Guide to the American
Philosophical Association

A Member's Guide to the APA

I. Membership

The APA, which exists for the benefit of its members, provides a variety of services. The purpose of this guide is to make it easier for you to understand how the APA works and thus to take advantage of these services.

Membership benefits include: Subscriptions to the Proceedings and Addresses of the APA (5 issues per year) and the Jobs for Philosophers (4 issues per year); APA Newsletters (2 issues per year), which will be published online starting in the Fall 2004 and available to all APA members; use of the Job Placement Service at Divisional meetings and the APA JobSeeker Database (where departments can view curriculum vitae of those seeking employment); eligibility to serve on APA Committees; eligibility to compete for the various APA Prizes and Awards; eligibility to submit papers for consideration on the three annual Divisional Meeting Programs; discounted hotel and registration rates at the Divisional Meetings; subscription discounts on a number of philosophy journals published outside the APA and book discounts at Divisional Meetings. Members can also access the Members Only section of the website (www.apaonline.org), which includes online editions of previous and current issues of the Proceedings and Addresses and Jobs for Philosophers; additional job ads posted only to the website between printed editions of the JFP; current and past issues of the APA Newsletters; the JFP-Alert Mailing List sign-up; a searchable listing of Conferences, Seminars, and Calls for Papers relevant to philosophers, and a listing of Grants and Fellowships of interest to philosophers.

One of the most practical benefits of APA membership is access to the APA Jobs for Philosophers, the main publication for job advertisements in philosophy. The JFP is published in newspaper form four times a year (October, November, February, and May). To receive the printed version of JFP (free of charge within the United States and Canada), just check the box on your annual renewal form. The issues of the JFP are also available online in the Members Only Section of the website. The online version includes additional job notices that appear between issues of the printed version; these online notices are sometimes, but not always, re-run in the next printed issue.

To advertise your availability for philosophical employment, you can use the JobSeeker Database on the APA website; please follow the instructions on the screen. Or to place an ad in the JFP, please see the instructions, Board Statements, and online submission form on our website (http://www.apa.udel.edu/apa/publications/jfp/advertise.asp).

To make the best use of the APA, you of course have to be a member. You may find an application for membership on the APA website under “join.” You may print the form out and mail or fax it to us with your method of payment. Or, if you would prefer to receive an application form by mail, you may contact the National Office (Janet Sample: 302-831-4657 or jsample@udel.edu).

If you are joining as a Regular member, you will need to select affiliation with one of the three Divisions of the APA: Eastern, Central, or Pacific. You can go to any Divisional meeting and be on any Divisional program, but you can vote only within your Division (electing Divisional officers and voting at the annual business meeting). Your Divisional affiliation is indicated by E, C, or P next to your name in the membership list that is published in each November issue of the Proceedings. You can change your Divisional affiliation at any time (but only once within a given year); just notify Janet Sample in writing, by email, or by using the form on our website. Please note that all Divisional changes take effect on the following July 1.

If you join as a Student or International Associate Member, you will have no Divisional affiliation and thus no voting rights (since all voting is Divisional). But you will be able to enjoy all the other benefits of APA membership.

II. National Office

The APA National Office is responsible for maintaining membership records; producing the APA’s various publications (Proceedings and Addresses, Newsletters, Jobs for Philosophers, Guide to Graduate Programs in Philosophy, and a number of one-time publications); maintaining the website; and dealing with the daily business of the APA. This last category includes assisting the numerous APA committees in their projects; administering the various prizes offered by the Association (with the exception of a few that are tied to a particular Division); providing assistance to members and departments; and answering a great many questions and requests from members, other members of the philosophical community, and the general public. The National Office is also responsible for much of the nuts-and-bolts of the Divisional meetings, such as publishing the programs, handling registration, and providing job placement services.

The National Office is headed by the Executive Director. In addition, there is a full-time staff of nine people; their names and titles can be found in the “contact us” section of the website. If you have questions about National Office operations or services, you may contact the specialist in charge or ask the Executive Director.

III. Governance Structure

A. National

The APA operates under a set of By-Laws, which can be found on the website; click on “By-Laws” (under “Governance”). Changes in the By-Laws require the ratification by all three Divisions. Policy changes concerning matters not required or forbidden by the By-Laws may take place through various simpler means; some changes require Board action, some can be initiated by the Chair of the Board or the Executive Director, and some are at the discretion of an APA Committee chair. Contact the Executive Director for advice on how to propose a change on a National matter.

The APA Board of Officers is composed of the Chair, the Vice Chair, the Treasurer, and the Executive Director; the Presidents, Vice-Presidents, immediate Past Presidents, and Secretary-Treasurers of the three Divisions; one further elected representative from each Division; and the Chairs of the six Standing Committees (that is, committees mandated by the ByLaws and most directly involved in setting APA policy). With the exception of the Executive Director and the Vice Chair, the members of the Board are elected for terms of three years; the method of election for each member is described in the By-Laws. The Executive Director is appointed by the Board for a five-year renewable term.

The Board meets once a year, generally in November. The business of the Board includes approving the budget of the National Office, setting membership dues, reviewing the activities of the committees, voting for candidates to fill empty seats on the committees, hearing the reports of the Chair and the Executive Director, and conducting any new business. An idea of the Board’s activities can be gathered from the minutes of past Board meetings, which are published in every May issue of the Proceedings. Members of the Board also advise the Chair and the Executive Director on numerous matters throughout the year; sometimes this function is exercised by a subgroup of the Board known as the Chair’s Council.

There are currently six Standing Committees (Academic Career Opportunities and Placement; Inclusiveness; International Cooperation; Lectures, Publications and Research; Status and Future of the Profession; and Teaching), and fourteen Special Committees (American Indians; Asian and Asian-American Philosophers and Philosophies; Blacks in Philosophy; Computers; Defense of the Professional Rights of Philosophers; Hispanics; Law; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People in the Profession; Medicine; Non-Academic Careers; Pre-College Instruction in Philosophy; Public Philosophy; Two-Year Colleges; and Women). Each serves to promote initiatives deemed important to the flourishing of the philosophical profession. A complete list of committee members, together with the charge of each committee, can be found on the website under “Committees.” Committee members and chairs are elected by the Board; each serves for a term of three years.

To become a member of a National APA Committee, you must be nominated and appointed. Every year in the spring, nominations for committees are solicited; self-nominations are accepted, even encouraged. After receiving and considering all nominations, the APA’s Committee on Committees — which comprises the Chair of the Board, the Executive Director, and the three divisional representatives — prepares a slate of recommended appointments; finally, the entire Board votes on the Committee’s recommendations. A complete description of the committee appointment process can be found on our website and in each May issue of the Proceedings.

B. Divisional

The APA has three Divisions: Eastern, Central, and Pacific. Each Division has a President, a Vice-President, a Divisional Representative to the APA Board of Officers, a Secretary-Treasurer, an Executive Committee, a Nominating Committee, and a Program Committee. A new Vice-President is elected each year by each Division; after a one-year term, the Vice-President becomes President of that Division (the terms run from July 1 to June 30). The President delivers the Presidential Address for the Division in question, chairs its annual business meeting, and serves on its Executive Committee. The Secretary-Treasurers are responsible for the finances and the day-to-day operations of the Divisions.

Each of the three Divisions has its own ByLaws; these can be found on the website (click on “By-Laws,” under “Governance”). If you have questions about the operation of your Division, ask your Divisional Secretary-Treasurer.

The primary function of the Divisions is to organize the three divisional meetings. Each Division gets its main revenue from the registration fees you pay to attend the Divisional meetings. The program for each meeting is decided upon by the Program Committee of that Division; the Chair and the members of each Division’s Program Committee are selected according to a process described in that Division’s ByLaws. Information about future meetings, including an invitation to make nominations and other suggestions to the Program Committee, can be found in the annual letter from the Secretary-Treasurer of the Division in question, published at the beginning of the relevant program issue of the Proceedings (September for the Eastern, January for the Pacific, February for the Central). Some of this information is also available on the website, on the pages for the Divisions.

To submit a paper for consideration on a Divisional program, please send it to: Lindsay Palkovitz, American Philosophical Association, 31 Amstel Avenue, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716. Please note that you must be a member in good standing in order to submit a paper. You should indicate (on the bottom left-hand corner of your envelope) the specific Divisional meeting to which you are submitting your paper. Selection of papers for the programs, as well as the location and dates of each Divisional meeting, are solely the responsibility of the Divisions. Detailed information about paper submissions can be found by clicking this link.

Guide to the American Philosophical Association

A Member's Guide to the APA

Guide to the American
Philosophical Association