Minutes for Board Meeting - December 2009
Minutes for the ACLA Board Meeting
Monday, 28 December 2009, 8-10 AM
Rittenhouse Room, Philadelphia Downtown Marriott Courtyard
21 N. Juniper Street, Philadelphia
Present: Bermann, Brodzki, Ekhardt, Hayot, Kadir, Kristal, Lewis, Lionnet, Patel, Quint, Richmond-Garza, Sattar, Saussy, Seigneurie, Slaughter, Walkowitz
Convened 8:03 AM
1. Report of the Journals Committee (Lewis)
a. Admiration was expressed for both CL, which has been the official journal for the ACLA for the past 12 years, and for CLS as part of the mission of the ACLA
b. Discussion of the cost of CLS being too high for it to be possible for it to become a second official journal for the ACLA
c. Discussion of including E-subscriptions to CLCWeb as an ACLA subscription option
d. Two motions proposed by the journals committee:
i. Constitute the journals committee as a standing committee with a charge to evaluate the relationship of the ACLA to its official, affiliated and related journals every five years
ii. Retain CL as the sole official journal and designate CLS as an affiliated journal with a $5,000 annual subvention from the ACLA
e. Charge to the current committee: explore Duke UP handling ACLA memberships
f. Thanks to Lewis and the committee for their work
2. Report of the Finance Committee (Lewis)
a. Report on current contract with the University of Texas, growth of ACLA, and future possibilities for the Secretariat
i. Discussion of need to have an external auditor for the ACLA finances
ii. Request to Secretary-Treasurer to provide reconciled financial reports for 2007, 2008, 2009 by April Board meeting
iii. Proposal, given recent annual reserves, to transfer more funds to the ACLA investment accounts
iv. Discussion of current membership dues scale: since there has been no change in scale for the past 10 years, the committee recommends changes
ii. Request to Secretary-Treasurer to provide reconciled financial reports for 2007, 2008, 2009 by April Board meeting
iii. Proposal, given recent annual reserves, to transfer more funds to the ACLA investment accounts
iv. Discussion of current membership dues scale: since there has been no change in scale for the past 10 years, the committee recommends changes
b. Proposal from the finance committee: increase fees for members with incomes over $75,000 using the following dues schedule (approved unanimously):
i. Students (membership fee $25, does not include CL subscription)
ii. Under $40,000 (membership fee $35, includes CL subscription)
iii. $40-$80,000 (membership fee $55, includes CL subscription)
iv. $80-$100,000 (membership fee $65, includes CL subscription)
v. Over $100,000 (membership fee $75, includes CL subscription)
vi. Effective Nov 1, 2010 for membership year 2011
ii. Under $40,000 (membership fee $35, includes CL subscription)
iii. $40-$80,000 (membership fee $55, includes CL subscription)
iv. $80-$100,000 (membership fee $65, includes CL subscription)
v. Over $100,000 (membership fee $75, includes CL subscription)
vi. Effective Nov 1, 2010 for membership year 2011
c. Future of the Secretariat: with the end of the University of Texas' subsidy on 6/20/11, the ACLA needs to solicit proposals from the membership
i. Recommendation that finance committee speak with Duke about taking over membership
ii. Discussion of need to delegate duties currently performed by the Secretary-Treasurer: standing conference committee with 3-year terms; role of annual local conference committee; accommodation of growth in scale for all Secretariat duties; greater support by the ACLA of local conference committee and/or Secretariat
iii. Proposals (unanimously approved):
ii. Discussion of need to delegate duties currently performed by the Secretary-Treasurer: standing conference committee with 3-year terms; role of annual local conference committee; accommodation of growth in scale for all Secretariat duties; greater support by the ACLA of local conference committee and/or Secretariat
iii. Proposals (unanimously approved):
(a). Request to Richmond-Garza, along with Saussy, Bermann and Lionnet, to send a call for proposals to the membership for hosting the Secretariat before the April board meeting
(b). Request to Saussy to form an ad hoc presidential committee to address the matter of the conference in general and in the near future
(c). Appropriation of up to $10,000 the Secretariat to assist with 2010 conference support (Richmond-Garza abstaining)
(b). Request to Saussy to form an ad hoc presidential committee to address the matter of the conference in general and in the near future
(c). Appropriation of up to $10,000 the Secretariat to assist with 2010 conference support (Richmond-Garza abstaining)
iv. Thanks to Lewis and the committee for their work
3. Approval of minutes (Richmond-Garza)
4. Financial, Fundraising and Membership Report (Richmond-Garza)
a. Approval of financial reports deferred until April board meeting; timing of presentation of annual financial summary to be permanently moved to the spring board meeting to allow full reporting and reconciling of fiscal years
b. Proposal to increase the number of Haskell Block $500 international travel grants to 2 annually and revise the terms of the endowment accordingly (approved unanimously)
5. Report of the President (Saussy)
a. Update on the New Orleans conference: 2,177 proposals have been received to date and the conference planning is ongoing
b. Both the new undergraduate and the new master's level prizes did not receive numerous nominations
c. Suggestion to involve graduate students in the competitions, both on juries and as
(self-)nominators
6. Report of the Vice-President (Lionnet), deferred
7. ACLA 2011 Vancouver (Seigneurie) and venues for 2012 and beyond
a. Call for papers complete
b. Participation sought with other distinguished Comparative Literature Programs throughout Canada as part of an effort to strengthen the field and involve undergraduates
c. Discussion of possible plenary events and logistics
8. ADPCL Update (Eckhardt), deferred
9. Student Representatives Update (Patel/Sattar), deferred
Adjourned 10:08.