2003 Minutes

NYSCA Executive Spring Meeting
Sunday, June 8, 2003 – 2:30pm

In attendance: Carol Wilder, President; Gary and Marie Radford, Immediate Past Co-Presidents; Edward Lenert, Vice-President; Judy Isserlis, Treasurer; Adele Ray, Executive Secretary, Sue Collins, Recording Secretary; Jim Morrison, Chair Nominating Committee; Bill Petkanas, Editor of SCA; Thom Gencarelli, Chair, Ad-hoc of Publications Committee; Lance Strate, Archivist; Sue Jasko, visiting member; Sue Drucker, member of Publications Committee; Marie Garland, visiting member

Call to Order, Greetings

Meeting began at 2:50pm; Greetings and thanks to Sue Drucker for hosting. the spring meeting and providing refreshments.

Agenda Change: Add Treasurer’s Report to item I; move all items down and move Journal Merger to item V.

I. Treasurer’s Report – Judy Isserlis

Judy reported that the organization has approximately $6,000; from this amount, a payment will be made for the next printing of the Annual.

II. Programming of 2003 Conference – Carol Wilder & Ed Lenert

Carol announced that 800 mailings went out; Ed announced that all arrangements were on track; the conference will be co-sponsored with Eastern Communication Speech and Rhetoric Division; it was decided that the deadline be extended to August first and that we encourage the formation of student panels.

Ed made the following report:
1. Ed would like to organize a film/video ‘festival” for Friday night

2. NYSCA and the ECA division will each do their own programming

3. John Downing was secured as the keynote speaker and will speak to the conference theme: “Celebrating our Accomplishments, Questioning our Assumptions”
III. Recruitment of New Members
1. Outreach: Sue Drucker began the discussion by suggesting that the organization extend its reach to community colleges, invite Deans to attend the conference, and encourage more graduate student participation; there was discussion about the ways NYSCA should serve an empty “niche” that is not being addressed by the national associations, e.g, by encouraging more undergraduate student participation.

Sue Drucker suggested that traditional NYSCA methods of awarding and encouraging support among past members and officers in particular be emphasized and that the “Wilson Fellowship” be awarded, and acknowledgement of past presidents in the program and at the conference.

Marie proposed that NYSCA members wear stickers at other conferences to promote outreach; Sue Drucker will give Carol a website that identifies communication programs throughout the state; Carol and Ed will send out a postcard to remind and instruct members to register for the organization and conference.

Carol will chair a panel at the conference on NYSCA’s history and will work with Sue D. and Judy to implement said panel; Sue D. and Carol will put together a list of previous presidents and issue a letter of invitation to the conference.

2. Leadership Continuity: Ed raised the point that when elected officials move out-of-state a constitutional issue might arise if the official is unable to attend meetings and attend to the duties of the office; he suggested the possible election of “Co-President” and “Co-Vice President”; Thom G. reviewed the constitution, Art. 5, Sec. 4 “Removal from Office” concerning the office of VP Elect.

Sue Collins moved to request the resignation of the Vice-President Elect and to discuss possible nominations for a new VP-Elect, seconded by Judy Isserlis; discussion ensued over the temporary appointment by the President of Marie Garland to assume the position of VP-Elect until election at the conference.

Carol would send a letter and an email to Todd Frobish asking for his resignation; motion was passed unanimously; Marie Radford raised an amendment to the motion: if the President does not receive a response in ten business days from the officer of VP-Elect, then a board vote to remove Todd Frobish and support the appointment of Marie Garland by the President will be enacted; amendment passed unanimously.

Thom G. pointed out that the position of New Media Director needs to be replaced; Art. IV, Sec. 3 “Replacement of Officers” was reviewed; Carol will appoint Elizabeth LeDoux from The New School upon her consent.
IV. Other Business:

Jim accepted the appointment for the Nominating Committee for 2003-4; Lance pointed out the following offices that needed to be filled at the conference: 2 Member-at-Large, Student Representative, Vice-President Elect, Recording Secretary; Editor of the Reports and Editor of the Proceedings also need to be filled; Lance suggested that a current list of officers be ready for the fall conference.

V. Journal Merger and Related Issues – Thom Gencarelli, Chair of Ad-Hoc Publications Committee

Thom presented the report of the ad-hoc Publications Committee held on March 5, 2003; discussion ensued over the proposed adoption of The Atlantic Journal of Communication, the procedures for and consequences of doing so, and the proposed amendments to the constitution; if proposal is accepted, the next issue of SCA would be the last before suspension; two questions were raised:
1. should the publication committee be a standing committee instead of an ad hoc one?
2. should there be a Publications “Officer,” “Director,” or “Editor-in-Chief” responsible for all publications?; the ad-hoc committee recommended to the executive board to change the by-laws and to send the proposed changes to members no less than six weeks before the conference to be held on October 24-26, 2003.
Bill Petkanas moved that the board approve
1. the proposal for the adoption of The Atlantic Journal of Communication and the necessary constitutional amendments
2. the delegation to the ad-hoc Publications Committee the overseeing of the implementation of the proposal
Gary Radford seconded; passed unanimously.

4:45pm – Meeting adjourned.

NYSCA Executive Spring Meeting
Friday, April 20, 2001 – 1:00pm

In attendance: Thom Gencarelli, President (presiding); Marie and Gary Radford, VPs; Carol Wilder, VP-Elect; Mary Aiello Gray, Executive Secretary; Laura Tropp, Recording Secretary; Al Auster, Chair, Nominating Committee; Lance Strate, Editor, Speech Communication Annual; Judythe Isserlis, Treasurer (sent report); Barbara Jo Lewis, Editor, Proceedings (sent report).

Report from the President, Thom Gencarelli
1. Thom is still working on trying to get the website up and running. Everyone agrees that the organization needs a presence on the web. However, there are still a number of questions and difficulties. The first two are: Where will it be hosted and who will maintain it? There was also discussion about adding the position of Webmaster to the Executive Council. The position could have a three-year term for the sake of continuity. There was, at first, a suggestion that this be put into the newsletter as a query to membership. (See “New Business” below.)

2. There was also a discussion about using a listserv or the website to communicate, in order to avoid the cost and work of more mass mailings. This would be especially useful for communicating proposed Constitutional amendments.
Report from the Vice Presidents, Marie and Gary Radford
1. Gary and Marie spoke with Kutsher’s, and have decided to not run any Sunday morning panels because of minimal to poor attendance. Instead, they are expanding the Friday schedule, and there will be a lunch on Friday instead of Sunday. There was concern expressed that people may not stay over Saturday night, but in the past people have stayed over yet left without coming to the panels on Sunday.

2. The Kutsher’s rates have gone up by $1.00 in every category.

3. They were trying to raise corporate money for support of Edward Tenner as keynote speaker, but were not able to meet his price. Paul Thaler agreed to offer the keynote for Friday, based on his new book, which concerns a British plot to kill Adolph Hitler.

4. They reported on the recent submissions for the 2001 conference. There was discussion about adding a technology-centered panel and also a service-learning panel.

5. Regarding the dates of mailing, they would like to post a preliminary program on-line. They will also get mailing lists and post on CRTNET. They should have the preliminary program out to the membership by the end of August.
Report from the VP-Elect, Carol Wilder
1. Carol would like to introduce into the 2002 conference the idea of distance learning.

2. She has also looked at other sites. There are two chief concerns: money and location. She has a bid from Kustcher’s – roughly $100/day/person – with meals. Other possible sites:

• Arrowwood – pricey: $350.00/night/person
• Tarrytown Hilton – the double rate is $137/day – no meals, which translates to approximately $70/day per person
3.
Regarding the Tarrytown Hilton, it is not too far from New York. Some people may not stay over, however, the site may attract others. People will be on their own for food but there is a restaurant on-site. We need a minimum of fifty to sixty rooms to avoid higher charges for the facilities. The facilities are better than Kutsher’s, and there is more advanced technology. The hotel has offered the weekend of 10/25-10/27.

It was suggested that chairs from different schools might help sponsor a reception. There was also discussion of offering people a one-day only conference fee.

4. There was a vote to move the 2002 conference to Tarrytown. Council was unanimous in favor of doing so.
Report from the Treasurer (Mary read Judythe’s report)
1. We have $13,445.93.

2. We lose $72/year because the interest does not cover monthly charges and we have not found a better rate. Carol will look into an account that charges less. Also, there was discussion of arranging for people to be able to pay by credit card, since some show up at the conference ready to pay but do not have cash, and Mary has wasted time sending back accidentally unsigned checks. It was noted that the cost of providing such a service might be prohibitive.
Report from the Executive Secretary, Mary Aiello-Gray
1. Membership report:

• 194 total members
• 108 regular members
• 54 student members
• 32 life members
2.
We made $206.00 on this conference.

3. There was discussion about the Wilson Service Award. Lance Strate was asked to contact Debbie Borisoff, who is functioning as the head of that committee, to see if they are planning to nominate anyone this year.

4. Discussion ensued about making funds available for the awards for student papers.

5. There was a motion to establish $100 rewards for the best student paper – undergraduate and graduate. The motion passed (yeas – 8, nays – 1).
Report from the Chair of the Nominating Committee, Al Auster
1. Al has identified possible people for the position of VP-Elect.

2. The following is a list of expiring terms:

• Vice President-Elect
• Executive Secretary
• Treasurer
• Recording Secretary
• One Member-at-Large
3.
Also the following positions need to be filled, but are appointed:

• Editor of the Speech Communication Annual
• Editor of Proceedings
• Editor of Reports
• Chair of Nominating Committee
Report from the Editor of the Annual, Lance Strate
1. The 2000 issue is not out yet. The search for funding has tied up this issue, but it should be out by the summer.

2. There are plans to distribute the 2001 issue at the fall conference.

3. Expenses will probably work out to about $3,000 for each issue. The journal is the Association’s major expense.
New Business
1. Do we want to put the position of Webmaster on the Executive Council? This would allow the person to be recognized and give them authority and responsibility. We would need to amend the Constitution. Would this be an appointed position or an elected officer? It was agreed that it would be better to make this an appointed officer. There was a motion to prepare an amendment to the Constitution to add an appointed office of Webmaster. This proposal would need to be sent out to the newsletter, at least six weeks in advance of the Conference. The motion passed (unanimously).

2. We will also propose an amendment adding a student member to the Executive Council.

3. We should re-examine the functions of the Executive Secretary, perhaps providing some money for clerical support as we look to build members. We may also need to invest money to ensure that our databases are up-to-date and kept updated, and have the Executive Secretary oversee this. Perhaps this could be the job of a long-time member of the organization. Or we could hire a part-time worker to maintain the database. Alternatively, several organizations (including the Media Ecology Association and the New Jersey Communication Association) might hire one person to maintain a database that they can share.

4. There was discussion over when to meet at NYSCA. Perhaps we should have two meetings instead of three, and not have the meetings at the same time as breakfast.
3:45pm – Motion to end meeting and recognition and thanks to Carol and the New School for hosting us.