Amended in April 2006.
The name of this organization, an affiliate of the College English Association, shall be the College English Association of Ohio.
The purpose of the College English Association of Ohio (CEAO) shall be to provide a means whereby its members may consult with one another upon their educational and scholarly interests and problems, coordinate efforts, and in all other ways encourage and promote effective English education and scholarship in Ohio.
Any full-time or part-time instructor or graduate student of English in an Ohio college or university shall be considered a member when the department to which he or she belongs shall have paid its dues for the current year.
CEAO shall publish a thesis and a periodical, to be known as English Notes, which shall contain news of the activities of the Departments of English in Ohio and other such information that may be of interest to the membership.
The officers of CEAO shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Treasurer, a Liaison Officer with the College English Association and the National Council of Teachers of English, a Liaison Officer with OCTELA, a Chair of the Chairs Caucus, a Historian/Consultant, a Webmaster, and the Editor or two Co-Editors of English Notes. The term of office of the President and the Vice-President, shall be one year, that of the Treasurer, Liaison Officers, Chair of the Chairs Caucus, and Editor or Co-Editors three years. The editors' terms shall be so arranged that they do not expire in the same year. The office of the Historian/Consultant and Webmaster shall be appointed by the Executive Council for a minimum of one year.
The Vice-President at the end of his or her term shall become President automatically.
Election of officers shall be held at each annual meeting. A nominating committee appointed by the President shall solicit the membership for suggestions at the fall meeting and shall submit a slate of officers for election at the spring meeting. Before taking a vote, the presiding officer shall also invite nominations from the floor.
Section 4.
The effective date of an officer's term shall be the day after the Spring Conference or 1 June if there is no Spring Conference in that year.
There shall be an Executive Council composed of the officers named in Article V, the immediate Past President, and as many members-at-large as the Council shall deem necessary, elected for one-year terms, who if possible shall be from sections of Ohio not otherwise represented on the Council, and a Chair of the Chairs Caucus. Nomination of the at-large members and the Chair of the Chairs Caucus shall also be the duty of the Nominating Committee.
The President shall be Chair of the Executive Council and shall call its meetings; he or she shall be responsible for and shall preside over the annual meetings of the Association. The general meetings of the Council shall be conducted according to the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order.
At any meeting of the Council the presence of a majority of its members shall constitute a quorum. At a general meeting, the presence of thirty members shall constitute a quorum.
The Vice President shall act for the President whenever necessary, shall assist the President in planning meetings of the Council and the Association, and shall be responsible for the program of the annual meeting.
The Council shall administer the affairs of the Association in accordance with the Constitution, the By-Laws, and the policies adopted by the membership. It shall appoint committees, propose business for consideration by the Association at the annual meeting, and take ad hoc action on behalf of the Association when prompt decisions are necessary.
The Treasurer shall keep the records of the Association, including all meetings of the Council. He or she shall conduct the official correspondence of the Association, shall hold and disburse the funds of the Association as directed by the Council, and shall present a financial report at each annual meeting.
The Chair of the Chairs Caucus (in cooperation with the Vice President) shall be responsible for the fall meeting of the CEAO and the Caucus of English Department Chairs. After his or her election he or she shall appoint a committee of two other chairs. One member of the Committee must be a chair of a private college or university.
The Association shall meet annually, at a time chosen by the Council. The Vice President shall give the membership due notice of the time of the meeting, and the time shall be published in English Notes.
The Council shall meet in the fall, again at the time of the annual meeting, and at such other times as the President, upon consultation with members of the Council, shall deem feasible and desirable.
It shall be the duty of the Council to present recommendations concerning membership dues at the annual meeting of the Association. The amount of dues shall be fixed by vote of the members present at the time.
By-Laws of the Association shall be subject to adoption, amendment, and repeal by majority vote of the members present at any annual meeting.
An amendment to this Constitution may be proposed by the Council, and by a written request to the Treasurer from then members of the Association, no more than five of whom may be from one college or university.
The Treasurer shall give the membership written notice of a proposed amendment at least one month before the annual meeting at which it is to be considered. Publication in English Notes shall be considered due notice.
An amendment duly proposed and announced may be adopted at an annual meeting of the association by a two-thirds majority of the members present at that meeting.
Should it be decided that the Association shall be merged with another body, or that it has ceased being a viable organization, the Association shall be dissolved. Such a decision shall be arrived at by the same process as that by which this Constitution may be amended, as set forth in Article XI.
Should this Association be dissolved, the Treasurer shall use the funds in its treasury to discharge its debts and other obligations, and shall then transfer any remaining funds to the Research Foundation of the National Council of Teachers of English.