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Policies governing Scholarly Interest Groups

Membership

• SCMS members are not restricted in the number of SIGs or Caucuses with which they can affiliate. Members can join a SIG by joining its group page on the SCMS website.
• Affiliations with SIGs are contingent on maintaining SCMS membership.
• SIG and Caucus affiliates are asked to renew their affiliations every 5 years through re-selecting them on the SCMS website at the time of SCMS membership renewal. These re-enrollment periods will be announced in advance via email to the SCMS membership at large. Current SIGs will then have two years to demonstrate that they can again reach the expected number of members to remain in good standing.

Elections of Scholarly Interest Group Officers

• Scholarly Interest Groups are expected to elect two co-chairs to three-year, staggered terms. A new SIG will typically do so through electing the first co-chairs to a three-year and a two-year term. Graduate student representatives typically are elected to two-year terms. Some SIGs also chose to have an elected secretary and/or web manager position.
• Elections for new co-chairs should be held in April, May or June, with election results sent to the home office by July 1 each year. SIGs are asked to report election results and the emails and the terms of the new officers by using the online form.
• Often an on-line election will be necessary to reach the full membership of a SIG. The SCMS Office can assist SIGs if they wish to hold on-line elections.
• Co-chairs are expected to maintain SCMS membership and to provide the home office with their updated email address. SIG co-chairs cannot opt out of receiving SCMS emails.
• SIGs can hold elections to elect a new co-chair at any time in the event that a co-chair has left SCMS or otherwise stepped down as co-chair.

How SIGs Maintain Status

• SIG co-chairs are expected to hold a meeting with their membership at the annual conference each year, and to submit an annual report to the Board of Directors each fall on the SIG’s activities. Further information and templates for this report are located in the SIG co-chair pages of the SCMS website.
• SIG co-chairs are asked to share minutes of the past meeting with their membership at their annual meeting, and to tally attendance at the current meeting for inclusion in their annual report.
• Any SIG that fails to submit an annual report or that fails to hold a yearly meeting at the conference for two consecutive years is assumed to be inactive, and its status as a scholarly interest group of SCMS is temporarily suspended. See the policy for requesting reinstatement as a SIG, below.
• SIGs are expected to maintain a membership of at least 30 members. SIGs with fewer than 30 members for two consecutive years are assumed to be inactive. While its members can continue to meet as a group, its status will be temporarily suspended, and the SIG will not be eligible for SCMS funding or official conference meeting space.

SIG Activities at the Annual Conference

• They may also use this time for scholarly activities related to their SIG’s mission. Announcements of the deadlines to request a meeting space and time will be made well in advance; meeting space will then be scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. The Program Committee cannot guarantee the availability of meeting time and/or space.
• In order to maintain Scholarly Interest groups as non-competitive social and professional forums and the annual conference of SCMS as a competitively peer-reviewed scholarly conference, the SCMS Board has determined that at this time SIGs will not play a role in vetting paper or panel proposals for the conference. It is suggested that SIGs that would like to showcase new developments in their sub-discipline consider proposing a special event or a seminar, and/or encouraging members to volunteer for the SCMS Conference Programming Committee and other SCMS committees.

Funding

• SIGs may request up to $500 in funding per year, with final amounts dependent upon the number of requests and approved proposals, for SIG-related expenses.
• For full details regarding reimbursable expenses, please visit the Request Funding page.

SIG Usage of the SCMS Name or Logo

• Requests to use the SCMS brand must be submitted to the Board of Directors at least one month in advance of the proposed usage using the online SCMS Logo Use Permission form.
• The use of the SCMS name or other branded material without approval by the Board of Directors in advance of the event or occurrence, or in a manner that is otherwise not allowable under the Bylaws, can be considered grounds for suspending a SIG’s status (subject to the decision of the Board).

Changes to SIG Titles or Mission Statements

• Any change in the purpose, title, or mission statement of a SIG must be approved by a two-thirds majority of its members, using an online no-protest vote so that all of the SIG members may weigh in, and then by a majority of the SCMS Board of Directors. A no-protest vote is one in which it is explained to members that if they do not vote, their lack of vote will be counted as a “vote of no protest,” a yes, rather than an abstention.

Proposing New Scholarly Interest Groups

• A proposal for a new Scholarly Interest Group must include a rationale that argues for the need for such a group, including how it differs from current SIGs, a mission statement that defines the goals and activities of the new SIG, a list of a minimum of 30 current SCMS members who support the establishment of the new SIG, and proposed bylaws. The proposal should be submitted in draft form to the SIG liaison to the Board, who may suggest revisions. The final version will be submitted to the Board for approval by a majority vote.

If a Suspended SIG Wishes to Request Reinstatement

• Suspended SIGs can request reinstatement of official status through a petition that outlines the group’s planned goals and activities for the next year, the coordination of an email election of new organizers/officers, and a list of a minimum of 30 current SCMS members who support the reinstatement of the SIG.

SCMS Bylaws pertinent to SIGs:

ARTICLE VII, SECTION 3. SCHOLARLY INTEREST GROUPS. Any group of Members of the Society may petition the Board of Directors to form a scholarly interest group. Each scholarly interest group shall submit to the Board of Directors (i) a mission statement; (ii) a list of its members (consisting of at least 30 members), including alternate members, if any; and (iii) a copy of their bylaws. The members making up the scholarly interest group must be Members of the Society who are in good standing. The Board of Directors, in its sole discretion, may approve or deny the formation of a scholarly interest group. Each scholarly interest group shall take such actions as are necessary to further its purposes, subject to any guidelines established by the Board of Directors and subject to review by the Board of Directors. Each scholarly interest group shall appoint two (2) of its members to serve as Co-Chairs for staggered terms of three (3) years each. In the event that a SIG representative does not remain an SCMS member in good standing, the members of the SIG may elect another representative to replace that individual, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors. In the event of the disqualification of a member of a scholarly interest group, the members of the scholarly interest group may appoint another individual to replace the disqualified member, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors. A scholarly interest group may submit a request to the Program Committee for conference time and space to meet at the annual meeting of the membership. Each year the Program Committee shall notify the scholarly interest groups of the submission date for such requests. No member of a scholarly interest group may vote by proxy. Where alternates have been appointed, an alternate may vote in the absence of the member for whom he or she has been designated as an alternate. No scholarly interest group shall have the power or authority to (i) amend the Articles of Incorporation of the Society, (ii) adopt an agreement of merger or consolidation, (iii) recommend to the Members the sale, lease or exchange of all or substantially all of the Society’s property and assets, (iv) recommend to the Members a dissolution of the Society, a revocation of a dissolution, or a cessation of the business of the Society, (v) amend the Bylaws of the Society, or (vi) fill vacancies in the Board of Directors.