Bylaws

I. Dues, Membership Status

[A] The annual dues of the Society shall be set by a vote of a majority of the active members present and voting at any regular meeting and shall be due and payable at the beginning of each fiscal year. If any member shall allow the member’s annual dues to become two years in arrears, the member shall be dropped from membership in the Society.

[B] A member of the Society who has retired from active service in the member’s profession may become an emeritus member by notifying the Secretary of the member’s desire to do so. An emeritus member may attend all meetings of the Society but will not have the privilege of voting or be required to pay dues.

[C] A member unable to participate in the activities of the Society may request inactive status, which will not require the payment of dues. The member may resume active membership when able by notifying the Secretary of an intention to do so even though such action may cause the number of members to exceed 120.

II. Officers

Nominations of officers shall be made by a nominating committee and may also be made by any member from the floor. A majority vote of the members present and voting shall assure election.

III. Fiscal Year

The fiscal year shall   be concurrent with the calendar year, beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31, of each year.

IV. Committees

[A] The President shall appoint at the beginning of the President’s term of office a committee of three on program, a committee of three on nominations of officers, and such other committees as the Council or Society shall authorize. One member of each committee shall serve a second year and shall be chair of the committee the second year.

V. Quorum

A quorum shall consist of twenty members.

VI. Membership

[A] Any Society member with current Active status may nominate an individual to membership. A nomination should be in the form of a brief written summary of the nominee’s education and career accomplishments, with special emphasis on the nominee’s work in the research, teaching, writing, and/or public presentation of North Carolina history. The name of at least one additional Society member as co-nominator shall be included with the nomination. Nominations shall be submitted to the Chair of the Nominating Committee and may be transmitted either on paper or via electronic communication. Nominations may be submitted at any time during the year, even when there are no membership vacancies.

[B] The Nominating Committee shall maintain a file of nominations received and shall review each nomination at least once in any year in which there are membership vacancies. The Nominating Committee will decide by majority vote which nominations to recommend for consideration by the full membership. The Chair of the Nominating Committee will forward its recommendations to the Secretary at least four weeks prior to a semi-annual meeting of the Society. If more nominations are on file than there are vacancies, any nomination not forwarded to the President with a recommendation for membership may be considered for three more years. At the end of the fourth year, a nomination not yet recommended by the Nominating Committee will be removed from the file and the nominating member notified of this action. If the nominating member reasonably believes the nominee has made additional contributions to the research, teaching, writing, and/or public presentation of North Carolina since the initial nomination, the member may submit a revised nomination for further consideration.

[C] The President shall present to the full membership during a semi-annual meeting the names and credentials of those nominees recommended for membership by the Nominating Committee. The members in attendance shall vote by paper ballot “yea” or “nay” on each nominee, requiring a two-thirds “yea” vote of those present. This requirement may be superseded by a successful motion from the floor for a voice vote by acclamation for the entire slate of new nominees presented. Each new member elected shall be sent a letter of invitation to membership by the President. The letter shall emphasize the honor that membership in the Society conveys and shall stress that members are expected to attend meetings as often as possible and be active members of the Society. The nominee shall be asked to indicate by letter or email if the nominee accepts membership. Failure to respond within a year shall be considered a declination of the invitation. A nominee who fails to respond or who declines the invitation to membership may, however, be re-nominated when future membership vacancies occur.

VII.  Action without Meeting

Action taken by a majority of the Council or a Society Committee without a formal meeting is nevertheless Council or Committee action if written consent to the action is signed by a majority of the members of the Council or Committee and filed with the Society’s records.  Action taken under this section is effective when the last Council or Committee member voting with the majority signs the consent, unless the consent specifies a different effective date.  A consent signed pursuant to this section has the effect of a meeting vote and may be described as such in any document of the Council, a Committee, or the Society.

VIII.  Meeting by Conference Telephone

Any Council member or member of a Society committee may participate in a meeting of the Council or committee by means of a conference telephone or similar communications device which allows all persons participating in the  meeting simultaneously to hear each other during the meeting, and such participation in a meeting shall be deemed presence in person at such meeting.

IX.  Business Conducted by Electronic Communication

Council or committee business may be conducted by electronic means upon a majority vote of the members of the Council or the committee.  In all instances in which these bylaws or Society tradition require a writing and/or a signing, the sending of an electronic communication by the person or group from whom the writing or signing is required shall suffice.

X.  Records and Reports

The Society shall keep and file any and all records required by the laws of the State of North Carolina.  It shall keep and file the minutes of all meetings of the Society and the Council and such other records and reports as the Secretary, with the concurrence of a majority of the members of the Council, shall deem appropriate.

[Original constitution amended 1958, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1991, 1992, 2009, 2013, 2016, and 2023.]

See also the Constitution.