CHIME Draft Constitution (2024)

This Constitution has been carried into effect by vote at the Plenary CHIME Meeting on 4 Oct 2024. 

1. NAME
1.1 The NAME of the association shall be CHIME, Worldwide Platform for Chinese Music Research (abbreviated as CHIME).
1.2 The annual conferences of CHIME shall be held in University Departments, Conservatories, Museums and other academic or music-related institutions. The Secretariat of CHIME shall have a presence in Europe (defined broadly and inclusively). The organization is open to all members independently of nationality, place of work or professional interests and can establish regional centres worldwide.
1.3 LANGUAGES for the CHIME conferences for official purposes shall be English and Chinese, but any other language shall be acceptable for CHIME activities when translation is available to one of the two official languages.

2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES are to cultivate professional research and knowledge in the realm of Chinese music, and to promote Chinese music (including music of ethnic minorities in China, and music among Chinese-speaking groups in any other part of the world) in all its aspects by:
(a) the holding of regular conferences and the publication of their proceedings;

(b) the issue of and participation in any form of publication, including broadcasting, film, video- and sound-recordings;
(c) the periodic issue of an official news (e-)bulletin;
(d) the maintenance of CHIME’s website;
(e) the encouragement of national and international exchanges;
(f) co-operation in programmes of cultural development and/or maintenance, applied to any part of the world;
(g) co-operation with other organisations or individuals sharing these aims.

3. MEMBERSHIP
3.1 Applications for membership in CHIME are made to the Secretariat and are placed in one of the following categories:
(a) HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS, being those who have had a distinguished career, and who have been ordinary members, and who are elected as such at the annual CHIME Conference’s Plenary Meeting; they are exempt from paying member fees.
(b) ORDINARY MEMBERS, being those who pursue research on Chinese music in the professional sense, or who are active as performers of Chinese music;
(c) STUDENT MEMBERS OR MEMBERS WITH LOW INCOME, providing proof of student status or a short written explanation of need;
(d) INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS, being bodies or entities corresponding with CHIME aims.
(e) SUPPORTING MEMBERS, being those who contribute more than the ordinary membership fee in support of CHIME activities.

3.1.1 Membership in the categories above will not be valid without “Good Standing”. “Good Standing” means that
subscriptions have been paid (this does not apply to Honorary Life Members who are exempt from membership fees), up to date in the calendar year or as determined by the Secretariat;
that members are compliant with the CHIME Code of Conduct, provided in a separate document on the CHIME website.

3.2 VOTING RIGHTS are restricted to members in Good Standing.
3.2.1 PROXY VOTING may be assigned from one member in Good Standing to one other in Plenary CHIME Meetings and at CCC (the CHIME Co-ordinating Committee) deliberations.

4. MANAGEMENT
4.1.1 Final responsibility for finance and the general management of CHIME rests with the CHIME Board, as registered at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce. For all practical aims and purposes, this Board shall serve as a Supervisory Board. Its tasks and responsibilities have been laid down in the formal Articles of Association as approved by Notary Karstens in Leiden on the 14th of September 1990. These Articles describe the aims of CHIME (as also set out hereabove), and state that CHIME is a non-profit organization. The Supervisory Board is composed via co-optation as decided by the Board in unanimous decision, and will hold an annual Board meeting to discuss future plans and to approve of annual budgets. Board Members are not entitled to receive any financial rewards from, or have personal shares in, the funds of CHIME. In case of a dissolution of CHIME, the Articles of Association stipulate that any remaining funds of CHIME must be transferred to an organization with similar aims as CHIME.
4.1.2 To secure a solid on-going management of CHIME for the long term, the Supervisory Board will be adjoined by the CHIME Coordinating Committee (CCC), of which the members will be elected by the Plenary CHIME Meeting, as set out below. The daily management of CHIME business shall be conducted by the Secretariat of the CCC, subject to oversight by the Supervisory Board. The Secretariat will be directly responsible to the CCC, and the CCC to the Plenary CHIME meeting.

4.2 SECRETARIAT
The Secretariat shall consist of the President, the Secretary-General, the Treasurer, and the Chair of the succeeding annual CHIME meeting, who shall also be ex officio members of the CCC. The Secretariat, in good consultation with the CHIME Board, shall be responsible for the general business of CHIME and shall be empowered to take decisions on behalf of the CCC, provided that these decisions are unanimous. Should the Secretariat be unable to form a unanimous decision, a meeting of the CCC must be convened.
4.2.1 The President shall be elected at a Plenary CHIME Meeting and may hold office for a term of three years, and may be re-elected to hold office for additional terms. The President shall make a report on past activities to each Plenary CHIME Meeting.
4.2.2 The SECRETARY-GENERAL shall be elected at a Plenary CHIME Meeting and may hold office for a term of three years, and may be re-elected to hold office for additional terms. The Secretary-General shall conduct the business affairs of CHIME, maintain the records of membership and correspondence, and present a report to each Plenary CHIME Meeting. The Secretary-General shall establish the dates and places of each CHIME meeting by agreement with the Secretariat, and in good consultation with the CHIME Supervisory Board, and notify the whole CHIME membership in advance by means of letter or bulletin.
4.2.3 The TREASURER shall be elected at a Plenary CHIME Meeting and may hold office for a term of three years, and may be re-elected to hold office for additional terms. The Treasurer shall control the finances of CHIME and shall present a set of accounts to an audit committee of two persons, including one member of the Supervisory Board and one member of the CCC, to each Plenary CHIME Meeting.
4.2.4 The CHAIR OF THE SUCCEEDING MEETING shall be appointed with the choice of the succeeding Seminar, to be responsible for that Seminar and for the Programme Committee, and to act as the Chair of that Meeting, and to hold office until the conclusion of that Meeting.

4.3 THE CCC
4.3.1 The CCC shall consist of the Secretariat plus ordinary members such that the total number of the CCC shall not exceed eleven. A quorum at its meetings shall be five and must include at least two who are not members of the Secretariat.
4.3.2 The ordinary members of the CCC shall be elected at a Plenary CHIME Meeting after the members of the Secretariat have been elected. They shall serve for a term of two years and may be re-elected for additional terms.
The terms of the CCC members should be overlapping so that approximately half of the CCC members are elected at one annual Plenary CHIME Meeting and the other half at the next.
4.3.3 The CCC shall have powers to co-opt to its membership up to the number specified in 4.3.1 above. It shall also have power to designate any member to hold any office until the next Plenary CHIME Meeting.
4.3.3.1 Out-going presidents of CHIME will automatically (ex officio) become supernumerary CCC members for one year (without right to vote).
4.3.4 Any four members of the CCC may require the Secretary-General to convene a meeting of the CCC, and the Secretary-General will then do so as speedily as possible and certainly within two months.
4.3.5 If in any year a Plenary Meeting of CHIME is not held, all members of the CCC, including any members of the Secretariat whose term of office should conclude in that year, shall remain in office until the next Plenary Meeting.

4.4 ELECTIONS
4.4.1 Elections are held at the annual Plenary CHIME Meetings.
4.4.2 A call for nominations will be issued at least two calendar months prior to the election date. Nominations will be accepted up to three weeks before the election date (the precise date will be specified in the call for nominations). Only members in good standing can be nominated. Candidates must have agreed to the nomination.

5. CHIME CONFERENCES
5.1 The annual CHIME Conference shall be the occasion of a Plenary CHIME Meeting. Offers to host future Conferences will be presented for approval and ratification at a Plenary CHIME Meeting.
5.2 With the approval of a Plenary CHIME Meeting, regional groups may be formed under the name of CHIME from members in Good Standing to hold REGIONAL SEMINARS, such groups to be managed autonomously. They shall be required to present reports on their activities to each Plenary CHIME Meeting and to receive endorsement of the right to continue to describe themselves as part of CHIME.
5.3 With the approval of a Plenary CHIME Meeting, interest groups may be formed under the name of CHIME from members in Good Standing to hold INTEREST SEMINARS, such groups to be managed autonomously. They shall be required to present reports on their activities to each Plenary CHIME Meeting and to receive endorsement of the right to continue to describe themselves as part of CHIME.

6. FINANCE
CHIME shall be financed from members’ subscriptions (except Honorary Life Members and such others as may be approved by the Secretariat from time to time), the amounts to be determined by the CCC and to be ratified at the next Plenary CHIME Meeting before being applied. Subsidies, endowments, donations and grants shall be receivable by the Treasurer and applied to the aims of CHIME.

7. WINDING UP
In the event of the dissolution of CHIME, a Plenary CHIME Meeting, or failing that of the CCC plus the Supervisory Board, will designate the placement of CHIME assets (financial, archival, or other) with one or more organisations with similar aims.

8. ALTERATIONS TO THE CONSTITUTION AND TO THE CHIME CODE OF CONDUCT
Proposed changes to this Constitution and to the CHIME Code of Conduct must be sent to the Secretary-General, with the signatures of the proposer and seconder, at least three months prior to a Plenary CHIME Meeting, for prior publication to the membership and placement on the agenda. A two-thirds majority of all those members in Good Standing present at the meeting shall be required for any change to the Constitution to be passed. Postal votes and proxies from absent members in Good Standing will be valid for any such voting, and must be tabled at the opening of the relevant Plenary CHIME Meeting.

9. INTERPRETATION OF THIS CONSTITUTION
The English text shall be considered as the prime document, and the rules of procedure for the conduct of meetings shall be those of the European Parliament. In the event of dispute, an independent jurist-arbitrator shall be appointed by election at a Plenary CHIME Meeting upon a simple majority, whose decision shall be binding and final.