Summary of Business Meeting Minutes
President's Report. Pres. Lucy McDiarmid described the work of several
ad-hoc committees. The Ad-hoc Committee on Book Prizes, consisting
of all the judges of this year's book awards, met in cyberspace and
developed guidelines for their work: books may be considered for one prize
only; and each separate prize committee will determine its criteria
of eligibility. The Ad-hoc Committee on the Research Report Form was chaired
by Dick Bizot (other members were Cheryl Herr and Gary Owens): although
the old paper form is still in use this year, now members may use the
ACIS Web site to put their research on record. In addition, three new
categories have been added: Cinema, Cultural Studies, and Irish Language.
The Ad-hoc Committee on the Future of the Annual was chaired by John
Harrington (other members were Tony Bradley, Charles Fanning, Liz
Mitchell, and Maureen Waters). The Committee's report recommended renewing
the contract with the University of Massachusetts Press. A
minority report was opposed to renewal. The Executive Committee voted
to refer the matter of the Annual to the new Executive.
Pres. McDiarmid reported on our communications with ACLS: Jim MacKillop
had been told that a scholarly publication was required for
membership; Pres. McDiarmid, calling after the publication of Vol.
I of the Annual, was told that a second volume was required, so that the
publication could be confirmed as stable and continuing. The Pres.
reported that the ACIS continues its affiliations with the MLA and the
AHA.
Cheryl Herr hopes to create an affiliation for us with the Society
for Cinema Studies, and we hope to renew our former affiliation with the
American Anthropological Association.
Sr. Marie Hubert Kealy and Ann Owens Weekes worked together on an Ad-hoc
Committee on Regional Elections. They recommended that
regional elections, when contested, be by mail ballot; and that regional
representatives be limited to two terms. The Executive Committee voted
that each regional representative should bring these recommendations
to its membership. A report by an ad-hoc committee of former ACIS
Presidents was submitted by Maureen Murphy and will be published in
the Fall Newsletter. Pres. McDiarmid wrote a memo on the procedures
followed by recent Nominations Committees, in the hope that such procedures
could be stabilized. The Executive Committee voted to refer this
matter to the new Executive. Two other ad-hoc committees, one on Program
Procedures and one on the Newsletter, submitted reports which
were agenda items for this meeting. Pres. McDiarmid offered thanks
to the members of her Executive, noting that they were a "watershed
Executive Committee" in three respects: they were the first to meet
in cyberspace, and so were in continual session for almost two years;
because of the changed context and form of their meeting, they were
more interactive, more consultative, and more democratic; and, finally,
they
were more procedurally conscious than previous Executive Committees.
Pres. McDiarmid quoted Henry Robert on parliamentary law: "Tradition
and custom have the force of a rule until someone calls attention to
the fact that they are not rules." McDiarmid said that this Executive
Committee had discovered precisely to what extent the ACIS operated
by "tradition and custom."
The Secretary (your new ACIS Newsletter editor) announced that currently
there are over 1300 members of the organization. The Electronic
Guide to Irish Studies in the United States has 63 listings for 28
states plus the District of Columbia. It was voted at the Executive meeting
to
have the ACIS Secretary continue maintenance of The Guide on the ACIS
Web page.
The Treasurer, John Harrington, presented the Treasurer's Report. He
pointed out the variation in terms of membership numbers within the year,
generally falling between 1200 and 1450. At the beginning of the 1997-98
fiscal year, there were 1,247 members, with 1,434 at the end of that year.
Currently, there are 1,338 members. Regarding income and expenditures,
we consistently spend less and take in more.
[Secretary Jim Doan; summary taken from Fall 1999 newsletter.]