Minutes of Executive Board Meeting

March 31, 2005, and follow-up meeting Sunday April 3, 2005

Present: Josephine McQuail, Executive Director; past President, Antonio Cao, Hofstra University; President, Michelle M. Tokarczyk, Goucher College;; Second Vice President, Carine Mardorossian; incoming Second Vice President, Matthew Lessig; American/British Literature Director Rita Bode, Trent University;; Marilyn Rye, Fairleigh Dickinson University; French Language and Literature Director; Noelle Caruggi; Spanish Literature and Language Director, Laureano Corces, Fairleigh Dickinson University; German Language and Literature Director, Helga Druxes;; Women's Caucus Director, Ruth Anolik, Villanova University; Gay and Lesbian Caucus Director, Michael Schiavi, New York Institute of Technology; Two-Year College Director, Dan Schultz, Cayuga Community College; Graduate Caucus Director, Darcie Rives, University of Nebraska, Lincoln;; Kandace Brill Lombart.

Not present: First Vice President, Matthew Wilson; incoming American/British Literature Director, Robert Lougy; Modern Language Studies editor, Laurence Roth, Susquehanna University; Italian Literature and Language Director; Simona Wright

 

Welcome from the Executive Director

 

I. Approval of

1. Agenda. Approved by acclamation.

2. Minutes of October 2004 Meeting. Approved by acclamation (now on the website at www.nemla.org)

 

II. Officer and Committee Reports

1. President's Report, Michelle Tokarczyk. President Tokarczyk recounted briefly the aggressive tactics of Unite Now, the labor organization that contacted us and tried to persuade us to change our 2005 convention site. Since there was no actual strike or problem experienced by labor at the Cambridge site, NEMLA president Tokarczyk and Executive Director McQuail decided to go ahead with the convention, after Unite Now did not contact President Tokarczyk when she asked what alternatives we had to actually canceling the convention. President Tokarczyk remarked that this pointed out how vulnerable NEMLA is to labor disputes. Several other national organizations, like the American Anthropological Association, had to cancel or move their convention at the last minute in 2004 (scheduled for San Francisco, where there was an active strike going on). Also noted were problems with the room reservations at the Hyatt, and some discussion of a possible keynote speaker for 2006.

2. First Vice President's Report, Matthew Wilson

a. Philadelphia 2006. A the time of the convention, there was still a search for a local sponsoring institution and a local representative.

3. Modern Languages and Literatures Report

a. French Director, Noelle Carruggi: -- Professor Carruggi remarked on the popularity of francophone studies. Executive Director McQuail remarked that the number of French panels seems to be low, and ways to attract participants in French were discussed. Candace Lombart reported a good experience with French Canadian participants in other organizations with which she has experience and offered to help in out in this case. Possible sponsorship by French-Canadian groups or regions was discussed. NEMLA, all agreed, should return to Canada.

b. Spanish Director, Laureano Corces. The number of Spanish panels was noted; the Spanish ministry sponsored the visit of Spanish dramatists - Antonio Cao suggested more attention to the American southwest and thought that a reduced registration fee might help attract more Hispanic participants and more participants in general. Executive Director McQuail pointed out that the newly raised registration and membership fees were not paying all of NEMLA's current expenses as it is, and this did not seem practical. A discount for the local host institution, or local colleges and universities, was discussed.

c. German Director, Helga Druxes: The same number of panels were offered in the area of German studies this year as last year. The Swiss Consulate sponsored Milena Moser, Swiss/German writer, at this year's convention. Professor Druxes expressed the desire for a panel next year on Pedagogy.

d. Italian Director, Simona Wright: Professor Wright was not able to be present at the Board meeting but sent her report. The existence of a NEMLA Italian Studies Journal, housed at Rutgers, was noted by the Executive Director.

4. American/British Literature, Rita Bode

a. Fellowship opportunities. The American Antiquarian Society/NEMLA fellowship was discussed, and Executive Director McQuail expressed some concern that this leaned too much toward American studies, but did include the possibilities of research in British Literature. All agreed that it would be desireable to establish other fellowship opportunities.

5. Caucus Reports

a. Women's Caucus, Ruth Anolik: the performance of Sue Horowitz was noted as the major event of the NEMLA Women's Caucus; the snafu over the Women's Caucus breakfast last year was noted (checks for the breakfast were not mailed to the Executive Director), and a promise given that things would go smoother this year. There was some discussion about whether invited guests like Sue Horowitz should pay the registration fee or not; consensus was that they should not.

b. Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Caucus, Michael Schiavi: Professor Schiavi said that the Gay/Lesbian Caucus Essay prize should be reestablished, and that fliers would be distributed to announce that.

c. Two-Year Caucus, Dan Schultz. The Two Year College Caucus sponsored a panel on Plagiarism and the Professorate this year.

d. Graduate Caucus, Darcie Rives:

1) There were two impromptu convention aid packages given out for two participants at the convention: one a graduate student, Aidan Johnson; and the other, a non-traditional scholar whose institution would not offer any assistance. Aidan's registration and membership fees were waived and he was given two nights in the hotel; Polly Bennell, Salt Institute for Documentary Studies had her membership and registration fee waived. Next year, it was agreed, a more formal process would be instituted and the availability of a limited number of assistance packages would be announced. This year we asked for a recommendation from the chair of the panel, a recommendation from the institution; and the curriculum vitae of the person requesting aid.

2) There was a problem with the Graduate Student Caucus Paper Prize awarded for last year's convention: the winner, Michael Sayeau of Princeton University had already submitted his paper for publication, which was the honor accorded the member of the Graduate Caucus Essay Prize. Members of the Board agreed that in the future, people who violated the requirement of any of the prize competitions -- that their papers not be submitted elsewhere -- should be disqualified and the prize awarded to someone else.

6. Convention Program Committee (2004-2005), Josie McQuail, Chair

A) Policy on continuing with a juried convention. Executive Director McQuail remarked on the need to make sure the convention remained a juried one: this year we limited second panel requests and only approved a few in underrepresented areas. She noted that she had discovered too late there were many violations of the policy that the chair of the panel and participants should not be from the same institution. At the follow-up meeting President Tokarczyk moved that the language of the Guidelines for Panel Chairs be changed to: "No more than two people from the same institution (including the panel chair) will be allowed on panels, without prior approval from the NEMLA Board." Antonio Cao seconded. The motion received unanimous approval and this rule will be instituted for the 2006 convention.

B) Executive Director McQuail requested more help from the Program Committee in scrutinizing panels submitted and making sure subject and other areas were adequately covered, and that NEMLA guidelines were followed as evidenced by the list of participants and their affiliations on each panel. b. She also suggested that the Board consider the effect of discouraging double panels that was rigidly enforced this year by the Board and attend some sessions to gauge the intended effect of this - write down how many people were at your session (maybe we should ask the chairs to keep track of this for us, even leave forms for chairs to fill out?). (Forms were distributed to chairs of panels who were very good in reporting attendance, and Board members also went around to panels). On the basis of feedback questions to ask are: Was this a mistake to limit the number of multiple panels considering our hotel room quota was difficult to make this year? We do need to be more rigorous in overseeing our standards for a juried convention - though NEMLA bylaws state that no one should read more than one paper at the convention several people appear to have violated that standard; also, a panel is not supposed to have several people from one institution and several do. Board members really need to pitch in more in all areas, but one area is to screen the panel lineups for things like this.

C) President Tokarczyk requested that Board members be distinguished next year from other convention participants by some mark on their badges like a ribbon.

7. Report on Media, Lisa DeTora. In the absence of Lisa DeTora, Executive Director McQuail noted that DeTora was a huge help in organizing the media, and that she had encountered tremendous difficulties in trying to sort out media requests and costs due in part to the constant turnover in the Hyatt's media department. DeTora will give some guidance as to how to handle next year's media requests on the basis of this year, but it was agreed that in general preference should be given to those whose subject matter really necessitates the use of media (film, etc.)

8. Nominating Committee (2004-2005), Matthew Wilson, Chair

a. American/British Rep

b. Other vacancies. Executive Director McQuail noted that NEMLA Bylaws state that terms of the Language Directors be staggered. Right now, all language directors will be leaving at the same time, so Rita Bode (?) suggested that some language directors' terms could be extended so that there would continue to be some Language Directors with experience on the Board. No action was taken on this issue, however.

9. Modern Languages Studies Committee Laurence Roth, Editor. In the absence of Professor Roth the latest issue of MLS was discussed, and the Board noted that the designation of NEMLA needs to be on the cover of the journal which still hadn't been changed on Vol. 34. In the follow up meeting Sunday, Professor Roth agreed to this.

10. Formation of New Caucuses and Committees

a. Adjunct/Part-Time Faculty Caucus, Kandace Brill Lombart. Professor Lombart reported on the preponderance of Part Time and Adjunct faculty in the current makeup of academic jobs: Part time positions from 1976 to 2001 have increased 148% while full time position openings have increased only a minuscule amount. MLA, AAUP, and AFT have all issued statements about the status and exploitation of part time and adjunct faculty. The NEMLA Board supports the establishment of an Adjunct/Part Time Faculty Caucus and instructed Dr. Lombart to look at the Bylaws for guidelines on how to establish a caucus.

b. Communications Committee, Lisa DeTora. Lisa DeTora was not present to discuss this.

11. Book Prize Status, Rita Bode and Marilyn Rye, Coordinators: At the time of the Board meeting, the book prize was not announced, but the committee came to the conclusion that no prize would be awarded this year.

12. Fellowship Committee, Carine Mardorossian, Chair. Two summer fellowships were awarded.

13. Publicity Committee, Rita Bode, Matthew Wilson, Annette Magid (Erie Community College). Will work on publicity at the local level for conventions.

14. American Antiquarian Society/NEMLA Award, Josie McQuail. Because no award was given last year (2004) two fellowships were co-sponsored by NEMLA this year, winners were David Anthony, Southern Illinois University. "Shylock on Wall Street: Market Passion and the Capitalist Jew in Antebellum Sensationalism;" and Lydia Fisher, of the University of Pennsylvania, "Domesticating the Nation: American Narratives of Home Culture." [note: to date, neither of these winners has joined NEMLA, which is a requirement of WINNING the essay prize but not of joining - should we change this policy?]

III. NEMLA Finances, Josie McQuail

1. Status at Present. After the convention we should have at least $40,000 in the bank. I also added money to the UBS fund to make it around $6,000, and this should probably be increased (in fact, there has to be activity during the year or an account fee is charged).

So far we have incurred a bill of $21,000 for the Cambridge Hyatt facilities including food and beverage. That is roughly half of registrations collected from 500 conference participants. If we wanted to reduce the expense of the convention, we could look into using university campuses to host the convention instead of convention hotels, but the time of the convention would have to change to summer. Additionally, if we do not meet our room block quota, there will be a charge of around $5,000 more. [Executive Director McQuail successfully appealed this surcharge, which was levied when NEMLA did not meet its room quota].

Other expenses associated with the convention include, printing of 625 convention programs, $721.00; purchase of 625 folders from Boston College approximately $500.00 [local host institution should be paying for this expense but has not in the past couple of years]; miscellaneous copying expenses for material like blank receipts and the convention newsletter to be distributed to the conference attendees; $10 an hour to convention workers; $500 to the local representative; gift for Robert Pinsky (approximately $500 total). $1,000 for the keynote speaker and $500 toward the keynote reception, both to be paid by Boston College. Additionally, Williams College will pay for the German reception.

2. Back Tax Returns. Because of a misunderstanding, the last Executive Director failed to file tax returns for NEMLA, which is required even of a nonprofit organization. Executive Director McQuail hired an accountant who filed back returns on the basis of all the records I could find for 2001, 2002, and 2003. [An extension was filed for 2004 as the accountant could not file in time this year - tax forms are due to be filed May 15 each year]

3. Spending and Planning for Future Conventions

a. Philadelphia 2006 March 2-5

b.Baltimore 2007 March 1-4

c. Buffalo 2008 April 3-6

d. Boston 2009 - still under negotiations - for the first time Executive Director McQuail enlisted the services of Helms Briscoe (which other MLA regional directors informed her of at the MLA Regional Directors Meeting in New York immediately following the NEMLA convention this year - there will be no attrition fee and room rates of $109!!!

IV. Other Business

1. Membership, Josie McQuail. E.D. McQuail noted that though we have about 200 new members, membership continues to be lower than pre-2000 numbers (probably due to cuts in university budgets and hence travel allowances as well as residue of the Sept. 2001 terrorist attacks). We need to continue to recruit new members.

a. continued use of Acteva. Joining onto Acteva has been easier than expected. It is incredibly easy to generate address labels from Acteva and to search the database. One problem with still collecting memberships and registrations by check is that now NEMLA has two different membership lists: that maintained by Acteva, and that maintained by the Executive Director. E.D. McQuail recommended that we require all membership and registrations to be done through Acteva. It would help MLS with their mailings, as well. In addition, if the next Executive Director does not have an office staff and is essentially a full time faculty member at a university, it would make her or his work much less burdensome. The Board unanimously agreed to this.

b. E.D. McQuail pointed out that establishing a membership committee would be helpful to the Executive Director.

2. Search for Executive Director, Michelle Tokarczyk. E.D. McQuail announced that she would not be seeking a second term as Executive Director. NEMLA President Tokarczyk emphasized the importance of opening the search for a new Executive Director now.

Sunday April 3. Follow Up to the Convention:

1) Because of falling short on the room block and the almost deserted room for the keynote speaker Leah Price, outgoing President Tokarczyk said that it should be required that Board members stay in the convention hotel and that Board members come to the keynote speaker. Further, the keynote speaker should be on Friday rather than Saturday. Executive Director McQuail said that the Board may need to reinstitute Sunday morning panel sessions, as this would encourage Sat. night stayovers.

2) Early Friday morning sessions did not seem to be well attended.

3) MichaelSchaivi said that he would like to encourage a CV workshop and a Mock interview at the next convention

4) Photos from the Convention: E.D. McQuail hired a professional photographer to chronicle the convention, and expressed her desire that the photos be used for publicity for NEMLA in as many places as possible. Laurence Roth suggested an appropriate place would be a section of Modern Language Studies announcing/promoting the next convention, or an article on one of the events. President Tokarczyk thought of writing an article on the American Protest Literature panel, or asking Leah Price if she would submit the manuscript of her keynote address to the journal [nb: Professor Price said her article was already accepted elsewhere]. All photos must read copyright Nicole Burkart; if they are used in our own promotional material or within reason, we do not need to contact Ms. Burkart, but if a major media outlet like Time magazine were to want to reproduce the photos from the NEMLA convention, Nicole Burkart needs to be contacted, and permission obtained from her as well as payment arranged for use of her copyrighted material.