A.P.I.
ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL ITALIANISTS
ASSOCIAZIONE PROFESSORI D ITALIANO

Founded in 1981 at Johannesburg

1. Denomination: A.P.I., Association of Professional Italianists in South Africa Associazione di Professori d Italiano in Sudafrica

 

2. Objectives: The study and dissemination in South Africa of Italian language, culture and literature including pedagogy at university and school level and in line with the latest Italian and international criticism.

 

3. Members: P.I. is open to all researchers and lecturers of Italian Studies, teachers, students and anyone interested in various aspects of Italian culture.
   • Membership fees: membership of A.P.I is dependent on the payment of membership fees for a calendar year and begins on the date of receipt of payment of the fee. Payment of the fee affords the right to receive the minutes of the Annual General Meeting, circulars and A.P.I. publications.
   • The association is composed of ordinary members with voting rights and honorary members without voting rights.
   • Honorary membership is extended to the Ambassador of Italy in South Africa, the Consul of Johannesburg, the Consul of Cape Town, the Honorary Consul of Durban, the Director of the Institute of Italian Culture in Pretoria, the directors or presidents of the various branches of the Dante Alighieri Society in South Africa, as well as anyone deemed to have contributed to achieving the objectives of the association nominated by a member and approved at the next annual general meeting.

 

4. Events: The main events of A.P.I are a conference held every two years and colloquia held ad hoc, insofar as possible, at the various centres in South Africa where Italian is taught.

 

• An A.P.I conference refers to a meeting held every two years where academic papers are presented having beforehand been approved by the incumbent President. The theme or themes of the conference shall be defined around two years before the holding of the conference at the Annual General Meeting of members and shall be communicated by circular to the members; the definitive title of the conference shall be announced one year prior to the holding of such.
• An A.P.I colloquium refers to a round table or workshop. The theme or themes of such shall be defined around one year prior to the holding of the colloquium on the occasion of the Annual General Meeting of the members and shall be communicated by circular to the members; the title of the colloquium shall be announced at least six months prior to the holding of such.

 

5. Annual General Meeting:

 

• The Annual General Meeting of members is the ruling body of the Association and is called on an annual basis by the President for the purpose of approving the budget and the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting, for the purpose of a Presidential report, for the purpose of a report from the Editorial Committee and the approval of future programmes. In addition, the Annual General Meeting shall:
  • elect the members of the Executive Committee (every second year) and the Editorial Committee of the A.P.I journal namely Studi d Italianistica nell Africa Australe / Italian Studies in Southern Africa [ISSA] (every four years; renewable);
  • delineate the general activities of the Association;
  • deliberate on any changes to the Statute;
  • deliberate on any issue included on the agenda as proposed to the Executive Committee by individual members by means of written communication addressed to the President at least three weeks prior to the Annual General Meeting.
• The Annual General Meeting is chaired by the President or, in his/her absence the Vice President.
• The calling of the Annual General Meeting shall be communicated to the members by electronic mail one month prior. The call must mention the date and place of the Annual General Meeting and must include the agenda.
• All paid-up members may vote on matters put to vote at the Annual General Meeting. Members unable to attend may elect a proxy. This must be done in writing using the appropriate form and sent to the Secretary.
• Amendments to the Statute are approved where they receive a majority of votes; a quorum is constituted by the presence of half the members in the first convocation. In the absence of a quorum in the first instance, the Annual General Meeting is called again after thirty minutes and is constituted by the members present in person or by proxy.

 

• Voting must take place in a transparent manner by the raising of hands, or, where requested by ten per cent of the members present, by secret ballot.
• The minutes of each Annual General Meeting shall be drawn up by the Secretary. He/she must note the names of those present and any and all decisions taken along with an indication of the outcomes of individual votes. The minutes shall be circulated among the members by the President by means of electronic mail and are formally approved at the following Annual General Meeting.

 

6. Executive Committee: The Executive Committee is composed of the following: President; Vice-President; Treasurer: Secretary: Representative of the Editorial Committee of the A.P.I journal; Representative of non-academic members. Their roles are defined as follows.
   • The President represents the Association; hosts the conference and the colloquium and is entirely responsible for the organization of such events. He/she, in consultation with the rest of the Executive Committee, proposes the date and the themes, oversees the invitation of participants including important international figures in the relevant field, selects proposals for presentations on the basis of their scientific merit and circulates information to relevant parties via the Secretary. Where necessary, he/she may nominate experts who are not members to join the scientific committee for the conference.
   • The Vice President is elected two years prior to the conference and colloquium he/she is required to organize. He/she automatically becomes President at the end of his/her term as Vice President.

The Treasurer collects annual membership fees as established by the Executive Committee. The Treasurer prepares and administers membership cards, keeps the accounts of the association and submits the annual budget (01 April 31 March) to the Annual General Meeting. He/she administers the funds in the best interest of the Association on the basis of the directives of the Annual General Meeting and allocates funds to the incumbent President for the organisation of the conference and the colloquium in consultation with the Executive Committee.

• The Secretary works alongside the President and is tasked with secretarial duties and maintaining contact with members. He/she draws up the agenda and the minutes of Annual General Meetings.
• The Representative of the Editorial Committee of the journal acts reports to the Executive Committee on behalf of the Editorial Committee and participates in decisions made by the Executive Committee relating to issues which concern the journal and with the selection of papers to publish in the Conference proceedings and in the journal.
• The Representative of non-academic members promotes the interests of such members and maintains the relationship between the Association and persons involved with the promotion of Italian language and culture.
• The Executive Committee may occasionally opt to engage consultants where the need arises.
• In addition to keeping the books of the association, the Executive Committee shall ensure substantial publicity and transparency of any and all activities of the Association also making use of publication on the web site of the association.

 

7. The A.P.I Journal (ISSA)

The academic channel of A.P.I is the six-monthly journal Studi d Italianistica nell Africa Australe / Italian Studies in Southern Africa [ISSA] which has the following organizational structure.

 

An Editorial Director;

An Editorial Committee composed of the Editorial Director and two Co-Directors;

An International Scientific Committee;

An Editorial Secretary.

• The responsibilities of the functions described above are as follows:
  • The Editorial Director is tasked with organizing, producing and editing the editions of the journal Studi d Italianistica dell Africa Australe / Italian Studies in Southern Africa, and the Proceedings, which may be published in their entirety in electronic format, and to print the journal containing selected articles in the official format possibly taking advantage of financial grants.
  • The Editorial Committee is tasked with evaluating the contributions received. Specifically the Co-Directors support the Editorial Director in the evaluation and selection of contributions; maintain relationships with the Scientific Committee and other relevant parties, as required. The members of the Editorial Committee may nominate external parties to take part in the editorial process as well as editors for special editions on an ad hoc basis. The Editorial Committee also identifies possible candidates for the Scientific Committee selecting them from among local and international experts in the discipline of Italian Studies and Italian culture in general. In addition the Editorial Committee maintains relationships with the institutions.
  • The members of the International Scientific Committee are tasked with peer-reviewing submissions am with consultancy.
  • The Editorial Secretary receives communications and contributions and forwards them to the Executive Committee.

 

• The Representative of Editorial Committee and acts as intermediary between the Editorial Committee and the Executive Committee and participates in the decisions of the latter where matters concerning the journal and the selection of articles for publication in the journal or in the proceedings of conferences.
• The publication of an article in the journal ISSA is subject to the approval of the Editorial Director and at least two readers from the Scientific Committee or the Editorial Committee. Where necessary specialists not forming part of these committees may act as peer-reviewers.
• Election and duration of term: Members of the Editorial Committee are elected at the Annual General Meeting of A.P.I members by simple majority. The term is of a duration of four years which is automatically renewed unless the Annual General Meeting deliberates on the matter and decides upon discharge or in the case of voluntary discharge.

 

8. In all and any matters not explicitly mentioned in this Statute or in the case of any eventualities that arise, the procedure to be followed may be decided by the incumbent Executive Committee and submitted for approval at the following Annual General Meeting.

Version adopted on 4 November 2015 at Johannesburg