MOL
Association for Mathematics of Language

MOL is a special interest group of the Association for Computational Linguistics ACL Logo

I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The purpose of the Association for Mathematics of Language (SIGMOL), a special interest group of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL), shall be to promote interest in mathematical structures and methods that are of importance to the study of language; to provide members of the ACL with a special interest in the mathematics of language with a means of exchanging news of recent research developments and other matters of interest in mathematical linguistics; and to sponsor meetings and workshops in that area 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 the SIG shall consist of a President and a Vice President (President-Elect or Former President respectively). The term of the President of the SIG shall normally be two years, extending from one biennial meeting until the next, with the Vice President/President-Elect taking over the duties of the President, and the outgoing president taking over the duties of the Vice President/Former President, at the business meeting during the biennial meeting. The term of the Vice President/President-Elect extends from their election until the next biennial meeting. The term of the Vice President/Former President extends from the biennial meeting until the next elections. The duties of the President shall be:
  1. To have primary executive authority over actions and activities of SIGMOL.
  2. To oversee the preparation of the biennial MOL meetings (including the editing of pre- and postproceedings)
  3. To organize the election of the Vice President/President-Elect, normally within 6 months of taking office.
  4. To prepare a written report on the activities of the SIG for the Executive Committee of the ACL, for presentation to the ACL at its Annual Business Meeting.
  5. To be primarily responsible for communication with members of the SIG, answering inquiries about the SIG, and communication with the Executive Committee of the ACL.
The duties of the Vice President shall be:
  1. To maintain a membership roster of the SIG.
  2. To be responsible for any moneys awarded to the SIG by the ACL.
  3. To support the president in preparing the biennial MOL meetings, the editing of the proceedings, and maintaining the communication with the members and the Executive Committee of the ACL.

III. ELECTION OF OFFICERS

All officers of the SIG shall be elected by a vote of the membership. The vote shall normally take place at some point during even-numbered years, with at least 2 weeks' notice of nominations to SIG members. The ballot proceeds in three stages.
  1. In the first phase, the president sends out a call for nominations via the MOL mailing list. Every member of SIGMOL can nominate every member of SIGMOL. Self-nomination is possible. The nominee has to agree to their nomination. Nominations have to be sent via email to the president, and the identity of the nominating member is not made public.
  2. In the second phase, the president publishes the list of nominees via the mailing list and elicits votes. The deadline for ballots is not earlier than 2 weeks after the publication of the nominations. Votes are sent via email to the president, who treats them confidentially.
  3. In the final phase, a run-off ballot will take place, with the two candidate from the first round that received most votes as the only candidates. The deadline for the second round ballot is at least 2 weeks after the announcement of the results of the first round.
The winner of the second round ballot shall immediately assume the office of Vice President/President-Elect.

IV. BIENNIAL MEETINGS

Every two years (usually in odd-numbered years) the SIG will organize a conference "Mathematics of Language". The location of the event is determined in the year preceding the event via discussion on the mailing list and, if necessary, an email vote. To this end, the president elicits bids to host the event from the members via the mailing list. The SIG may decide to collocate the meeting with some other conference, in which case a liason person is selected that fills the role of the local host. The officers and the local host decide on a program committee and send out a call for papers. All abstracts submitted are anonymously peer reviewed, and the program committee decides on a program on the basis of these reviews. It is not required that the authors of selected papers are SIGMOL members. Additionally, the program committee may decide to organize a special session with invited speakers. During the meeting, a business meeting is conducted where issues regarding the SIG are discussed. All SIG members are invited to attend. The president gives a report on the activities of the SIG and hands over his/her duties to the former Vice President/President-Elect.

V. ADOPTION AND AMENDMENT

This constitution shall take effect immediately upon its ratification by a simple majority of the SIGMOL members attending the regular biennial business meeting along with proxies from SIGMOL members not attending the business meeting that are received by the President prior to the start of that meeting. Amendments to the constitution must be publicized on the MOL mailing list at least six months prior to their consideration at a regular business meeting and must be ratified by a simple majority of the SIGMOL members attending that business meeting along with proxies from SIGMOL members not attending the business meeting that are received by the President prior to the start of that meeting.