August 12, 2002
To the Members, Faculty Diversity and Initiatives Section, American Accounting
Association:
On behalf of the Bylaws Committee, I
attach the draft developed for comment by the
membership. You are asked to provide comments to me by October 15th to
facilitate development of a final recommendation to be submitted to the
officers of the Section later during the academic year, and upon their
approval, for submission to the membership for approval at the time of the
August 2003 meeting.
In drafting the attachment, the
following perspectives were kept in mind:
It had been suggested to us that the
bylaws of the Public Interest Section might be especially valuable, and indeed,
that provided the basis for the recommendations. Changes and comments, however,
are noteworthy.
The officer positions subject to
election at this meeting are: Chairperson, Co-Chairperson (and Chairperson
elect), Secretary, and Treasurer.
The term used for the two senior
positions of the Public Interest section is two years. Thus, the individual
would hold a leadership role of some kind for four years. To some, this seemed
a long time, both for the individual and the section. In reviewing the bylaws
of perhaps seven other sections, no other section had the leadership position
with other than a one year term. The draft reflects a one year term.
Other small sections often combine
Secretary and Treasurer into one position; separation of the two as reflected
in the current elections is carried forward. Comment?
Other sections seem to have a officer
level, such as vice-president or vice-chairperson, especially when the
secretary/treasurer position is combined. Is this worthy of emulation?
The Public Interest Section provides
for a series of specifically identified positions to which the elected officers
appoint individuals. The draft provides this as a general possibility, but
omits identifying the positions, in order to provide flexibility for this
emerging Section.
The committee would appreciate your
comments—critical as well as positive.
Charles G. Carpenter
Campbell School of Business
Berry College
Mount Berry, Georgia 30149-5024
Phone: (706) 238-5890
Email: ccarpenter@berry.edu
