Research Committees

Updated in 2009, further revisions were adopted in 2012.

ARTICLE 1: NATURE OF THE COMMITTEE

The Research Committee on Language and Society (RC25) is an organization for scholarly research purposes established by the Executive Committee of the International Sociological Association. The Executive Committee of the ISA will review and annul or renew the Research Committee's mandate at the end of each four-year period.

ARTICLE II: PURPOSES OF THE RESEARCH COMMITTEE

A. The object of RC25 is to advance sociological knowledge concerning language, face-to-face interaction and language-related phenomena. To this end the Committee shall undertake measures to:

1. secure and to develop personal contacts among scholars and all others concerned professionally with language in society.
2. encourage the international dissemination and exchange of information on significant developments in the broad range of subjects that examine language and society.
3. facilitate and promote international research on language and society. RC25 shall publish a copyrighted publication, 'Language & Society Newsletter', to further these measures.

B. The intent of these guidelines is to establish a form of international social organization capable of achieving the Committee's scholarly research goals by means of:

1. a clear division of labour which delineates a network of responsibilities, powers and reporting procedures necessary for mounting and maintaining a diverse program of scholarly activities on an international scale through a membership and executive drawn from widely differing academic traditions and greatly separated geopolitical areas of the world.
2. creation of an open international organization which encourages access by all interested scholars to the full range of the Committee's activities.
3. clear provision of guarantees for democratic procedures by means of which the Committee's international membership is at all times assured a meaningful role in the control of the Committee's organization and activities.

C. All future amendments to these guidelines shall be guided by the spirit of these purposes.

ARTICLE III: MEMBERSHIP

A. The Committee shall recognize two categories of membership.

1. Regular individual membership

a. Application is open to all scholars active in teaching, research, or related services, who have an interest in language, face-to-face interaction and language-related phenomena. Regular membership in RC25 requires members to maintain membership also in the ISA.
b. Regular individual members in good standing shall receive the RC25 Newsletter, have full voting, nominating and appeal privileges and be eligible for nomination and election to the RC25 Board and the ISA Research Council.
c. Regular individual members shall pay dues to the RC25 Treasurer for a four-year period, at the annual rate determined by the Board.
d. To establish a definite electorate for any balloting, the Secretary will be responsible for coordinating the compilation of a list of the members in good standing. The list shall be prepared before October 1 of the preceding year a membership list. Members in poor standing can reassume their voting rights at any time by a late payment of outstanding dues.

2. Affiliated individual membership

a. Application is open to all scholars active in teaching, research, or related services, who have an interest in language, face-to-face interaction and language-related phenomena. Affiliated individual membership does not require the maintenance of membership in the ISA.
b. Affiliated members in good standing shall receive the RC25 Newsletter, have full voting, nominating and appeal privileges, but are not eligible for nomination and election to the RC25 Board and the ISA Research Council unless they become members in good standing of the ISA.
c. Affiliated members shall pay dues to the RC25 Treasurer for a four-year period, at the annual rate determined by the Board.
d. To establish a definite electorate for any balloting, the Secretary will be responsible for coordinating the compilation of a list of the members in good standing. The list shall be prepared before October 1 of the preceding year a membership list. Members in poor standing can reassume their voting rights at any time by a late payment of outstanding dues.

B. All applications for membership shall be reviewed by the RC25 Secretary. He/she shall accept or reject any application for membership. Any questioned decision on membership shall be reviewed by the RC25 Board.

C. The schedule of annual dues to be charged at each level of membership shall be established by the RC25 Board for each four-year period. Dues will be paid for a four-year period.

D. All dues shall be payable to the RC25 Treasurer.

ARTICLE IV: GOVERNING BODIES

A. Governance of the Committee shall basically derive from its voting membership.

B. The RC25 Board shall be empowered to carry out policies established by the individual membership and to act on matters of urgency. All Board actions shall be subject to membership appeal procedures.

ARTICLE V: MEMBER'S RIGHTS IN COMMITTEE GOVERNANCE

A. There shall be two types of membership balloting:

1. Regular balloting at publicly announced and convened general meetings of the membership (usually possible only at the quadrennial sessions). Absentee ballots shall not be permitted at such meetings. The Board shall establish the proportion of the bona fide membership which shall constitute a quorum no later than at the end of the second inter-quadrennial year.
2. Mail / e-mail balloting. Such ballots shall normally be sent to the membership by the Secretary. Results shall be valid if one-third of the eligible votes are returned within thirty (30) days after the mailing. The results will be communicated by return e-mail and published in the subsequent number of the Newsletter.

B. Election of the RC25 Board Officers

1. To be a candidate for elected office in RC25, one must be a regular member in good standing of RC25 and a member in good standing of the ISA at the time of the nominations. To have voting rights in such elections, one must be a member in good standing when the ballots are provided to the membership.
2. During the year preceding the quadrennial sessions the RC25 membership shall elect the Board composed of the following officers: the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor and Webmaster. Pairs of candidates may also be nominated for the positions of president, secretary/treasurer or newsletter editor. These would function as co-president, co-secretary/treasurer or co-editor.

a. Election of board members shall be by e-mail /mail ballot. Exceptions may be made for run-off elections, which may be held at a general meeting of RC25 membership. Persons nominated need not be present, but, if they are not, the nominator shall have in his/her possession a statement signed by the nominator indicating the latter's acceptance of the nomination for the specific Board position(s) for which s/he is being nominated.
b. Nominations shall be open for the six Board offices and shall be accompanied by a short description of the nominee's qualifications and a statement signed by the nominee showing his/her acceptance of the nomination for the specific position. Candidates for the positions of Secretary, Treasurer and Newsletter Editor shall show to the incumbent Board that they have available the facilities for carrying their duties of their respective offices. The Secretary shall coordinate all nominations. Names and qualifications of every candidate for each office shall be submitted to the full membership who shall then vote simultaneously for one candidate for each of the six positions on the mail ballot.

3. At each quadrennial session, the committee shall convene at least once each of the following: (a) a general meeting of the membership and (b) a meeting of the outgoing and incoming board.

a. The time and place of all these meetings shall appear in the Committee's official program and be published and open to both members and observers.
b. The privileges of making motions, appeals, and voting shall be reserved for members in the general meeting, and to the RC25 Officers in the Board meetings.
c. Protocols of both general and Board meetings shall be made available to all members in the first issues of the Newsletter following their occurrence.

ARTICLE VI: THE BOARD

A. The Board consists of a minimum of 6 members, including a president, vice president, a secretary, a treasurer, a newsletter editor, a webmaster. Additional positions, such as journal editor, may be created by the Executive Committee by majority vote. The past president may serve as advisor to the board for the term following his/her mandate. All Board members must be members in good standing of both RC 25 and the ISA. The president, in consultation with the Board members, will appoint replacements for any Board members who resign, who do not maintain their ISA and RC memberships, or who otherwise are unable to fulfill the mandate of their position.
Pairs of candidates may also be nominated for the position of President, Secretary/Treasurer, or Editor of the Newsletter, to function as Co-President, Co-Secretary/Treasurers or Co-Editors of the Newsletter.

B. The position of each Board Officer shall be imbued with a definite minimum set of responsibilities and powers as follows:
The president is responsible for the function of RC 25, assumes primary responsibility for the overall organization of the RC 25 program at the World Congress and reports to the Business meeting at the World Congress. The President shall have the following powers and responsibilities:

1. coordination and supervision of the overall activities and planning of the Committee, as well as the authority to delegate supervisory responsibilities to the Vice President.
2. periodical reports to the Board, RCLS membership, and ISA on all activities
3. authorization of all cooperative projects with other RCs and organizations
4. negotiation with ISA on all matters pertaining to the RCLS such as dues schedules, membership criteria, and changes in the status or the Committee

The vice president works in cooperation with the president to organize the RC 25 World Congress, and works in cooperation with other officers to carry out RC 25 activities. The vice president, along with the full Board, will work with board members to host an interim conference. The goal of the RC is to host one interim conference in every 4-year period.

The secretary is responsible for keeping an accurate list of RC members list that includes active email addresses, affiliations, and dates of membership. The secretary will also archive the internal correspondence of the Board.

The treasurer is responsible for the RC bank account and delivers a financial report to the business meeting at the World Congress, prepares minutes of the business meeting for publication in the RC 25 newsletter with a request for suggested amendments, arranges bank transfers, receives membership dues as needed, keeps records of all business.

The newsletter editor collects, organizes and distributes news of interest to RC 25 members. Newsletter issues should be scheduled in such a way as to maximize participation of members in research committee projects. The editor also solicits and publishes research by members. RC 25 is required by the ISA to produce at least 2 newsletters per year.

The webmaster develops and maintains the RC 25 website which houses information for existing and potential members of RC 25. This would include RC 25 functions and membership information as well as the bi-annual newsletter and other relevant information for members such as research interests, publications, upcoming conferences, grants, links to journals, etc.

All Board members will work closely with the president to develop a program for the World Congress. In addition, they will take an active part within their region to:

1. bring new members to RC 25
2. disseminate information on RC 25 and its activities
3. locate researchers who could organize sessions and/or otherwise participate in the ISA World Congress and other ISA related conferences
4. identify new issues and creative lines of inquiry for further research on language and society
5. develop brochures, flyers and announcements in support of World Congress & Forum Activities.

C. The Board may create ad hoc committees and positions to support the work of the RC. These committee positions are not part of the board and do not hold voting privileges or responsibilities associated with board membership.

D. In the event a member of the Board is unable to fulfill his/her obligations, interim appointments will be made by the President. If the President is unable to complete his/her term, the Vice President will take over the powers and responsibilities of the office of the President.

ARTICLE VII: FUNDS

The RC25 will administer its own funds. Expenditures on behalf of the RC are authorized by the Board and made by the Secretary-Treasurer. The President may authorize up to $300 over a four-year period for operating expenses without Board approval. A statement of financial affairs will be published in the Newsletter every four years. The outgoing Board will be discharged from their financial responsibilities by the Business Meeting Assembly.

a. A. The funds of the RC25 consist of:

a. 1. Membership fees from individual members.
b. 2. Subscriptions to the Newsletter.
c. 3. Revenues from conferences and other activities.
d. 4. ISA subventions.
e. 5. Donations, grants and other means.

a. B. The membership and conference fees are set by decision of the Board.

ARTICLE VIII: AMENDMENTS TO THE RC25 BY-LAWS

a. A. The by-laws shall be subject to change only by vote of the membership and not by a vote of the Board.
a. B. Proposals to change the by-laws shall be subject to the above requirements for policy motions and membership appeals, size of quorums and voting procedures.
a. C. The decision to change the by-laws shall require a two-thirds majority of the votes cast.