Business Minutes & Annual Reports

 

RESULTS OF THE 2008 MEMBER SURVEY

The results of the 2008 member survey can be downloaded by clicking here. Please note that results of several survey questions regarding the future of our profession and of the academy are not shown because they were open-ended. Please refer to the upcoming Head Note column in the spring/summer 2008 newsletter and to the report to AEJMC President Charles Self (to be posted in June 2008) for a summary of these results.

 

Minutes of Business Meeting
Mass Communication & Society Division, AEJMC
August 10, 2007
Washington, DC

Division Head Marie Hardin convened meeting at 8:30 p.m.

Presentation of Awards
Hardin then presented the division’s Trayes Award to former division head Carol Pardun, Middle Tennessee State University and incoming vice president of AEJMC.

Jennifer Fleming and Frank Dardis, teaching co-chairs, presented awards to winners of the Promising Professors competition, as follows:
First Place: Michel Haigh, Penn State
Second Place: Daniel Haygood, Tennessee
Third Place: Laura Triplett, Cal State-Fullerton
Third Place: Wendy Wyatt, St. Thomas
Third Place: Terri Ann Bailey, North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Graduate Student Winner: Daniel Reimold, Ohio

Janet Bridges, research co-chair, reported that the division accepted 72 papers for presentation, including 40 in the poster session. She presented refereed research paper awards, as follows:
First Place: Michel Haigh, Penn State, and Michael Pfau, Oklahoma
First Place, Moeller Student Paper: Hayeon Song, Southern California
Top Student Paper: Fei Shen, Ohio State
Second/Third Place (tie), Student Paper Competition: Jennette Lovejoy, Ohio
Second/Third Place (tie), Student Paper Competition: Daxton Stewart, Missouri
Denis Wu, competition chair, presented the MC&S research Award ($5,000) to Renita Coleman, Texas at Austin, and Andrew F. Hayes and Teresa A. Myers, Ohio State.
Pamela Shoemaker, Syracuse, was presented with the division’s Distinguished Educator
Award.

Reports concerning Mass Communication & Society journal
Concetta Seminara-Kennedy, associate editor with Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, which has purchased Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (LEA), reported that the journal currently has 325 institutional subscriptions “and is holding steady.” A production report by Kevin Pickering, production editor, was distributed. The report noted that the current page budget is 480 pages per year, 120 pages per issue, and that currently the journal is 24 pages over the allotment for three issues, with 96 pages left for the volume. Pickering’s report said he will ask the journal’s editor if content can be reduced for issue number 4, which is tentatively scheduled to go to shop Oct. 15, 2007. He reported that “paper flow is very consistent and there is never any shortage of material.” In a separate “marketing overview” report, Erin Enright, marketing associate with Taylor & Francis, said T&F is implementing promotional campaigns for the journal, incorporating a variety of methods including direct mail, electronic marketing, print advertising, and conference display.

Journal editor Stephen Perry said he took over submissions in September 2006 and has received a total of 130 manuscripts, including re-submits. He said acceptance rate is running between 15 percent and 20 percent, and that reviews are taking between 90 and 120 days.

Committee Reports
Shahira Fahmy, chair of the Professional Freedom & Responsibility Committee, and Jennifer Fleming and Frank Dardis, co-chairs of the Teaching Committee, gave brief reports of committee work and activities. Janet Bridges, who along with Fuyuan Shen served as co-chair of the Research Committee, said the division received a total of 137 paper submissions for the Washington, DC, convention. Of that total, she said, 72 papers were accepted for presentation, including 40 assigned to poster sessions. Diana Martinelli then gave a brief report concerning division participation in midwinter conference.

Updates and New Business
Hardin reported that the Mass Communication & Society journal reserve fund totals $114,560.06, with the division’s balance standing at $15,509.46 (not taking into account an estimated $5,000 to be deducted for convention expenses. Overall, she said, the division, which is AEJMC’s second largest, is “very healthy” financially.

Hardin briefly explained minor changes proposed for the division bylaws, a copy of which was made available to members present at the meeting as well as to all members via the division listserv. A motion to approve these changes was introduced and second, and the motion passed by unanimous vote.

Marie Hardin reported that George Gladney, who has served as division archivist for a number of years, asked that the division discuss the situation regarding the archives of the old Mass Comm Review journal. At issue is what to do with 40 boxes of MCR materials that AEJMC shipped to Gladney at the University of Wyoming about five years ago. Gladney then spoke, explaining that because of planned renovation and reconfiguration of space in the building where the boxes are housed, it will be impossible to continue storage provided by his department. He said he needs to get some direction from the division as to the fate of the journal archives. After some discussion, a motion was introduced and seconded asking Gladney to explore the possibility of hiring a graduate student at Wyoming to inventory the 40 boxes and, if issues of the journal are found in the boxes (along with all the other papers and correspondence), attempt to assemble a complete set of all volumes of MCR. The motion also called for throwing out everything except the published volumes, and then having the graduate student (under Gladney’s supervision) compile and scan all volumes for conversion to PDF format for future distribution/availability by the division. The motion also called for remuneration for the graduate student’s work to be determined by the Executive Committee, in consultation with Gladney, with the money being drawn from the MC&S journal fund and/or MC&S funds set aside for division newsletters. The motion seconded and was passed unanimously.

Election of New Officers
2005-06 division head Jennifer Greer than proposed a slate of officers for 2007-2008. (2006-07 division vice head, Diana Martinelli, West Virginia, automatically moves up to division head.) Greer said the slate was the result of a call for nominations sent to division members in the spring. The persons nominated were either self-nominated or nominated by others in the division. Greer noted one late additional nomination, that of Dan Haygood (Tennessee) for co-chair of the Teaching Committee. Greer asked for nominations from the floor and, there being none, the following slate was presented to members present, who then approved the slate by unanimous vote:

Vice Head: Jennifer Henderson (Trinity)
Research Co-Chairs: Janet Bridges (Sam Houston State) and Shahira Fahmy (Southern Illinois)
Midwinter Research Chair: Donnalyn Pompper (Temple)
PF&R Co-Chairs: Jennifer Fleming (Cal State, Long Beach) and Francesca Carpentier (North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
Teaching Co-Chairs: Frank Dardis (Penn State) and Dan Haygood (Tennessee)
Secretary/Newsletter Editor: Cary Frith (Ohio)
Webmaster: Kevin Williams (Mississippi State)
Graduate Student Liaison: Andrea Holt (Alabama)

Final Comments From Incoming Head, Diana Martinelli
Martinelli thanked Hardin for her excellent service as MC&S Division head for 2006-07. She said she enthusiastically looks forward to working with the division’s news officers and committee people in their effort to have another outstanding year for the division.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

George Albert Gladney
Division Secretary

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