MANECCS Executive Board Meeting Minutes July 24, 2009

MANECCS EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

JULY 24, 2009 Minutes revised August 17, 2009

Present: Bob Bence, Brendan Burke, Tony Cicerone, Andy Holman, Richard Kay, Marsha Tate, Bob Timko, and Howard Cody

1. The minutes of the October 5, 2008 Business meeting and the October 4, 2008 Executive Board meeting were distributed and accepted as submitted.

2. President Andy Holman welcomed new members Brendan Burke, Tony Cicerone, and Richard Kay to the Executive Board. Executive members Joan Whitman Hoff and Bob Bookmiller sent their regrets that they could not attend.

3. Bob Bence presented the Treasurer’s Report. The Canadian Consulate General grant totaled $10,560.59US. Our 2009 income has been $10,610.59. Our expenditures are $6639.28. The current balance is $25,218.77. Bob noted that the next biennial dues of $50 are due on September 1. Andy reminded the Executive that the Canadian government wants us to show them that we are spending their grant money.

4. Andy presented the President’s Report. We basically got all we requested from the Canadian government. The Young Scholars Program will continue to help graduate and undergraduate students attend the MANECCS meeting in Providence next year. Last year we spent $2500 on this program. We will subsequently invite program beneficiaries to join MANECCS. We have $3000 available for the Scholars Exchange Program. Tony announced that Canadian writer Nico Ricci is visiting Bridgewater this fall. Ricci may be available to visit other campuses. Andy observed that the June 3-6, 2010 conference at Buffalo on ice hockey and related cross-border issues which the Canadian government is helping to fund is proceeding well. He hopes many MANECCS members will attend. The proposed St. Lawrence Seaway 50th anniversary Saskatoon Colloquium has been cancelled because too few paper proposals were submitted, though the quality of those which were received was high. Andy will submit material for the MANECCS electronic summer newsletter to the editor next week.

The President’s Report was approved.

5. Andy raised the matter of MANECCS’s presence at the ACSUS Biennial. We have $1000 of our grant money set aside for this event, including the luncheon. The Executive agreed to sponsor Marsha Tate’s Thursday morning panel just before the MANECCS luncheon meeting. We will contact the Westin Gaslamp to arrange the luncheon meeting room and menu. At the meeting we will honor Jeff Tenenbaum, a life member of MANECCS who died last December.

6. It was moved that we allocate funding to update our MANECCS flyer in color. The motion carried.

7. We noted that we have approved an amendment to the bylaws which increases the membership of the Executive. This allows Bob Timko to serve as a Councilor at Large.

8. Tony suggested we consider purchasing a liability insurance policy to cover our members attending conferences. FITA charges $205 annually for such a policy. It was moved that we read the FITA offer carefully and consider the matter. Bob Timko will consult with our lawyer John Murphy on it. The motion carried.

9. Richard suggested we consider a Publication Subvention Fund of up to $2000 to publishers to help MANECCS members publish on Canadian subjects. He will draft a proposal including criteria for such awards.

10. All members of the Executive who were present signed conflict of interest forms needed to comply with IRS Form 990 requirements. Howard is putting these forms with the MANECCS records. It was moved to approve this initiative. The motion carried.

11. It also was moved that we adopt a whistleblower protection policy to conform to IRS Form 990. The motion carried. It was further moved that we adopt a document retention and storage protocol as indicated by IRS Form 990. This motion also carried.

12. The 2010 MANECCS Conference was discussed. The Providence Hilton’s contract was handed out and considered. We will need 100 room-nights to avert extra hotel expenses. We will send out the call for papers this fall with a submission deadline of April 2. For now the conference will have no theme. Marsha Tate will serve as Conference Chair. With assistance from Bob Timko, Marsha will accept paper proposals, recruit chairs and discussants, and set up the program. We will send invitations to all MANECCS members and to participants in the CONNECT program.

13. The Executive met with the Providence Hilton’s Erin Connors to inspect the meeting rooms. The rooms were satisfactory.

Howard Cody Secretary