The Conference of Administrative Officers (CAO) serves as the primary vehicle for maintaining and enhancing relationships among the constituent learned societies and between the societies and ACLS. The CAO holds semi-annual meetings to discuss substantive issues in the humanities as well as practical and organizational aspects of society management. The Executive Committee of the CAO sets the agenda for these meetings. Its chair serves as an ex officio member of the ACLS Board of Directors.
CAO Executive Committee
- Jack Fitzmier, American Academy of Religion (2014), ACLS Board of Directors, ex officio
- Nancy Kidd, National Communication Association (2016)
- Timothy Lloyd, American Folklore Society (2016)
- Victoria Long, Society for Music Theory (2014)
- Milagros Pererya-Rojas, Latin American Studies Association (2016)
- Stephen Stuempfle, Society for Ethnomusicology (2015)
- Kent Williamson, College Forum of the National Council of Teachers of English (2015)
CAO fall meetings are held in cities of interest as possible convention sites for member societies and are hosted by each city's convention and visitors bureau. The 2012 fall meeting was held in Nashville, TN, on November 8-11 (read more). Spring meetings take place in conjunction with the ACLS Annual Meeting. The 2013 spring meeting was held on May 11 in Baltimore, MD.
Certain fall meetings are designated "retreats." The program for these meetings allows for focused discussion of topics that are of broad interest in the humanities community and that have significant implications for all of the constituent societies. Participants prepare materials aimed at a comparative understanding of the dynamics, histories, and trajectories of our member societies as they relate to the retreat's focus. The most recent retreat was in Salt Lake City in November 2007. It was titled "ACLS, the Learned Societies and Shaping Humanities Scholarship: The Plural Relationships of Learned Societies" (read more).