The Bylaws of the Chinese Historian in the United States, Inc. (CHUS)
Article I. Purposes and Mission
Section 1. The Chinese Historians in the United States, Inc. (CHUS) is a nonpolitical, nonprofit academic organization.
Section 2. The purposes of the Organization are to aggregate students and scholars of history and anthropology who are Chinese descendants and to assist to maintain the rights and privileges accorded to them.
Section 3. It is the mission of the CHUS to assist, support and promote the academic works and activities of its members.
Section 4. It is the mission of the CHUS to establish, promote and strengthen academic connections, cooperation and exchanges among its members as well as among colleagues in the United States, China and the world, and to contribute to the advancement of historical studies both in the United States and in China.
Section 5. It is the mission of the CHUS to make the Organization a cultural and academic home base that provides emotional, spiritual and psychological support for its members who reside in the United States far away from their original homeland and hometown.
Section 6. The CHUS is registered in United States of America. The CHUS shall observe the laws and regulations of the United States applicable to its operation.
Article II. Membership Eligibility and Member’s Responsibilities
Section 1. The CHUS is open to any Chinese applicant who meets one of the following seven criteria:
(1) Earning a Bachelor, Master or Doctorate in history or anthropology from an accredited Western academic institution;
(2) Holding a Bachelor, Master Doctorate in history or anthropology from an accredited Western academic institution;
(3) Holding a Bachelor, Master Doctorate in history or anthropology from an accredited non-Western academic institution and living in the United States or other part of the West;
(4) Holding an academic appointment in history or anthropology in a Western institution;
(5) Holding a regular research appointment related to history or anthropology in a Western institution;
(6) Having equivalent professional qualifications to those specified above in one of the five criteria and with the special approval of the President of the CHUS;
(7) Having made an outstanding contribution to the CHUS and with the special approval of the President of the CHUS.
Section 2. Non-Chinese scholars and Chinese scholars who do not meet any of the criteria in section 1 are welcome to join the CHUS with the approval of the Board, but the total number of non-Chinese members and the Chinese members who do not meet any of the criteria in section 1 shall not be more than two-third of the total Chinese members who do meet one of the criteria in section 1.
Section 3. The members of the CHUS are obliged to observe these bylaws and other regulations which may later be enacted by the CHUS and pay membership dues. The amount of membership dues shall be determined by respective Board of Directors of the CHUS.
Section 4. No member of the CHUS shall be allowed to express opinions in behalf of the CHUS without the authorization of the Board of Directors or a vote of its members except to the extent authorized or required of them in their roles as officers or Board members.
Section 5. The members of the CHUS have the right to vote and the right to be voted for.
Section 6. Any motion signed by 6 or more members and approved by the Board of Directors must be submitted to a vote of the members.
Section 7. Such a vote may be supervised by a special committee consisting of two members of the Board of Directors and three Organization members who originally made the motion signed by 6 or more members of the CHUS. With 2/3 of votes the President and any Board Directors may be dismissed but no more than 2 Board Directors at one time. New Board Directors must be elected within a month.
Section 8. The CHUS shall try to hold an annual membership meeting for the election of the Directors and for the transaction of such other business as many properly come before the member.
Article III. Organizational Structure
Section 1. The organizational structure of the CHUS includes the members, a President and a Board of Directors.
Section 2. The Board of Directors of the CHUS shall include a President and four Board Members.
Section 3. The Board Members except for the President shall be respectively appointed as the Officers of the CHUS— Treasurer, Webmaster and Newsletter Editor, Membership Director and Director for Public Relations.
Article IV. Election
Section 1. Any member may nominate any eligible member, including himself or herself, for a position in the Board of Directors of the CHUS. Nominations may be made in writing or from the floor of the meeting at which the directors are being elected.
Section 2. Elections for the President and for members of the Board of Directors shall be conducted together. The election may occur at the plenary meeting or by correspondence.
Section 3. All Board Directors shall be elected by secret ballot. Each member entitled to vote may cast as many votes as there are directorships to be filed. The candidates receiving the most votes shall be elected.
Section 4. Each Board Member’s term of office shall begin immediately upon his or her election, and shall run until a successor is elected, unless he or she resigns, becomes disqualified, or is removed from office before then. The President shall automatically be a member of the Board
Section 5. If an election is conducted by correspondence, the new President and the Board of Directors shall become official fifteen days after the designated date for closing the vote.
Section 6. Any Board Member may resign at any time by delivering a written resignation to the President or to the Board. Unless, by its terms, it requires acceptance to the effective, it shall be effective fifteen days after the delivery.
Section 7. Any Board Member may be suspended for 30 days for just cause by the vote of the majority of the other Directors, and may be removed with or without cause by the vote of a majority of the members. At any meeting at which a suspension vote is to be taken, the Board Member involved shall have the right, prior to the vote, to question his or her accusers and answer the charges against him or her.
Section 8. Whenever the number of Board Members shall for any reason be less than the authorized number, the vacancy may be filled by the remaining Board Members for the remainder of the term of the directorship so vacated, subject to reversal and replacement by the members at a special meeting called for the purpose by petition of the members.
Section 9. The President and the Board Directors shall serve for a term of two years. The President may serve consecutively for another term if duly reelected. The members of the Board may serve two more consecutive terms if duly reelected.
Article V. Powers and Duties of Officers and the Duty Divisions among the Board of Directors
Section 1. The activities, affairs and property of the CHUS shall be managed, directed and controlled, and its powers exercised by and vested in the Board of Directors, except as otherwise required by any provision of law, by the CHUS’s Article of Organization, or these Bylaws.
Section 2. The President shall be the Chairman of the Board of Directors and direct and supervise operation of all activities of the CHUS. The President shall divide and assign the duties of the Board of Directors and make respective appointments of the Officers of Treasurer, Webmaster and newsletter editor, Membership Director and Director for public relations among the Board Directors. Such appointments shall have no effect unless they are approved by simple majority vote of the Board of Directors.
Section 3. At each meeting of the Board, the President, or in the absent of the President, a Director requested by the President or elected for the purpose by the Directors present, shall preside over the meeting.
Section 4. At all meetings of the Board, except as otherwise expressly required by law, by the Articles of the Organization, or by these Bylaws, all matters shall be decided by the vote of a majority of the Directors present at the meeting, including proxies.
Section 5. The presence (or proxies) of a majority of the Directors shall be necessary and sufficient to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business by the Board.
Section 6. The Treasurer shall be responsible for managing the accounts and funds of the CHUS and other routine business of the Organization. The Treasurer shall be under the direct supervision of the President.
Section 7. The Webmaster and Newsletter Editor shall be responsible for running and updating the web site of the CHUS and regularly editing and issuing the newsletter of the CHUS. The Webmaster and Newsletter Editor shall be under the direct supervision of the President.
Section 8. The Membership Director shall be responsible for maintaining the network of all the members, collecting due membership fees, and recruitment. The Membership Director shall be under the direct supervision of the President.
Section 9. The Director for Public Relations shall be responsible for organizing conference panels and projects, writing grant proposals, and other activities related to the public relations of the CHUS. The Office for Public Relations shall be under the direct supervision of the President.
Section 10. The President or the Board of Directors has the power to appoint special ad hoc committees as required by its academic projects.
Article VI. Financial Rules
Section 1. Income from Membership Dues
1.1 All membership dues collected after the elections belong to the funds of the new administration.
1.2 The Membership Director will collect all checks for membership dues, record relevant information (amount paid, check number, expiration date, etc) in the database, and keep copies of the checks as record before mailing the checks to the Treasurer.
Section 2. Income from Donations and Fund-Raising
2.1 All income from donations and fund-raising activities must be sent to the Treasurer and directly deposited into the Board account of the current administration.
2.2 The individuals who first receive checks from donors or sponsors must keep copies of the checks as record before mailing the checks to the Treasurer.
Section 3. Reimbursement
3.1 Fund-raisers who are not current elected officers of the CHUS are entitled to receiving, with approval of the President, a reasonable per diem, travel expenses, and/or an award of free lifetime membership. Current elected officers of the CHUS will only be reimbursed for appropriate expenses.
3.2 All reimbursement requests must be approved in writing (e.g., e-mail, fax, or actual signature) by the President.
3.3 All reimbursement requests must be made with original/valid receipts and written descriptions of the reasons.
Section 4. Treasurer and Account Management
4.1 The Treasurer does the routine and timely bookkeeping for the Board account and keeps all financial records of the Board.
4.2 The Treasurer must keep a copy of any check received before depositing the check in the bank.
4.3 The Treasurer can sign checks up to $200.00. Any checks above $200.00 must be pre-approved in writing (e.g., e-mail, fax, or actual signature) by the President.
4.4 The Treasurer makes an annual financial report to the Board at the end of the first year, and the second and final financial report to the Board on the account of the two years at the end of the term of the Board. Either report is due the end of October or the beginning of November. Upon review by the Board and approval by the President, both annual reports shall be published to the CHUS members.
Article VII. Amendment to the Bylaws
These bylaws shall take effect immediately after they are approved by a majority vote of the members. The authority to interpret the bylaws shall be reserved to the Board of Directors. No amendment to these bylaws shall be enacted unless such amendment is approved by a majority vote of the members.
I hereby certify that this is a full and true copy of the bylaws of the Chinese Historians in the United States as adopted on April 10, 2005.
Chuxiong Wei
President of the CHUS
April 10, 2005