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SHKS bylaws

Name

The name of the proposed organization is the Society for Hong Kong Studies, herein called the “Society” or “SHKS”.

II. Objectives

SHKS aims to promote research and teaching on all aspects of modern and contemporary Hong Kong. In the pursuit of this mission, the Society seeks to:

  1. Adopt a multidisciplinary approach to bring together scholars from a wide range of social sciences and humanities subjects, including but not limited to political science, history, sociology, anthropology, economics, communication studies, urban studies, geography, law, philosophy, literature, film studies, creative arts, cultural studies and the arts to study the past and present of this unique territory;
  2. Serve as an interinstitutional platform to facilitate local and international collaborations among scholars and students of Hong Kong politics, society and culture;
  3. Encourage the development of new theories, concepts, and methods to study Hong Kong in relation to China, Asia and beyond;
  4. Organize academic activities, social events and cultural exchanges to connect scholars of Hong Kong studies and enhance the resilience of the field.

III. Membership Requirements

  1. Membership in the SHKS is open to any scholars and graduate students with an interest and have actively engaged in Hong Kong studies or any individual deemed eligible by the Executive Board. While membership in AAS is not a formal requirement to join SHKS, members who expect to participate in AAS annual meetings, AAS-in-Asia meetings, or regional meetings are encouraged to become a member of AAS. Current AAS membership is a perquisite to be eligible to participate in Society-sponsored AAS panels.
  2. Individuals may become a member of SHKS by contacting the secretary and expressing a desire to be a member. Continuing membership is subject to the requirements detailed in this and other sections of the bylaws.
  3. A member may withdraw from SHKS by contacting the secretary and ask to have his or her name removed from the membership list.
  4. Membership to the SHKS consists of 3 categories: Full membership, Associate membership, and Student membership, and will be charged the following fees:
    1. Full membership: Full time teaching or research staff affiliated with universities or research institutes. They will acquire automatic membership after paying biennial fee and will enjoy voting rights. (Fees: HKD500/2 years)
    2. Associate membership: Individuals who fulfil neither the requirements of full membership nor student membership will be eligible to join the Society as an associate member. Associate members will have the option of changing to full membership status two years after their current associate membership, subject to board approval. (Fees: HKD300/2 years)
    3. Student membership: Full time university students. Student members will have the option of changing to full membership status after finishing their education, subject to board approval. (Fees: Free of charge)
  5. Additional requirements:
    1. Members should keep the secretary apprised of their current contact information, affiliation, and AAS membership status.
    2. As a requirement of affiliation, the membership list, including the names and contact information of all members, will be shared with AAS. AAS may use this list to send membership materials, information, publications, etc., and may use it in human resources directories and other publications.
    3. To remain an official affiliate of AAS, roughly 40 percent or more of a group’s membership must be AAS members. The Board may thus temporarily suspend the acceptance of new members who are not members of AAS should the percentage of AAS members in the Society fall near or below 40 percent.
    4. The Board may contact members to confirm their desire to continue to be a member of the Society and to confirm whether a member of the Society is a member of AAS. If a member repeatedly fails to reply to this correspondence for whatever reason, the Board may remove the individual from the society’s membership list. They may re-join in accordance with the above guidelines.

IV. Executive Board

Composition:

  1. The Officers of the Society shall consist of the following members: Chair, Co-Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, the immediate-past Chair, and several at-large members.
  2. The immediate-past Chair shall serve on the Board for three years following the end of her/his term.
  3. The Board will be elected to a three-year term by the membership and an individual may normally not serve for more than three successive terms.
  4. The first Board, however, is composed of individuals who have taken on the role of establishing SHKS.
  5. A quorum for conducting business shall be defined as a simple majority of the Board.

Responsibility:

  1. The Board will be responsible for organizing an Annual Meeting and social events held in conjunction with the AAS or AAS-in-Asia annual meetings.
  2. The Board will be responsible for submitting to AAS and its members a brief annual report, an updated membership list and a copy of SHKS publications.
  3. The Board will be responsible for organizing other academic and social events beyond in Hong Kong and aboard and for managing the financial accounts of the SHKS.

Panels:

  1. Each year the Board or its appointees will review paper and panel abstracts for constituting SHKS-sponsored panels at the annual AAS meetings
  2. Board members who wish to be on SHKS-sponsored panels will have to recuse themselves from the review process, and the remaining Board members will select an appropriate replacement(s).

Awards:

  1. The Board may consider establishing an award(s) for the best conference paper, best dissertation, monograph, and/or article in Hong Kong studies and determine the rules for the competition. Note that, as an AAS affiliate, the establishment of any such awards must be approved by the AAS Board of Directors.
  2. Should the Board wish to provide a monetary prize to be conferred along with the award, the members will solicit funds for that purpose or, should dues be collected from SHKS members, designate a portion of the dues for that purpose.

V. Officers

  1. The Chair shall provide executive leadership in the activities of the Society, preside at all meetings, and, in consultation with the Executive Board, shall appoint the chairs of all Subcommittees of the Society.
  2. The Co-Chair shall preside at meetings in the absence of the Chair and shall have the powers and duties of the Chair in his/her absence.
  3. The Treasurer shall collect dues and manage all other funds deemed payable to the Society, pay all bills, keep a record of all income and expenditures, and keep the subscription and membership list current.
  4. The Secretary shall keep the activity records of the Society, issue notices, take and distribute minutes of at all meetings in consultation with other board members, and act as the official point of external contact.
  5. The Secretariat of the Society shall be responsible for setting up and maintaining a Society website, Facebook page, or other social media presence. Passwords will be shared with the other members of the Board.
  6. A Board Member shall manage submission of proposals for Society-sponsored panels at the AAS and AAS-in-Asia annual meetings and participate in the organization of the Society’s conferences.
  7. The officers shall have the usual powers and duties exercised by the officers of a voluntary association.

VI. Elections

  1. Officers shall be elected at the Annual Meeting. The term of officers so elected shall begin with the Annual Meeting at which they are elected and continue until their successors are elected.
  2. Candidates, who must be members of SHKS, may nominate themselves or be nominated by other members so long as they agree to stand for election.
  3. Should a Board member resign, the remaining Board members are granted the power to select another individual to serve out the resigning Board member’s term.
  4. Any member of the Society is eligible to vote. Elections of Board members and voting on other proposals will be conducted by what the Board deems to be the most expedient and fairest means, either in person or at AAS annual meetings (with proxy votes allowed), or via email or online survey.
  5. Every effort should be made to ensure the Board represents to the extent possible the diversity of the membership in terms of discipline, gender, ethnicity, nationality, research interests and affiliation.
  6. A quorum for elections shall be defined as one-fifth of the active membership of the Society.

VII. Subcommittees and Secretariat

  1. The Chair, in consultation with the Executive Board, may appoint Subcommittees and a Secretariat to deal with publicity, membership, funding, finance, programming, and any other matters related to the interests of the Society.
  2. Subcommittees are authorized to spend funds and out-of-pocket expenditures from the Society only after their requests for funds have been approved by the Executive Board.
  3. The duration of all Subcommittees shall be at the discretion of the Executive Board.

VIII. Amendments

  1. Amendments to the bylaws may be made at an Annual Meeting by a two-thirds vote of the members of the Society present.
  2. Proposed amendments shall be presented in writing to the Secretary seven days before an Annual Meeting.