The NESFA By-Laws
with Historical Annotations

Article VII: The NESFA Fellowship

• [The provisions of this Article were originally passed as standing rules, 9/76. They were transferred to the By-Laws in 12/79.]

• 7.1 Definition: The Title "Fellow of NESFA" (abbreviated F.N.) shall be granted in perpetuity to those persons whom the Membership wish to honor for their contribution to NESFA, fandom, or science fiction. There are no duties associated with Fellowship.

• 7.2 Administration: shall be the responsibility of the Executive Board (or their delegate), who shall set and publish deadlines for nominations and balloting, such that (a) nominations and balloting shall each be open for at least two weeks, (b) election shall take place in time for presentation to be made at a NESFA anniversary ceremony. The administrator shall keep the totals of votes confidential and keep the ballots on file open to inspection by any Regular Member of NESFA.
  [The nomination and balloting periods were originally one month each, reduced to two weeks in 5/89 (a missed deadline had necessitated a temporary exception in 10/88). The anniversary of NESFA is usually taken to fall in October. (Actually, the organizational meeting was on 9/23/67; the Constitution and By-Laws were adopted, and the first elections held, on 10/8/67.)]

• 7.3 Nominations: shall be via written petition signed by three (3) or more Regular Members or five (5) or more members of any class. Nominations shall be invalid which (a) arrive after the deadline, (b) nominate members of the Executive Board, existing Fellows, or administrators of the election.

• 7.4 Election: shall be by written ballot distributed by the administrator to all Regular Members and returned before the deadline. Each Regular Member of NESFA may vote for up to five (5) candidates. Those candidates receiving votes from more than half of those voting shall be elected.

  [The original Article VII dealt with the Board of Trustees, an honorary body elected by the Membership at the Annual Meeting for two-year terms. In 4/74 the text was simplified (eliminating provisions for filling vacancies), and the election procedure clarified (5 votes for each Member, majority of Members voting required for election). Since the Trustees served no function, Article VII was repealed in 12/75, and all references to the Trustees elsewhere in the By-Laws (except the retroactive Section 10.1(a)) were removed. However, the Fellowship of NESFA was instituted in 1976 as an alternative (and permanent) method for honoring people, and all persons who had been Directors/Trustees were automatically made Fellows. Between 12/75 and 12/79 there was no Article VII.]
  [The Board of Trustees in turn replaced the Board of Directors, who under the 1967-71 Constitution were almost but not quite powerless; a Board of Directors was at that time required by Massachusetts law. Both boards (until 4/74) could have anywhere from 5 to 13 members (however many got a majority of the votes cast). The only required meeting of the Board of Directors was immediately after the Annual Meeting; the Trustees never had to meet at all. There were elaborate provisions for filling vacancies in the Board of Directors; it was up to the Membership whether to fill Trustee vacancies. Most general provisions referring to Officers (elections, removal, notice of meetings) also applied to Directors/Trustees until 12/75.]