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AMS Resources and Response to the Federal Science Crisis
1 September 2026
Members now have a 30-day opportunity to vote to approve the recommended changes. The deadline to vote is 1 October, 2026.
Vote
29 May 2026
Per Article XIII of the AMS Constitution, the following information will remain posted for 90 days. After the 90-day period, AMS Members will have a 30-day opportunity to vote to approve the recommended changes.
The following change to the constitution is proposed and was recommended by AMS Council at the August 2025 Council meeting and must be approved by AMS Membership. In this document, we outline the justification for recommended changes.
The proposed constitutional amendment is to formally add the chair of the Culture and Inclusion Cabinet as an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Executive Committee.
Article VIII, item 1a., subitem v. amended to:
“Executive Committee
Current text:
The recommendation is intended to formalize a structure that supports the CIC's mandate and integrates its work with the AMS leadership.
The following changes to the constitution are proposed and were recommended by AMS Council at the November 2025 Council meeting and must be approved by AMS Membership.
The proposed constitutional amendments are to change references of “50 members” to 0.5% of members eligible to vote. This includes:
In addition, the threshold for the number of signatures needed for petition candidates for President is changed to 1% of members eligible to vote.
Article VI, item 1 amended to:
“Nominations also may be made by petition for Council and president-elect. For Council nominations, the petition must be signed by 0.5% of the total number of members eligible to vote the previous membership year. For president-elect nominations, the petition must be signed by 1.0% of the total number of members eligible to vote the previous membership year. All signatories must be active members who were eligible to vote the preceding 1 May, provided the petition is received by the secretary together with the written consent of the nominee not later than 1 June.”
“Nominations also may be made by petition signed by at least 50 members who were eligible to vote on the preceding 1 May, provided the petition is received by the Secretary together with the written consent of the nominee not later than 1 July.”
Article X, section 3 amended to:
“A quorum for the transaction of business at an Annual Meeting shall consist of active members meeting a threshold of 0.5% of the total number of members eligible to vote the previous membership year.”
“A quorum for the transaction of business at an Annual Meeting shall be at least 50 members present who are eligible to vote.”
Article XIII, section 1 amended to:
“No part of the Constitution shall be amended or annulled except by ballot in the following manner: A proposed amendment shall be approved by the Council or submitted to the secretary in a petition signed by members who were eligible to vote on the preceding 1 May, and meet a threshold of 0.5% of the total number of members eligible to vote the previous membership year.”
“No part of the Constitution shall be amended or annulled except by ballot in the following manner: A proposed amendment shall be approved by the Council or submitted to the Secretary in a petition signed by at least 50 members who were eligible to vote on the preceding 1 May.”
Overall, shifting from a static numeric threshold to a percentage based threshold allows for the threshold to increase (decrease) over time as the size of the Society’s Membership increases (decreases) without the need to make repeated amendments to the constitution. The last change was made in 1970 when the threshold was increased from 25 to 50 based on growth of the Membership at that time to approximately 6600 Members. Setting the threshold to 0.5% translates to ~50 Members based on 9810 members being eligible to vote in 2025. Moving to a percentage based threshold would also bring AMS in line with most other member-based, non-profit societies.
Having a higher threshold of 1% for petition candidates for President acknowledges the critical role of the position of President. This position serves longer than individual Council positions (4 yr vs 3 yr), acts as chair of the Council and Executive Committee for one of the years, oversees the Executive Director, holds key positions in various committees of the Council and Executive Committee, and helps to shape the strategic direction of the Society.
CURRENT CONSTITUTION