AofA Bylaws


For the purpose of this document, the following abbreviations hold:
AofA	International Conference or Workshop on Probabilistic, Combinatorial
        and Asymptotic Methods in the Analysis of Algorithms
PC	Program Committee
SC	Steering Committee

Bylaw 1 (Conference and Workshop Periodicity)

AofA sponsors bi-annual conferences, usually held in even-numbered years,
and bi-annual workshops, usually held in odd-numbered years.

Bylaw 2 (Composition of Steering Committee)

The SC for AofA consists of:

* The three last PC Chairs of an AofA conference.
  These members will be referred to as "PC chair members"

* Three members-at-large.

Each member of the SC serves for a period of six years.
Members can only serve a subsequent term after a
hiatus of at least two years.

Bylaw 3 (PC Chair Members Renewal)

At the end of the business meeting at each AofA conference, the
PC Chair becomes a PC Chair member of the SC in substitution
of the longest serving PC Chair member of the SC. In the case where
the PC Chair is a serving SC member-at-large he/she must
resign from his/her member-at-large position. In the case that
the PC Chair role is shared among co-chairs, the SC will choose one
of them to serve on the SC. If a vacancy occurs among
the PC chair members for any other reason, then the place is filled by
the last PC chair not already in the SC, until the end of the business
meeting at the next AofA conference.

Bylaw 4 (Members-at-large Renewal)

At least 3 months prior to the next AofA conference, the SC must choose a
replacement to fill the member-at-large position. Replacement
takes place at the end of the upcoming AofA business meeting.
If there is a vacancy among the members-at-large for any other reason,
the SC must choose a replacement for the remainder of the term.

Bylaw 5 (Steering Committee Chair)

The SC chair is the longest serving SC member-at-large. He/she is
responsible for conducting the business of the SC, including formal
balloting on controversial points.

Controversy amongst the SC members on how to best fulfill the SC's
responsibilities may be resolved by formal balloting at the request of
any of the SC members. The SC Chair's vote breaks ties.

Bylaw 6 (Responsibilities of the Steering Committee)

It is the SC's obligation to ensure that there is an appropriate
location for holding AofA conferences and workshops. Other SC
responsibilities are:

* Collecting requests for holding AofA conferences and workshops. The SC
can request proposals.  A site proposal must: (i) Specify a city for
conference location (no geographical location is a priori deemed
inappropriate); (ii) Specify a Conference/Workshop Chair or two
Co-Chairs. In the case of two Conference Co-Chairs, the proposal must
specify which of the two will become an SC member or whether the term
of service will be evenly divided amongst the Co-Chairs and in which
order.

* Announcing the next AofA's location and Conference/Workshop Chair.  A
preliminary decision will be made at each AofA for the meeting two
years hence and a formal announcement of the time and place posted in
the AofA mailing list eighteen months prior to the event.

* Assisting the Conference/Workshop Chair to find financial sponsorship
for his/her AofA.

* Appointing AofA's Electronic Secretary at least once every five years.
The Electronic secretary is responsible for maintaining the AofA
mailing list; for maintaining the AofA SC website; and for ensuring
consistency and appropriate crosslinking among the Conference/Workshop
and AofA SC websites.

* Appointing one of its members, by default the last Conference Chair,
to oversee and provide guidance in the next AofA meeting preparation
once the new Conference/Workshop Chair is chosen. This member would
act as liaison between the Conference/Workshop Chair and the SC and
Electronic Secretary.

* Replacing vacant SC positions either due to resignation or
unwillingness to fulfill SC responsibilities, expressed by the member himself.

* Reporting during every Conference business meeting of all agreements
it has reached (concerning past and future activities) since the last
Conference business meeting took place.

All changes to the customary AofA format and procedures, which are
outlined in this document, must be approved by the SC. The decision of
the SC is binding.

Bylaw 7 (AofA Conferences)

AofA is a 4-5 day conference to be held each even-numbered year, usually
in late spring or early summer.

AofA's subject matter covers probabilistic, combinatorial and
asymptotic methods in the analysis of algorithms, as well as related
fields, including (but not limited to) analytic and enumerative
combinatorics, random structures, stochastic processes, discrete
probability, computer algebra, probabilistic algorithms, and algorithm
design.

The PC Chair carries the overall responsibilities for the AofA
conference. The PC Chair appoints a PC in consultation with
the SC.  The PC should include one member of
the SC, who can keep the SC informed about committee
deliberations. The PC Chair publishes a time table for the
Conference. This time table includes the dates at which certain tasks
are to be completed, and who is responsible for those tasks, such as
preparing and publicizing the Call for Papers, raising external funds
for the Conference, negotiating and signing a contract with the local
facility, reviewing submitted papers and announcing decisions,
preparing and publicizing the advance program, preparing the final
program and the registration.  The PC Chair is responsible for
providing the SC with copies of all public documents related to the
Conference.  If a PC Chair becomes incapable of working on a
meeting, the SC substitutes him/her with a new PC Chair.

AofA solicits, reviews, and publishes papers describing original
research which at the time of their submission to AofA have not been
submitted to any other conference or scientific journal. The papers
are submitted about one half year before the Conference and reviewed
by the PC. Submissions are reviewed by at least three specialists in
the subject, possibly PC members; external reviewers are allowed. Both
PC members and external reviewers should be notified that submissions
are to be treated as confidential; its content (and even its
existence) is not to be publicly revealed nor used in any way for
their own research.

PC Chairs cannot submit papers on which they are authors or
co-authors. Other PC members submissions are allowed.

Accepted papers are published in Proceedings that are available at the
Conference. A publication of a special issue of a journal dedicated to
the conference should be arranged.

The program must include five to nine invited plenary speakers, who
may publish their presentations as papers in the Proceedings.  The
PC Chair must request from the SC and PC a list of candidates
for invited speakers. It is the PC Chair's privilege and
responsibility to make the final choice amongst the candidates, but
he/she must seek its formal approval by the SC.  At least half of the
speakers must work in core AofA research areas. The program may be
framed in adjacent days by tutorials, workshops, user meetings, and
other events. The program must include a business meeting.

Each conference will open with a Flajolet lecture (see Bylaw 8).

Bylaw 8 (Flajolet Lectures)

Each AofA conference will open with a Flajolet Lecture, delivered by
a leading senior figure in research in the field.

A committee of three distinguished scientists (a Chair and two other
members to be appointed by the SC) will invite the Flajolet lecturer,
in consultation with the SC, as soon as possible after the conference
date and time is established.

Committee members are appointed to six-year terms, staggered every two years
(after appropriate startup). For each appointment, the Chair must propose
a candidate for the SC to approve.

Responsibilities of the Chair are (i) raise funds for travel support;
(ii) propose a list of candidates for the committee for the SC to
choose among; (iii) guide committee deliberations to ensure that a
speaker is secured in a timely fashion.

Bylaw 9 (AofA workshops)

AofA workshops are informal gatherings, usually held each odd-numbered year,
in the late spring or early summer. No time of year or geographical
location is a priori deemed inappropriate.

The purpose of workshops is to stimulate research in the field by (i)
providing a regular forum for researchers to come and exchange ideas;
(ii) attracting prominent people from related areas to the field.

Attendance at AofA workshops is by invitation, and may include invited
lectures. The Workshop Chair must request from the SC a list of
candidates for the first round of invitations. It is the Workshop
Chair's privilege and responsibility to make the final choices amongst
the candidates, but he/she must seek its formal approval by the SC.
Later rounds of invitations are the responsibility of the Workshop Chair.
He/she should solicit advice and input from the SC at any time.

The Workshop Chair also has latitude in developing the program, except
that two afternoons during the week should be left free for research
interaction.

Special accommodations for students should be a priority.

Anyone interested in attending an AofA workshop may request an
invitation, and the Workshop Chair will make every attempt to
accommodate such requests.

The program must include a business meeting.

Bylaw 10 (Amendments)

These bylaws can be amended by ballot at AofA's business meeting. Any
amendment needs 2/3 of the casted vote. AofA authors of one or more
of the three preceding AofA Conferences are entitled to vote by mail
within one month before the meeting at which the amendment is voted
on. Votes are to be sent to the SC.

The SC should formally propose amendments two months in advance of the
next conference's business meeting, publish the proposals on the
conference website and post it to the AofA mailing list in order
to allow ample time for their discussion.

Bylaw 11 (Current Status)

Members-at-large:
SC Chair: Bob Sedgewick (until AofA'18)
Hsien-Kuei Hwang (until AofA'22)
Conrado Martinez (until AofA'20)

PC Chair members:
Nicolas Broutin (until AofA'18)
Ralph Neininger (until AofA'22)
Michele Soria (until AofA'20)

Flajolet lecture chair: Michael Drmota
Flajolet lecturers
   2014: D.E. Knuth
   2016: R. Sedgewick