Mid-America Alliance for African Studies (MAAAS)

1. In accordance with the wishes of Africanists and others interested in the development of African studies in mid-America, meeting at the University of Kansas on September 23, 1995, an organization for the promotion of African studies in mid-America is hereby established.
2. Mid-America is hereby geographically defined as, but for membership not limited to, the region between the Mississippi River and the front range of the Rocky Mountains, hereinafter referred to as “the region.”
3. The name of the organization shall be the Mid-America Alliance for African Studies (hereinafter referred to as “the organization” and abbreviated as MAAAS.)
4. MAAAS is an independent regional organization open primarily to scholars and teachers in mid-America committed to the development of African studies in the region, as well as organizations in the region which have similar educational concerns and goals with respect to African studies in the region. MAAAS shall operate on both the regional and sub-regional levels.

1. In pursuance of the organization’s objective of encouraging scholarship in African studies regionally and sub-regionally, MAAAS will:
   1. sponsor conferences, seminars, workshops and other forms of scholarly interchange
   2. endeavor to facilitate faculty and student exchanges among institutions of higher education in mid-America, and between these and tertiary institutions in Africa
   3. encourage cooperative relationships among libraries for purposes of the reinforcement of African studies in the region
   4. work to expand the teaching of languages relevant to the study of Africa
   5. encourage and undertake consortial projects.
2. MAAAS will encourage the development of African studies and the integration and enhancement of African material in the undergraduate curriculum at the institutions of the region by:
   1. sponsoring projects to share and enhance human and/or material resources necessary for realizing the above purpose
   2. promoting or supporting such institutions in their sponsorship of activities likely to introduce or enhance African studies and curricular materials on those campuses, (for example, conferences, seminars, workshops, lecture series, film series, exhibits and performances
   3. establishing and maintaining a regional inventory of material and/or human resources in African studies for regional dissemination.
3. MAAAS will seek to broaden and strengthen the use of African material at the K-12 level throughout the region by:
   1. promoting and holding in-service teacher training workshops
   2. whenever possible making available to teachers, schools and school districts material resources helpful for achieving this objective
   3. fostering cooperation between institutions of higher education on the one hand and elementary and high schools on the other
   4. working for the integration of African studies into the pre-service teacher training program.
4. MAAAS will seek to encourage and maintain a high level of professional and general interest in Africa and African studies in the region by:
   1. information exchange, including where possible electronic mail, bulletin boards, a newsletter and a journal
   2. encouraging participation in the activities of the organizations by students at tertiary institutions
   3. promoting discussion and public awareness of contemporary African issues.

1. Provision shall be made for individual and institutional membership.
2. Membership shall be open to individual faculty and academic administrators, school teachers, students, retired or independent scholars, as well as institutions, agencies and organizations interested in Africa.
3. Only individual members shall be entitled to vote at business meetings and in mail ballots of the organization and be eligible to hold office.
4. There shall be differentiated levels of annual dues levied by the organization as determined by the Executive Committee and endorsed by the general voting membership. These dues are $30 for institutions, $20 for faculty, and $15 for independent scholars and students.

1. There shall be a regional Executive Committee comprised of the officers of the organization (namely, the President, the Vice President, the Immediate Past President, the Secretary-Treasurer, the Assistant Secretary-Treasurer) and three at-large members. All members of the Executive Committee must be paid-up members of the organization.
2. The Vice President shall be the President-Elect for the ensuing year.
3. There shall be a nomination committee appointed annually by the President in consultation with the Executive Committee, which shall be empowered to make and receive nominations for all positions due to be filled on the Executive Committee and ensure that there is a slate for each such position.
4. The election of the Executive Committee shall be conducted at the annual general meeting of the organization or by mail ballot when properly authorized.
5. The Vice President/President-Elect shall be elected annually, serve for one year as Vice President, the second year as President, and the third year as Immediate Past President.
6. All other elected members of the Executive Committee shall be elected to a term of two years and be eligible for re-election, except that the Secretary-Treasurer and the Assistant Secretary-Treasurer may not serve in the same office for more than two consecutive terms. A maximum of two at-large members shall be elected each year.
7. The Executive Committee is charged with conducting the affairs of the organization and shall have the power to establish sub-committees and ad hoc committees for this purpose, and to appoint individuals to carry out any functions necessary to the effectiveness of the organization that cannot be conveniently subsumed under one of the elective offices (e.g., auditors, the directorship of a secretariat).
8. The quorum for a meeting of the Executive Committee shall be three, including the President or Vice President, the Secretary-Treasurer or Assistant Secretary-Treasurer, and one at-large member of the Executive Committee.
9. There shall be an annual business meeting of the general membership convened, whenever possible, at and as part of a regional conference.
10. An emergency meeting may be called by the Executive Committee, and shall be called upon the written request of not less than 10% of the full membership of the organization.
11. The quorum for the transaction of official business at the annual or an emergency meeting shall be 20% of the total voting membership of the organization, provided that at any emergency meeting members of the Executive Committee shall not count for more than half of the quorum.
12. The organization shall establish a secretariat at a university in the region for purposes of maintaining membership records and a bank account, and the director of the secretariat, if other than the Secretary-Treasurer, shall conduct the affairs of the secretariat in close collaboration with the Secretary-Treasurer.
13. The President on behalf of the Executive Council shall identify and the Executive Committee appoint a Newsletter/Bulletin editor to serve for a term of three years subject to an evaluation of the editor’s performance. The editor shall be an ex officio member of the Executive Committee.
14. If incoming President cannot come to the annual meeting he/she will be replaced by a president elected by MAAAS members during the General Meeting at the MAAAS conference.

1. at a duly constituted annual business meeting of the organization; or
2. at a duly convened emergency meeting of the organization; and
3. provided that:
   1. in both cases written notice of the amendment proposed has been circulated to the membership no later than three weeks before the said meeting; and
   2. the amendment passes by a majority no less than 60% of the members present and voting.