Jump to Main Content
Thursday, September 2, 2010

Bylaws

Adopted on: Revisions Adopted on:
August 27, 1967 July 26, 1982
  August, 1985
  August 14, 2005
  August 10, 2007
  August 8, 2008

Article I

ORGANIZATION
SECTION 1.The Mass Communication and Society (MC&S) Division is a division of the Association for Education in Journalism (AEJMC). As such, it is subject to all of the regulations and responsibilities decreed by the parent AEJMC for its various divisions.

Article II

PURPOSES
SECTION 1. The purposes of the MC&S Division are:

  • To encourage the study of mass communication as a system which provides the means for certain needs of society to be met and for certain problems to be solved.
  • To encourage the study of mass communication as it relates to other institutions in society. An understanding of the systems through which societies communicate is as important to an educated person as is an understanding of the better known political, economic, and social orders of society.
  • To encourage the study of mass communication through diverse forms of qualitative, quantitative, and historical research approaches.
  • To encourage members of AEJMC to bring to their teaching and research a conception of the whole of mass communication and not just its individual parts.
  • To help provide a liaison between members of AEJMC and scholars in other areas who are interested in mass communication and what it does to and for society.

SECTION 2. To achieve these purposes, the Division may:
  • Sponsor programs at the annual conventions of AEJMC and of other scholarly organizations.
  • Encourage a dialogue within AEJMC and between AEJMC and other scholarly organizations concerning the role of mass communication in modern society.
  • Publish papers, monographs, journals, and newsletters.
  • Cooperate with other divisions and groups of AEJMC in the sponsorship of conferences, programs, meetings, publications, etc., which contribute to an understanding of mass communication and society.
  • Encourage awareness among practitioners in the various mass communication professions and industries that they are part of a vast system that affects society and is affected by society in various ways.

ARTICLE III

MEMBERSHIP AND DUES
SECTION 1.
Membership is open to all interested members of AEJMC.
SECTION 2.
Dues are 24.00 per calendar year, although a special, reduced fee may be approved by the MC&S Executive Committee to attract new members or to benefit certain groups (e.g., graduate students). Membership includes a subscription to the division’s journal.

ARTICLE IV

OFFICERS
SECTION 1.
The officers of the division shall be considered to be all members of the division’s executive committee, plus the treasurer. The treasurer shall always be the treasurer of AEJMC, regardless of whether or not he or she is a member of this division.
SECTION 2.
To provide continuity in the administration of the division, the vice-head shall move up to head at the close of the division's annual members’ meeting at the AEJMC convention. If the vice-head is unable to serve, the head, in consultation with the executive committee, should recruit a qualified vice head and propose that person to the membership for approval at the annual meeting. Other vacancies on the executive committee will be filled by a nomination process before the convention and approval by
the members during the MC&S meeting, although nominations may be made from the floor during the MC&S members’ meeting at which an election is held.
SECTION 3.
Head: The head shall be the principal officer of the division and shall in general supervise its affairs. He or she shall plan and preside at the annual members’ meeting and any special members’ meetings of the division. The head shall maintain the division's books and (with the counter-signature of the treasurer), shall spend division funds for legitimate division purposes. All division expenditures must be approved in writing by the division head before funds may be disbursed. The head has the authority to appoint special committees, to chair meetings of the executive committee and to canvass the executive committee for advice as needed. The head, as the division's representative on AEJMC's Advisory Board, is expected to attend AEJMC's mid-winter meeting, where major policy decisions are made, and to
attend the annual AEJMC convention, where he or she will conduct division business and attend the meeting of the old advisory board.
SECTION 4.
Vice-head: The vice-head shall perform the duties of the head in the absence of the latter or in the event of the head's inability to act. The vice-head shall serve as the division's program coordinator for the AEJMC annual convention at which the vice-head moves up to head, and he or she shall perform other duties as the head shall direct. The vice-head, as the division's program chair, is expected to attend AEJMC's mid-winter meeting, where the program for the annual AEJMC convention is decided, and to attend the annual AEJMC convention where he or she will conduct division business and attend
the meeting of the new advisory board.
SECTION 5.
Secretary: The newsletter editor/secretary shall be responsible for the minutes of division meetings and distribute minutes to all division members and publish and distribute the division's newsletter three times each year (once in the fall, once in the winter, and once in the spring.
SECTION 6.
Other officers in the division will include those members elected to lead PF&R, teaching and research efforts for the division and other elected for special duties by the membership.

Article V

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
SECTION 1.
The MC&S executive committee shall be composed of the division head, vice-head, newsletter editor/secretary and immediate past head; the chair persons of the Division's Professional Freedom and Responsibility; Research and Teaching committees; the editor of the division’s journal, and other division officers as designated by the head .
SECTION 2.
The executive committee will help the division head establish and implement overall division policy, advise the division head as needed, and perform other duties as the head shall direct.

ARTICLE VI

GENERAL COMMITTEE STRUCTURE
SECTION 1.
The division's three major, permanent areas of concentration are Professional Freedom and Responsibility, Research, and Teaching.
SECTION 2.
Activities in each area shall be coordinated by a person (or persons) approved by the membership at the annual meeting. If so desired, and in consultation with the head, the person(s) may appoint a committee to help with duties.
SECTION 3.
The PF & R, teaching and research officers are responsible for helping the program chairperson develop at least one convention session, for advising the division head as needed, and for performing other duties as the head shall direct. In addition the research chairperson is responsible for coordinating paper competitions during the AEJMC convention.

ARTICLE VII

MEETINGS
SECTION 1.
The division's annual members’ meeting will be held in conjunction with and during the annual AEJMC convention. Special meetings may be called by the head as necessary.
SECTION 2.
A quorum at the annual members’ meeting shall consist of the division members present. A quorum at a special meeting shall consist of a majority of the division membership.
SECTION 3.
A division member unable to attend a meeting may give his or her proxy in writing to another division member. The proxy shall be deposited with the secretary prior to or at the opening of the meeting.

ARTICLE VIII

AMENDMENTS
SECTION 1.
The by- laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of those present at the annual members’ meeting or at the opening of the meeting.
SECTION 2.
Proposed amendments should be distributed in writing to the total division membership at least two weeks prior to the meeting at which they are to be voted on.

ARTICLE IX

Mass Communication and Society Journal
SECTION 1.
The division will support the publication of the refereed journal Mass Communication and Society four times annually. Special issues may be published from time to time, but not more often than once per volume.
SECTION 2.
A portion of each member's annual dues will be used to support the Mass Communication and Society.
Separate books will be maintained by the MC&S division head for Mass Communication and Society revenue and expenditures. All expenditures from the Mass Communication and Society account must be approved by the MC&S division head.
SECTION 3.
A Committee of five persons (“Editorial Selection Committee”), including the committee chairperson, will oversee selection of editors of Mass Communication and Society. Production, promotion, distribution, fulfillment, and subscription management for members and non-member subscribers to the publication will be managed by a Publisher. The relationship with the publisher will be governed by an agreement between the division and the publisher, the terms of which will be revisited prior to the end of each renewal period. The editorial selection committee chairperson will be appointed by the MC&S division head, and the chairperson will select three members of the committee, with the advice and consent of the division head. The fifth member of the committee will be the vice-head of the MC&S division. The editorial selection committee chairperson will be a member of the executive committee. A
representative of the Publisher will also serve in a non-voting capacity on the Committee.
SECTION 4.
The editor for Mass Communication and Society will be elected by the division’s membership every three years at the division’s annual members meeting. Applications for the position will be solicited from division members in January of the year of the appropriate division meeting by the editorial selection committee, which will be two years prior to the publication of the new editor’s first volume. To be considered for the position, each candidate must be a member of the division in good standing, and
the editor must remain a member of the division throughout the term of service. After consultation with the executive committee, the editorial selection committee will circulate its recommendation in the MC&S newsletter at least two months before the appropriate annual meeting. The incoming editor will take on the editorial responsibilities for the journal one year prior to the publication of the first issue for which he/she is responsible. All nominees for the position must be member in good standing of the
division and AEJMC.
SECTION 5.
Any person selected as Mass Communication and Society editor will serve a three- year term; a limit of 2 terms will be imposed on the number of consecutive terms an editor may serve. If for some reason the editor is not able to serve his complete term, the editorial selection committee, after consultation with the division head, will make an interim appointment to complete the unfinished term.
SECTION 6.
The editor makes decisions about all matters related to the content of the journal. The editor will establish an editorial board, which provides advice and review of material submitted for publication. The editor will be responsible for the administration of the journal. The editor will serve as a liaison between the division and the publisher on journal matters, and will provide an annual report on the journal at the AEJMC annual conference. The editor is responsible for assuring that the journal follows accepted
practices of academic peer review. The editor receives a yearly stipend from the Publisher of $5000 per year.
SECTION 7.
In the event that the editor is not able or willing to complete his/her duties in a satisfactory manner, the editor may be removed. In the case that it is deemed necessary to remove an editor, the division head will reconstitute the editorial selection committee (see Section 3) to propose removal. Unanimous agreement of the editorial selection committee is required to submit a proposal for removal to the division membership. It is intended that these measures be pursued only in the direst of circumstances, such as repeated non-publication of issues or clear violations of peerreview procedures. In the event that an editor is removed, the editorial selection committee will select an interim editor to complete the term, and will include this recommendation with its proposal for removal of the editor.
SECTION 8.
At the editor’s discretion, up to 100 pages may be added to the journal’s allotted size each year to provide space for a forum on a special topic determined by the editor with input from the editorial board. The additional pages will be paid for from journal funds. The special topic “symposium” will occur within the standard number of issues of the annual journal provided by the publisher.
The editor may select a guest editor with expertise in the chosen topic. The guest editor must be a member of the Mass Communication and Society Division. The guest editor, in conjunction with the journal editor, will be responsible for issuing a special call for papers on the topic. If a guest editor is chosen to edit a special topic symposium in any given year, $1000 will be provided to the guest editor from journal funds upon submission of final symposium proofs to the publisher for printing.

ARTICLE VII

MASS COMMUNICATION AND SOCIETY RESEARCH GRANT
SECTION 1.
The division will provide up to $5,000 per year for one or two research projects, with first right of refusal for publication reserved for the division journal within two years of issuance of grant money. One half of the money would be given in advance and the other half would come at the conclusion of the project.
The grant will be awarded at the discretion of the MC&S Research Grant Review Committee comprised of five members: the division head, the immediate past head, the current editor of Mass Communication and Society, the immediate past editor of Mass Communication and Society, and an at-large member appointed by the division head.