Minutes of Executive Board Meeting, November 1, 2003

Hempstead, New York

     The NEMLA Board of Directors met at Hofstra University on Nov. 1, 2003. Present were Josephine McQuail, Executive Director; President, Antonio Cao, Hofstra University; First Vice President, Michelle Tokarczyk, Goucher College; American/British Literature Director; Rita Bode, Trent University; German Language and Literature Director, Neil Donahue, Hofstra University; Women's Caucus Director, Ruth Anolik, Haverford College; Henry Veggian, Pittsburgh Local Arrangements co-chair. Not present: Laura Niesen de Abruna, Past President; Annette Magid, Two Year College Director; Roy Campbell, French Language and Literature Director, St. Lawrence University; Darcie Rives, Graduate Caucus Director University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Michael Schiavi, Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Transgender Caucus Director

     The meeting commenced at 9:45 a.m. with a welcome from the Executive Director Josephine McQuail. Dr. McQuail distributed some general information on the composition of the Board.

     Approval of the Agenda and the March 2003 Board Meeting Minutes: Dr. Rita Bode moved approval of the agenda, seconded by Dr. Michelle Tokarczyk and approved unanimously. The minutes of March meeting were amended by Executive Director McQuail who pointed out that after the March convention the NEMLA Book Award Committee notified then Executive Director Scott Stoddart that Jennifer Zachman of Saint Mary's College was awarded the prize for her manuscript Playing Gender on the Contemporary Spanish Stage. Dr. Tokarczyk moved approval of the amendment, it was sendonded by Dr. Bode and passed unanimously.

     Officer and Committee Reports: President Antonio Cao reported that Professor Perez Firmat of Columbia University has been touched as keynote speaker. The board enthusiastically agreed that Professor Firmat, with multicultural interests as well as publications on popular culture, would be a wonderful choice for keynote speaker. The Board discussed awarding an honorarium for the keynote speaker and decided that up to $1,000 would be appropriate. This was moved approval by Dr. Tokarczyk and seconded by Neil Donahue. President Cao will try to make arrangements for the keynote speaker to appear Friday.

     President Cao spoke about the status of the profession and the diminishing requirement for foreign language acquisition at the university level. Neil Donahue suggested that this could be part of the discussion at the Chair's Caucus at the upcoming convention.

     Elections: First Vice President Tokarczyk presented a report. As head of the Election Committee she announced the candidates for the upcoming elections: Matthew Wilson of Capital College, Penn State Harrisburg for 2nd vice president; two candidates for British/American Director, Marilyn Rye of Fairleigh Dickinson University and Nilgun Anadolu-Okur of Temple University; for Spanish Director Laureano Corces of Fairleigh Dickinson University.

     Acting as a Committee of the Whole members of the Executive Council reviewed election materials which had been sent in by the candidates. Matthew Wilson, single candidate for 2nd Vice President, was endorsed by the Board; single candidate for Spanish Director Laureano Corces was endorsed by the Board; and the two candidates for British/American were also endorsed by the Board. E.D. McQuail stated the motion to approve the candidates, with Rita Bode moving and Neil Donahue seconding the motion; the motion was passed unanimously. It was suggested that the membership be asked to endorse the election of the single candidates to their respective positions, and that a runoff election would take place between the two candidates for English/American Director. Dr. Elizabeth Abele suggested that Marilyn Rye reword her statement and that the candidates' statements of intent be put onto the NEMLA WEB page. The Board discussed how the election should be conducted and after E.D. McQuail expressed a concern that some would feel disenfranchised if a vote was conducted solely via electronic mail it was suggested that a combination of the two would be used in the election process; an electronic ballot would be sent to membership, and a printed ballot would also be published in the Nov. newsletter. E.D. McQuail requested that the electronic ballots should be sent to two people in the event of e-mail account or server problems and Dr. Tokarczyk agreed to serve as a backup for the electronic ballots. Dr. Donahue moved to approve the Election process, Dr. Bode (?) seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously. First Vice President Tokarczyk reported on the summer fellowships which were awarded to Richard Fantina, Florida International University, for his project, "Ernest Hemingway: Machismo and Masochism," and to Jason Haslam, University of Notre Dame, for his edition of Constance Lytton's Prisons and Prisoners: Some Personal Experiences (forthcoming from Broadview Press), and research for an online database of writings by nineteenth-century British and American prisoners. Dr. Tokarczyk pointed out that the 2nd Vice President is normally head of the Fellowship Committee and Rita Bode volunteered to serve until Matthew Wilson was approved by membership to serve in that position.

     Modern Language Studies: Laurence Roth gave a report on the status of Modern Language Studies. He asked for approval of a new editorial board to include Mark Fertig as Creative Director, Laura Niesen de Abruna (past NEMLA president) as Associate Editor, Amy Winans, Associate Editor--Profession and Pedagogy, Richard Juang, Associate Editor - Book Reviews, Emily Anderson, Managing Editorial Assistant (outgoing), and Teresa Hernandez, Ashley Cooper, and Jennifer Wilson, Editorial Assistants (interns). E.D. McQuail noted that Laura Niesen de Abruna then needed to be nominated and elected to the MLS Committee formally; Dr. Tokarczyk nominated Dr. de Abruna, Dr. Bode approved, and she was unanimously approved. E.D. McQuail consulted the Bylaws for a description of the Modern Language Studies Committee and pointed out that the Executive Director should be included. She suggested that the Bylaws regarding the Modern Language Studies Committee needed to be amended so that the editorial board should have the ability to set forth specific details of publication and general editorial policy. The language of VI. Sec. B. of the bylaws, Modern Language Studies Committee was therefore amended to read: "The MLS Committee shall be composed of six members: the Executive Director, the Editor of Modern Language Studies, who is appointed to a three-year term; the Associate Editor of MLS, who is currently a member of NEMLA and who is appointed to a three-year term by the Executive Council; and three others selected by the editor of MLS in consultation with and approval by the NEMLA Board of Directors. (The remainder of VI. Sec. B of the Bylaws will remain the same). Dr. Donahue moved to amend the bylaws, Dr. Bode seconded, and the bylaws were voted to be amended unanimously.

     Dr. Roth reported that Vol. 33 #1 is being ready for publication. He raised concerns, though, that section three of the journal A section for short reviews of significant, intriguing, or unusual primary source materials was not receiving many submissions, and asked the Board to spread the word on this section. Webmaster Elizabeth Abele suggested that these be included on the NEMLA Web page.

     Dr. Roth stated the imperative of publishing the remaining back issues of Modern Language Studies. He also suggested that we look into hiring the new printer to provide a subscription service. He will try to negotiate this. NEMLA E.D. McQuail concurred that this would be preferable. She also asked about how much of the costs Susquehanna University would be able to cover and Dr. Roth said he would have to consult with Dr. de Abruna to find this out.

     Other items that came up during the discussion were the possibility of publishing the keynote address this year of Dr. Firmat (this from President Cao); and soliciting donations from departments for mailing costs for MLS (suggested by Dr. Donahue).

     The Book Award committee make up was discussed, and Dr. Roth affirmed that Dr. de Abruna had stated that she was willing to serve as chair of the committee. Michelle Tokarczyk said she would be willing to serve on the committee.

     Budget: E.D. McQuail reported on the Budget and Projected Expenses. At the time of the meeting the balance in the NEMLA business account (now at U.S. Bank) was $18,058. Some anticipated expenses include continuing payments to the American Antiquarian Society (paid $900 in Oct. with further 2 payments of $850 scheduled for Jan. and April). NEMLA was cosponsoring a fellowship with AAS and due to lack of communication between the two societies the last 2 years of NEMLA stipend for the fellowship went unpaid, so NEMLA is paying this back. After some discussion of the importance of supporting NEMLA's own fellowships (from Dr. Bode and Dr. Donahue) Dr. Donahue made the motion to discontinue the fellowship offered with the AAS; Dr. Tokarczyk seconded; and the Board unanimously voted to discontinue it. E.D. McQuail reported that she applied for nonprofit mail status from the state of Tennessee, which she expects to be granted at a cost of $150.

     Other major expenses include a projected $6,000 for publication of the remaining back issue of MLS. Dr. Tokarczyk moved for publication of MLS to go forward, Dr. Donahue seconded, and it met with unanimous approval. There was some discussion of a bill that was presented for editorial work on the Fall 2002 issue of MLS, and when the board heard details details about the charges some questions were raised, which it was agreed that E.D. McQuail would try to find out.

     Republication of the Spring 2002 issue of MLS was considered, but the Board discouraged considering this because of the expense, and suggested that we try to collect issues from members to send to libraries at least.

     Caucus Reports: Dr. Anolik gave the report, and the issue of childcare was briefly debated. The Board expressed concern over liability issues and questioned the wisdom of giving a stipend to those who wished to engage babysitters from a list provided by the hotel.

     Darcie Rieves sent a report from the Graduate Caucus which was read.

     Michael Schiavi sent a report from the Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Trans Caucus. He reports that Tramble Turner is willing to chair the panel on AIDS after the withdrawal of Chris Bell as Caucus Chair.

     Dr. Magid sent a report for the Two Year College Caucus which Dr. Tokarczyk read.

     The Board moved to recertify caucuses.

     Upcoming Conference: Because of confusion over the membership year (which runs from March 1-Feb. 28) the Board suggested changing the membership year to run from Dec. 1-Nov. 30. This would not go into effect until 2005-6. Dr. Tokarczyk moved, Dr. Donahue seconded, and it was passed unanimously.

     Henry Veggian, one of our two Pittsburgh Local Chairs, was introduced. He explained that he volunteered to serve as local chair when it was suggested by Dr. Bartholomae at University of Pittsburgh, and that NEMLA's convention provided an opportunity to involve grad students at U. of Pittsburgh, which was a recently formed plan. He reported that a flier for the Warhol Museum would go into all convention folders.

     It was agreed that we would try to get the keynote speaker for Friday and schedule other events for Saturday evening. Dr. Donahue pointed out that seating for the receptions would not be necessary and E.D. McQuail said she would cancel the seating. She brought up the attendance of Hugo Loetscher, Swiss/German author to be sponsored by the Swiss Cultural Attaché and passed along the request that his hotel be paid for. Since this is not done by the Spanish Ministry the Board felt this should not be done for the Swiss Foreign Ministry.

     Thursday March 4, 1-3 would be reserved for the official Board meeting, and Dr. Donahue suggested that 3-4 be used for the Department Chairs Caucus. If the Warhol reception was 6-8 registration would be 3-6 on Thurs.

     E.D. McQuail reported that the room availability for panels was going to be limited, and brought up the fact that one NEMLA panel chair requested numerous panels. The Board decided this request was excessive and allowed that two panels at the most would be permissible.

     Committees: It was decided early on in the meeting to consider reestablishing an election committee. The Book Award committee is chaired by Laura de Abruna.

     Newsletter: A newsletter for November is planned

     Convention Venue: The 2006 Convention Venue will be decided by the Board and the 2nd Vice President. A number of Board Members expressed interest in Philadelphia.

     Credit Cards: E.D. McQuail reported that she had been approached by companies that were offering to set up credit card payments for NEMLA. She reported that Elizabeth Abele was also going to look into the cost of such services.

     

     The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.