Constitution
ISTW Constitution – September 2001, as amended, March 2006
1.0 The name of the organization is The International Society for Travel Writing (ISTW).
2.0 Its goals are to encourage and foster the work of scholars, critics, and practitioners of travel writing through conferences, conference sessions, informal meetings, and electronic media. In the future, ISTW may sponsor formal publications, including, for example, conference proceedings, bibliographies, anthologies, and a scholarly or scholarly-creative journal.
3.0 Membership is open to anyone who supports the Society’s goals. All current members of the “Snapshot Traveler” mailing list are members of ISTW; other people become members by contacting the executive secretary.
3.1 All members may vote in elections and in referenda which the officers or steering committee puts forward. All elections will be conducted electronically; all decisions will be based on the number of votes cast by the date specified in the ballot.
3.2 The Society recognizes two different forms of membership, standing members and active members.
3.4 Active members pay dues to the Society (or have those dues exempted as outlined in 3.6). Active membership in the Society is required in order to present a paper at the biannual conference or to publish in the Society related publications.
3.5 Dues from active members of the Society will be collected biannually by Treasurer; the conference organizing committee may also serve as the Treasurer's proxy in this function. The amount of the dues will be determined by the officers and steering committee.
3.6 The dues for active membership are reduced for graduate students and unemployed members and, at the determination of the officers and the steering committee, may be waived for members from countries where the additional cost would prove prohibitive to participation.
3.7 The dues collected may be used to support activities of the Society intended to increase the visibility of the Society; to create opportunities for publication by members of the Society; to disseminate published work by members of the Society; and to support special events or projects, such as those related to the biennial conference.
4.0 The officers will be a president, two vice presidents (only one of whom may be from North America), a treasurer, and an executive secretary.
4.10 Officers’ duties
4.11 The president and vice presidents will decide on the sites and sponsorships of ISTW conferences, implement proposals approved by the steering committee or the membership at large.
4.12 The president will work actively for the future of ISTW, for example, by seeking out opportunities for publications, proposing standing panels at national and international conferences, and obtaining grants. The president will write an annual report to the membership on ISTW activities and financial accounts.
4.13 The executive secretary will publish agendas and minutes for all formal meetings of the officers and the steering committee, and will conduct elections and referenda as necessary. The executive secretary will inform the membership about anything related to the Society’s mission by regular publications such as Snapshot Traveller.
4.14 The treasurer will be responsible for all the income and expenses of the Society
4.15 Leadership of the Society will also include the advisory office of immediate past president, to be filled by the outgoing president for a period of four years. The immediate past president will serve as an ex officio member of the steering committee.
4.2 The president and vice presidents will serve for four year terms
4.3 Should a vacancy occur, the remainder of the term will be filled by conducting a special election.
4.4 The executive secretary and treasurer will be appointed by the other officers, and will serve at their pleasure.
5.0 The Society will have a steering committee of eight members, elected by the general membership. This committee will represent broad constituencies so that it includes travel writers, scholars from several academic fields (literature, history, anthropology, etc.), students of travel writing before 1800 and about places outside Europe and North America, and people of various academic ranks (including graduate students).
5.1 The president will chair the steering committee; the other officers will be ex officio members of that committee
5.2 The steering committee will seek ways to increase the presence and membership of the society, advise the officers on opportunities for grants, public forums, publishing opportunities, and the like, and propose activities which will further the goals of the Society.
5.3 The steering committee may create task groups to carry out projects of interest to the society, for example, on pedagogy and curriculum or on access to archives.
5.4 The steering committee members will serve for four years.
5.5 The steering committee will formally meet at each Society-sponsored conference. However, the committee may conduct its business through electronic and surface means. The committee will formally act upon proposals from the president, and it may propose initiatives of its own. It will also periodically seek suggestions from the membership at large.
6.0 The officers will appoint a nominating committee of three members to find candidates for open positions on the steering committee and officers. The nominating committee members cannot be candidates for office. This committee will seek nominations, including self nominations from the membership. The committee will ensure that elections for officers are contested, by finding at least two people for each office who are willing and able to serve. It will also create paired slates of candidates for the steering committee that will ensure that the distribution of members achieves the goals outlined in section 5.0 above.
6.1 The nominating committee will gather brief biographies of the candidates to go out with the ballot. This committee will also certify the results of each election, and will devise means to resolve tie votes.
7.0 The ISTW fiscal year will start on November 1. Election ballots, referenda (if any), and the presidential reports will be circulated to the membership at that time—ballots must be returned by four weeks after this date.
8.0 The Society must take special care not to incur long-terms debts.
9.0 This Constitution may be amended by a majority of votes cast. Amendments may be proposed by the President, the steering committee, or any group of twenty members.
10.0 The Society may dissolve itself by a majority of votes cast. If, at the time of dissolution, the Society has money in its treasury, the disposal of those funds will be specified.