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NEA Executive Board Meeting Minutes

November 5, 1999, University of New Hampshire

Call to Order:
The meeting was called to order by President Berry at 1:10 p.m. Present were Kathryn Hammond Baker, Jean Berry, MaryAnn Campbell, Ed Desrochers, Glynn Edwards, Aimee Felker, Sheri Kelley, Joan Krizack, Kevin Logan, Daniel McCormack, Maureen Melton, Peter Nelson, Beth Patkus, Lisa Plato, Roberta Ransley, Susan von Salis, and Jane Ward.
Minutes of the July 12, 1999 Board meeting (Appendix A):
MOTION: On a motion by Felker, seconded by Baker, the Board voted to accept the minutes of the July 12, 1999 Board meeting.
Secretary's report (Appendix B):
Patkus distributed the updated list of officers and committees, as well as updated job descriptions for the Public Relations Coordinator and Development Coordinator, and a list of material that should be included in the administrative handbooks to all Board members.
Fall 1999 Local Arrangements report (Appendix C):
Registration is projected at 158. Ross noted that there were some communication problems with SAA in regard to the EAD workshop. There were a large number of late registrations, both for workshops and the meeting itself, and he suggested that the Board investigate the possibility of streamlining meeting registration by making registration information available through the Web rather than through mailings. The Board will discuss this further at a later date.
Fall 1999 Program Committee report (Appendix D):
Ransley reported that honoraria came to $650. Krizack expressed concern about some inaccuracies in the program text for the meeting, and the Board agreed that all session chairs should have their speakers review the program text before it is printed. This will be added to the Program Committee job description.
Treasurer's report (Appendix E):
Campbell reported that Jill Greenberg, NEA's financial advisor, will reinvest NEA's mutual funds in the American Funds Group at no charge. She asked the Board whether any funds should be taken out of the mutual funds to cover NEA's match for the Hale Award campaign (see #18a). The consensus was to wait a year, until the end of the campaign. Campbell then presented the 2000 budget for discussion by the Board. She suggested that the Board consider raising the budgeted amount for meeting honoraria, since this amount seems to be frequently over budget. After some discussion, the Board's consensus was to retain the $1200 cap per meeting on honoraria and to continue to consider exceptions on a case-by-case basis. Campbell will prepare a comparative list of honoraria expenses from recent meetings. $300 was added to the proposed budget to provide funding for the public relations coordinator. The 2000 budget as amended has projected receipts of $31,165 and projected expenses of $30,731.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Desrochers, the Board voted to approve the FY 2000 proposed budget as amended.
Nominating Committee:
Desrochers asked for and received approval of the question for the candidates. He also asked for and received approval of the candidates for Representative-at-Large and Secretary. One candidate has been identified for Vice President/President-Elect-as soon as another is identified Desrochers will ask for Board approval of the VP/President-Elect candidates via email. The Board discussed the ongoing difficulty of gender/geography/institutional balance in candidates. Desrochers noted that the committee only had to approach 5 people to get the RAL and Secretary candidates, but that nine were approached to find one VP candidate.

MOTION: On a motion by Baker, seconded by Krizack, the Board voted to approve the Nominating Committee's question for the candidates.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Logan, the Board voted to approve Cally Gurley and Margot Garritt as candidates for Representative at Large and Diana Smith and Lois Hamill as candidates for Secretary.
Vice President's report (Appendix F):
Felker reported that Anne Ostendarp and Phil Cronenwett have agreed to co-chair the Local Arrangements Committee for the Spring 2001 meeting at Dartmouth. Diana Royce Barnard and Mollie Kellor will co-chair the Program Committee.

MOTION: On a motion by Desrochers, seconded by Ward, the Board voted to approve Anne Ostendarp and Phil Cronenwett as Local Arrangements chairs and Diana Royce Barnard and Mollie Kellor as Program chairs for the Spring 2001 meeting.

Felker has been pursuing meeting sites in Newport, RI for the Spring 2002 meeting. She has received a tentative commitment from the Newport Marriott to match the Doubletree's Spring 2000 rate of $89 if NEA meets at the Marriott on March 22-23, 2002. Two volunteers from area repositories have tentatively agreed to coordinate local arrangements. Although this is earlier than NEA usually meets, the consensus of the Board was that this is a good opportunity to meet in an excellent location. It was also suggested that Felker look into involving the Preservation Society of Newport in the program for the meeting.

Felker also reported that she met with representatives from MARAC at SAA regarding a joint NEA/MARAC meeting in Fall 2002. They discussed registration fees, meeting attendance, meeting dates, distribution of responsibilities, and meeting format. They propose a "hybrid" Thursday through Sunday meeting that would include most of the normal meeting activities of both organizations. They also identified Poughkeepsie, NY as the most economical meeting location that would be acceptable to both organizations. The Board approved of these plans and instructed Felker to move forward.
Public Relations Coordinator (Appendix G):
McCormack reported 131 releases regarding the Fall meeting were sent. Work continues to identify other publications and organizations that might be interested in receiving NEA releases. Von Salis suggested that NEA try to work more with the deadlines of various organizations/publications, since some require a long lead time.
Meetings:
- a. Spring 2000 Local Arrangements (Appendix H):
  Ward reported that the committee is working with the American Textile History Museum to arrange a Friday night reception there. The budget is based on an attendance of 200 people, and the committee is hoping to attract that many.
- b. Spring 2000 Program (Appendix I):
  Campbell presented the preliminary program for Donna Webber. Several speakers have recently withdrawn but the committee is working on replacing them. John Fleckner of the Smithsonian Institution will be the keynote speaker. The Newsletter editors will explore the possibility of making his address (or an excerpt) available in the Newsletter or on the Web site. Felker noted that the vendor exhibits do not appear in the preliminary schedule and should be added.
- c. Fall 2000 Local Arrangements (Appendix J):
  The meeting will be held at the Hogan Campus Center at Holy Cross College. The committee is working to put together a preliminary budget.
- d. Fall 2000 Program (Appendix K):
  The program will include a keynote address by Jill LePore, author of The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity. The program will consist of morning structured discussion sessions and afternoon mini-workshops that will each be offered twice.
Education Committee (Appendix L):
Melton reported that two of the three workshops offered for the Fall 1999 meeting are taking place-but the workshop on bringing students into the archives was canceled because there was insufficient registration two weeks prior to the workshop (as per the workshop cancellation policy set by the Board). She also noted that three more registrations were received after the workshop was canceled, but the sense of the Board was to stick with the policy. Bruce Stark will teach the "Arrangement and Description" workshop at the Spring 2000 meeting. The committee also hopes to be able to offer Nancy Schrock's scrapbook workshop again. The committee is working to set up one or two more workshops for the Spring meeting-suggestions for topics and instructors are welcome. Melton also reported on her participation in the National Forum on Archival Continuing Education (NFACE), an NHPRC-funded project intended to develop an action agenda for archival continuing education in the next decade. Melton asked all Board members to encourage others to fill out the NFACE survey that is designed to assess individual educational needs. A copy of the survey will be printed in the next Newsletter.
Newsletter (Appendix M):
Nelson reported that Angela Reddin has been proposed to replace departing editor Judy Farrar. Another new editor will be appointed at the February Board meeting. Nelson noted that the editors thought an index to the Newsletter had been prepared some years ago, but they did not know by whom or where it is now. If this can be located, editor Farrar might be interested in updating it. Patkus noted that there is a reference to a Newsletter index in the index to the Board minutes-this reference is dated 6/26/92 and the materials would be in the NEA Archives. Nelson will follow up.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Baker, the Board voted to approve the appointment of Angela Reddin to replace Judy Farrar as a Newsletter editor.
Membership Secretary (Appendix N):
Anne Sauer's written report gave the total current membership at 629.
Membership Committee (Appendix N):
Kelley reported that the committee co-sponsored a third BAG meeting. Liaisons have also been established in VT and CT to help initiate, reinvigorate, or publicize partnerships between NEA and local archival/historical organizations in those states. The committee hopes to extend such activities to the other New England states as well. The Board reviewed the job descriptions for membership secretary and membership committee, and some minor changes were made.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Ward, the Board voted to accept the job descriptions for the Membership Secretary and the Membership Committee as amended.
Outreach Committee (Appendix O):
Von Salis reported that the Outreach Committee mailed out 69 letters to organizations targeted as potential audiences for the speakers' bureau. Thus far no responses have been received. The committee will meet to discuss the speakers' bureau project and other possible initiatives for the committee.
Web Site Redesign Committee (Appendix P):
Plato reported that the committee has begun to implement the recommendations of the Web Redesign Ad Hoc Committee. The committee is gathering new content for the Web site, developing a navigational sidebar, and working out mechanisms for funneling information to the Web Coordinator. The committee has not yet been able to determine whether it will be necessary to hire a Web page designer, but the committee plans to submit recommendations and cost implications at the February Board meeting. The committee now includes Kim Brookes, Glynn Edwards, Judy Farrar, and Lisa Plato. Edwards replaces Debbie Richards, who had to resign for personal reasons.
Print Coordinator (Appendix Q):
Diana Yount's written report noted that 600 Fall meeting announcements were sent. Von Salis pointed out that announcements should also be sent to lapsed members, making the number sent closer to 800-1000 rather than 600, which is the number of actual members.
Awards:
- a. Hale Award (see Appendix S, President's report):
  Berry reported that Helen Samuels and Jim O'Toole have agreed to chair NEA's Millennial Campaign for Professional Development. The goal of this campaign, approved by the Board at its July meeting, is to double the Hale Award endowment to $20,000 by raising $5000 (to be matched by $5000 from NEA). This will allow an award of $1000 instead of the current $500. Berry also reported that an anonymous donation of $500 has been given to kick off the campaign, and she noted that O'Toole and Samuels hope for 100% participation in the campaign by the Board. The development coordinator and the public relations coordinator will work with Samuels and O'Toole on the campaign. The Board discussed the logistics of managing the money received. The Treasurer will open a separate savings account for deposit of checks received (to be changed to a money market account as soon as there is sufficient money in the account). NEA's matching contribution will be transferred to the account at the end of the campaign.
- b. Haas Award (Appendix R):
  The Board briefly discussed Stephen Cohen's written report, which suggested raising the amount of the award and improving marketing strategies. The consensus of the Board was that a more concrete proposal for changes in the award was needed before any action could be taken, so the issue was tabled until the February Board meeting.
- c. Distinguished Service Award:
  No report.
President's report (Appendix S):
Berry reported that NEA will receive a reimbursement from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for overpayment of NEA's annual fee to the Commonwealth in 1990, 1991, and 1992-this problem arose because of a change in the forms used for this payment. She has submitted a column to the Web Coordinator which will be added to the Web site as part of the revision and expansion approved by the Board in July. She also proposed that NEA provide millennial mementos (such as pins, hats, etc.) to give out at meetings in 2000 and/or 2001. The consensus of the Board was that it would be best to do this at the Spring 2000 meeting if possible. The Vice President and Development Coordinator will investigate the possibility of vendor funding for such items.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Desrochers, the Board voted to approve the appointments of Ron Patkus as Development Coordinator, Glynn Edwards as Co-Webmaster, and Lisa Plato as Web Coordinator.
Old Business: NEA Archives
The Board accepted the recommendations of NEA archivist Betsy Pittman regarding institutional records (some financial records and raw membership data) that do not need to be retained over the long term.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Baker, the Board voted to accept the recommendations of NEA Archivist Betsy Pittman regarding disposition of records with no long-term value to NEA.
New Business (Appendix T):
Vice President Felker reported that she had discussions at SAA with several NEA members who expressed a desire for career development assistance (such as providing mock interviews). After some discussion of different types of mentoring and career development assistance that might be provided, the Board concluded that a more specific proposal is needed before any action can be taken. Felker will consult with Maureen Melton on this issue, since the Board felt that these activities would be best coordinated through the Education Committee.
Next Executive Board meeting:
The next meeting of the Executive Board will be held on Friday, February 4, 2000, at Wellesley College from 1-5 p.m. The snow date is Monday, February 7, 2000.
There being no further business, Berry adjourned the meeting at 5:20 p.m.