without a vote, while the three officers and the previous year's president serve as voting members of the body. The remaining seven positions are specifically elected and held by members of the LSA. One is a student member, elected to a two-year term, while the remaining six are full members elected to three year terms. The elections for the three-year terms are staggered, with two members elected each year. The executive director is nominated by the executive committee and appointed by the president. They serve as the chief administrative officer, overseeing the society's application and adherence to policies, and report directly to the executive committee. Membership in the LSA is open to any person who pays dues and entitles the member to receive the society's flagship publication, Language, as well as submit manuscripts to LSA publications and abstracts to be considered for the annual meeting. Scholars who live outside of the United States may be elected as honorary members of the LSA after being nominated by the executive committee. There are currently about 3,500 members. The LSA has a number of standing committees and special-interest groups on various issues in linguistics, including: Committee on Endangered Languages and their Preservation (CELP) Ethics Committee Committee on Ethnic Diversity in Linguistics (CEDL) Linguistics in the School Curriculum Committee (LiSC) Linguistics in Higher Education Committee (LiHeC) Public Relations Committee Committee on Public Policy (CoPP) Committee on Student Issues and Concerns (COSIAC) Committee on Gender Equity in Linguistics (COGEL), formerly on the Status of Women in Linguistics (COSWL) Committee on Scholarly Communication in Linguistics (COSCIL) Committee on LGBTQ+ Issues in Linguistics (COZIL) Linguistics Beyond Academia Special Interest Group Meetings The first meeting of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA) took place on 28 December 1924, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The society met biannually until 1982, meeting once in the summer in conjunction with the Linguistic Institute and once in the winter. Since 1982, the LSA has met annually in the winter. The meetings took place in December until 1990 when the meetings were moved to early January. The four-day Annual Meeting co-meets with a number of sister organizations such as the American Dialect Society, the American Name Society, the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas, the North American Association for the History of the Language Sciences, North American Research Network in Historical Sociolinguistics,