Constitution

At the 2011 Annual Conference the CAA Steering Committee decided to establish a committee to work on a new constitution of CAA in order to face new developments in the international community of CAA and to adjust the existing constitution to the needs of a changing time and a changing membership. The proposed new constitution was presented to the membership at the 2012 Annual Conference, approved by electronic postal vote on 24 April 2012, and announced at the Annual General Meeting on 27 March 2013.

The Constitution of Computer Applications in Archaeology

1. The full title of the organization shall be “Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology.” This may be abbreviated to “CAA.”

2. The aims of the organization shall be:

i) to bring together archaeologists, mathematicians, computer scientists and other researchers, professionals, and students interested in computer applications and quantitative methods in archaeology;

ii) to encourage communication and collaboration between these disciplines and practitioners;

iii) to provide an arena for the presentation and discussions of current and future developments in computer applications and quantitative methods for archaeology.

3. Individual Membership of CAA shall be open to anyone on payment of a nominal annual fee. Membership shall run from the date of payment of the fee through the upcoming annual conference, and up to but not including the first day of the annual conference of the following year.

i) Individual Members are entitled to the following:

  • to attend the annual conference;
  • to keeping their name and address on the mailing list held by the CAA Steering Committee for 3 years;
  • to receive a copy of all membership mailings;
  • to vote at the Annual General Meeting (AGM);
  • to take part in postal and e-mail votes, as and when necessary;
  • to receive a 20% discount off RRP of proceedings ordered from CAA.

ii) The annual membership can be paid when registering to the annual conference (each conference fee shall include membership in CAA) or by payment of a membership fee to the organization. Details of membership payment, including the amount of the annual fee which is decided by the Steering Committee, can be found on the CAA website.

iii) At an AGM any member deemed to have given outstanding service to CAA can be elected to an Honorary Life Membership thereof. iv) Corporate Membership of CAA shall be open to any organisation on payment of an annual fee as determined by the Steering Committee. Corporate Members are entitled to the following:

  • to have 5 delegates attend CAA without paying additional individual membership fees;
  • to be listed on the central CAA website as Corporate Members;
  • to be listed on the annual meeting website as Corporate Members;
  • to be listed in the annual meetings attendee list as Corporate Members;
  • to receive a 10% discount on advertising rates at the annual meeting;
  • to receive a 20% discount off RRP of proceedings ordered from CAA (details are available on the CAA webpage);
  • to receive a copy of all membership mailings.

4. CAA shall be administered by the Executive Steering Committee (SC).

i) The Executive Steering Committee shall consist of five officers elected for terms of 3 years, namely the Chair, the Secretary, the Membership Secretary, the Treasurer and the Publication’s Officer. The Secretary shall act as Chair in case the Chair of CAA cannot attend a meeting of the SC or the AGM. Each member of the SC may only hold its post for up to 2 terms (maximum 6 years). It is however possible to then be elected for a different post in the SC after the maximum number of years for another post.

ii) The Membership Secretary is responsible for communication with the membership and organizing the information on current and past members of CAA. iii) The Treasurer deals with all financial activities of CAA. S/he also organizes the bursary committee, consisting of the Treasurer of CAA, one representative of the current CAA conference

organizing team, a second member of the SC, plus one ex-officio SC member for low income/ students (see below) which is responsible for deciding which applicants will receive bursaries to attend the conference. Any incoming bursary application is decided by this committee on the basis of a set of rules which will be published on the CAA internet page.

iv) The Publication’s Officer is responsible for ensuring and organizing the publication of the annual conference proceedings. S/he will be supported by an Editorial Board, consisting of other members of the SC, including co-opted ex officio members and the CAA Review College. Any member of CAA can be co-opted as Editorial Board member by the SC upon request from the Publication’s Officer. v) The Conference organisers for the three years, past present and future, shall be ex officio members. vi ) A National Chapter may nominate one ex officio member. vii) Representatives of students and low income persons are nominated by the SC as ex-officio members. One of the representatives for students/low income will be chosen by the other members of that group to be a member of the bursary committee (see above). ix) Any other member of CAA may be co-opted by the SC onto the Committee for one or more meetings. vi) Ex-officio members sit on the SC as advisory members only and do not have full voting rights.

The remit of the Steering Committee is as follows: i) To ensure, to the best of its ability, that an annual international conference does take place and to support local organizers of the conference. If for any reason this does not happen, then it is the duty of the Steering Committee to call an AGM at which suitable measures shall be taken for the continuation of CAA and the organisation of future conferences. ii) To arrange the publication of the Conference Proceedings. iii) The Steering Committee shall discuss bids from CAA National Chapters, individuals and groups wishing to organise future Conferences. They shall assess these, and make proposals to the AGM for the appointment of future organisers. In recommending acceptance of any bid to hold the annual conference, the Steering Committee will normally give preference to proposals from prospective organisers who have a track record of attending CAA and/or are active within a National Chapter. These proposals shall be circulated to all members in advance of the AGM and a final decision shall be taken at the AGM. iv) In assessing offers from future organisers, the Steering Committee shall consider two main areas, firstly the extent to which the proposed arrangements support the aims of the annual conference and secondly the viability of the proposed arrangements. The proposed location will also be considered to establish a fair geographical coverage for CAA conferences and to encourage new areas of membership and activity. Once appointed, the organisers shall be provided with CAA conference guidelines but within those guidelines will be given as much freedom as possible to experiment with new ideas so that successive conferences do not stagnate into a traditional format but continue to change and grow with changing times.

In normal circumstances, the Steering Committee shall meet three times a year. i) The first meeting shall be held (if possible) at the venue of the annual conference to assess the progress of the local conference organisation, 2 or 3 months before the annual conference. If, for organisational reasons, the meeting cannot be held at the conference venue, it shall be held at another venue, chosen by all members of the Steering Committee. At least one representative of the local organisers of the annual conference shall attend this meeting. ii) The second meeting shall be held at the beginning of the annual conference at the conference venue, specifically to prepare the Annual General Meeting. iii) The third meeting shall be held directly after the AGM to discuss the results of the AGM, to plan the publication of the proceedings and to discuss the planning of the next conferences.

5. Annual General Meeting

i) Notice of an Annual General Meeting, together with the formal proposals for discussion and, in particular, changes to the Constitution, must be circulated to all members at least 21 days before the date of the meeting. ii) Normally the Annual General Meeting shall be held at the annual CAA conference. The Call for Nominations of Officers shall be circulated with the notice for this meeting. Attendance at the AGM shall be open to all CAA members, whether or not they are attending the conference.

iii) The election of Officers shall take place at the AGM, normally by show of hands. If at least 10 members of CAA wish the election to be held by paper ballot, the SC has to organise such an election. The request for a paper ballot has to be submitted to the CAA Secretary at least 24 hours before the AGM.

iv) Every candidate has to demonstrate her/his willingness to stand. v) If it is not possible to hold the AGM during the annual conference, then the Steering Committee Officers shall call an AGM as quickly as is compatible with the required period of notice to members at a place considered to be appropriate by the SC. The interval between successive AGMs shall not exceed eighteen months.

6. National Chapters of CAA

i) National Chapters of CAA may be established in any country by a group of three or more current members of CAA. There shall normally be no more than one National Chapter per country. It is possible that a National Chapter represents more than one country if there is a close relationship between those countries (e.g. USA and Canada forming CAA North America) or at least between parts of these countries (e.g. The Netherlands and the Flemish part of Belgium).

ii) The purpose of a national chapter is to advance the aims and interests of CAA International in their country. National Chapters are encouraged to hold local meetings and to submit bids to hold the Annual International CAA Conference. iii) A National Chapter shall have a Steering Committee consisting of three or more persons. The membership of this committee shall be reported to the Annual General Meeting of CAA. A model constitution will be supplied by CAA International and guidance will be given in establishing the aims, objectives and structure of a local chapter.

iv) The Constitution of a National Chapter shall be drafted by the members of its Steering Committee and be subject to ratification by the Annual General Meeting of CAA. The purpose of such ratification shall be solely to ensure that the Constitution of a National Chapter does not conflict with the rules, aims and interests of CAA. v) The name of any National Chapter shall include “CAA (country_name)”, where ‘country_name’ is the name of the country in which the Chapter is established. The name of a National Chapter must not contain the initials CAA unqualified by a country name and should never represent itself as being the international body. vi) A National Chapter shall be self-financing. vii) A National Chapter shall not act in any way that may hinder the running of the international organisation of CAA or bring the name of CAA into disrepute. The Steering Committee, under authorization of a vote at an AGM, may dissolve a National Chapter if it has been found to do so. viii) National Chapters shall report the number of their members, the date, venue and general results of their national meetings, including the number of attendees and presentations at the Annual General Meeting of the annual conference of the international CAA.

7. Any changes to this Constitution must be approved by a 67% majority of votes of all members at the AGM. Such changes shall take immediate effect.

Southampton, 28/03/2012

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