Minutes of the Executive Board Meeting

MANECCS EXECUTIVE BOARD BUSINESS MEETING ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, JULY 27, 2007

Present: Bob Bookmiller, Bob Bence, Joan Whitman Hoff, Andy Holman, Bob Timko, Marsha Tate, and Howard Cody. Guests: Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi, President of the Southern Association of Canadian Studies (SACS), and Christy Barnwell of the Holiday Inn, Rosslyn

1. The minutes of the MANECCS Business Meeting of September 24, 2006 were approved with two amendments. Under #2, the $10,500 is from DFAIT, not for it. Under #5, Richard Kay, not Mark Richard, is serving as the second Councilor at Large.

2. Bob Timko discussed the MANECCS website. He estimates it will cost $180-$190 to maintain each year. The Executive thanked Bob for the website. Everyone agreed to encourage MANECCS members to log in.

3. Bob Bence presented the Treasurer’s Report. We have a balance of $8051.01. The website project cost $2856.58. The Montreal meeting cost $20,000. A few attendees still have not paid their registration. DFAIT has given us a $12,000CDN Regional Canadian Studies Association grant. Bob Bookmiller noted that the high Canadian dollar works to our advantage in this case.

4. The junior faculty and graduate student grants to present papers and the research grants for travel to Canada were discussed. All have a maximum value of $500. Marsha Tate has agreed to oversee the MANECCS graduate student and junior faculty grants.

5. The new MANECCS pamphlet was distributed and discussed. The Executive agreed to make copies available at ACSUS in Toronto this November. The pamphlets have cost us $175 so far.

6. The October 2008 joint MANECCS-SACS conference was discussed. Andy Holman has agreed to serve as the MANECCS co-chair, along with a SACS member to be named later. The sharing of costs between the two organizations was considered. One possible formula is to prorate expenses by how many members of each organization attend. It was agreed that all attendees must be members of MANECCS or SACS. Attendees from both will pay the same fees (possibly $125) and will send the money to the same place. Meals were discussed. One possibility is to provide three lunches but no dinners or breakfasts, apart from pastries at the first break.

7. Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi arrived to discuss further next year’s joint meeting. He encouraged us to offer joint MANECCS-SACS memberships for a $10 discount, given that the two groups may have to unite in the future if government funding is cut off. Zagros said that SACS is using corporate outreach in North Carolina to help offset the impact of government funding cuts. He suggested that we split the conference costs in accordance with each organization’s membership (now roughly 2/3 MANECCS, 1/3 SACS). He believed he could get SACS to accept a $125 registration fee, but he will have to undertake consultations after classes start. The Executive tentatively settled on a $125 conference fee, $165 for late registration. Students and one-day attendees will pay $95, and one-day student attendees will pay $50. David Biette of the Woodrow Wilson Center will be approached about holding a reception there. Dan Abele of the Canadian Embassy was also mentioned as an appropriate source of local support for the meeting.

8. Christy Barnwell of the Holiday Inn joined the group. She showed the Executive the meeting and reception rooms. The rooms were satisfactory.

9. The Executive will meet in Toronto after the Friday (11/16) lunch general meeting.

Howard Cody, Secretary