CONSTITUTION OF THE ACL SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP ON NATURAL LANGUAGE GENERATION
Version 3 (10-Dec-2007)

I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The purpose of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) Special Interest Group on Natural Language Generation (SIGGEN) shall be to promote interest in Natural Language Generation; to provide members of the ACL with a special interest in Natural Language Generation with a means of exchanging news of recent research developments and other matters of interest in Natural Language Generation; and to sponsor meetings and workshops in Natural Language Generation that appear to be timely and worthwile, operating within the framework of the ACL's general guidelines for SIGs.
 

II. ELECTED OFFICERS

The elected officers of SIGGEN shall consist of four non-student Board members and one student Board member. These shall be members in good standing of the ACL.

Non-student board members will serve for four years, and student members will serve for two years.

The elected officers will assign named posts by agreement among themselves. The named posts and corresponding duties will be:

• Chair - To have ultimate executive authority over actions and activities of SIGGEN, and to be responsible for ensuring SIGGEN functions as it should, in accordance with this constution.
• Secretary - To be responsible for record keeping and communication with the membership and the Executive Committee of the ACL, and to make an annual report on SIGGEN activities, for presentation to the ACL at its Annual Business Meeting.
• Treasurer - To be responsible for overseeing the finances of SIGGEN and to make an anuual financial report on SIGGEN finances to the membership and the Executive Committeee of the ACL.
• Webmaster - To be responsible for all aspects of SIGGEN's electronic presence.

The post of chair and treasurer will normally be held by non-student members of the board.

III. ELECTION OF OFFICERS

All officers of the SIG shall be elected by a vote of the membership. This vote shall take place at least 4 weeks before the expiration of the terms of the officers to be elected, with at least 4 weeks' notice of nominations to SIG members. Elections will be electronic, using either electronic mail or the Web.

Elections shall take place every two years. Non-student members who have only served for two years automatically continue as board members, and are not included in the election.

Terms of office will normally be aligned to the calendar year. If an officer leaves their post prematurely, a replacement may be elected to complete their term of office.

Normally the periods of service of the non-student board members are staggered, with two board members who have served for four years retiring at every election and being replaced by new board members, and two board members who have served for two years continuing as board members.

The student board member is elected at every election.

To be eligible to stand for election as a student board member, candidates should be expected to complete at least one year of their term of office before their Ph.D. defense would reasonably be scheduled.

IV. CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTION

Changes to the SIGGEN constitution may be proposed by the SIGGEN board or by ten SIGGEN members. They will first be posted on the SIGGEN Web page, with SIGGEN members invited to comment on the changes. Afterwards the proposed change will be circulated to the SIGGEN membership, and a ratification vote will be held. The amendment will be adopted if a majority of those voting approve it.

The ACL Executive Committee may veto proposed constitution changes if they are incompatible with the ACL Constitution or SIG guidelines.

SIGGEN

© 2007 Association for Computational Linguistics