SOUTH-CENTRAL RENAISSANCE CONFERENCE
MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING
APRIL 8-9, 1999
Savannah, Georgia
The Executive Committee met twice during the 1999 joint conference with
the Southeastern Renaissance Conference on the campus of Savannah College
of Art and Design. Present at each meeting were: Liana De Girolami
Cheney, president; John Ford, vice president; Raymond-Jean Frontain,
executive secretary-treasurer; James S. Baumlin, past president; Tita
French Baumlin, editor, Explorations; Phoebe S. Spinrad, editor,
Discoveries; members-at-large Ellen L. Longsworth, Nabil Matar,
Donald Stump, Margaret Flansburg, Katherine A. McIver, and Katherine
Powers; George Klawitter, webmaster (ex officio); Donald Dickson, program
chair (ex officio); and David W. Hart, archivist (ex officio).
Meeting of April 8
1. President Cheney called the meeting to order at 8:10 p.m. Don Dickson
proposed, and Katherine Powers seconded approval of the minutes of the
previous meeting, which were duly approved by voice vote.
2. President Cheney announced the following upcoming schedule of
conference hosts: University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2000 (Bert
Fields, local arrangements chair); Texas A&M University in 2001 (Don
Dickson, local arrangements chair); and St. Louis University, in a joint
meeting with the Central Renaissance Society, in 2002.
3. Past president Jim Baumlin, who in fall 1997 initiated an SCRC e-mail
discussion group, cited the increasing complexity of SCRC business even
as the larger conference membership, and specifically the composition of
the Executive Committee, expands beyond our designated geographical
region, and raised the issue of the Executive Committee conducting
business by teleconference. Discussion weighed the liability of delaying
action on an issue for one year, as we are now required to do, against
the exclusion from participation of an independent scholar who might lack
access to the necessary technology. A committee consisting of Jim Baumlin
(chair), George Klawitter, and Phoebe Spinrad was appointed by President
Cheney to report to the Executive Committee on the possibility of
teleconferencing, particularly about non-conflictual issues, outside of
the annual meeting.
4. Treasurer Raymond Frontain reported a balance of $5,096.30 in the
Conference's checking account, which is unfortunately (or fortunately)
$90 more than he is able to account for despite repeated balancing of the
books; and an accumulated worth of $9,0908.06 on the Conference's
Certificate of Deposit. Discussion addressed the future of the CD. A
committee appointed last year, consisting of then- Treasurer John Mercer
and then-President Jim Baumlin, having investigated alternative forums of
investment for the money which would pay a higher yield, had concluded
that the penalty for early withdrawal made such a procedure inadvisable
at the time. Frontain was appointed to replace Mercer on that committee,
which agreed to continue exploration of the issue and to report to the
Executive Committee before the CD matures on October 25.
5. Explorations editor Tita French Baumlin reported that outside
subscriptions climbed in
the past year from 66 to 82. The increased visibility of the journal has
resulted also in a backlog of 21 articles accepted for publication, which
fills the journal for next two and a half years. Discussion followed of
libraries' preference for biannual publications and of the general
perception of an annual as a 'conference proceedings' rather than a
competitive scholarly publication with broader appeal. A proposal that,
pending the support of the journal's host institution, SCRC raise the
journal's allocation from $800 to $1800 a year in order to subsidize two
issues a year was made by Phoebe Spinrad, seconded by Don Dickson, and
approved by voice vote with Tita Baumlin abstaining.
6. Discoveries editor Phoebe Spinrad reported the newsletter's
registration as a serial, its being indexed in the MLA Bibliography, and
her intention to sustain a 16-page format. Discussion weighed the expense
to the Conference of keeping a large number of nonmembers on its mailing
list against the need for the newsletter to establish itself as a serial.
James Baumlin proposed, and Don Dickson seconded, that as long as
Discoveries is supported by its host institution, the Conference
grow its mailing list to 900. The motion was approved by a voice vote
with Phoebe Spinrad abstaining.
7. Webmaster George Klawitter reported that he has installed a counter
which will register visits to the webpage, and requested that in the
future the Program Chair indicate that presenters submit their abstracts
to him electronically in order to facilitate their posting on the
page.
8. Don Dickson initiated discussion of an issue that the Executive
Committee had begun discussing electronically: the advisability of
restructuring the term of the Executive Committee's members-at- large.
Discussion addressed the efficacy of the current two-year terms wherein
members-at-large spend their first year in office listening to discussion
and learning the ropes, allowing them in effect only their remaining year
to contribute decisively. Donald Stump proposed, and John Ford seconded,
that the term of the six members-at-large be increased to three years
starting April 9, 2000. The motion was carried unanimously by voice vote,
with no abstentions. The Nominations Committee was charged to take into
account the shift from a two- to a three- year term in proposing its
slate of members-at-large to the membership at Saturday's Business
Meeting.
9. The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m.
Meeting of April 9
President Cheney called the meeting to order at 5 p.m. Discussion of the
continued health of the organization revolved around several interrelated
issues:
1. Publicity. Program Chair Don Dickson's acknowledgement of the
response received from electronic postings of conference's
call-for-papers stimulated discussion of electonic communications and of
the inherent publicity value of the Discoveries and Explorations web
pages. Committee members agreed upon the importance of a uniform logo
whose image might be used as the button for hypertexts. Liana Cheney was
charged with investigating how SCRC might most effectively represent
itself visually.
2. Planning for 2000. The proposed April 6-8 conference dates conflict
with the
Shakespeare Society of America meeting; the host institution should be
approached about postponing our conference until April 13-15. Discussion
of submission requirements and deadline followed, it being agreed to
revert to the traditional Dec. 30 deadline for submissions, and to
continue to insist upon completed papers in order to ensure quality. The
use of a respondent to papers in a special session should be encouraged,
both in order to stimulate quality discussion and to encourage attendance
by non- presenters; the member proposing the special session should take
responsibility for securing a qualified respondent for those papers.
3. Planning for 2001. Our fiftieth anniversary is an excellent
opportunity to celebrate the organization, to honor the past members and
supporting institutions that have contributed to its rich history, as
well as to make the conference known to potential new members. Possible
activities include: issuing in Discoveries and on the webpage a
call for artefacts, especially photographs; soliciting anecdotes and
memories of past meetings from members that might be published in the
anniversary year issues of Discoveries or in a special souvenir
booklet distributed at the conference; sponsoring a slide lecture on the
history of the organization as the after-dinner entertainment at the
anniversary conference; soliciting the attendance of past presidents and
local arrangement chairs at the anniversary conference; making a special
plea to emeritus members to attend the anniversary conference or to
participate in some way; and creating a favor, such as a lapel pin or
paperweight, emblazoned with the organization logo and the dates
1951-2001.
4. Named Lectureship and/or Conference Paper Prizes. Donald Stump
proposed the creation of a named lectureship that might annually feature
a more junior speaker than the annual Saturday luncheon speaker
traditionally is. The lecture might be named to honor someone who has
made a significant contribution to SCRC, such as William B. Hunter or
John T. Shawcross. The honor of being invited to deliver such a lecture,
even while offering no signficant monetary incentive, might attract
upcoming "stars" to the annual meeting, and could figure significantly in
advertising the conference.
In a related vein, SCRC might offer a cash prize for the best paper
submitted to the conference, or for the best junior and senior papers
read at the conference. Discussion considered how selection of such a
prize might work, with the vice president chairing a committee composed
of Explorations's reviewers (who already represent a
crossdisciplinary expertise). Such a prize or prizes would be both a way
of attracting the highest quality papers possible, especially from
graduate students or junior faculty, as well as a way of publicizing the
organization and its work.
Donald Stump (chair), Katherine McIver, Phoebe Spinrad, and Don
Dickson were appointed as a committee to recommend how the prizes might
be awarded and how the named lectureship might operate.
5. Regional Identity. The conference's drawing its speakers and
membership from not simply a national, but an international,
representation questions SCRC's continued identification of itself as a
regional organization. Discussion considered how, on the one hand, it is
possible that our South Central regional identification may inhibit
submissions from scholars outside this region; but, on the other, how
retitling SCRC's annual meeting something like the International Meeting
of the South-Central Renaissance Conference may alienate the Conference's
core constituency. Related to this dilemma is SCRC's relation to our
parent organization, the Renaissance Society of America. Discussion
attempted to assess the value of our publicizing the affiliation and of
our providing a subvention for our
president to attend the annual RSA meeting when RSA does not provide a
link from its webpage to ours. No conclusion was reached regarding any
part of this issue.
6. The Nominating Committee proposed John Ford as president, Don Dickson
as vice president, Ellen Longsworth to a three year term, Donald Stump to
a two year term, and Nabil Matar to a one year term as members-at-large
on the Executive Committee.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Raymond-Jean Frontain
Secretary