CONSTITUTION
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR AESTHETICS
ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONALE D’ESTHÉTIQUE
Article I. Aims
To give institutional recognition, world-wide, to aesthetics as a field of humanistic knowledge, to encourage and promote inquiry in aesthetics, and to disseminate its findings.
To expedite exchange between national societies and regional societies of aesthetics; to promote the creation of national societies in countries where none are in existence; to provide a forum for aestheticians who are not members of any national society.
“Aesthetics” embraces all studies of the creation and appreciation of the arts, of the aesthetic values of art and nature, of industry and everyday life, and of the relations of those activities and values to economic, political, and social life and other modes of human culture.
Article II. Membership
The Association shall be made up of the following:
Constituent Societies: every national and regional society of aesthetics that seeks admission to the Association and that, having been admitted, remains active and in good standing. Any society applying for or enjoying membership in the International Association for Aesthetics/Association international d’esthetique (IAA/AIE) shall have at least twenty (20) active members. Each constituent society is to furnish the Secretary-General a list of the names and mailing addresses of that society’s President and Secretary-General.
Individual Members: individual aestheticians who seek admission to the Association, and who, having been admitted, remain in good standing.
Student Members: students, undergraduate or graduate, who seek admission to the Association.
Article III. Officers
The officers of the Association shall be the President, the First and Second Vice-Presidents, the Secretary-General, and the Assistant Secretary-General. The First Vice-President or, when unavailable, the Second Vice-President, shall deputize for the President when necessary.
A Treasurer will be appointed and voted upon by the EC members after the newly elected officers take over. The President shall act as Vice-Treasurer or shall appoint a Vice-Treasurer.
No country shall be represented by more than one officer at any one time.
Article IV. Executive Council
The Executive Council shall be made of
– the Officers
– delegate members of national and regional societies, one from each constituent society, selected by that society,
– non-delegate members, five in number, elected by the individual members,
– the Publication Committee made of three people. Its responsibilities are to oversee and assist the editors of the IAA Yearbook and the IAA Newsletter, and the webmaster of the IAA Website,
– the Treasurer, whose responsibilities are to oversee the IAA bank account, deposit dues, and report to the EC at every EC meeting,
– the Vice-Treasurer who will assist the Treasurer when necessary or will act on her behalf
– the Congress Liaison Committee made up of three members of the EC.
All members of the Executive Committee shall be individual members of the Association who are recognized and established scholars in aesthetics. No country shall be represented by more than two members of the Executive Council at any one time, excluding delegate members.
Each member of the Executive Council shall hold office from one Congress to the next. The President of the IAA/AIE shall serve for one term and shall not be eligible for re-election. The Secretary-General shall serve for no more than two consecutive terms.
Incoming members shall be seated at the first General Meeting of the International Congress. The out-going President shall open that meeting and introduce and turn over its chairmanship to his or her successor.
In order to ensure continuity on the Executive Council, the out-going President and Secretary-General shall be ex officio members until the next congress.
A meeting of the Executive Council shall be called by the President of his or her own accord or upon request by one-third of its membership. One-third of the membership of the Executive Council shall constitute a quorum.
The Executive Council shall rule on all applications for admission to the Association. It shall authorize international congresses, appoint organizing committees and congress liaison committees, and make policy decisions in the name of the Association.
Article V. Congresses
An international congress shall be held every three or four years.
There shall be a Congress Liaison Committee, made up of the officers and three other members of the Executive Committee appointed by the President when the site of the next congress has been decided. This Committee shall be charged with working in close conjunction with the host Organizing Committee, to report annually to the Executive Committee concerning preparations for the Congress, and to transmit to the Organizing Committee recommendations from the Executive Committee concerning these preparations.
There shall be at least one General Meeting at each congress open to all members of the Association in attendance. The time of the meeting shall be fixed by the Congress Liaison Committee. A second General Meeting may be called by the Executive Committee or by majority vote at the first meeting.
Article VI. Elections
The Executive Committee shall draw up a slate of no more than five candidates for the positions of President and Vice-President and a slate of no more than three candidates for the positions of Secretary-General and Asistant Secretary-General. There shall be no more than one candidate from any single country among these eight candidates.
Election from this slate shall be by mail ballot by all individual members. The three candidates receiving the most votes on the Presidential slate shall be elected President, First Vice-President, and Second Vice-President, respectively. The two candidates receiving the most votes on the Secretary-General slate shall be elected Secretary-General and Assistant Secretary-General, respectively.
The Executive Council shall draw up a slate of no more than four candidates, at least one of whom shall be from a country that does not have a national society, for the election of two non-delegate members. There shall be no more than one candidate from any single country on this slate. Election from this slate shall be by mail ballot by all individual members. The two candidates receiving the highest votes shall be elected.
The Secretary-General shall be charged with supervising these elections and is authorized to employ the secretaries of the constituent societies to assist in doing so. The voting shall take place at such a time that the results can be announced at the first General Meeting.
Those present and voting at the first and second General Meeting shall be entitled to nominate a slate of no more than five candidates, at least one of whom shall be from a country that does not have a national society, for the election of three additional non-delegate members. There shall be no more than one candidate from any single country on this slate. Election shall be by all those present and voting at the General Meeting at which the nominations are submitted for balloting. The candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall be elected.
Article VII. Nominating Committee
A Nominating Committee composed of three members of the Executive Council shall be appointed by the Executive Committee. In advance of each election, the Nominating Committee shall canvass the membership and submit a slate of officers and nominees for delegates-at-large to the Executive Council for approval.
Article VIII. Unexpired Terms of Office
The Executive Council shall appoint a suitable member to fill any office made vacant by resignation or death. If the unexpired term is longer than one year, that term shall be considered as a full term in meeting restrictions on consecutive terms.
Article IX. Dues
The amount of the annual dues to be paid to the Association by the individual members shall be determined by the Executive Committee.
The Constituent Societies (National and Regional) are asked to contribute an amount determined by the EC based on the number of their active members (e.g. 1 USD per person). In special circumstances, the constituent society can be exempt from the payment of dues by the consent of the elected officers of the Association (President, Vice-President, Second Vice-President, Secretary General, Assistant Secretary-General, and elected delegates.)
Dues for student members shall be one-half the dues of individual members.
Article X. Removal from Membership
An individual or society may, for reasons communicated to the party concerned, be suspended temporarily from membership or reinstated to active membership by a majority vote of the Executive Council.
An individual or society may, for reasons communicated to the party concerned, be removed from membership by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Committee.
Article XI. Honorary President
The office of Honorary President shall be established and shall be filled on the recommendation of the Executive Council. Ordinarily a single Honorary President will be appointed at any time but, under special circumstances, more than one may be named. The office of Honorary President shall be for one term, a term being from one Congress to the next, but an Honorary President may be reelected. The Honorary President shall not serve on the Executive Council in any capacity.
Article XII. Honorary Life Member
The Executive Committee may designate an individual Honorary Life Member upon retiring from the office of Honorary President or as any other appropriate recognition of distinction. Honorary Life Members are exempt from the payment of dues.
Article XIII. Amendments
Amendments to this Constitution may be proposed either at a general meeting of the Association, at any time by the Executive Council, or by at least fifteen members of the Association in good standing. They shall take effect when approved by two-thirds of the members participating in a mail ballot.
Article XIV. Bylaws
The Executive Council shall have the right to make and amend bylaws that implement this Constitution, consistent with the aims of the Association. These bylaws shall be communicated to the membership.
