The Constitution of Computer Applications in Archaeology
The full title of the Conference shall be “Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology”. This may be abbreviated to “CAA”.
The aims of the Conference shall be:
a) to bring together archaeologists, mathematicians and computer scientists;
b) to encourage communication between these disciplines;
c) to give a survey of present work in the field;
d) to stimulate discussion and future progress.
Individual Membership of CAA shall be open to anyone on payment of a nominal annual fee. Each Conference fee shall include membership of CAA. Membership shall run from the date of payment of the fee up to and including the AGM of the following year, but overlap of membership does not entitle members to more than one vote.
Individual Members are entitled to the following:
a) to attend the annual conference;
b) to keeping their name and address on the mailing list held by the CAA Steering Committee for 3 years;
c) receive a copy of all mailings;
d) to vote at the Annual General Meeting;
e) take part in postal votes, as and when necessary;
f) receive a 20% discount off RRP of proceedings ordered from CAA.
At an AGM any member deemed to have given outstanding service to CAA can be elected to an Honorary Life Membership thereof.
Corporate Membership of CAA shall be open to any organisation on payment of an annual fee of not less than 10 times the annual fee for Individual Membership. Corporate Members are entitled to the following:
a) 4 delegates to attend CAA without paying additional individual
membership fees;
b) be listed on the central CAA website as Corporate Members;
c) be listed on the annual meeting website as Corporate Members;
d) be listed in the annual meetings attendee list as Corporate Members;
e) receive a 5% discount on advertising rates at the annual meeting;
f) receive a 20% discount off RRP of proceedings ordered from CAA;
g) receive a copy of all mailings.
i) CAA shall be administered by the International Conference Steering Committee, hereafter called “the Steering Committee”.
ii) The Steering Committee shall consist of five officers elected annually, namely the Convenor/Chair, the Secretary, the Membership Secretary, the Treasurer and the Publication Officer.
iii) The Editor(s) of the current proceedings, and the Conference organisers for the three years, past present and future, shall be ex-officio members.
iv) A National Chapter that is not otherwise represented by an elected officer or ex-officio member may nominate one ex-officio member.
v) Any other member of CAA may be co-opted onto the Committee for one or more meetings.
The purpose of the Steering Committee is twofold:
i) To ensure, to the best of its ability, that an annual International Conference does take place. 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. If possible the papers prepared for a Conference that does not take place shall be published as the Proceedings for that year.
The Steering Committee shall meet, either during the annual Conference, or within 6 weeks of the AGM In normal circumstances, three further meetings will probably be found desirable, one to discuss the publication of the Proceedings of the previous Conference, one to discuss the programme for the next Conference and one shortly before the Conference to review its progress.
i) Notice of a General Meeting, together with the formal proposals fordiscussion and, in particular, any 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 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. All nominations must be proposed and seconded and the willingness of the candidate to stand must be demonstrated.
iv) If it is not possible to hold the AGM during the Conference, then the Steering Committee shall call an AGM as quickly as is compatible with the required period of notice to members. The interval between successive AGMs shall not exceed eighteen months.
Any changes to this Constitution must be approved by a 75% majority of votes returned in a postal vote of all members. Such changes shall not take effect until they have been announced at the AGM.
i) 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 Conference, the International Steering Committee will normally be expected to show preference for bids supported by established National Chapters. These proposals shall be circulated to all members in advance of the AGM and a final decision shall be taken at the AGM.
ii) In assessing the offers from future organisers, the Steering Committee shall consider two main areas. The extent to which the proposed arrangements support the aims of the Conference and the viability of the proposed arrangements. Once appointed, the organisers shall 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. Care should be taken to keep its appeal as wide as possible.
i) National Chapters of CAA may be established in any country by a group of two or more current members of CAA. Normally there shall be no more than one National Chapter per country.
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 who shall be current CAA members at all times. The membership of this committee shall be reported to the Annual General Meeting of CAA.
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.
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.