CUE SIG Constitution

Article 1. NAME

The name of the organization shall be "Daigaku Gaikokugo Kyoiku Kenkyubukai" in Japanese and "The College and University Educators' Special Interest Group" in English. The abbreviation shall be "CUE SIG."

Article 2. AFFILIATION

The College and University Educators' SIG is an affiliate of JALT (The Japan Association for Language Teaching).

Article 3. PURPOSE

The JALT CUE SIG is a not-for-profit organization focusing on discussion of issues related to the development of language education in Japanese colleges and universities. The organization shall foster research, issue publications, hold periodic meetings and forums, cooperate with other interested language organizations, and engage in other activities for those interested in improving the quality of teaching at the tertiary level of education.

Article 4. MEMBERSHIP

Individual membership shall be open to any JALT member upon payment of the annual membership fee currently set by JALT.

Article 5. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)

a. The College and University Educators' SIG shall hold the Annual General Meeting at the JALT International Conference. The time and place shall be announced to all College and University Educators' SIG members at least two weeks prior to the meeting. Members present at this meeting shall constitute a quorum. Each CUE SIG member shall have an equal voting right at the Annual General Meeting.

b. The following items shall be resolved at the Annual General Meeting:

1. Appointment and dismissal of officers
2. Business plan
3. Budget for revenues and expenditures
4. Financial reports
5. Amendment of the Articles of CUE SIG Constitution
6. Other important issues concerning the administration of CUE SIG

Article 6. OFFICERS

Officers of the CUE SIG shall be as follows:

1. Coordinating Committee Officers: Coordinator, Treasurer, Membership Chair, Program Chair, Publicity Chair, Publications Chair
2. Other officers: Section Editors of the OnCUE Journal, Newsletter Editor, Webmaster, Members-at-Large

a. Descriptions of officer duties follow the Constitution in the Bylaws below.

b. In principal, all officers shall be elected and approved at the Annual General Meeting held at the JALT International Conference. In the event that a position is not filled at the AGM, the Coordinating Committee Officers shall appoint a member to the position by December 20th.

c. The term of office shall be for one year. An officer shall begin his or her term of office starting December 20th and shall perform his or her duties until the election at the following year's Annual General Meeting. If not reelected at the AGM for the same position, officers shall continue their duties jointly with newly-elected officers until December 19th to provide additional assistance; however, reelection to the same officer position shall not be prohibited.

d. All officers shall be required to join the online JALT CUE Officer's Contact list, and are expected to maintain close contact with other officers on a regular basis.

e. With the exception of the Treasurer, any officer may hold more than one officer position.

Article 7. PUBLICATIONS

The CUE SIG shall produce at least three (3) publications including online version(s) per year.

Article 8. CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

The CUE SIG shall hold at least one conference, retreat, or other public event each year, either as the sole sponsor or as a co-sponsor in conjunction with other organizations.

Article 9. FINANCIAL YEAR

The CUE SIG's financial year shall begin on April 1st and end on March 31st.

Article 10. AMENDMENTS

a. Amendments to this Constitution must be proposed by at least three Coordinating Officers of the College and University Educators’ SIG, or by at least 5% of the CUE SIG members.

b. The proposed amendment(s) must be ratified in a procedure clearly explained to all CUE SIG members in writing. The proposed amendment(s) must be ratified by two-thirds of the members voting via online or regular mail ballot, or at the Annual General Meeting. All amendments will become effective immediately upon ratification.

c. CUE amendments must be proposed simultaneously in English and Japanese versions.

Article 1. DUTIES OF OFFICERS

(1) COORDINATOR:

The Coordinator shall have general responsibility for coordinating the activities of the CUE SIG Coordinating Officers Committee and for directing the affairs of the JALT CUE SIG. S/he shall preside at the CUE SIG Annual General Meeting and at other CUE SIG sponsored events. In the absence of the Coordinator, another officer appointed by the Coordinator shall chair the meeting. The Coordinator will serve as liaison to other similar organizations. The Coordinator shall submit an annual report to JALT.

(2) TREASURER:

The Treasurer shall keep all financial records, and collect and disburse all funds of the JALT CUE SIG. S/he shall present an account of the financial status of the organization at the CUE SIG Annual Meeting, and submit regular monthly financial reports via email to the National SIG Treasurer Liaison. The Treasurer shall prepare the financial documents for an internal audit to take place after the books have been closed at the end of each financial year.

(3) MEMBERSHIP CHAIR:

The Membership Chair shall be responsible for registering and renewing membership, keeping membership information provided by members, maintaining a comprehensive and up-to-date list of the membership, databasing for internal analysis, and forwarding membership information to the appropriate JALT officers. The Membership Chair shall assist the Publicity Chair and Publication Chair as needed for distribution of CUE publications. The Membership Chair shall also maintain and update the CUE SIG's member list-serv.

(4) PUBLICATIONS CHAIR

The Publications Chair shall coordinate with the OnCUE Journal Editorial Team, Layout and Proofing Team, and Distribution Team and other publications-related staff in editing, publishing, and distributing each calendar year two (2) regular OnCUE Journal issues and one (1) special publication, or three (3) regular OnCUE Journal issues. The Publications Chair may appoint CUE members to positions within the OnCUE Journal staff, subject to approval by at least two other Coordinating Committee Officers.

(5) PROGRAMS CHAIR:

The Programs Chair shall supervise the planning and organizing of all regular and special programs and provide the necessary information to officers of the SIG or other JALT agencies as needed. S/he shall solicit presentation proposals from CUE SIG members and arrange for vetting them where necessary. S/he shall contact and arrange for speakers to present at the JALT International Conference and SIG Symposium, actively offering programs to JALT Chapters, special events of JALT or other L2 educational organizations within and outside of Japan.

(6) PUBLICITY CHAIR:

The Publicity Chair shall foster and coordinate telecommunications (e-mail, Internet) among CUE SIG members and is responsible for the management of the Officers' Yahoo! group and SIG web site. The Chair shall also make efforts to advertise CUE events in a timely manner in conjunction with the Programs Chair.

(7) OTHER OFFICERS

Other officers include Section Editors of the OnCUE Journal, the YouCUE E-mail Newsletter Editor, the Webmaster, Members-at-Large, and any other officer positions that may be created on an ad hoc need-basis as the occasion warrants, subject to approval in writing by at least 3 Coordinating Committee Officers. All such officers shall be entitled to join the Officers' Yahoo! list serv.

Article 2. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

CUE SIG officers must attempt to avoid conflicts of interest between their professional duties of office and their private interests. Specifically, a potential conflict of interest shall be said to exist if:

(1) a person editing a CUE SIG publication decides whether his/her own article should be published or how it should be edited,

(2) a CUE SIG officer decides whether to accept a presentation proposal by him/herself at a CUE-sponsored event,

(3) a CUE SIG officer wishes to represent this organization as a speaker at a JALT event, or

(4) a SIG officer uses the name or resources of the SIG (a) to promote the sale of commercial materials or services, or (b) to seek employment opportunities or elective offices.

To avoid such cases, the following measures are appropriate:

All members must be informed through the SIG newsletter or mail of CUE SIG publishing or presenting opportunities.

Officers should consider the following guidelines:

(1) Any person(s) editing a CUE SIG publication may write articles for that publication. However, they must abstain from deciding whether their article(s) is published and how it is edited. The decision to accept/reject and to edit such an article must be made by the other SIG publications-related officers.

(2) Any officer may represent the SIG at a conference, but must abstain from the presentation selection process. Program-related officers, excluding presentation proposers, shall supervise the vetting of proposals.

(3) Any officer may engage in commercial activities, but must not associate the name or resources of the SIG or any JALT forum with commercial or politically motivated activities.

Article 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS

Amendments to the Bylaws may be proposed and carried out in the same manner as constitutional amendments.