Governance & Policies

The association holds an annual membership meeting in May, followed by a meeting of its Board of Directors.  A second meeting of the directors is customarily held in New York City in October, and virtual meetings as necessary.  From its inception, the association has been governed by this Board of Directors, who are elected to staggered three-year terms at the annual membership meeting.  The board currently includes 18 members, who come from inside and outside academia. The Board has historically attempted to collect various authorial, bibiliophile, pedagogical, scholarly, and literary interests.

There are four officers, working as a governance team helping to guide the overall direction of K-SAA: a President, who oversees the larger interests of the association, including its connections to the British KSMA and to the Rome House; two Vice-Presidents, one who serves as academic liaison and moderates our programming and one who directs our communications and social media efforts; a Secretary, who communicates with membership, organizes meetings, takes minutes of the meetings and sees that they are published as a legal record in the Keats-Shelley Journal; and a Treasurer who looks after both the membership lists and the financial well-being of the association. In addition, oversight of the K-SJ is triangulated among the editor and two reviews editors. After our 2019-2020 strategic planning process, we have adopted several committees and working groups–for Programming, our High School Initiative, Communications, Membership, and Governance. None of the Board or the editorial team are financially remunerated. We currently employ a Director of Operations, a Director of Communications, and a yearly cohort of Communications Fellows to expand and enliven our social media presence, our K-SAA Blog, and outreach on Twitter to our wider community.

The official mailing address of the association is at the Shelley and His Circle Collection of the New York Public Library.  It is incorporated as a non-profit charity in the State of New York.

Interim Statement on Professional Conduct

As an organization dedicated to bringing together scholars, teachers, students, librarians, and lovers of literature from around the world, the Keats-Shelley Association of America (K-SAA) is committed to fostering a welcoming environment for all. The K-SAA and its Board of Directors condemn all forms of harassment, discrimination, and exploitation, including unwanted sexual attention; offensive behavior; and insulting modes of address. We affirm the right of everyone who participates in the activities of the organization to do so in an atmosphere of safety and mutual respect. The organization expects that the values of equity, access, and civility will inform the conduct of all members and participants at K-SAA-sponsored events and related activities, whether professional, social, or public.