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NEA Executive Board Meeting Minutes

February 4, 2000, Clapp Library, Wellesley College

Call to Order:
The meeting was called to order by President Berry at 1:15 p.m. Present were Liz Andrews, Jean Berry, Kim Brookes, MaryAnn Campbell, Sarah Demb, Dan Daily, Ed Desrochers, Glynn Edwards, Aimee Felker, Sheri Kelley, Joan Krizack, Daniel McCormack, Beth Patkus, Susan von Salis, and Jane Ward.
Minutes of the November 5, 1999 Board meeting (Appendix A):
MOTION: On a motion by Felker, seconded by Desrochers, the Board voted to accept the minutes of the November 5, 1999 Board meeting.
Secretary's report (Appendix B):
Patkus distributed the updated list of officers and committees and the 1999 update of the index to the minutes. She reported that the Board voted via email on five issues since the November 1999 Board meeting: 1) the Board voted that Aimee Felker should move ahead with discussions with two NEA members whose institutions are interested in hosting NEA meetings in 2003, 2) the Board voted to co-sponsor (by providing membership labels and publicity) a workshop on electronic records management to be held at Simmons this spring, 3) the Board voted to approve William Ross at UNH and Christine Weideman at Yale as candidates for Vice President/President Elect, 4) the Board voted to approve Daniel Daily as interim Representative at Large, to serve until the spring 2000 election, and 5) the Board voted to approve Daniel Daily at Dartmouth and Richard Stattler at RI Historical Society as candidates for Representative at Large to fill Kevin Logan's vacated position. Patkus noted that since the job descriptions are now on the Web site, it would make sense to post Board-approved updates on the Web site where Board members can download them rather than xeroxing and distributing hard copies to the Board whenever a job description is changed.

MOTION: On a motion by Desrochers, seconded by Krizack, the Board voted to make the Web site the official location for up-to-date Board and committee job descriptions.
Treasurer's report (Appendix C):
Campbell reported that the special Hale Award Campaign account has been opened. She also reported that based on information to date NEA will have a surplus of about $3752.37 for 1999. As per the direction of the Board, NEA's mutual funds have been reinvested in Washington Mutual Investors, New Perspective Fund, and Investment Company of America. The New Perspective Fund showed a gain as of Dec. 31, 1999, while the other two funds showed a loss.
Nominating Committee:
Desrochers reported that the ballot has been prepared and is on schedule for distribution.
Web Site Committee (Appendix D):
Brookes and Edwards reported that the committee has largely completed the graphic redesign and reorganization of the NEA Web site. The committee provided price quotes from a Web designer, as requested by the Board, but the committee does not recommend hiring a designer. The addition of new content is still in progress. The redesigned page includes space for a photograph or other image from a repository in New England. Ideally this image will rotate once a month, and it will include links to a caption and information about the repository.

The committee proposed that NEA form a permanent Web Committee, to be composed of the Webmaster(s), Web Coordinator, and one Newsletter editor. Sarah Demb will serve as the Newsletter representative.

MOTION: On a motion by Desrochers, seconded by Krizack, the Board voted to approve the creation of a permanent Web Committee as proposed by the temporary Web Committee.

The committee also requested Board approval of job descriptions for Webmaster(s), Web Coordinator, and Web Committee, as well as changes to the Secretary, Education Committee, Program Committee and Local Arrangements Committee job descriptions to reflect new Web site responsibilities.

MOTION: On a motion by Felker, seconded by Desrochers, the Board voted to approve the job descriptions for Webmaster(s) and Web Coordinator.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Felker, the Board voted to approve the job description changes recommended by the Web Committee for Secretary, Education Committee, Program Committee, and Local Arrangements Committee.

The Board also discussed the issue of NEA acquiring its own domain name for the Web site (e.g., an address such as www.nearchivists.org). To do this, NEA would need to register a domain name (for a fee) and begin using an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to host the Web site. The committee provided cost information but does not recommend doing this right now, in part because the Web site redesign is still in progress and is consuming a lot of the committee's time. The committee feels that the arrangement with the Healey Library at UMass Boston to host the site is working well. NEA has the ability to implement forms and will not face space restrictions on the site in the foreseeable future. The Webmaster(s) are also concerned that if NEA switches to an ISP it may be more difficult and time-consuming to address any technical problems that may arise. Several Board members felt strongly that it is very important for NEA to move toward establishing its own domain name, but the consensus of the Board was to defer to the committee's recommendation for now.
Meetings:

a. Fall 1999 Meeting, Final Reports (Appendix E):
About 158 people attended the Fall meeting at UNH and evaluations were positive. In his written report, Bill Ross suggested that NEA rely on the Web as a source for registration information and forms to save on mailing and printing costs. After some discussion, the consensus of the Board was that procedures should stay as is for now, but it would be a good idea to place additional local information on the Web site. Ross also suggested that the Board be more aggressive in keeping meeting costs down for attendees. The board discussed this issue at length and decided that it would be appropriate to try lowering the registration fee for the Spring 2000 meeting and to reconsider this issue on an ongoing basis. Campbell will add a line to indicate the surplus for each meeting to the Average Meeting Costs report, to assist the Board in analyzing this issue.

b. Spring 2000 Local Arrangements (Appendix F):
The Board discussed setting the registration fee. Ward reported that actual costs are likely to be about $47 per person based on an attendance of 200 and vendor donations of $1000. Given the procedure of adding a contingency amount to the fee, the registration fee would normally be set at $50 or $55. As per the discussion above, the Board decided to take $1000 from the surplus of the previous meeting to lower the meeting cost.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Felker, the Board voted to take $1000 from the profit of the Fall 1999 meeting to lower the cost of the Spring 2000 meeting and set the registration fee at $45.

c. Spring 2000 Program (Appendix G):
Andrews presented the report. She asked for a sense of the Board on the subject of program committee members acting as session chairs or session speakers. The consensus of the Board was that program committee members can act as session chairs but they may not serve as session speakers.

d. Fall 2000 Local Arrangements:
Plans for the Fall 2000 meeting at Holy Cross are proceeding. It was noted that a local arrangements budget is due at the April Board meeting.

e. Fall 2000 Program (Appendix H):
Berry presented Daria D'Arienzo's written report. It was noted that the one non-NEA speaker is being paid $100. Berry will follow up to insure that the required $200 was offered to the speaker.

f. Spring 2001 Meeting (See VP report, Appendix J):
Felker reported that local arrangements are proceeding. The program committee is exploring the topic of "Archives and/in the Arts" and has come up with a number of potential sessions. While the Board found the proposed sessions excellent, there was some concern expressed that a "theme" meeting might limit turnout, particularly at a site such as Dartmouth that is not centrally-located. The committee will insure that some sessions on additional topics are included.

g. Fall 2001 Meeting (Appendix I):
Berry presented Diane Kaplan's written report. An exact date has not yet been set for the Fall 2001 meeting at Yale, since the preferred site (the Sterling Law Building) has not yet finalized its 2001 calendar. Alternative sites are under consideration in case a different site is needed.
Vice President's report (Appendix J):
Felker reported that a contract has been negotiated with the Newport Marriott for the Spring 2002 meeting and is being reviewed by the President and Treasurer.

MOTION: On a motion by Ward, seconded by Desrochers, the Board voted to approve Ron Potvin and Evelyn Cherpak as Local Arrangements co-chairs and Judith Downey as Program Committee co-chair for the Spring 2002 meeting.

Talks with MARAC regarding the joint meeting in Fall 2002 continue; a tentative contract has been negotiated with the Poughkeepsie Sheraton. A draft NEA/MARAC contract and suggestions for the local arrangements and program committees will be presented at the April Board meeting. The Spring 2003 meeting will take place at the Old Dartmouth Historical Society/New Bedford Whaling Museum.

MOTION: On a motion by Ward, seconded by Krizack, the Board voted to approve Judith Downey as Local Arrangements co-chair for the Spring 2003 meeting.

Felker also asked the Board to choose between October 2-3 and October 17-18 for the Fall 2003 meeting that will take place at the University of Southern Maine. The Board's preference was October 17-18.
Development Coordinator (Appendix K):
Berry presented Ron Patkus' written report. Letters were sent out at the end of October to potential exhibitors at NEA meetings. Inquiries were received from two new vendors as a result. Letters have also been sent to two vendors who owe payment for meetings already attended. Meeting schedules and vendor exhibits have been discussed with members of the Fall and Spring program committees.
Public Relations Coordinator (Appendix L):
Dan McCormack reported that press releases for the Spring meeting will be sent soon. He has been in contact with the Fall 2000 program chair regarding a release for that meeting. It was noted that the press releases should include all information available about any upcoming meetings, and that all press releases should include NEA's URL.
Print Coordinator:
No report.
Education Committee (Appendix M):
Berry presented Maureen Melton's written report. Four educational sessions will be offered to members this spring. On April 8 NEA will co-sponsor a workshop with the Simmons College GSLIS on electronic records, taught by Tim Slavin. On April 28 NEA will present the Arrangement and Description workshop, taught by Bruce Stark, and a workshop on finding aids in a virtual environment, taught by Kate Bowers. At the request of the education committee, SAA will offer a full day workshop on the same day on Preservation Management. The committee also requested the Board's approval for NEA to again co-sponsor the Museum and Library Archives Institute, to be held in June.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Campbell, the Board voted to co-sponsor the Museum and Library Archives Institute.
Membership Secretary (Appendix N):
Anne Sauer's written report gave the total current membership at 653.
Membership Committee (Appendix O):
Kelley reported that membership renewal cards were sent during the first week of January to members whose membership expires as of 1999. It was noted that renewal postcards and program announcements should be sent to all those whose membership has expired in the last two years. About 150 brochures have been sent to repositories for display, and brochures have been sent to CRAG members who are not also members of NEA. The committee plans to send a representative to a CRAG meeting in future. Kelley noted that a few changes need to be made to the brochure, and the Board discussed redesigning it to match the Web site. Kelley will redesign the brochure and ask the Board for feedback.
Outreach Committee (Appendix P):
Von Salis reported that the committee continues to provide information to potential audiences about the speakers' bureau. One response has been received from an organization that may wish to arrange for speakers. The committee met in November to discuss other possible committee activities, such as observing Archives Week. Krizack suggested that the committee consider a project to reach out to minorities to encourage them to become archivists.
Newsletter (Appendix Q):
The Newsletter editors requested approval of Joanie Gearin to replace Tracey Croce as a Newsletter editor. It was noted that Gearin also serves on the membership committee. The sense of the Board was that holding two positions simultaneously should be a personal choice, so long as one is not a voting member of the Board.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Felker, the Board voted to approve the appointment of Joanie Gearin to fill the vacant spot on the Newsletter editorial board.
President's report (Appendix R):
Berry reported that she signed an agreement in January with Robert J. Guimond, CPA, to review NEA's financial records for 1999. She reported that Kevin Logan resigned from the Board when he relocated to Florida, and that the Board approved via email the appointment of Daniel Daily as interim Representative-at-Large until the spring election. She asked for Board approval to extend the terms of Susan von Salis as chair of the Outreach Committee and Maureen Melton as chair of the Education Committee for another term. She also asked for Board approval of NEA's co-sponsorship of the 3rd Annual Community Forum on Historical Records on May 9, 2000. A representative from the Outreach Committee will attend.

MOTION: On a motion by Campbell, seconded by Krizack, the Board voted to appoint Susan von Salis for another term as Outreach Committee chair.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Felker, the Board voted to appoint Maureen Melton for another term as Education Committee chair.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Ward, the Board voted to co-sponsor the 3rd Annual Community Forum on Historical Records on May 9, 2000.

The Board also discussed acquiring a new banner for NEA. Felker presented several options for design and color, and the Board voted to charge her to move forward with the project. Several Board members felt that NEA should consider having a logo designed for use on the Web site and other NEA materials; Desrochers will begin to gather information about this.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Desrochers, the Board voted to empower Aimee Felker to move forward with designing and purchasing a banner, to be consistent with NEA's graphic standard.

Berry brought up the ongoing issue of voting Board members taking on other duties in NEA during their term, and the Board decided to table this discussion until its April meeting.
Awards:

a. Hale Award (Appendix S):
Jean Berry presented Jim O'Toole's report on the Hale Award Campaign. Letters have gone out to life members, and letters to the Executive Board will go out soon. A letter will be sent to the general membership at the beginning of March. The Board suggested that letters should also be sent to former winners of the award. After some discussion, the Board agreed that while it enthusiastically supports the campaign and hopes that all Board members will contribute, it does not endorse the principle of requiring 100% participation of the Board. The Board also stressed the need for confidentiality regarding donations.

b. Haas Award:
No report.

c. Distinguished Service Award:
No report.
New Business:
Felker reported that MARAC offers scholarships for students/new members to its meetings and asked whether the Board felt it was appropriate for NEA to offer such scholarships at the joint meeting with MARAC in Fall 2002. It was noted that the issue of scholarships was addressed by the Board in 1996. Felker will follow up on this and the Board will discuss the issue at its April meeting.
Next Executive Board meeting:
The next meeting of the Executive Board will be held on Friday, April 28, 2000, at The DoubleTree Hotel in Lowell from 1-5 p.m.
There being no further business, Berry adjourned the meeting at 5:15 p.m.