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==Digital Americanists Constitution==
adopted May 26, 2007, at the American Literature Association conference in Boston, Massachusetts
[the Microsoft Word file distributed at the conference is [http://cather.unl.edu/damericanists.doc here]].

'''1.	Name'''<br/>
The society shall be known as the Digital Americanists.

'''2.	Purpose''' <br/>
The purposes of the society shall be:
*To support the creation and recognition of scholarship on American literature and culture in digital media, including hemispheric and transnational scholarship.
*To support the development of the technological and administrative infrastructure to sustain and evaluate such scholarship.
*To support informal and formal conversation, reflection, and collaboration among Americanists and other interested parties using the tools of digital scholarship.

'''4.	Membership'''<br/>
Membership is open to all persons with an expressed interest in the purposes of the society and who pay annual dues, which are established in the society's bylaws. Voting privileges for amendments to the constitution or for changes to bylaws are conferred on members who attend the annual meeting. For a ballot that is held outside the annual meeting, voting privileges are conferred on all active members. 

'''5.	Officers'''<br/>
The officers of the society shall be President, Vice-President (President-Elect), and Secretary-Treasurer.  All officers shall serve for two-year terms.  All officers shall be elected by a majority vote of the members present at the annual meeting.  Duties and responsibilities of the officers are outlined in the society's bylaws.  The Vice-President is responsible for recruiting names to be put forward for officer positions.  Once candidates are recruited, the Vice-President will submit the names for vote at the annual meeting.

'''6.	Meetings'''<br/>
Business meetings of the society shall be held annually at the American Literature Association conference.  As needed, business may be conducted via electronic communication.   

'''7.	Amendments'''<br/>
Amendments to the constitution of the society must be distributed to members in writing at least one month prior to the society's meeting.  The Secretary-Treasurer shall distribute the proposed amendment(s) to the members.  Adoption of the amendment(s) shall require a three-fifths majority vote of members present at the meeting. 

'''8.	Bylaws'''<br/>
Bylaws of the society may be changed by a majority vote conducted either at a business meeting or by a ballot. A ballot held outside an annual business meeting may occur on January 15 and July 15 of each year.  A member must submit proposed bylaw changes to members of the listserv and allow at least one week for voting.

==Bylaws of the Digital Americanists==

'''1.	Dues'''<br/>
The annual membership dues for the Digital Americanists is $10.00.  The founding officers will establish all accounts and accounting practices necessary for the collection and distribution of funds.

'''2.	Privileges of Membership'''<br/>
Dues-paying members are eligible to vote on all society matters, have editing rights on the society's Wiki page, and can run for office in the society.

'''3.	Duties and Responsibilities of Officers'''<br/>

The President shall preside at meetings of the society, shall be responsible for the coordination of the annual session(s) at the American Literature Association conference, and shall develop other policies and initiatives consistent with the purposes of the society

The Vice-President (President-Elect) shall support the President in the coordination of the annual session(s) at the American Literature Association conference and other Presidential initiatives, shall preside at the meetings of the society in the President's absence, shall be responsible for creating the ballot to elect new officers at annual meetings, shall collaborate with the Secretary-Treasurer on fund collection and dispersion, and shall assume the office of President at the end of a two-year term.

The Secretary-Treasurer shall record the proceedings of the society's meetings, shall distribute all pertinent society documents through established venues, shall deposit and monitor funds of the society, shall monitor membership of the society, and shall preside over ballot counting at annual meetings or in electronic forums. 

Non-officers may assume other duties of the organization (such as website maintenance or listserv moderation) by a majority vote of the three elected officers.