International Language Testing Association
BY-LAWS
Section 1 Active members who pay the full annual dues shall be “regular members” of ILTA.
Section 2 Active members who are enrolled for a degree at a tertiary educational institution and who are not employed for more than half of the normal working week shall be “student members” of ILTA. Student members shall pay reduced annual dues and shall enjoy all the privileges of active membership of ILTA.
Section 3 Persons who have made a distinguished contribution to language testing may be elected as “honorary members” of ILTA. Each candidate for honorary membership shall be nominated by a majority vote of the Executive Board and shall be elected by a majority of active members of ILTA who vote in favour of the candidate in an email ballot to be conducted at the same time as the elections for that year. No more than two honorary members shall be elected in any one calendar year. Honorary members shall not pay annual dues and shall enjoy on a permanent basis all the privileges of active membership of ILTA. In addition to such members who may be elected to honorary membership status as specified, recipients of the UCLES/ILTA Lifetime Achievement Award will also be awarded lifetime honorary membership of ILTA.
Section 4 Annual dues shall be determined by the Executive Board.
Section 5 Registration fees for Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC) shall be established by the LTRC Program Committee. Registration fees for other activities of ILTA shall be established by the ILTA Treasurer with the approval of the Executive Board, and charges for subscriptions to periodicals and for special publications published or sponsored by ILTA, and for services to affiliate organizations or institutions, shall be similarly established.
Section 1 The annual meeting of ILTA is the Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC). LTRC shall be held in different locations over a three-year cycle. Every third year the meeting shall be held consecutively with either the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) or Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) conferences in
Section 2 The Annual Business Meeting of ILTA shall be held in conjunction with the Language Testing Research Colloquium Annual Business Meeting. The joint ILTA/LTRC ABM will take place during each LTRC.
The location of future LTRC meetings will be determined at the ABM. Each LTRC will be run by a Program Committee which will report to the ILTA Executive Board.
Whereas only ILTA members will be allowed to vote on ILTA concerns at the ABM, issues relating specifically to LTRC, including its location, will be subject to a vote by all attendees.
Article III: Executive Board
Section 1 The four Members-at-Large of the Executive Board shall serve for staggered terms of two years each, and may succeed themselves for no more than one additional term. The terms of office of Members-at-Large of the Executive Board shall run from 1 January of the year after they are elected to 31 December of the year in which their term expires. The primary responsibility of the members at large is to initiate and facilitate a program of conferences (not including LTRC), seminars and other activities of the Association in consultation with the Executive Board.
Section 2 Regular meetings of the Executive Board shall be held at least once a year at times and places to be specified by vote of the Executive Board. Meetings of the Executive Board should occur when a majority of the members can be physically present. However, in certain cases, meetings of the Executive Board may be held through telephone conference calls or electronic mail.
Section 3 In the event of the incapacity or resignation of an officer, a Member-at-Large of the Executive or a member of the Nominating Committee, the Executive Board shall fill the vacancy for the unexpired term.
Section 4 The Executive Board shall be the administrative agent of ILTA, shall supervise the work of the Secretary and the Treasurer and shall exercise general supervision over the affairs of the association. In the interval between Annual Business Meetings of ILTA, the Executive Board shall have authority to take such actions as are deemed necessary for the conduct of the Association’s affairs in accordance with the Constitution and By-Laws.
Article IV: Duties of Officers
Section 1 The President shall serve for one year as presiding officer of ILTA and of the Executive Board and shall perform responsibilities adhering to the office, including the following:
a. To determine the agenda for meetings of the Executive Board and the Annual Business Meeting and to preside at these meetings.
b. To appoint members of all committees whose membership is not otherwise specified.
c. To carry out the purposes or business of ILTA and other actions as directed by the membership.
d. To serve as the official representative of ILTA to other professional organizations.
e. To keep the membership informed of important issues concerning language testing.
Section 2 The Vice-President shall serve for one year and shall succeed to the presidency at the end of one year in the office of Vice-President, or earlier in the event of incapacity or resignation of the President. In the event that the Vice-President succeeds to the presidency before the completion of the normal term, that person shall continue in the Presidency for the following year. The Vice-President shall perform the responsibilities normally adhering to the office, including the following:
a. To represent the Association in the absence of the President.
b. Other responsibilities as the President may designate.
Section 3 The Immediate Past President shall serve for one year as an officer of ILTA and shall succeed to the position at the end of one year in the office of President. The Immediate Past President shall perform the responsibilities normally adhering to the office, including the following:
a. Chair of Awards and Workshops Committee.
b. Other responsibilities as the President may designate.
a. To record and distribute the minutes of all meetings.
b. To oversee the conduct of elections and to assure that such elections are conducted expeditiously, fairly and as specified in Article V of these By-Laws.
c. To assist the President with arrangements for the Annual Business Meeting and the Members-at-Large with the outreach activities of the Association.
Section 5 The Treasurer shall serve for a term of three years and may be nominated for a second term. The Treasurer shall perform the usual functions of treasurer and shall administer the financial affairs of ILTA under the direction of the Executive Board. Specific duties of the Treasurer include the following:
a. To collect annual dues, receive funds and maintain financial records of the association.
b. To maintain a list of active members.
c. To prepare a draft annual budget for the Executive Board’s approval.
d. To pay bills incurred by the Association.
e. To give a financial report at each meeting of the Executive Board and at each Annual Business Meeting.
f. To recommend changes in the annual dues to the Executive Board.
g. To provide financial advice and oversight to the LTRC Program Committee, to enable LTRC to access ILTA funds to support advance conference arrangements, and to assist the LTRC Program Chair in making financial accounting to ILTA.
Section 6 The terms of all officers shall run from 1 January of the year after they are elected to 31 December of the year in which their term expires.
The Secretary and Treasurer positions shall start and finish asynchronously.
Section 1 All officers, Members-at-Large of the Executive Board and members of the Nominating Committee shall be nominated by the Nominating Committee. Any member of ILTA may submit suggestions for nominees for any office to the Nominating Committee.
Section 2 All officers, Members-at-Large of the Executive Board and members of the Nominating Committee shall be elected by a ballot initiated by the Secretary no later than 30 September of the year in which each position falls due for re-election. Voting will be by e-mail.
Section 3 For the offices of Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer, each member of ILTA shall have one vote and the candidate receiving the largest number of votes shall be elected. For the Members-at-Large of the Executive Board and members of the Nominating Committee, each member of ILTA shall have as many votes as there are vacancies and the candidates receiving the largest numbers of votes shall be elected. In the case of a tied vote for any of the vacant positions, the tie shall be broken by a majority vote of the Executive Board.
Article VI: Committees
Section 1 Standing committees of ILTA shall include the Nominating Committee, the By-Laws Committee, the LTRC Program Committee, and the Awards and Workshops Committee..
Section 3 The By-Laws Committee shall consist of three members nominated by the President at the Annual Business Meeting and shall meet as necessary in order to review the structure and procedures of ILTA and recommend changes in the By-Laws and in the Constitution when necessary and appropriate, except that this committee will not delete any of the provisions in Article II (Purpose) of the ILTA Constitution.
Section 4 The LTRC Program Committee will consist of:
- The Chair or Co-Chairs, who will always be the convenor(s) of the "next-to-be-held" LTRC, as determined at the ILTA Annual Business Meeting;
- The Chair or Co-Chairs of the immediate-past LTRC, acting as member(s)-at-large;
- The ILTA Treasurer ex officio
- The ILTA Secretary ex officio
The LTRC Program Committee Chair or Co-Chairs may co-opt other ILTA members as needed.
The LTRC Program Committee will be solely responsible for the following:
- Theme selection
- Programme selection and planning
- Selection of proposal reviewers and review of proposals (within the criteria and process established by previous LTRC Program Committees)
- Selection of meeting and hotel accommodation
- Determination of fees for attendance and special program activities.
The LTRC Program Committee will also coordinate with Educational Testing Service (ETS) to determine the criteria and process for selecting the annual Samuel Messick Lecturer.
The LTRC Program Committee will exercise good financial management in ensuring that their plans do not exceed reasonable budgetary limits, and that every effort to meet and exceed conference costs is made. With the support of the ILTA Treasurer, the past LTRC Program Chair will make a financial reporting to the ILTA Executive within three months after the LTRC.
The ILTA Treasurer will advise the ILTA Executive and the LTRC Program Chair of the funds carried forward from the previous LTRC. Where the carry-forward is insufficient to meet the next LTRC Program Committee’s advance budget requirement, ILTA will add funding as necessary to the carry-forward to ensure that the LTRC Program Committee can secure conference and hotel accommodations for participants without incurring personal financial risk.
Any profit from LTRC meetings will be turned over to the ILTA Treasurer for these purposes in priority order:
1. support for the next LTRC as above;
2. support for the outreach activities of ILTA.
Section 6 The Executive Board may establish Special Interest Groups (SIGs) at its discretion, provided there is demonstrated interest in a SIG among the membership. The officers of each SIG shall be the Chair and the Associate Chair. Each SIG shall hold an annual election, except that the President of ILTA shall name the Chair and the Associate Chair for the initial year. The term of office of the Chair and the Associate Chair is from the close of one Annual Business Meeting of the association until the close of the next Annual Business Meeting.
Article VII: Parliamentary Authority
All Annual Business Meetings of ILTA, meetings of the Executive Board, standing committees and of any other subsidiary bodies shall be governed by the parliamentary rules and usages reported in the current edition of Roberts Rules of Order, Revised.
Article VIII: Amendments
Section 1 Amendments to these By-Laws may be initiated by the Executive Board, by the By-Laws Committee or by any member at the Annual Business Meeting.
Section 2 Any amendment initiated in accordance with Section 1 shall be reviewed by the By-Laws Committee, which shall consider the need for and appropriateness of the proposed amendment, in consultation with those who initiated it, and make a recommendation to the Executive Board on whether the proposed amendment should be adopted. The Executive Board shall then consider the amendment and decide whether to approve it.
Section 3 Any amendment that is approved by the Executive Board in accordance with Section 2 shall be submitted to the full active membership of ILTA for approval by means of an e-mail ballot. A simple majority of those who vote shall be required for adoption of the amendment.
January 2005