Interest Group Requirements and Best Practices

Purpose

Interest groups contribute to the intellectual and professional life of the Society for Music Theory by fostering research, discussion, and collaboration around shared scholarly, pedagogical, professional, or disciplinary interests. Recognized interest groups operate with substantial autonomy in determining their activities and leadership, subject to the requirements below.

Because recognition entails access to SMT resources, including Annual Meeting space and administrative support, interest groups are expected to demonstrate continuing activity and participation. These requirements are intended to sustain a healthy and manageable interest-group program while allowing groups to develop, evolve, merge, or conclude as members’ interests change.

The Vice President serves as the primary liaison between SMT and its interest groups.

Formation of New Interest Groups

SMT members may apply for recognition of a new interest group. Proposals should demonstrate both a clear purpose and an existing community of interest sufficient to support the group over time.

Applications should be submitted to the Vice President via an online form. They should include:

a statement of purpose and rationale, including the proposed group’s relationship to existing SMT interest groups;
evidence of prior activity or demonstrated interest in the proposed area;
a brief plan for future activities and participation;
a selected bibliography or resource list representing relevant work in the area; and
an indication of who would serve as the interest group chair(s).

The Vice President will appoint and chair a small committee of current or recent interest-group leaders to review proposals. In evaluating applications, the committee will consider the proposed group’s intellectual or professional contribution to SMT, evidence of sustained interest, relationship to existing groups, prior activity, and prospects for continued participation. The committee may recommend approval, revision and resubmission, or non-approval.

Applicants will receive a brief explanation of the decision and may submit a revised proposal in a subsequent review cycle.

Requirements

To remain in good standing, an interest group must:

Inform the Vice President promptly of any changes in leadership and contact the web editor to update the group’s SMT webpage.
Attend the Interest Group Breakfast Meeting with the Vice President at the Annual Meeting, either through the chair or another representative.
Submit a brief annual report to the Vice President and the group’s members summarizing the group’s activities, successes and challenges, Annual Meeting attendance, and other significant developments. After the Annual Meeting, also provide members with a brief summary of meeting activities and business.
Maintain an up-to-date SMT webpage that includes the group’s mission, activities, online presence or discussion forums, membership information, and leadership/contact information. Groups may also include past activities and relevant resources. If you have a simple website update, you can contact the Executive Director. For more complex updates (such as creating a new webpage, for example), contact the web editor. Groups needing a substantial web presence may consult the IT/Networking Committee about creating a site through Humanities Commons.
Provide the Executive Director with Annual Meeting needs and preferences by the announced deadline, including preferred meeting times, estimated attendance, room setup, and equipment needs. SMT may not be able to accommodate all requests.
Identify interest-group activities clearly as such in publicity and citations so that they are not confused with official SMT activities. Papers presented in interest-group meetings should identify the relevant Interest Group meeting within the Society for Music Theory Annual Meeting; independent events should be identified as “sponsored by the ___ Interest Group of the Society for Music Theory.”
Provide members with periodic opportunities to select or reaffirm leadership through an open and transparent process, normally at least once every four years, and ideally with overlapping terms. Groups may determine their own leadership structures and selection procedures, and overlapping terms are encouraged to support continuity.

Continued Recognition of Existing Interest Groups

Recognition of an interest group depends on reasonable evidence of continuing activity and member interest. SMT recognizes that participation may fluctuate from year to year, and temporary reductions in activity will not normally affect a group’s status.

The Vice President will initiate a review when a group shows sustained signs of inactivity, including, for example:

failure to submit annual reports for two consecutive years;
absence of identifiable or responsive leadership;
repeated failure to respond to required SMT communications; or
no documented activity for two consecutive years.

Before any change in status, the Vice President will contact the group’s leadership and provide an opportunity to explain its circumstances and plans. A group will normally be given one year to resume activity and return to good standing.

If substantial inactivity continues, the Vice President will convene a small committee of current or recent interest-group leaders to review the group’s status. The committee may recommend:

continued recognition;
provisional recognition for a specified period;
collaboration or merger with another interest group; or
dissolution.

The group will have an opportunity to respond to the committee’s recommendation before any recommendation for dissolution is submitted to the Executive Board for final action.

Dissolution is not a bar to future activity. If sufficient interest subsequently re-emerges, members may apply for recognition of a new interest group through the normal process.

SMT Support

The SMT provides the following to each interest group in good standing:

One time slot and meeting room at the Annual Meeting during each year in which the interest group is scheduled to meet, according to the interest-group rotation established by the Society. (Under the current rotation, interest groups are scheduled to meet for two consecutive years, followed by one year off.) An interest group may secure an additional slot by submitting a session proposal to the Program Committee.
A page on the SMT website. This page can be requested once a new interest group has met at the Society’s Annual Meeting, and its chair or a representative has participated in the Interest Group Breakfast Meeting with the Vice President. Contact the web editor for a template.
Support from the IT/Networking Committee in creating a Humanities Commons group or Google Group.

(approved revision, September 2026)