S-USIH ExCom Minutes 1.30.2015

S-USIH ExCom Meeting, Conference Call, January 30, 2015, 12:00PM EST

Present: Kevin, Dan, Ray, Tim

Absent: Andrew

Dan Wickberg:

Item 1: Dewey Foundation

Would like to act on the Robb Westbrook’s request that S-USIH take over the book prize that the Dewey Foundation gives out

We need to investigate how the fund that exists now will generate enough money for the prize to be awarded periodically

Kevin would like to speak to the Westbrook and others about how this group set up the endowment for the book prize

The more we have invested the lower the cost of fees associated with the fund

Dan is concerned about staffing a committee to distribute the award—need to have judges.

Ray again made a pitch to create something a bit more permanent or not elected annually that will carry activities forward each year

Dan needs to know what to ask Westbrook about this award: name, money, administration

Kevin: advises to keep the name, keep the institutional memory on the webpage (a separate page for the awards we hand out); the ExCom has already voice support for the idea; if every third year is the time frame, administratively should be possible

Kevin: two points to bring: 1) take endowment as is and we will figure out the amount to given out every three years; 2) when the award is due to be given out for books published between 2015-2018 in 2019—there should be someone from Robb’s committee to serve on this first S-USIH administered award committee

Dan: Have a member of the Dewey Foundation serve as chair of book award this first time around and they would staff the committee

Kevin: happy to see the field defined broadly in a way that works well with S-USIH’s field

Dan: interesting that SAAP did not get approached to give out this award—probably because S-USIH is broader than American philosophy and that appeals to the Dewey Foundation

Tim: like the idea of creating a formal connection to the world of philosophy

Dan: the account is $5000 with the idea of $500 every three years—need the return to be at least 3.3%. Kevin will look into how this fund will be invested

Ray: what is our commitment to the Dewey Foundation for the future?

Dan: we will need to sign an agreement about what the fund can be used for. A question that needs an answer is what to do with the fund if S-USIH folds?

Tim: Dewey Foundation and the SIU?

Ray: Dewey Center has not plan to move from SIU. But if it did, IUPUI is a candidate for the new home and having the SUSIH-IAT alliance with the Dewey Foundation fund involved is a good thing

ITEM 2: 2016 Conference

Dan has spoken with Jennifer Burns about the conference

Jennifer has concerns about running the conference in 2016 and wanted to explore the idea of holding off until 2017

Jennifer contacted Lora Burnett who has signed on to do the 2017 conference about switching their years

Probably will not work because of the work that Lora is involved in just now

Lora put forward that she was going to bring the conference to Dallas without speaking to Dan first, which Dan finds a problem because Lora had not broached the idea with UT-Dallas

Jennifer is in the process of investigating institutional support for the conference

Tim: What is the point of no return date?

Dan: in the next few weeks, Jennifer will know one way or another. Dan wanted to pull together a committee to help Jennifer understand the organizational time frame.

Kevin: we could move the conference to a location—Chicago or NYC—and involve Lora as the committee chair for one of those locations

Tim: will be willing to help rearrange the conference to Chicago if that is necessary.

Ray: we voted these chairs to run the conferences, and it would take another vote or at least a crisis meeting with the members to move the conference to other cities. Think it is okay for the chairs to move the conference to other places, but it would be something of a different order to bring in a new chair.

Tim: we need to set a date by which we are firm on plans for the next conferences. Mid-March seems to be the frame for this.

Dan: Will contact Jennifer to ask you to make a decision by late February. The Excom can help with whatever decision she makes, including moving the conference to another year or moving the venue.

Dan: Andrew is creating a document for the conference planning that we will all contribute to.

Item 3:

 

Minutes from November meeting—vote to approve

Will approve by electronic vote

Move to approve budget for website maintenance

Discussion

Kevin: WildApricot has website capabilities will this conflict with web maintenance?

Ray: details about the maintenance possibilities

Dan: put under the agreement that Young will be integrating the new membership system into the website.

Kevin: who are we paying?
Ray: we are paying the IAT

Dan: call for the vote

Approved

Item 4

Kevin: Software for membership system

10 more days of the free-trial month

After than it is $25/mo

All member info is up to date

Capacity for mass emails, reminders, renewal reminders

Kevin sees this as an excellent way to raise memberships—we are at 105 now

Kevin has set up simple categories: join, donate and the return to the SUSIH website should be seamless

Have our annual membership, two-year membership, and a lifetime membership

Dan: asked about the date of joining and date of renewal—one year

Dan: Can we send out membership notes to people who used to be members and whom we should reach out to now?

Kevin: will send Ray a spreadsheet with lapsed members that messages can be sent out to.

Dan: does SUSIH own the names and would they be deleted by WildApricot if we leave their service?

Dan: do we have protection against losing the information in the system?

Kevin: should we institute a new membership levels?

Consensus is to keep the membership as is now.

Dan: move to approve the cost of $25/mo for WildApricot membership system—unanimous approval

Item 5

Tim: nothing too substantial to report, but will take issues back to the committee.

Dan: let’s meet in another month

Should have an idea about the conferences

Need to discuss an advisory board and elections for next year’s ExCom