Constitution of the Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference (TRAC) (An Unincorporated Voluntary Association) 2013 Version 1. NAME The name of the association shall be the Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference (TRAC), hereafter referred to as TRAC. 2. AIMS The aims of TRAC shall be: to promote the role and discussion of theory in Roman Archaeology; to provide a forum for debate and discussion amongst senior academics and professionals, young scholars, students, and the wider archaeological community; to engage and value a diverse community; to organise an annual conference or conferences in pursuance of these aims; to produce a series of publications deriving from the conference(s) and/or additional activities in pursuance of these aims. 3. STRUCTURE The structure of the association shall consist of: MEMBERS – consisting of all individuals on the TRAC mailing list, including registered attendees of TRAC conferences, who have the right to attend the annual general meeting, elect members to the Standing Committee, take decisions over future conference venues, and propose and/or decide on changes to the constitution; STANDING COMMITTEE – who hold regular meetings during the period between annual general meetings, and generally carry out and supervise the activities of the association, as outlined below; LOCAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE(S) – who bear primary responsibility for the organisation, planning, and management of TRAC’s annual conference(s), and subsequent Proceedings publication, under the guidance of the Standing Committee. 4. MEMBERSHIP (i) Membership shall be informal, free and open to all, regardless of age, gender, nationality, language, religion, sexual orientation, experience, or education. Members shall consist of any person subscribed to the TRAC mailing list, which can be joined via the TRAC website (http://trac.org.uk/community/register/) or by TRAC conference registration. (ii) No membership fee shall be payable. (iii) TRAC membership may be cancelled at any time by requesting removal from the TRAC mailing list (http://trac.org.uk/about/contact/). 5. STANDING COMMITTEE (i) TRAC shall be administered by a Standing Committee consisting of no less than six members, who must be at least 18 years of age. (ii) The Standing Committee shall be composed of: one representative from each previous (occuring in the past year) TRAC conference’s Local Organising Committee (referred to henceforth as the Previous TRAC Member(s)); one representative from each forthcoming (occurring in the next year) conference’s Local Organising Committee (referred to henceforth as the Current TRAC Member(s)); when circumstances arise, where a conference venue has been determined more than 12 months in advance), one representative from a future conference’s Local Organising Committee (referred to henceforth as the Future TRAC Member); four elected members, who will serve a term of three years, and are elected at TRAC’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). Additional members may be elected to the Committee should circumstances require. All members serve on the committee in a voluntary capacity. Elected members may stand for re-election with no established term limits. (iii) The Standing Committee shall select from its membership individuals to fill the following formal positions: Chairperson; Vice-Chairperson; Secretary; Treasurer. Additionally, one Standing Committee member shall be selected to attend the Roman Archaeology Committee (of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies) meetings as a TRAC Standing Committee representative. (iv) The aims of the Standing Committee shall be: to promote and further TRAC’s general aims; to ensure the continuity of TRAC, its annual conferences, and publications; to promote TRAC within the wider archaeological community and to ensure the participation within TRAC of all interested parties, not just those based in universities; to ensure that TRAC remains a forum for senior academics and professionals, young scholars, students, and the wider archaeological community; to represent the interests of TRAC with regards to RAC (the Roman Archaeology Conference), or any other conference partner. (v) The responsibilities of the Standing Committee include fulfilment of these aims, ensuring smooth transfer of finances, dealing with problems that may arise with local conference organisation or publication, maintaining mailing lists, liaising with Local Organising Committees, negotiations with publishers, the Roman Society or any other conference partners, and wider publicity, including the TRAC website and social media accounts. (vi) In order to achieve these aims and meet these responsibilities, the Standing Committee shall have the following powers: to obtain, collect and receive money, funds or other property by way of contributions, donations, grants, and any other lawful method toward furthering TRAC’s aims; to take such legal steps as may be deemed necessary for the purpose of raising funds for TRAC’s activities; to spend or invest association funds, upon affirmative vote by Standing Committee membership in each instance, toward the futhering of TRAC’s aims; to liaise with other organisations, local authorities, government departments and agencies, universities, commercial entities, and other bodies toward the furthering of TRAC’s aims; to be the sole representative body of TRAC for any business, financial, or legal reasons, including—but not limited to—contracts, purchases, publishing or partnership agreements; to appoint interim Standing Committee members as new positions are required, or as vacancies occur (any such interim appointments will be temporary and subject to ratification by members’ vote at the next annual general meeting); to establish, and seek consultation from, an advisory panel, whose recommendations shall be non-binding; to establish, maintain, and administer central TRAC communications channels, websites, social media accounts, and publications, and to appoint individuals to assist with these activities; to establish and maintain guidelines and standards by which Local Organising Committees must comply in the planning and management of local conferences and Proceedings publications; to intervene in, halt, and/or substitute venue for the organisation of local conferences should circumstances jeopardise the conference taking place or the furtherance of TRAC’s aims; to intervene in, halt, and/or substitute editors and/or referees for the preparation of a local conference’s Proceedings volume or other TRAC publishing project should circumstances jeopardise on-time publication, publication quality, or the furtherance of TRAC’s aims; to carry out any other lawful activity which furthers TRAC’s aims. 6. LOCAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE (i) The planning, organisation, and management of local conferences and their Proceedings publication shall be the responsibility of the Local Organising Committee, under the guidance of the Standing Committee and in line with TRAC’s aims. (ii) The Local Organising Committee shall consist of no fewer than three persons serving in a voluntary capacity, one of whom must also serve on the Standing Committee for a two-year term, as the Current TRAC Member in the first year and as the Previous TRAC Member in the second year. In the event of a conference venue being selected more than one year before the conference date, a representative shall serve on the Standing Committee for a three-year term, as the Future TRAC Member in the first year, Current TRAC Member in the second year, and Previous TRAC Member in the third year. This person shall be appointed to the Standing Committee at the general meeting in which the conference venue has been selected. (iii) The Local Organising Committee may take any legal organisational structure deemed appropriate by the Local Organising Committee members, so long as it consists of at least three persons and one member serves on the Standing Committee in the Current TRAC Member/Previous TRAC Member role. The committee may appoint any number of additional persons to serve in any capacity required for the successful completion of the local conference and its Proceedings publication. (iv) The Local Organising Committee shall have full academic control (i.e. selection of papers, speakers, topics, sessions) over the local conference, but must comply with TRAC’s aims and any guidelines or standards established by the Standing Committee or decided at a general meeting. (v) The Local Organising Committee shall, through the Current TRAC Member/Previous TRAC Member, keep the Standing Committee informed of all plans, details, and problems with the local conference and/or its Proceedings publication, and shall communicate Standing Committee discussions and recommendations to the full Local Organising Committee membership. (vi) The Local Organising Committee shall use central TRAC communications channels, branding materials, style guides, and publishing partners established by the Standing Committee, and any departure must be approved in advance by a vote of the Standing Committee. (vii) When a local conference is jointly held with a partner conference (e.g. RAC), the Local Organising Committee shall be responsible for liaising with the partner conference committee, and for ensuring that TRAC remains a central component, that established TRAC guidelines are adhered to, and that TRAC’s aims are furthered. (viii) In the event of multiple local conferences in a single year, there shall be a single Proceedings publication, with an editorial team to include representatives from all relevant Local Organising Committees. 7. MEETINGS (i) TRAC shall have one open annual general meeting (AGM) each year, to be scheduled at a prominent time during the annual conference. In the event of multiple conferences in a single year, there shall be only one AGM, with the venue set and advertised by the Standing Committee at least one month before the meeting date. This meeting shall be chaired (in order of preference) by the Current TRAC Member, Standing Committee Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, or alternative Standing Committee member, with a required quorum of three Standing Committee members. The meeting shall be minuted by the Standing Committee Secretary or a suitable alternative, and full minutes shall be distributed via the central TRAC website within one month of the meeting. The meeting chair shall refrain from voting on any election or resolution, except in the event of a draw. (ii) The business of each annual general meeting shall include: a report on TRAC’s activities since the last general meeting; a report on TRAC’s financial accounts, expenditures, and income; discussion of, and voting on, any interim appointments or proposed constitutional amendments; presentations/proposals by future TRAC conference venue teams, discussion, and voting on venue(s); election/re-election of members of the Standing Committee; any other business, proposals from the floor. (iii) The Standing Committee shall have a minimum of three meetings each year (AGM excluded), which may be virtual. These meetings shall be minuted, and the minutes distributed via the central TRAC website. The Standing Committee shall hold as many meetings as it deems necessary, so long as the minimum is met, and the minutes are distributed. 8. ELECTION PROCEDURE All elections or votes in any meeting will be by an open (show of hands) vote. Should any vote end in a draw, each side will be given two minutes to argue their position and a second vote will take place. If this second vote also ends in a draw, the meeting’s chair shall cast the deciding vote. 9. PUBLICATION (i) TRAC shall produce a conference Proceedings publication each year, deriving from papers, posters, and/or discussions from the most recent conference(s). (ii) Proceedings publication is an expectation of, and the responsibility of, the Previous TRAC Local Organising Committee(s), who shall provide updates to and receive support from the Standing Committee through the Previous TRAC Member(s). (iii) The Proceedings editorial team should consist of members of the Previous TRAC Local Organising Committee(s) and any other volunteers, either associated with the venue(s) or from elsewhere (including the Standing Committee), willing to help with the process. The ideal number of editors is three or four persons. (iv) Proceedings publication must be carried out with the official TRAC publisher, through agreements signed by the Standing Committee, and must follow established guidelines and styles. (v) Proceedings guidance, style guides and publication system details shall be updated by each editorial team and/or the Standing Committee, and provided to new editorial teams within one month of the end of the most recent conference. A copy of each updated Proceedings guidance document must also be provided to the Standing Committee. (vi) Proceedings publication must be carried out according to a schedule that allows for final print publication within 12 months (i.e. so that one year’s publication is available for purchase at the next year’s conference). (vii) All contributions submitted for publication must be reviewed by suitable referees. All referees shall be kept anonymous to all except members of the editorial team(s). (viii) TRAC may, should circumstances and interest allow, establish additional publication initiatives, either as one-off publications or new series. Any additional publication must maintain the same referee requirement and system established for the Proceedings. (ix) TRAC shall adopt and pursue Open Access publishing whenever possible. Open Access shall be a consideration and contract negotiation topic in any new publication initiatives. At a minimum, all TRAC publications past and future shall be made Open Access with free digital downloads from the central TRAC website after a period of no more than three years from initial print publication. (x) All final digital files (i.e. final press-ready proofs) for any TRAC publication shall be provided to the Standing Committee to be deposited in the central TRAC archive, and for eventual Open Access distribution. 10. DECISION OVER CONFERENCE VENUE Decisions over future conference venues (to occur no more than two years from the meeting date) shall be made at the annual general meeting by proposal from the floor of the meeting. In the event of multiple proposals for the same year, the matter will be decided by an open vote following discussion; this may include the selection of multiple venues for more than one conference in the same year. Once the venue(s) for the next conference(s) has/have been chosen, a representative from each new Local Organising Committee is appointed to the TRAC Standing Committee in the role of Current TRAC Member. For each future venue (i.e. conferences to be held more than 12 months in the future), a representative is appointed to the TRAC Standing Committee in the role of Future TRAC Member. The Standing Committee shall retain its power to intervene in, halt, and/or substitute venue for the organisation of any conference, or the TRAC component of any joint or partner conference, should circumstances jeopardise the conference taking place or the furtherance of TRAC’s aims. 11. AMENDMENTS This constitution may be amended by a resolution passed by no less than two-thirds of those present and voting at an annual general meeting, providing that due notice of the meeting and of the resolution is given. Due notice shall constitute at least thirty days’ advanced notice via the TRAC website and mailing list, and prominent advertisement in the conference programme and welcome event. Constitutional amendment resolutions may be proposed by any TRAC member, provided that the resolution is provided to the Standing Committee for advertisement more than thirty days before the annual general meeting.