1. The name of this learned society in the field of Coptic Studies shall be the International Association for Coptic Studies.

2. Purposes of the Association. The Association shall be a non-profit organization de­signed to encourage and contribute to the progress of all aspects of Coptic Studies. It shall promote international cooperation among individuals as well as among organizations and in­stitutions. It shall advance the dissemination of information about work in progress, new dis­coveries and new results, organize periodic Congresses on Coptic Studies, facilitate full ac­cess to and the rapid publication of source materials, identify priorities for research at a given time, bring to the attention of younger scholars the whole range of Coptic Studies, etc. It shall maintain a website on the internet, containing information about its members and their activities, publications in preparation, as well as other activities and institutions relevant to Coptic Studies; and an e-mail bulletin board dedicated to Coptic Studies.

3. Membership. The Association is open to all who are interested in Coptic Studies. All participants in the First International Congress of Coptology, as well as those not present but known to be interested in membership, are given the opportunity through the end of 1977 to be charter members. Subsequent members will be elected by a poll of the Board if nomina­tions are submitted by at least two members to the Secretary at least six months prior to the next Congress. Those elected will be notified at least one month prior to that Congress. The annual membership fee will be set by the Business Meeting of the Association, with a re­duced rate for students and retired people. Institutional memberships are permitted; a repre­sentative of such an institution would have one vote. Anyone who is interested may become a “Friend of the IACS” at the same fee rate as for retired members; a Friend will have all the privileges of normal membership except the right to vote on formal business at the Business Meeting and the right to serve on the Board.

4. Officers. a. Honorary Officers. The Association may choose to elect permanent Honor­ary Presidents. b. Executive Officers. There will be seven non-permanent officers: President, President-Elect, Secretary, Congress Secretary, Webmaster, Director of the Cairo Center of the Association, and Editor of the Journal of Coptic Studies. The terms of office of the executive officers are from one stated Business Meeting to the next, i.e. four years, and will expire with the election of new officers. Only the Secretary, the Webmaster, the Director of the Cairo Center, and the Editor of the Journal of Coptic Studies are subject to reelection without an intervening term. The President-Elect presides in the absence of the President and normally succeeds him as President. The Secretary will act as the editor of the Association’s Newsletter, and as the Association’s treasurer, in which capacity he will submit an annual report to the Board. The Webmaster will act as the editor of the Association’s website and bulletin board. The office of the Secretary and of the Webmaster will together function as a clearing-house of information to members.

5. Board. The Board will consist of all executive officers plus four members at large. The members at large have staggered terms in two classes of two members each. Initially, two will be elected to serve until the second Congress and two until the third. Decisions will be made by a majority vote of those present at the meeting. In the event of a tie vote during a Board Meet­ing, the President’s vote will break the tie. The Board receives and approves reports from the officers for presentation at the Business Meeting, and is responsible for the Association’s ac­tivity between Congresses, including serving as the Editorial Board of the Journal of Coptic Studies (which the Association founded in 1988 in cooperation with the publishers Peeters in Leuven). The Board holds stated meetings just before and after each Congress. Special meet­ings of the Board may be called by a request of three of its members approved by a majority of its members and scheduled at least three months in advance; a quorum shall consist of five members. The Board will have the right in the case of a vacancy to elect a replacement to serve until the next Business Meeting. During each Congress, a Nominations Committee will choose a new slate of Board members for nomination during the Business Meeting at the end of the Congress. The Nominations Committee will be formed by the President, the Presi­dent‑Elect, the Congress Secretary, the Secretary, the Webmaster, the Director of the Cairo Center, the Editor of the Journal of Coptic Studies, and the two continuing board members at large. If any members of the Nominations Committee are absent, the President will make a reasonable effort to solicit their opinions for consideration.

6. Congresses. The Association will meet normally at four-year intervals. Priority should be given to locations at which members are not excluded from attending. A Business Meeting of the Association will be held at each regular Congress. A provisional agenda for the Busi­ness Meeting will be published in the Newsletter. Items for the agenda should be submitted in writing to the Secretary at least one month before the next Congress. The final agenda will be determined by the Board at its meeting just before the Congress. The Business Meeting con­firms members elected by the Board, elects officers, sets dues, endorses research projects, and takes other action advancing Coptic Studies. Decisions will be made by a majority vote of those present at the Business Meeting. Special meetings may also be convened in addition to the Congresses. Visitors may be admitted to the Congresses but not to the Business Meeting.

7. Finances. The expenses of the Association will be borne by the members in the form of annual dues and registration fees at the Congresses, as well as by donations and grants from individuals and institutions.

8. The Cairo Center. This Center will be set up in cooperation with the Société d’Arché­ologie Copte through a mutually adopted Agreement. The Association’s website and bulletin board will be set up in cooperation with the Centro Interdipartimentale di Servizi per l’Auto­mazione nelle Discipline Umanistiche of the University of Rome “La Sapienza” through a mutually adopted Agreement.

9. The Statutes may be revised by a majority vote at a Business Meeting. Proposals for changes in the Statutes must be submitted in writing to the Secretary, who will publish them in the Newsletter before the Business Meeting at which they are to be considered.