Annual Meeting Handbook - Linguistic Society of America

The following rules for motions and resolutions were prepared by William J. Gedney and Ilse Lehiste and approved by the Executive
Committee at its June 1973 meeting. LSA members are urged to follow these ground rules in order to have their motions and
resolutions considered at the Business Meeting.
1. Definitions
A motion is any proposition calling for action whether by an officer of the Society, the Executive Committee or the
membership. A resolution expresses the opinion or feeling of a group. Resolutions are of two kinds: a) resolutions
expressing 'the sense of the majority of the meeting,' and b) resolutions expressing 'the sense of the majority of the
membership.'
2. Procedure Regarding Motions
2a. Motions are in order only at the duly constituted annual business meeting. Voting is restricted to members of the Society.
Motions may be initiated by the Executive Committee or from the floor.
2b. Motions initiated by the Executive Committee require for their passage a majority vote of the members voting at the
meeting.
2c. Motions initiated from the floor, if they receive affirmative vote of a majority of members voting at the meeting, are then
to be submitted by the Executive Committee to a mail ballot of the membership of the Society in the next issue of the LSA
Bulletin. Passage requires: a) a majority of those voting, and b) that the total of those voting in favor must be at least 2.5%
of the personal membership.
2d. If a member wishes to introduce a motion, but prefers to avoid the delay involved in 2c above, the motion may be
submitted in advance to the Executive Committee (before their regular meeting preceding the business meeting at which the
motion is to be introduced) with a request that the Executive Committee by majority vote of the Committee approve the
introduction of the motion at the business meeting as a motion initiated by the Executive Committee (see 2b above).
3. Procedure Regarding Resolutions
3a. Resolutions may be introduced at the annual business meeting or at any special meeting of the Society, such as the
summer meeting.
3b. A Resolutions Committee consisting of three members will be appointed by the president prior to the beginning of each
regular or special meeting. Any member wishing to introduce a resolution must submit it in advance to the Resolutions
Committee which, in addition to its traditional duty of formulating resolutions of thanks and the like, will have the duty to
make sure that the language is clear, and that duplication is avoided. The Resolutions Committee may meet in advance for
this purpose or may, if necessary, retire to caucus during the course of the meeting.
3c. A resolution expressing the sense of the majority of the meeting requires for its passage the affirmative vote of a majority
of the members voting at the meeting.
3d. If at least ten members present at the meeting so desire, a resolution may be broadened to express 'the sense of the
majority of the membership,' regardless of whether or not it has passed the procedure in 3c above, by the following steps: the
resolution is forwarded to the Executive Committee for submission to the membership by mail ballot (in the next issue of
the LSA Bulletin). Passage of such a 'sense of the majority of the membership' resolution requires the affirmative vote (more
than 50%) of the membership responding.
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LSA
Saturday, 10 January
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