By-laws of the Research Committee

American Forensic Association

1. Charge of the Committee and Agenda for Committee Functions.
1. The Research Committee shall be responsible for the development and encouragement of research in argumentation and forensics primarily through the Brockreide Memorial Research Grant and the Daniel Rohrer Research Award and the AFA Outstanding Dissertation Award.
1. Brockreide Memorial Research Grant. The purpose of this award is to support and facilitate research in forensics, debate, and argumentation. The committee awards this research grant from among competitive grant proposals submitted in accordance with the submission guidelines established by the committee. The Brockreide Memorial Research Grant is awarded every two years at the annual AFA Business Meeting (in years ending in an odd number) and the amount of the monetary award can be up to a maximum amount of $1000 (paid in installments if necessary).
2. The Daniel Rohrer AFA Research Award recognizes outstanding scholarship in argumentation and forensics published in the previous calendar year. Any published article, text, or book in the field of argumentation and/or forensics is eligible for nomination. The committee will annually publish a call for nominations submitted in accordance with the submission guidelines established by the committee. The committee reserves the right to internally nominate any publication deemed appropriate and meeting other criteria. That is, that an external to the committee nomination is desirable but not a requirement for consideration.
3. The AFA Outstanding Dissertation or Thesis award recognizes the best thesis or dissertation in the theory and practice of argumentation and forensics completed in the previous calendar year. The candidate must be a member of AFA. The committee will annually publish a call for nominations submitted in accordance with the submission guidelines established by the committee.
2. Any official research conducted or research awards presented in the name of the AFA shall have the approval of this committee.
3. This committee shall receive a specific call and/or specific charge from the AFA President each AFA Presidential term.
4. Two months prior to the annual meeting of this committee, the committee chair should distribute to committee members a tentative agenda for the annual meeting. The committee chair should issue a call for review and other proposed agenda items from committee members that should be added to the meeting agenda at the annual meeting of this committee.
2. Appointment and Selection & Duties of Committee Chairperson.
   1. The AFA President shall annually appoint at least 2 members for terms of service of three academic years following the by-laws of the AFA.  The normal number of committee members shall be six with one of the six serving as chair of the committee.
   2. Terms of service shall alternative with approximately one-third (2 members) of the committee membership being appointed each year such that the consistent membership of the committee should be comprised of first, second, and third year members.
   3. Committee members should at the annual meeting elect a chair for a one-year term of service from among the first or second year members. All first and second year members all eligible for election as committee chairperson.
   4. In the event that the chairperson is unable to complete the appointed term of service, the AFA President may appoint a replacement chair to complete that term from among the second year members after consultation with committee members.
   5. The Chair should annually distribute a call for nominations and submissions for the awards by February.  The chair shall poll the members for internal nominations.
   6. The Chair should compile a list of nominations, create and distribute a ballot to the committee membership by October, and coordinate the annual award recipient selections.
   1. The selection of award recipients should be conducted by asking each of the committee members to rank order their preferences for each of the award categories and to rate the relative strength of each nominee.
   2. The chair shall conduct the tabulation of this balloted ranking and rating. The average rating scores should be used in the case of a tie in rankings.
   3. The rankings and ratings of nominations and submissions should not be publicized and should only be revealed in the event of a tie in both rankings and ratings in such case the award is to be shared by the tied nominees.
   7. Miscellaneous additional duties of the committee chair shall include:
      1.  preside at all meetings of the committee,
      2. report on behalf of the committee to the AFA National Council and the Annual general Business Meeting of the association, 
      3. coordinate the fulfillment of the charge and mission of the committee, 
      4. serve as the committee’s liaison with the AFA President, and 
      5. coordinate all other tasks associated with the function of the committee.

3. Annual Meeting and Voting Procedures
   1. The Vice President of AFA as Convention Planner shall set the date and time of the annual meeting of the committee.
   2. A quorum shall be the chair and 2 members of the committee.
   3. Each committee member present at the annual meeting shall have a vote. Proxies shall be specific to particular issues and are due to the chair  prior to the meeting.
   4. Issues may arise at times other than the annual meeting. Each committee member shall be polled and given the opportunity to vote on such issues.
   5. At the annual meeting a recorder should be designated and a written record of the committee meeting should be taken and made available.

4. Amendments to the By-laws of the Research Committee of the American Forensic Association.
   1. Any member may move amendments to these by-laws.
   2. Amendments should be moved in writing to the chair at least two months prior to the annual meeting. The chair should notify and distribute copies of amendments to all committee members at least one month prior to the annual meeting.
   3. Amendments are to be debated at the annual meeting and shall be considered adopted if approved by a majority of the total membership of the committee. If a majority of the committee is not present at the annual meeting – the chair may conduct a poll of the members to effect a vote on the amendment no later than December 31^st following the annual meeting.

5. Conformity with the AFA governing documents. The standing research committee shall abide with all procedures and policies of the American Forensic Association that supercede and guide the interpretation of the charge and procedures of this committee.