Official Constitution of the Academic Competition Federation

Article 1. Name of Organization

1. The name of the organization shall be the Academic Competition Federation.

Article 2. Purpose and Tournaments

1. The purpose for which the Academic Competition Federation exists is to provide regional and national tournaments for collegiate academic competition and oversee the continued development of the ACF format as defined in the official ACF rules.
2. ACF shall hold three events per year: Fall, Regionals, and Nationals.
   1. For each tournament, ACF shall elect a head editor from its membership by a 2/3 vote of Full members. The head editor shall select one or more assistant editors, who need not be ACF members. The head editor’s choice of editing team need not be ratified by the membership. (Added by amendment 7/18/2010.)
   2. For each tournament, any deviations from the Official ACF Packet Submission Guidelines must be approved by the head editor of that tournament. The decision of the head editor may only affect financial and eligibility guidelines for that particular tournament. (Added by amendment 7/18/2010.)

Article 3. Membership

1. There shall be three types of members–Full, Provisional, and Emeritus–as delineated in sections 3.2-3.4.
2. A Full member is defined as an individual who has satisfactorily edited two or more ACF tournaments.
3. A Provisional member is defined as an individual who has satisfactorily edited only one ACF tournament.
4. An Emeritus member is defined as an individual who was once a Full member but is no longer active.
   1. A member becomes Emeritus either by declaring themselves as such, or after three years have passed in which the member has not:
      1. satisfactorily edited an ACF tournament.
      2. served as an officer of ACF.
      3. aided an ACF editor or tournament in a substantial manner (such as serving as an editing adviser, logistical coordinator, Nationals tournament director, or other similar capacity).
   2. Each competition year, within three weeks after ACF Nationals, Full members who have not satisfactorily edited an ACF tournament or served as an officer of ACF in the past three years of competition will be moved to Emeritus membership unless they affirmatively show that they satisfy Article 3.4(A)(iii) within three weeks after removal to Emeritus status. Any Full member who objects may call a vote (within three weeks of the declaration of intent to remain a Full member) in which a simple majority of Full members decides whether Article 3.4(A)(iii) has been satisfied.
   3. Emeritus members can return to Full status if they complete one of the activities listed in Article 3.4(A)(i)-(iii), and announce their intention to regain Full membership prior to the commencement of said activity. In the case of Article 3.4(A)(iii), any Full member who objects may (within three weeks of the declaration of intent to return to Full membership) call a vote in which a simple majority of Full members decides whether the requirement has been satisfied. If the activity is not completed satisfactorily, or progress is insufficient, any Full member may call a simple-majority vote of Full members to revoke Full membership status at a reasonable time.
5. All Provisional members must be approved by 75% 2/3 of the Full members. Any Provisional member who has edited his or her second tournament must be approved by 75% 2/3 of the Full members to become a Full member. (Amended 5/01/09).
6. The Full members of ACF may vote to remove any member of ACF; such a vote requires a 75% majority to prevail. The member subject to the removal vote is not eligible to vote. (Added by amendment 4/30/09.)
7. Provisional ACF members who have not satisfactorily edited an ACF tournament, served as an officer of ACF, or substantially aided ACF within the meaning of Article 3.4(A)(iii) in three consecutive yearly cycles of ACF’s tournaments will revert to non-membership status in ACF. The three-year period does not include the year in which the Provisional member edited their most recent satisfactory tournament for ACF, or most recently served as an officer or aided ACF. In the case of Article 3.4(A)(iii), analogous procedures to those listed in Article 3.4(B) apply. (Amended 5/8/2012.)
   1. The three-year period for current Provisional members of ACF (as of the date of this amendment’s enactment) will begin at the start of the 2010-11 cycle of ACF tournaments. (Added by amendment 7/18/2010.)
8. For the purposes of all Article 3 requirements, “satisfactorily” editing a tournament requires editing and/or writing a number of questions equal to at least two tossups and two bonuses per packet of an ACF tournament to the satisfaction of that tournament’s head editor. All votes prescribed in other sections of Article 3 are still required. (Added by amendment 10/19/11.)

Article 4. Officers and Duties

1. The Editor in Chief of ACF Nationals shall serve as the presiding head of ACF beginning at the conclusion of the ACF Nationals immediately prior to the one which he edits, and his term shall end at the conclusion of the ACF Nationals which he edits. The duties of the Editor in Chief shall be to periodically hear reports from the Officers of ACF and to oversee the selection of the recipient of the Carper Award. (Added by amendment 7/18/2010.)
2. The Officers of the Organization shall consist of the Communications Officer, the Webmaster, the Meeting Chair, one or more Outreach Officers, and the Treasurer. The Officers of ACF shall periodically report to the Editor In Chief, and the discharge of their duties shall be subject to his supervision. (Added by amendment 7/18/2010; revised 5/8/2012.)
3. The terms of these officers shall begin at the conclusion of one year’s ACF Nationals and last until the end of the next year’s ACF Nationals, excepting the first year in which this amendment is adopted. Any Full member of ACF may nominate a candidate for each of these positions at any meeting. In order for a nominee to be confirmed, a majority of present Full ACF members must vote for the nominee’s confirmation at any meeting. A meeting that determines the slate of non-editorial officers for the following year must occur before the conclusion of an ACF Nationals of any given year. (Added by amendment 7/18/2010.)
4. The Communications Officer shall be in charge of maintaining an official e-mail address to which queries regarding ACF shall be directed, as well as responding to whatever queries it shall receive. The Communications Officer shall be responsible for enumerating whatever general ACF policies are not applicable to specific ACF Tournaments. The Communications Officer shall further be available to the editors of all Official ACF Tournaments to assist with coordinating regional hosting and packet submission logistics. (Added by amendment 7/18/2010.)
5. The Webmaster shall be in charge of the ACF Website and maintain a current roster of members, including contact information. (Added by amendment 7/18/2010.)
6. The Meeting Chair shall have the responsibility to develop, in consultation with all Full and Provisional members of ACF, an agenda for each official ACF meeting. During each official ACF Meeting, it shall be the responsibility of the Meeting Chair to conduct and moderate discussion in an efficient manner. The Meeting Chair shall be responsible for conducting business on the ACF Forum, including but not limited to proposing official votes and determining deadlines for the passage of said votes. (Added by amendment 7/18/2010.)
7. The Outreach officer(s) is responsible for reaching out to teams who have never been to an ACF tournament, as well as expanding attendance at ACF Regionals and Nationals. The Outreach Officer(s) is also responsible for coordinating the outreach efforts of those members of ACF that they shall appoint to be representatives in their respective regions. (Added by amendment 7/18/2010.)
8. The Treasurer is responsible for the finances of ACF’s tournaments. The Treasurer shall centrally collect payments from teams and disburse payments to the editors and the host sites, making other payments as necessary. The Treasurer’s duties include collecting all payments and enforcing all relevant penalties. (Added by amendment 5/8/2012.)

Article 5. Quorum, Meetings, and Voting

1. A quorum shall exist at any meeting of the membership where at least 50% of the Full members are in attendance.
2. Meetings of the Academic Competition Federation will be called by the Editor-in-Chief as needed, and members are expected to attend if at all possible. They will be held in a chat room or some other convenient venue.
3. Reasons for holding a meeting include: member approval, editor assignment, discussion of amendments to the constitution and/or the rules, and Carper voting.
4. Full members are eligible to attend and vote at all meetings. Provisional members may not attend member approval meetings, may attend but not vote at editor assignment and amendment meetings, and may attend and vote at Carper meetings. Emeritus members may attend any meeting but may only vote at Carper meetings.
5. A vote of “abstain” signifies that a member is present but chooses not to vote. Abstaining members contribute to the quorum, but their votes are not considered in the numerator or the denominator for the purpose of totaling votes.

Article 6. The Carper Award

1. The Dr. N. Gordon Carper Lifetime Achievement Award will be given annually at ACF Nationals to a member of the quizbowl community who exhibits dedication to and long-term support of academic competitions as exemplified by the career of Dr. Carper.
2. Winners of the Carper Award needn’t be directly affiliated with ACF.
3. Only members of ACF may nominate or vote for any candidate for the Carper Award, and the Editor-in-Chief shall preside over the Carper voting.
4. Carper award voting shall commence with each member of ACF nominating two individuals. The top three individuals as determined by number of nominations will be selected, and a meeting will be called to discuss the candidates. If a general consensus cannot be reached, a vote will be taken, and the numerical winner shall receive the award.
5. If ACF Nationals attracts more than 26 teams in a given year, then up to $300 of the revenue collected by the Nationals editors shall be given that year to the Carper award winner as needed for travel expenses to collect the award. If the Carper award winner is playing at the tournament, no funding shall be provided.

Article 7. Amendments

1. Any and all amendments to the ACF rules or to this constitution shall be discussed in a meeting at which all members can be present.
2. Amendments are passed when 2/3 of the Full members vote in their favor. No other members shall be allowed to vote on any amendment.

Article 8. Corporate Governance

1. All members of ACF shall be members of Academic Competition Federation, Inc., a Minnesota non-profit corporation. The Full members of ACF hereby authorize the incorporation of ACF as Academic Competition Federation, Inc.
2. ACF shall have no legal basis or liability independent of Academic Competition Federation, Inc. All meetings convened and business conducted by ACF shall be convened and conducted by Academic Competition Federation, Inc.
3. The ACF Constitution is hereby incorporated into the bylaws of Academic Competition Federation, Inc. The role of the ACF Constitution shall be limited to the following: selecting and approving members of ACF and changing membership status of current members; electing ACF’s officers and editors and assigning editors to tournaments; discussing and voting on amendments to the ACF Constitution and Official ACF Rules; and voting on the Carper Award.
4. Academic Competition Federation, Inc. shall be the sole financial instrument of ACF.
5. Academic Competition Federation, Inc. shall be the sole entity responsible for all ACF tournaments. This role includes creating and editing tournaments; arranging for mirror sites of ACF Fall and Regionals (or any other ACF tournament); and organizing and operating ACF Nationals (or any other ACF tournament).
6. Any staffers at ACF-run tournaments or ACF editors who are not members of Academic Competition Federation, Inc. shall be recognized as temporary employees of Academic Competition Federation, Inc.
7. Resignation or termination of membership from Academic Competition Federation, Inc. shall cease ACF membership entirely. (Article added by amendment 11/4/2012.)

This constitution was written by Eric Kwartler and ratified by him and the other Full members of ACF at the time of its composition: Matthew Weiner, Jerry Vinokurov, Mike Sorice, and Seth Teitler.