Perspectives in Mathematical Logic. In addition, it approved a motion that all Editors for Reviews of The Journal of Symbolic Logic as of December, 1987, shall remain members of the Editorial Board for as long as they shall continuously remain as Editors for Reviews.
In accordance with Article V, Section 3 of the Constitution, as amended, the Council at its business meeting in March, 1992, approved a motion to enlarge the Editorial Board by adding to it the Managing Editor of the lecture notes series Lecture Notes in Logic.
In accordance with Article V, Section 3 of the Constitution, as amended, the Council at its business meeting in March, 1993, approved a motion to enlarge the Editorial Board by adding to it the Managing Editor of The Bulletin of Symbolic Logic, a new ASL publication which was then just in the process of being created.
In accordance with Article V, Section 3 of the Constitution, as amended, the Council approved, in an email ballot completed September 12, 1999, a motion to enlarge the Editorial Board by adding to it the Publisher, a new appointive position which was created by the Council in the same email ballot.
Note: In accordance with Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, as amended, the Council has acted at each annual business meeting to determine the classes of membership and the dues for each of these. The official records of these actions are the approved Minutes of Council Meetings.
Amendments to the Constitution
This gives a record of all amendments which have been made to the Constitution
and the By-Laws.
Amendment I.
(Approved in January, 1967.) Article II, Section 2 (which formerly read, “The several classes of membership and the dues for each shall be as stated in the By-Laws”) was replaced by the following:
Classes of membership other than individual membership, and dues for each of these, shall be determined by the Council. Dues for individual membership shall also be determined by the Council, subject to the following two conditions: (i) individual members must be notified of any increase, and of their right to petition [see (ii)], by July 1 of the year prior to the increase; (ii) if by October 1 of that year at least five percent of the individual members petition the Secretary to this effect, the increase must be approved at the annual election of the year by a majority of those voting.
Amendment II.
(Approved in January, 1985.) The first sentence of Article III, Section 6, which formerly read “The terms of office of the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary, and the Treasurer shall be three years each, so arranged that the terms of the President and the Vice-President shall expire together and those of the Secretary and Treasurer respectively one and two years later” was amended to delete the italicized portion. (The intent of this amendment was to allow one person to serve simultaneously as Secretary and as Treasurer.)
Amendment III.
(Approved in December, 1987.) The second sentence of Article V, Section 3, formerly read “The Editorial Board shall consist of one or more editors and at the discretion of the Council, a managing editor in charge of the business affairs connected with the publications.”
Amendment IV.
(Approved in January, 1991.) In Article II, Section 2 (as amended in January, 1967) the required notification dates were changed as follows: (a) the date by which members must be notified of any increase in dues was changed to May 1 from July 1; and (b) the date before which members may petition to place any dues increase on the annual ballot was changed to August 1 from October 1.
Amendment V.
(Approved in May, 2004.) In Article IV, Section 3 the required notification dates were changed as follows: (a) the date before which nominations for elective offices made by a Nominating Committee be sent by the Secretary to the members of the Association was changed to October 1 from October 15. In Article IV, Section 6 the required notification dates were changed as follows: (a) the date by which nominations for any elective office may also be made by ten or more members through written notice filed with the Secretary was changed to November 1 from November 15.