Proposed Amendents SHOT Constitution
Announcement to the Members of SHOT President Arwen Mohun
10 October 2022
Dear SHOT Members,
As required by the SHOT Constitution and non-profit law, there will be a discussion and vote on proposed changes to the Constitution during the New Orleans Annual Meeting. The discussion and vote take place Friday 11 November 2022 at 6.00 PM (CST) in the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel. The constitutional vote will be part of the session titled ‘Creating SHOT’s Future: A Community Meeting’. The SHOT leadership is also required to inform the membership of proposed changes 30 days prior to the meeting—hence this announcement. The changes come as a motion from the Executive Council. Scroll down to see the amended document. You can view them here.
Why is it necessary to revise the Constitution again? The SHOT Constitution functions as the Society’s by-laws. It describes procedures such as election of officers, composition of committees, etc. These descriptions no longer accurately describe aspects of the way SHOT conducts its business. For instance, the Executive Council now meets monthly on Zoom, often on shorter notice than the 21 days prescribed by the Constitution.
Secondly, the language used in some sections of the Constitution does not reflect the spirit of inclusion and global community to which the Society aspires in the 21st century. Most significantly, the officers and EC recommended changing the language around what has long been called “internationalization” to “global community building.” You may also notice that female and gender neutral pronouns have been added throughout.
Thirdly, a few substantial changes are also proposed. The initial terms of the Secretary and the Treasures have been extended from two years to three in recognition of the steep learning curve that comes with these positions. The Constitution now includes a standing Committee for Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, which codifies an ad hoc committee already serving the Society. The Sites Committee—a longstanding committee that helps with selection of meeting sites—has also been added to the Constitution.
While we were at it, we took the opportunity to make a few other changes to clarify ambiguities, correct internally contradictory elements, and remedy inadvertent exclusions.
If you have comments or suggestions, you are welcome to send them to my personal email address mohun@udel.edu or to SHOT.secretariat@tue.nl
Sincerely,
Arwen Mohun, President
Creating SHOT’s Future: SHOT Community Meeting
Friday 11 November 2022 New Orleans, 6.00 PM
Please join the SHOT officers for a re-imagined version of the SHOT business meeting. A discussion and vote of the proposed constitutional amendments will be one of the agenda items. We will also share information about recent activities and future plans. Please bring your questions and great ideas. The session, titled ‘Creating SHOT’s Future: A Community Meeting’ takes place Friday 11 November 2022. It will start at 6.00 PM (local time in New Orleans).
You can review the proposed amendments here.
Please note that proposed changes are highlighted in yellow, or are marked as strike-through text:
- Highlighted in yellow are proposed revised or added text parts.
- The proposal is to remove strike-through marked text parts.
- The remaining (non marked) parts of the SHOT Constitution have not changed.