ACM SIGACT Bylaws

BYLAWS of the Special Interest Group on Algorithms and Computation Theory of the Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.

  • Approved July 31, 1989

  • Amended December 23, 2008

Article 1. Name and Scope

  1. This organization will be called the Special Interest Group on Algorithms and Computation Theory ("SIGACT") of the Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. ("ACM"); it will be referred to herein as "the Group."
  2. The scope of the Group's specialty is the theory of computing (including automata theory, computability theory, computational complexity theory, language theory and the modeling and analysis of computational processes).

Article 2. Purpose

The Group is organized and will be operated exclusively for educational, scientific and technical purposes in its specialty. Its activities will include:

  1. Collecting and disseminating information in the specialty, through a newsletter and other publications approved by the Publications Board of the ACM;
  2. Organizing sessions at conferences of the ACM;
  3. Sponsoring conferences, symposia, and workshops;
  4. Organizing working groups for education, research and development;
  5. Serving as a source of technical information for the Council and subunits of the ACM;
  6. Serving as an external technical representative of the ACM when authorized by the Council or the Executive Committee of the ACM; and
  7. Working with subunits of the ACM on technical activities such as lectureships or professional development seminars.

Article 3. Charter

The Group will exist until dissolved as provided in Bylaw 6 of the ACM.

Article 4. Officers

  1. The Group's officers are the Chair, the Vice-Chair and the Secretary-Treasurer. The Chair is elected by the membership for a three-year term beginning on July 1 of election years starting in 2009 . The Vice-Chair and Secretary-Treasurer are Members-at-Large of the Executive Committee that are selected by the Chair for that service.
  2. The Chair is the principal officer and is responsible for leading the Group and managing its activities. The duties of the Chair are:
    1. Calling and presiding at the Group's Executive Committee and Business meetings;
    2. Conducting the Group's activities in accordance with the policies of the ACM; and
    3. Making all appointments and filling vacancies as authorized herein.
  3. The duties of the Vice-Chair are:
    1. Assisting the Chair in leading and managing the Group; and
    2. Presiding at meetings when the Chair is absent.
  4. The duties of the Secretary-Treasurer are:
    1. Maintaining the records and correspondence of the Group;
    2. Keeping and distributing the minutes of Business and Executive Committee meetings of the Group; and
    3. Managing the Group's finances according to the Financial Accountability Policy of the ACM. This includes preparing the annual budget, monitoring the Group's disbursements for adherence to the annual budget, and preparing financial reports as required.

Article 5. The Executive Committee

  1. The Executive Committee comprises the Chair, four Members-at-Large, and the Past Chair, the Editor of the Group's newsletter, the Group's Conference Site Coordinator, the current Chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Mathematical Foundations of Computing, and the current Chair of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science.
  2. The general duties of the Executive Committee will be to advise the Chair on all matters of interest to the Group. Specific duties or responsibilities may be specified in these Bylaws or assigned by the Chair. All the major management policy decisions of the Group must be approved by the Executive Committee.
  3. The four Members-at-Large are elected for three-year terms beginning July 1 of election years starting in 2009.
  4. All members of, or candidates for, the Executive Committee must be voting members of the ACM and of the Group.
  5. A member of the Executive Committee can hold more than one of the above-named positions, so long as at most one of the positions held is an elected Officer or Member-at-Large position. Each member of the Executive Committee will have one vote on Executive Committee matters, no matter how many positions that person holds.

Article 6. Vacancies and Appointments

  1. Should the Chair leave office before his term expires, the Chair of the SIG Board will appoint a current Member-at-Large to assume the duties of Chair. Should any other office or the position on the Executive Committee reserved for the Past Chair of the Group become vacant, the Chair, with advice and consent of the Executive Committee, shall appoint a replacement for the remainder of that term of office. The Chair may fill vacancies in offices he has appointed according to the procedures for making the original appointments as provided therein.
  2. Should the office of Chair become vacant and no Member-at-Large is willing to be appointed to the office, the Chair of the SIG Board shall appoint an interim Chair, who shall hold office until the next regular election fills the vacant offices.
  3. Should a vacancy be unfilled, either because of inadequacy of these bylaws or because of a dispute for any other reason, the SIG Board may fill it (as provided in Bylaw 6 of the ACM).
  4. All appointments expire automatically when the Chairs's term of office expires. Appointees, however, will continue to serve until a successor is appointed by the new Chair.

Article 7. The Newsletter

  1. The Group will publish a newsletter at regular intervals as determined by the Executive Committee. The newsletter will be distributed to all the Group's members. Newsletter subscriptions may be sold to non-members.
  2. With the advice of the other officers, the Chairman will appoint the Editor of the newsletter, who will become a member of the Group's Executive Committee.

Article 8. Amendments

  1. These bylaws may be amended by a majority vote of the ACM Executive Committee, or by a vote of the Group's members as provided below. With the approval of the Group's Executive Committee and of the Executive Committee of the ACM, two-thirds of all the members of the SIG Board may amend Article 1 of these bylaws without a referendum of the members.
  2. Amendments to these bylaws may be proposed by the Group's Executive Committee, the SIG Board, or a petition from 1% of the voting members of the Group. All proposed amendments must be approved, prior to being submitted for a vote of the membership, by the Chairman of both the SIG Board and the Constitution and Bylaws Committee of ACM after the Executive Director of ACM has provided his advice.
  3. The ballot on the proposed amendment(s) will be conducted among the eligible voters by ACM Headquarters following the procedures of the ACM for voting bylaw amendments, unless a different procedure has been approved by the SIG Board. The proposal is adopted only if at least two-thirds of the effective votes of returned ballots approve it, and only if at least 10% of the ballots are returned. The Secretary-Treasurer will send a clean copy of the amended bylaws to the Executive Director of ACM and to the Chair of the SIG Board.

Article 9. Dissolution

Should the Group be dissolved, control of its assets will revert to the ACM.

Article 10. Meetings

The Group will conduct at least one business meeting each year, normally in conjunction with the annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing. All meetings sponsored by the Group must be open to all members of the ACM. The Group may hold meetings only in places that are open to all classes of members of the ACM.

Article 11. Consistency

The Constitution, Bylaws and policies of the ACM and of the SIG Board take precedence over any conflicting provisions of these bylaws or internal policies of the Group.