Who We Are
 
SIG Officers
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s-mountford_JPGChair:
THOMAS ALSBURY, Professor
Co-Director, UCEA Center for Research on the Superintendency & District Governance
Seattle Pacific ​University
Department of Educational Leadership 
Email: [email protected]  

Thomas L. Alsbury, is a professor for the Educational Leadership at Seattle Pacific University, serving previously as program director at Iowa State University and North Carolina State University. Dr. Alsbury’s research focus is on organizational theory, school board and superintendent governance, and district reform. He has served eight years as chair or program chair for the AERA Research on the Superintendency SIG and
  is Director of the UCEA Joint Center for Research on the Superintendency and District Governance. He spent 18 years as a teacher, principal, and central office administrator and led several turnaround school efforts to national recognition.

He was the 2008 UCEA Culbertson Award recipient and shared the 2008 NSBA Shannon Award for research most influencing school boards. Dr. Alsbury directs the NSF funded Innovative Leadership Academy working with district leaders in high minority, high poverty rural NC districts to build organizational capacity and sustainability for innovation affecting student achievement. Dr. Alsbury is on the editorial board for several journals and was recognized with an editor review award in 2009 by Educational Administration Quarterly.

Dr. Alsbury chaired the 2010 national UCEA conference and is co-chairing the 2012 UCEA conference International Day. Dr. Alsbury co-directed a National School Board Research Symposium in 2007, leading to his edited book The future of school board governance: Relevance and revelation. Dr. Alsbury has numerous academic publications and is a regular keynote and featured speaker at national and state school board and superintendent conferences including the 2008 NSBA National Leadership Institute. His international work includes program development in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Scotland, Germany, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.


Chair-Elect [2014-2016]:
MEREDITH MOUNTFORD
, Associate Professor
Co-Director, UCEA Center for Research on the Superintendency & District Governance
Florida Atlantic University

After eight years as a teacher, one year as a principal, and three years as a superintendent in Wisconsin, Dr. Mountford earned her Ph.D. in educational administration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Mountford won the Dean’s Club Outstanding Ph.D. Student Award, and in 2002, her dissertation Motivations for School Board Membership, Conceptions of Power, and the Effects on Decision-Making won the Dissertation of the Year Award for one of the American Educational Research Association (AERA)’s special interest groups. Dr. Mountford was an Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia (2001-2005) and was appointed as Director for Missouri’s Statewide Ed.D. Program in Educational Leadership (2002-2005). Beginning in fall of 2005, Mountford left Missouri to become an Associate Professor at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) where she currently works and serves the university as President of the College of Education’s Faculty Assembly and as one of the colleges primary research methodologists.

 

Nationally, Mountford is the Co-Director for the University Council of Educational Administration (UCEA)’s Joint Center for Research on the Superintendency and School Governance. She also serves on UCEA’s Program Center Advisory Board and in 2007, led FAU’s efforts successfully to become a UCEA institutional member and currently serves as  FAU’s  Plenum Representative to UCEA  In addition, Mountford is currently Co-Chair of AERA’s Research on the Superintendency Special Interest Group and was also elected the SIG’s president 2010-2012; 2002-2004, and program chair (2006-2008). This year Mountford was elected as Treasurer for AERA Learning and Teaching in Educational Leadership SIG (2010-2012).  Mountford keynotes nationally for state school board associations and school board/superintendent teams at the regional, state, and national levels as well as with school districts specifically. She often works for districts or for school board and administrator associations in large urban areas; most recently New York and Chicago. 

Mountford is author of multiple journal and book publications and was recently asked to author AASA’s 2010 study of the American Superintendency and was also recently invited to assist conducting the research and authoring the most recent study of school board members  in collaboration with the National School Board Association, The Iowa School Board Association, Fordham and Wallace Foundations, and American Educational Enterprises. She is currently completing two other books under contract with Rowman and Littlefield entitled: Board Members: Beliefs and Attitudes and is currently working on a book for Corwin Press with co-authors Thomas Alsbury and Mary Delagardelle entitled, Transrelational Leadership Communities: An Educators Guide to Improving Local School Governance.  A recent book chapter entitled Historical and Current Tensions among Board/Superintendent Teams: Symptoms or Cause? can be found in Thomas Alsbury edited book The Future of School Board Governance: Relevancy and Revelations (Ch. 5, 2008)  

Mountford is founder of Building Better Boards LLC


Program Chair [2013-2015]:
LINDA LEMASTERS
, Associate Professor/Coordinator
Educational Administration & Policy Studies
The George Washington University

Linda K. Lemasters is an Associate Professor of Educational Administration and Policy Studies and Coordinator of the Educational Leadership Program at The George Washington University. Linda's research agenda includes women in the superintendency, about which she has made numerous presentations and written articles, including 3-Dimensional Portrait of the Female CEO. She has students writing and researching about the superintendency; one such student recently defending her dissertation: Her Story: A Qualitative Study of the Journey of the African American Woman Superintendent; and another beginning her research: ‘The Road Less Traveled’: The Female’s Journey to the State Superintendency. Linda Lemasters also conducts research on the places where students learn. She is the co-author of School Maintenance and Renovation: Administrative Policies, Practices, and Economics, and author of numerous journal articles and presentations on this topic. Linda is editor of the International Journal of Educational Preparation, president of the International Society of Educational Planning, a former Executive Board Member for the National Council of Professors of Educational Leadership, and continues to serve on the NCPEA Publications and PEC Committee.

As a former practitioner, Lemasters enjoys working with students who are preparing for administrative positions, especially teaching courses such in leadership and educational change and educational planning. She truly believes that the way to lasting educational reform is through the emerging leaders in our graduate classrooms.


Program Chair Elect [2015-2017]:
THOMAS ALSBURY,
Professor
Co-Director, UCEA Center for Research on the Superintendency & District Governance
Seattle Pacific ​University
Department of Educational Leadership





Secretary [2013-2015]:
LOU SABINA
, Faculty Member
Edinboro University

Lou Sabina is a full-time faculty member of School Administration as an Assistant Professor at Oklahoma State University.  He recently completed his dissertation at the University of Pittsburgh.  Lou is a former high school Mathematics, Computer Science, and Business teacher and also served as an elementary school administrator.  Lou was the former Chair and Secretary/Treasurer of the Business Education and Computer Information Systems SIG prior to its absorption in 2011.  Lou's primary areas of research involve using both Organizational Theory and Human Resources perspectives to hiring trajectories of school leaders, both superintendents and principals, and the impact of online learning in School Leadership and School Superintendency programs.  


NO PHOTO AVAILABLE   Secretary Elect [2015-2017]:
                                                Beverly Irby, Professor/Associate Dean
                                                College of Education
                                                Sam Houston State University

Beverly J. Irby
holds the distinction of the Texas State University System Regents' Professor and is Professor of Educational Leadership and Counseling and has been serving as Associate Dean for Graduate Programs in the College of Education at Sam Houston State University. Her primary areas of research and expertise focus around social responsibility, particularly related to educational administration, early childhood, women's leadership, and gifted and bilingual/ESL education. She also holds expertise in research and theory development and in educational administration. She has served as a teacher PK-8, an educational diagnostician, a special education director, an elementary principal, an assistant superintendent, and superintendent of schools. Her work at the university level spans 22 years as professor, director of the Center for Research in Educational Leadership, director of the doctoral program in educational leadership, director of student teaching and field experiences, and chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling. She has over 200 scholarly publications, including book chapters, technical reports, journal articles, and books. She is a published children's book author, as well as Editor of the Mentoring and Tutoring Journal (Routledge: Taylor and Francis and the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration- NCPEA) or founding editor of professional journals such at the Advancing Women in Leadership Journal. She was instrumental in garnering the SHSU Superintendents Recognized Program by the ELCC, and Dr. Irby annually reviews district level program submissions as an ELCC Reviewer and a member of the ELCC Review Board. She has conducted research, presented, and published on the superintendency. She has been a member of the Research on the Superintendency SIG for 12 years.


Awards Chair [2013-2015]:
LISA FOSTER
, Post-doctoral Fellow
Harvard Graduate School  

Dr. Lisa Foster received her Ph.D. in educational leadership from the University of Virginia in 2011 and joined the faculty at Harvard Graduate School of Education as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in 2011.  Her primary areas of research interest involve fidelity of implementation and intervention, general implementation science, leadership, data use, literacy, and gifted education.  She has authored/co-authored 5 articles and co-developed a national award-winning 2nd grade gifted math curriculum  She has presented nationally over 20 times in the last three years on fidelity of implementation, literacy and gifted education.  She currently serves as a Post-Doctoral Fellow as the fidelity expert on a 5-year i3-funded validation grant, READS for Summer Learning.  She develops and validates the fidelity measures and assessments. The purpose of READS for Summer Learning is
to improve reading comprehension by fostering children’s engagement with books over the summer. Prior to joining to READS, she served as the WWIGE Project Coordinator at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented located at the University of Virginia and developed several fidelity measures.  The first half of her career, she taught Spanish for 20 years, was National Board Certified, and licensed in K-12 Spanish, Russian, Government, and Administration. 

 
 
Structure & Governance
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American Educational Research Association - Special Interest Group: Research on the Superintendency

Article I.

Name of the SIG
The name of this Special Interest Group (“SIG”) is the Research on the Superintendency, SIG (hereinafter, the “SIG”). 

Article II.

Affiliation of the SIG
The SIG is a Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association (hereinafter, “AERA” or “Association”) established to facilitate the formation of research specialties of an intra- or cross-divisional nature and to increase the exchange of knowledge within research arenas of special interest, and for other purposes in keeping with achieving the mission and objectives of the Association.

Article III.

Governing Authority of the SIG
The SIG shall be governed by the Association’s Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws and policies, as periodically amended. The Bylaws, decisions and actions of the SIG shall not conflict with the Association’s Bylaws and policies, including the SIG Handbook and all guidelines, procedures and policies associated with the Association’s Annual Meeting and its program.

Article IV.

Purposes of this SIG: Research on the Superintendency.
The purposes of the SIG is to encourage original research and applied studies of issues associated with the superintendency, school boards; and organizational governance, policy, and theory. Our primary purposes are to expand the knowledge base in these areas and improve professional preparation and practice. The SIG will actively seek broad-based participation in creating a community of scholars composed of researchers and practitioners (e.g., superintendent and their administrative teams, school boards members, and state and federal policy makers)  in order to pursue the development of networks in the field, support and conduct a programs of promising research, disseminate findings, with the primary objective of supporting and improving district-level leadership and governance across many layers of stakeholders.

Article V.

Membership In THE SIG
Section 1. Eligibility. Membership in the SIG shall be open to any AERA member who supports the purposes of the SIG and who pays the specified SIG dues and all additional fees required of SIG members by the Association.

Section 2. Joining the SIG. AERA members shall join the SIG by paying SIG dues and Association fees through the AERA Central Office using the appropriate AERA print or electronic form. 

Section 3. Members in Good Standing. SIG members are considered ‘in good standing’ immediately upon the recording of their dues paid in full by the AERA Central Office.

Section 4. Length of Membership in the SIG. The length of membership in the SIG shall be from the date membership dues are recorded by the AERA Central Office to the end of the AERA membership year as established by the Association. AERA members may join the SIG at any time, but SIG membership expires simultaneously with AERA membership.

Section 5. Voting Rights. All SIG members in good standing, with fully paid SIG dues, shall be entitled to vote for SIG officers and on any other matter where a vote is required or taken.

Article VI.

Officers
Section 1. Required Officers.  The SIG shall have a Chair, Program Chair and Secretary/Treasurer who shall be elected and shall serve as the three required officers. The SIG may have any other officers that its members from time to time chose to designate.

Section 2. Other Officers. The other officers of this SIG shall be: Chair-Elect, Program Chair-Elect, Secretary/Treasurer-Elect, Awards Chair, & Awards Chair-Elect.

Section 3. Eligibility to Hold Office. All members in good standing of both AERA and the SIG and who are not restricted from holding a particular office due to requirements in the Association’s or the SIG’s Bylaws and policies shall be eligible to run as candidates for election or be appointed as officers and for any office within the SIG.

Section 4. Length of Term of Office. Unless otherwise specified in these Bylaws, the term of each “required” officer and the Awards Chair shall be two years; the term of all “Elect” positions shall be one year. The term of each officer shall begin the day following the close of the AERA Annual Meeting and end on the last day of the AERA Annual Meeting appropriate to their term of office.

Section 5. Eligibility to Succeed to the Same Office for Consecutive Terms. , Individuals shall not be eligible to be nominated and to succeed themselves to the same office for consecutive terms.

Section 6. Automatic Succession of Offices. There shall be an automatic succession of the following offices, from Chair-Elect to Chair, in that order such that the person elected as Chair-Elect shall automatically assume the office of Chair after serving one year as Chair-Elect and shall then serve two years as Chair; and the Program Chair-Elect to Program Chair, in that order such that the person elected as Program Chair-Elect shall automatically assume the office of Program Chair after serving one year as Program Chair-Elect and shall then serve two years as Program Chair; and the  Secretary/Treasurer-Elect to Secretary/Treasurer, in that order such that the person elected as Secretary/Treasurer-Elect  shall automatically assume the office of Secretary/Treasurer after serving one year as Secretary/Treasurer-Elect and shall then serve two years as Secretary/Treasurer ; and Awards Chair-Elect to Awards Chair in that order such that the person elected as Awards Chair-Elect shall automatically assume the office of Awards Chair after serving one year as Awards Chair-Elect and shall then serve two years as Awards Chair. “Elect” positions are to be in training by the primary holder of the office for the one-year duration of that portion of their terms.

Section 7. Limit to Length of Service in One Office. No person may serve in the same office for more than three consecutive years. The Chair of the SIG shall be charged with ensuring that this requirement is met.

Section 8. Officers as Members of AERA for Entire Term. All individuals serving as officers of the SIG shall be members of AERA during their entire term of office.

Section 9. Vacancies. Whenever any elected office is vacated for any reason before the term of that officer has been completed, the SIG Chair shall on advice from the Executive Committee appoint a replacement until new elections are held. This replacement shall assume the full duties and responsibilities of that office immediately upon appointment. In the case of the Chair position being vacant, the Executive Committee shall by majority vote elect an individual to complete the term of the Chair.

Article VII.

Duties and Responsibilities of the Officers
Section 1. Chair. The Chair shall be responsible for the general administration of the SIG, for ensuring that the SIG Bylaws are followed, and shall act as liaison between the SIG and AERA and the SIG and the SIG Executive Committee. The Chair shall preside at all meetings of the SIG’s Executive Committee and at the Annual Business Meeting. The Chair shall act as parliamentarian or shall appoint a SIG member to serve in that role for each meeting. The Chair shall appoint ad hoc committees as needed. Unless otherwise specified in these Bylaws, the Chair of the SIG shall appoint persons to assist officers, to chair committees or to carry out other work of the SIG.

Section 2. Secretary/Treasurer. The Secretary/Treasurer shall be responsible for managing and reporting on the membership and financial accounts of the SIG and the safe keeping of all financial and enrollment reports and documents of the SIG. The Secretary/Treasurer shall be responsible for maintaining and keeping current the SIG website and the SIG email listserv. The Secretary/Treasurer is responsible for general correspondence, distribution of any SIG information or newsletter, and recruitment of members into the SIG. The Secretary/Treasurer shall ensure that meeting rooms, refreshments, award plaques and checks are arranged and available at the annual SIG business meeting at the AERA Conference. The Secretary/Treasurer shall be responsible for filling out, procuring signatures, and delivery of all required AERA forms from SIGs. They shall present a report at the annual SIG business meeting on enrollment and financial activities and status.

Section 3. Program Chair. The Program Chair shall be responsible for soliciting papers to the SIG for the annual AERA Conference. They shall select a review committee as required by AERA bylaws and oversee the review of submitted manuscripts and posters for all available presentation section types made available at the AERA annual conference (paper sessions, poster sessions, symposium, etc...). The Program Chair shall oversee the selection of the presentation manuscripts and make recommendations on all final decisions on the final program to the SIG Chair, as it becomes necessary (e.g. deciding between a symposium and a paper session if the review committee decision approves both but space is only available for one). The SIG Chair will make the final decision. The Program Chair shall be responsible for arranging the selected manuscripts into session and selecting the session titles, session discussants, and session chairs. They are responsible for ensuring the notifying all presenters, chairs, and discussants of their selection or denial through the AERA submission system. The Program Chair is responsible for preparing a SIG program and ensuring its dissemination to the membership at least one month prior to the AERA annual conference. The Program Chair shall be responsible for preparing and presenting a program report at the annual SIG business meeting at the AERA Conference.  

Section 4.  Awards Chair. The Awards Chair shall oversee the process for the Sig Dissertation of the Year Award as described in Article XIII of these bylaws. The Awards Chair shall broadly disseminate a call for eligible dissertations with all procedural information to educational leadership programs nationally. The Awards Chair shall be responsible for collecting the applicants dissertations, seating a panel to review and score the applicants, communicate with all applicants as to the final decision, invite the recipient and their doctoral chair to the SIG business meeting held at the AERA conference, and make arrangements for the award check and plaque to be delivered for presentation at the SIG Business meeting.

Article VIII.

Other Non-Officer Positions
Section 1. Non-Officer Positions. The SIG may from time to time establish important leadership positions that are not officers of the SIG.

Section 2. Titles of Non-Officer Positions. The SIG membership shall appoint or elect individuals to the following non-officer positions to carry out leadership or task assignments of the SIG for the benefit of the SIG: None currently. 

Article IX.

Executive Committee
Section 1. Membership. There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of the SIG Chair, Secretary/Treasurer and Program Chair.

Section 2. Responsibilities and Powers. The Executive Committee shall have responsibility and powers to direct and review the general affairs of the SIG within the limits set forth in these Bylaws and to provide leadership. Other duties and powers of this Committee are as follows:

  • Approving drafts of changes made to SIG bylaws prior to a vote by the entire SIG membership.
  • Approving recommendations for SIG activities, joint studies & projects, or publication partnerships.
  • To resolve any SIG conflicts as requested by the SIG Chair.

Section 3. Meetings. The Executive Committee shall hold at least one meeting each year in person and shall communicate as needed throughout the year. This meeting may be during the Annual Meeting. The Chair shall be responsible for setting the time and place of this meeting and for creating and distributing the agenda for this meeting.

Section 4. Quorum and Decision-making. A majority of the members of the Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum, and decisions of the Executive Committee shall be by a majority of those present, provided a quorum is present.

Article X.

Nominations and Elections
Section 1. Oversight of the Nominations and Elections Process. The Executive Committee shall be responsible for setting up, monitoring and providing other oversight duties regarding all aspects of the nomination and election processes of the SIG.

Section 2. Nominations Committee. The Nominations Committee shall consist of the seated officers of the SIG; the Chair, Program Chair, Awards Chair, and Secretary/Treasurer. The nominating committee shall review nominations and prepare a slate of candidates for the election.

Section 3. Nominations and Nomination Process.

Section 3a. The Nominations Committee shall seek eligible individuals to serve as candidates for each officer and non-officer position.

Section 3b. No SIG member may nominate an individual for any SIG office without the prior consent of the individual to be nominated. Any SIG member can nominate another SIG member in good standing or self-nominate.

Section 3c. The SIG Chair shall ensure that the Nominating Committee elicits at least two candidates for each position to be elected. No election may be held or will be certified by AERA for any elected position unless there are at least two candidates nominated and placed the ballot for that position.

Section 3d. By the deadline set by the Association, the Nominations Committee shall submit the names of the candidates and any other information required by AERA for inclusion in the AERA electronic ballot system. The deadline for this submission shall be determined by the Association.

Section 4. Date for Completion of Election Tabulation. All election processes and tabulation of votes for designated officers and elected non-officer positions for the following year shall be completed within the timeline and by the deadline established by AERA in conducting its electronic election of Officers of the Association. The Chair of the Nominations Committee shall receive the results of the balloting from the AERA Central Office.

Section 5. Notification of Results. The SIG Chair shall be responsible for reporting the results to the membership.

Article XI.

Meetings
Section 1. Annual Business Meeting. The SIG shall hold its Annual Business Meeting in conjunction with the AERA Annual Meeting. Announcement of day, time and place of this meeting of the SIG membership shall be made by the SIG Chair as far ahead as is reasonably possible.  In all cases notice shall be communicated to members at least three weeks in advance of a meeting. Unless otherwise noted in these Bylaws, decisions made during this meeting shall be made by the majority of SIG members present and voting.

Section 2. Other Meetings. The SIG may hold other meetings at times and places approved by the Executive Committee and vote of the SIG members. The SIG may conduct SIG business and vote on motions in person, electronically, or by e-mail or mail.

Section 3. Officer and Committee Meetings. The Officers and Committees of the SIG shall meet when, where and as needed to conduct the business of the SIG or carry out the charges of the committee within the parameters and requirements of these Bylaws. The SIG Chair, other SIG officers and committee chairs shall set the meetings and notify all officers of the date, time, place and agenda or purposes of the meetings.

Section 4. Rules of Order. In all cases to which they apply and do not conflict with the provisions of these Bylaws and the Association Bylaws, Robert’s Rules of Order (current edition) shall govern all business meetings of the SIG.

Article XII.

Dues and Other Fiscal Concerns
Section 1. Dues. The amount of dues for the SIG shall be decided by the SIG’s Executive Committee or by a majority of the membership voting by email. This vote will be administered by the AERA Central Office.

Section 2. Effective Date of Dues Increases.  All increases in dues shall go into effect for all categories of SIG membership for the following membership year as determined by the Association.

Section 3. Allocation of SIG Assets. The SIG Chair, in consultation with the Executive Committee, shall authorize the expenditure of SIG funds for any allowable purpose that is requested and approved.

Section 4. Overseeing the Allocation of SIG Assets. The SIG Chair and the Secretary/Treasurer shall have the joint responsibility to ensure that all SIG assets, including money collected via dues, are allocated and spent in ways and in a timely manner to fulfill commitments made by the SIG members or Executive Committee, to pay fees to the Association, to pay debts and to enhance and promote the SIG and the purposes, goals and objectives of the SIG and the Association.

Article XIII.

AERA-Approved Awards
Section 1. Name of the Awards. The SIG shall present on an annual basis, when merited, the following Award as approved by Council: Dissertation of the Year Award.

Section 2. The Dissertation of the Year Award. This award shall be presented to recent doctoral graduate for outstanding dissertation research in the superintendency, school board, district governance, or other topics included in the SIG purpose/foci in these Bylaws.

Section 2a. The Dissertation of the Year Award is presented to the individual or individuals who meet the following criteria as approved by the SIG and Council:

Studies embracing "traditional" and or "non-traditional" conceptualizations and methods are welcome. Dissertations completed and formally defended and accepted between November 1 [2 years preceding the presentation of the award] to October 31 [1 year preceding the presentation of the award] are eligible for consideration by the Dissertation Awards Committee for recognition in next year's UCEA conference.  Evaluation criteria for the dissertations include:

  1. Significance and clarity of the problem investigated.
  2. Adequacy of conceptualization and development of research questions.
  3. Quality of review of relevant theoretical and research literature.
  4. Appropriateness and rigor of research designs and methods.
  5. Clarity of reporting finding/results.
  6. Appropriateness of interpretation of the research for theory, policy, practice, and further research.
  7. Quality and clarity of writing evidenced in the abstract and (for finalists only) the complete dissertation.

Section 2b. The process for determining the individual or individuals deserving of the Dissertation of the Year Award is as follows:

  1. Dissertations completed and formally defended and accepted between November 1 [2 years preceding the presentation of the award] to October 31 [1 year preceding the presentation of the award] are eligible for consideration.
  2. Dissertations will be read and a winner determined by a Dissertation Awards Committee composed of three SIG members in good standing. This committee will be chaired by the SIG Awards Chair.
  3. A member of the award committee should resign if any of the following conditions exist: (a) he or she is the chair of a dissertation entry, (b) he or she is a doctoral committee member of a dissertation entry, or (c) he or she is a faculty member at the same institution where an entry dissertation was completed.
  4. All applications should be submitted electronically in Word and sent directly to the chair of the award committee.
  5. A completed entry should consist of (a) the dissertation, (b) the abstract (as submitted to Dissertation Abstracts), (c) a letter of application or nomination, and (d) a letter from the faculty member who directed the dissertation attesting that the dissertation had been completed and successfully defended on a specific date.
  6. If no dissertation is considered of exemplary quality the award may not be given as decided by the Dissertation Awards Committee. If multiple dissertations are considered of exemplary quality up to two awards annually may be given as decided by Dissertation Awards Committee.
  7. Dissertations shall be judged using a blinded copy and individually by each member of the Dissertation Awards Committee. A recommendation for the winning dissertation will be given to the Award Chair. In case of a lack of agreement on the winner, the Awards Chair shall confer the committee on a conference call to come to consensus on a winner.

Article XIV.

Termination/Dissolution of the SIG
Section 1. Membership Decision to Voluntarily Dissolve the SIG. Should it be decided that the SIG is no longer meeting the needs and serving the purposes for which it was founded, the SIG shall be voluntarily dissolved by a majority vote of the members present at a SIG Business Meeting followed by a two-thirds vote of those SIG members voting in a postal, e-mail, or electronic ballot administered by the AERA Central Office within 30 days of the vote to terminate passed at the Annual Business Meeting. The results of this ballot shall be communicated in writing to the SIG membership, AERA Central Office and Chair of the SIG Executive Committee by the SIG Chair within one week of the counting of the votes.

Section 2. Other Circumstances that May Result in the Dissolution of the SIG. The SIG may automatically be dissolved should its membership fall below the minimum number established by Council for active SIGs; should its members approve the merging of the SIG with one or more other SIGs, or for other reasons pursuant to the Bylaws of the Association and the SIG. In addition, a Special Interest Group may be dissolved by the AERA Council for good and sufficient reasons.

Section 3. Distribution of SIG Assets. Should the SIG be discontinued for any reason, its assets shall be used to pay all outstanding debts and obligations. Any remaining funds shall be returned to the AERA.

Article XV.

Ratification and Amendments
Section 1. Approval Process of the Initial Bylaws. The process for approving the initial Bylaws shall be as follows, with the actions of AERA Council noted for the information of membership:

Section 1a. The officers of the SIG shall decide the process for the construction of a draft of the Bylaws, and offer SIG members an opportunity to comment on this draft.  The officers shall be responsible for making specific revisions, additions and/or deletions in the Bylaws based upon the feedback and suggestions.

Section 1b. After the membership has provided feedback and input on the draft of the Bylaws, the SIG Chair shall submit a copy of the draft to AERA Central Office for review. Central Office may send it back to the SIG Chair with comments for revisions or may forward the Bylaws to the SIG Executive Committee for review and recommendation to the AERA Council for approval.  The SIG Executive Committee may return the Bylaws to the SIG Chair to address specific concerns before making a recommendation to the AERA Council.

Section 1c. The AERA Council may require changes or revisions in the language of the Bylaws or amendments thereof prior to final approval. Once approved by the AERA Council, the SIG Chair shall be notified that the Bylaws are in effect and will stay in effect until notification in writing to Central Office of the favorable or unfavorable vote of SIG members. The SIG Chair and officers, with the assistance of the AERA Central Office, shall then complete the process of getting approval of the Bylaws by a vote of SIG members. The SIG Chair shall have 30 days to convey in writing to Central Office and the Chair of the SIG Executive Committee the dates and manner of voting decided upon by the SIG officers.

Section 2. Ratification. After AERA Council approval, these Bylaws shall require a majority vote of those members voting electronically, such voting to be administered by the AERA Central Office on behalf of the SIG. The AERA Central Office shall transmit in writing the manner, dates and results of this vote to the SIG Chair within 10 days of the final count of the votes.

Section 3. These Bylaws shall take effect immediately upon receipt in writing to the AERA Central Office by the SIG Chair acknowledging the Central Office’s written statement of the favorable vote of the SIG membership for the presented version of the Bylaws or amendment(s) thereof.

Section 4. Amendments to the SIG Bylaws. These Bylaws may be amended by a majority vote of those members voting at a duly called Annual Business Meeting and a majority of the members voting by postal, e-mail, or electronic voting as designated by the Executive Committee of the SIG or elsewhere within these Bylaws. Amendments to the SIG Bylaws must be approved by the AERA SIG Executive Committee and Council.

Article XVI.

Posting of the SIG Bylaws
Within 30 days of the membership’s adoption of the SIG Bylaws approved by the AERA Council and all amendments to the Bylaws, the entire set of Bylaws shall be posted on the AERA website for the SIG with the date of Council’s approval and membership adoption included. The SIG Chair shall send an electronic communication to all SIG members announcing the posting of the Bylaws on the SIG website.

 
 
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