The History Division’s officers are proposing a series of amendments to the division’s Constitution and Bylaws. Members will discuss and vote on these changes during the division’s annual business meeting, scheduled for 6:45 p.m. on Aug. 7 at the AEJMC conference in Washington, D.C.

Restructuring of the History Division’s leadership drove a majority of the proposed amendments. In the division’s annual report last year, Chair Doug Cumming stated that his goals for this year included the following:

The division will develop a strategic plan for a deeper and more diverse “bench” of leaders in years to come. This might also include adding a “Program Chair” and “Research Chair” to our roster of officers, to relieve most of that work (though not oversight) from the division chair and vice chair.

The current leadership ladder starts with the Secretary/Clio Editor position, followed by Vice-Chair/Research Chair and then Chair/Program Chair.

Over the past several months, the History Division officers have reviewed the structure of other divisions within AEJMC and found that the Program Chair almost universally is the division’s Vice-Chair. That the History Division is not structured the same way caused some difficulty and confusion with the computerized “chipping” system divisions use to propose panels and make deals for co-sponsorship. Therefore, it has become imperative that the History Division shift its Program Chair duties from the Chair to the Vice-Chair.

In many other divisions, the Research Chair is a separate position that may or may not be part of the ladder toward division Chair. The History Division’s officers recommend that the Research Chair position remain part of the leadership ladder, but they propose shifting it from the First Vice-Chair to the Second Vice-Chair (formerly Secretary).

Rather than creating a new position to take over the task of editing Clio, that job would shift from the Second Vice-Chair to the two Membership Chairs, who largely are responsible for gathering member news for the publication anyway. Though the Membership Chairs long have been part of the division’s executive committee, their position was not codified. Therefore, proposed amendments spell out the term and responsibilities for that important position.

Finally, the History Division’s successful adoption of the academic quarterly journal Journalism History required adding the journal editor’s term, duties, and appointment mechanism (a publications committee) to the Constitution and Bylaws.

The History Division’s officers ask that all members review the document, with proposed revisions indicated via strike-through and red type, before coming to the member meeting Aug. 7.