ADPCL History and Constitution

History

The ADPCL was founded in late 1992, with Michael Palencia-Roth (University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana) as its founding President. The Constitution below was approved in 1993. Subsequently William Moebius (University of Massachusetts, Amherst) served as President. Caroline D. Eckhardt (Penn State, University Park) and Corinne Scheiner (Colorado College) concluded their terms as President and Secretary-Treasurer respectively in March 2016, at which time Thomas Beebee (Penn State, University Park) became President of the ADPCL. Beebee’s term came to an end in 2022. After serving in interim capacity for one year, Luis Fernando Restrepo (University of Arkansas, Fayetteville) was elected president in 2023.

Constitution

Article I: Name

The name of this Association shall be the “Association of Departments and Programs of Comparative Literature,” hereinafter abbreviated as ADPCL.

Article II: Purpose

The purposes of the ADPCL as an organization of administrators shall be to promote the interests of departments, programs, and other academic units of Comparative Literature in colleges and universities primarily (but not limited to) those in North America, this to be done in cooperation with the American Comparative Literature Association and the Modern Language Association; to facilitate communication among such departments and programs or their representatives; to provide a forum for discussing the issues of the discipline in the context of higher education; to encourage the development and continued growth of the discipline.

Article III: Membership

Section 1: Membership in the ADPCL shall be open to departments and programs of Comparative Literature in North America, and to other academic units, divisions, or institutional structures (such as interdepartmental committees, curricula, etc.) in which the discipline of Comparative Literature is housed.

Section 2: Representation in the ADPCL shall be open to the appropriate administrative officer of each unit identified in section 1 of this article, or to his or her designee.

Article IV: Officers and Committees

Section 1: The ADPCL shall be guided by an Executive Committee consisting of five elected voting members plus the officers as indicated below.

Section 2: The term of office for each member of the Executive Committee shall be for three years. Membership shall be staggered in order to ensure continuity.

Section 3: The Chief Executive Officer of the ADPCL shall be the President. The President shall serve one or more three-year terms and shall not be a voting member of the Executive Committee. Immediately after leaving the presidency, the President shall serve for one year as an ex officio–and additional–voting member of the Executive Committee. If the President for any reason cannot perform the duties of the presidency, she or he shall designate a member of the Executive Committee to assume such duties for as long as may be required.

Section 4: The President shall preside over meetings of the Executive Committee, the annual business meeting, and any other general meetings of the ADPCL as may be convened. The President shall establish such committees as the business of the ADPCL may require or as the Executive Committee shall direct.

Section 5: The President shall appoint a Secretary-Treasurer of the ADPCL. Under the guidance of the Executive Committee of the ADPCL, the Secretary-Treasurer shall oversee the financial operations of the ADPCL, including the collection of dues and the payment of bills, and shall present an annual financial account of the Association’s affairs. The Secretary-Treasurer shall prepare and circulate to the Association any reports of ADPCL meetings or other activities.

Article V: Elections

Section 1: The President and members of the Executive Committee shall be elected by ballot.

Section 2: Each institutional member of the ADPCL shall have one vote.

Article VI: Meetings

Section 1: The President shall convene a meeting of the Executive Committee at least once a year, or as needed.

Section 2: The President shall convene a business meeting of the ADPCL once a year.

Section 3: General meetings of the ADPCL shall be held at least once every two years, or more often if the Executive Committee so directs.

Article VII: Dues

The dues of each institutional member shall be specified by the Executive Committee.

Article VIII: Amendments

Amendments to this Constitution may be initiated either by a majority of the Executive Committee or by petition of five current institutional members of the ADPCL. Amendment of the provision of the Constitution will require a two-thirds vote of the members voting.

Article IX: Procedures

The rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised shall govern the Association in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with this Constitution and any special rules of order that the Association may adopt.

ADPCL Constitution Adopted March 1993
Posted July 2015, updated March 2016

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