NYSCA General Business Meeting

2000 Conference
Sunday, September 24, 2000 – 12:00pm

1. Two resolutions were passed:

• Resolved that the New York State Communication Association warmly thanks Thom Gencarelli for his tireless work at organizing and implementing the 58th Conference of that organization on September 22-24, 2000 at Kutsher’s Hotel in Monticello, New York.

• Resolved that the family of Gerry M. Goldberg be acknowledged by the New York State Communication Association by sending a gift of condolence to his wife Judy and by making a contribution to the Gerry M. Goldberg Memorial Debate Fund at Pace University.

2. Though the actual gavel was missing, there was a passing of the gavel (a bottle of wine, in this case) to Thom.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:30pm.

NYSCA Executive Council Business Meeting
2000 Conference
Sunday, September 24, 2000 – 8:00am

In attendance: Susan Jasko, President (presiding); Thom Gencarelli, VP; Gary and Marie Radford, VPs-Elect; Carol Wilder, incoming VP-Elect; Judythe Isserlis, Treasurer; Laura Tropp, Recording Secretary; Al Auster, Chair, Nominating Committee; Terri Toles-Patkin, Member-at-Large.

1. Discussion resumed about possible new locations for the conference. Judy suggested that next year we should put down a $250.00 deposit here as a fail-safe in case we do not find another suitable place to hold the conference. We did not do the straw poll on whether people would be willing to go to a new location for the conference because it was felt that people could not make an informed decision without knowing the full cost. Judy said that the Desmond in Albany is a possible alternative.

Basing the weekend on 80 rooms a night, the price would probably be similar to what it is now, but there would be a charge of $2,200 for the breakout rooms and audio-visual equipment. Also, there would be no coffee breaks or cocktail party included. We now have a site committee – Judy, Carol, and Mark Lipton – to collect information for the 2002-2004 conferences.

2. Carol made the suggestion that we raise the cost of institutional membership. There was concern over whether the institutions would pay. Susan suggested that a modest increase probably would not keep people away. To increase the institutional membership, we will look to the institutional members of other organizations and appeal to them.

3. Concerning our web initiative, Thom is going to work with Susan Jacobson at Marymount Manhattan College, who will have her students maintain it. We will include on the website: officers, the Constitution, contact information, membership information, and dates for events.

4. Susan again raised the concern that it might be safer if more than one person had a copy of our database. Perhaps this is something the member-at-large could take on? Terri Toles Patkin agreed to take charge of improving the gaps in information.

5. There was discussion about of who is responsible for making sure that the Speech Communication Annual gets to the institutions that request it. We need to get the subscription information organized and pass it on to future editors, if this will be the editor?s responsibility.

6. Thom agreed to draft a statement, using NCA’s statement, concerning the problem communication departments at the SUNY community colleges are having with the SUNY Board of Trustees’ new general education requirement. This recent mandate threatens to limit, if not cancel out the basic communication and basic speech courses as general education requirements, effectively reducing the role of these departments on their campuses.

7. There was discussion about trying to get more production people interested in attending the conference.

8. There was further discussion about the student representative. Council proposed a motion to amend the Constitution to have a student representative. Thom and Marie will draft this.

9. The spring meeting date of the Executive Council will be in March or April in New Jersey or Manhattan;probably on a Friday.

10. It was requested that officers who were not present at the meeting on Sunday provide a written report.

11. Laura will send out an e-mail to gather contact information for all the board members.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:15am.

NYSCA General Business Meeting
2000 Conference
Saturday, September 23, 2000 – 1:00pm

The slate of nominations for office was presented by Al Auster, Chair of the Nominating Committee and voted on by the members of the Association.

The results of the election were as follows:
• Vice President-Elect, Carol Wilder
• Treasurer, Judythe Isserlis
• Recording Secretary, Laura Tropp
• Member-at-Large, Peggy Cassidy
Report from the Executive Secretary, Mary Aiello-Gray

Mary reported on membership:
• 1 institutional member
• 100 pre-registered
• 66 on-site registered
Report from the Vice Presidents-Elect
1. Gary and Marie put out the call for papers for next year’s conference: “2001: A State Odyssey.”

2. Gary and Marie also announced the date of the New Jersey Communication Association meeting on March 31st, in Monmouth, New Jersey.
New Business
1. Susan Drucker made an announcement about the ECA conference, April 25-29th, in Portland, Maine.

2. Judy announced that long-time NYSCA member Gerry Goldberg passed away, and that people could make donations for the Gerry Goldberg Debate Foundation at Pace, or to his wife.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:50pm.

NYSCA Executive Council Business Meeting
2000 Conference
Saturday, September 23, 2000 – 8:00am

In attendance: Susan Jasko, President (presiding); Thom Gencarelli, VP; Gary and Marie Radford, VPs Elect; Lance Strate, Immediate Past President, and Editor, Speech Communication Annual; Mary Aiello-Gray, Executive Secretary; Judythe Isserlis, Treasurer; Laura Tropp, Recording Secretary; Al Auster, Chair of the Nominating Committee; Terri Toles-Patkin, Member-at-Large.

There was some concern expressed about Kutsher’s placing us in the main dining room. It was difficult, at times, to hear the keynote speaker over the noise. We will try to see if Kutsher’s will move us back to our usual room, the Gold Room.

Report from the VPs-Elect, Gary and Marie Radford

Gary and Marie passed out the call for papers for the next year. The keynote speaker is Dr. Daniel Kolak. They made a suggestion for the second keynote speaker, Edward Tenner, a Princteon Professor who has written a book on technology and its unintended consequences. However, Prof. Tenner charges a fee, which is usually high. They will ask if he can give us a reduced rate. Gary and Marie also suggested obtaining corporate sponsorship – perhaps Net Library, an e-book company. Susan made the suggestion that instead of a corporate sponsor, perhaps departments could sponsor this event.

Report from the Executive Secretary, Mary Aiello-Gray
1. Mary provided an update of registration. She now has 26 people for on-site registration and 105 pre-registered (including one lifetime member). NYU renewed its institutional membership.

2. Council decided to renew the limit on how many students the institution is allowed to bring, settling on a three student cap. This will need to be spelled out in future conference mailings.

3. Clarification was also made that a student membership is restricted to full-time students only (though this applies for both graduate and undergraduate students).

4. Mary needs volunteers to sit at the registration desk. A sign-up notice was passed around among the Council members.

5. Mary asked for a clear-cut definition of a member-at-large.
Report of the Treasurer, Judy Isserlis

Judy reported that she expects at least $12,500 to be in the treasury by the end of the conference.

Report of the Editor of the Annual, Lance Strate

Lance postponed his report until the following morning.

New Business
1. There was discussion about the slate for the afternoon election.

2. Next year’s conference will fall on the weekend before Columbus Day weekend.

NYSCA Executive Council Business Meeting
2000 Conference
Friday, September 22, 2000 – 6:15pm

In attendance: Susan Jasko, President (presiding); Thom Gencarelli, VP; Gary and Marie Radford, VPs-Elect; Lance Strate, Immediate Past President and Editor, Speech Communication Annual; Mary Aiello Gray, Executive Secretary; Judythe Isserlis, Treasurer; Laura Tropp, Recording Secretary; Al Auster, Chair, Nominating Committee; Terri Toles-Patkin; Member at Large.

Report from the Vice President, Thom Gencarelli

Thom reported on the program for the weekend. There were 43 panels on the program. This is down from last year when there were 52 panels. There were, as of Friday, 142 participants on the program, from 11 states and 43 different schools and universities. Right now there are 120 people registered for rooms but there will probably be more at the last minute. Conference costs were kept to a minimum: $127.50 for program printing and $100 for gifts for the keynote speakers.

Report from the Executive Secretary, Mary Aiello-Gray

Mary suggested that the change of date to an earlier date than usual may have contributed to the drop in attendance, because people were not on campus to receive the notices. Next year, we will be back to our usual date in October. Mary reported that she has 100 pre-registered and already has 25-30 walk-ins. She expects more on Saturday.

Report from the President, Susan Jasko

Susan brought up the idea of passing the gavel on Saturday night in order to make more people aware of the movement of officers. A suggestion was made that on Saturday night the Board would acknowledge Thom’s efforts and wait until Sunday for Susan to pass the gavel, because that is when her official term is over.

Report from the Chair of the Nominating Committee, Al Auster

Al discussed the election slate, which is in place with the exception of a nominee for the member-at-large position. There was discussion about adding a student representative to the Executive Council. In order to do this, we would need to amend the Constitution. We need to bring the amendment up to a vote of the membership attending the next conference. We would also need to send the proposed amendment to everyone three weeks before the conference. One concern was that we may need to give students voting rights in order to allow them to vote for the student representative. Another concern was getting a quorum at meetings.

New Business

There was talk of a location change for a future conference. Some expressed concern about a drop in attendance if we move the conference. However, we now have a strong, committed membership, which allays some of this concern. There was a suggestion that we take a straw poll to see if people would prefer to move someplace else, such as Albany, or stay where we are.