Alabama Federation of French Clubs

FRENCH CONVENTION

AFFC-AATF ‘Merger’

Subsumption of AFFC by AATF (pdf version)

BACKGROUND

The Alabama Federation of French Clubs (AFFC) has been an active entity among secondary schools in the State of Alabama for over 70 years.  It is singularly known for convening the annual French Convention, a gathering of hundreds of middle and high school students for a day of competitions and activities in French.  Like the Alliance Française chapters within the state, the AFFC has maintained a parallel existence to the Alabama Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF).  Unlike the Alliance Française, however, the AFFC has been energized solely through the efforts of classroom French teachers, not Francophiles writ large.  With the elimination of dozens of French programs across the state over the past twenty years, the need to unify the support for and efforts of Alabama’s French teachers has only increased.  Thus, we believe that bringing the AFFC under the umbrella of Alabama’s chapter of the AATF is both logical and reasonable.

BENEFITS

The subsumption of the AFFC by AATF Alabama has the potential to provide the following discernable, mutual benefits:

  1. Increase overall efficiency (economy of effort).
  2. Attract more teachers to the AATF.
  3. Foster greater solidarity among state-wide French teachers.
  4. Qualify the French Convention for an AATF small grant annually.
  5. Provide access to the AATF’s corporate video conferencing account, when needed.
  6. Establish long-term financial stability.
  7. Create greater flexibility for the French Convention in terms of site use, publicity and promotion, wider higher-ed support, etc.
  8. Ensure the continued longevity of the French Convention through a deeper reach across the state and a more coordinated effort in support of middle and high school French programs.
  9. Expand the overall reach of and participation in the French Convention or similar event(s).
  10. Provide greater exposure of the AATF as a professional association to university professors and graduate teaching assistants involved with the French Convention.
  11. Enhance the national profile of Alabama’s AATF Chapter by showcasing a unique and storied event, the French Convention.
  12. Reduce the cost for French Convention participants when the registering teacher is an AATF member and provide further subsidies or scholarships to low-income students/French programs.

PROCESS

The Executive Officers of the AATF and the President and Vice-President Clubs of the AFFC put forth the following proposal for a vote by their respective memberships.  In accordance with the constitutions and bylaws of both the AATF and the AFFC, an affirmative vote of 2/3 of the membership participating in the voting is required in order to approve the proposal and amend the constitution.  Both the Executive Officers of the AATF of Alabama and the President and Vice-President Clubs of the AFFC unanimously recommend a vote to APPROVE the subsumption as proposed.

This Proposal will be posted for review and comment for two weeks, from Monday, November 11, through Friday, November 22, 2024.  Voting will take place electronically for two weeks, from Monday, December 2, through Friday, December 13.  Both memberships will be notified of voting results by Friday, December 20, 2024.

PROPOSAL

That the Alabama Federation of French Clubs (AFFC) be subsumed by the Alabama Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), according to the following details:

  1. Constitutions
    • The constitution of the AFFC would be dissolved.
    • The constitution of the Alabama Chapter of the AATF would be amended to include the addition of French Convention President and French Convention Webmaster as executive board members, whose duties would include the planning and execution of the annual French Convention and the maintenance of the French Convention website, respectively.
  2. Name
    • The AFFC name would be retired.  Within the context of the Alabama Chapter of the AATF, only the name of the annual event, the French Convention, would continue to be used, due to its widespread recognition and legacy.
  3. Funds
    • All existing funds in the bank account belonging to the AFFC would be transferred to the Alabama Chapter of the AATF. The account belonging to the AFFC would then be closed following the transfer of said funds.
  4. Effective Date
    • March 1, 2025

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