2011 minutes
Board of Directors Meeting
Present
Ruth Colwill, President
Andrew Delamater, President-Elect
Kurt Salzinger, Past-President
Frederick Bonato, Executive Officer
Norine Jalbert, Treasurer
Wade Pickren, Historian
Diane Finley, Program Committee Chair
Rachel Barr, Member-at-Large
Michael Brown, Member-at-Large
Robert Cook, Member-at-Large
Dana Dunn, Member-at-Large
Lewis Lipsitt, Member-at-Large
Susan Nolan, Member-at-Large
Alice Powers, Member-at-Large
Vincent Prohaska, Member-at-Large
Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Member-at-Large
Debra A. Zellner, 2011-2012 President-Elect
Lewis Lipsitt, Member-at-Large
Susan Nolan, Member-at-Large
1. 12:00 PM Lunch
2. 12:30 PM Call to Order
3. President’s Welcome-
Ruth Colwill welcomed new Board Members and Program Committee Members and thanked those that worked closely with her throughout the year. Ruth summarized the year and specifically addressed the difficulties we encountered with the Hyatt labor dispute. She also stated that our fellows list is now in good shape and fellows are posted on the EPA website. Also, we have obtained photographs of all of the past presidents and almost all now appear on the website and carousel.
4. Election Committee Report –
Ruth Colwill announced and congratulated the winners of the 2011 EPA election who are listed below.
Debra A. Zellner (president-elect)
Bruce Brown
Bonnie Green
James MacDonnall
5. Treasurer’s Report-
Norine Jalbert reminded the board that the report she wrote in February indicated a shortfall of future funds. Estimating much lower revenue in Pittsburgh brings up the issue of raising dues. Norine indicated that the last page of the treasurer’s report lists EPA assets and reminded the Board that last year we had to draw funds out of the EPA Vanguard account to pay for Brooklyn meeting.
6. Membership Committee Report-
Andy Delamater thanked Ruth Colwill and Kurt Salzinger for forwarding to the Membership Committee the spreadsheet of all fellows. Andy stated that the Committee was trying to get a set of procedures for nominating people. Ruth Colwill asked if we could forward names to the Committee after the meeting and vote on them the next month. This was agreed upon. The possibility of including a formal fellow designation into the bylaws was viewed favorably by the Board. It was also noted that, in general, the bylaws should be looked at and revised. Also suggested was keeping a list of individuals who declined an invitation to become a fellow so that they would not be invited again.
Alice Powers suggested that in order to maintain and increase membership all those who speak at the annual meeting could get emails to renew. Susan Whitbourne suggested changing the process by asking people to submit for fellow designation. It was also noted that if a person is a fellow of APS or APA, that person could possibly be considered for fellow status in EPA. The idea of a timeline in accepting nominations was also discussed. It was generally agreed upon that the process of nominating and electing fellows should be revisited each year. Kurt Salzinger suggested that we draft written procedures for the process.
7. EPA Graduate Student (EPAGS) Association Report-
EPAGS has set up social gathering and poster awards. Forty-four graduate students initially judged posters submitted for the 2011 meeting and faculty judges were subsequently recruited to help determine the award winners. Susan Nolan remains as EPAGS faculty advisor. It was suggested that it would be useful to have a way to identify graduate student members and submitters in the future.
8. Historian’s Report-
Wade Pickren addressed the issue of archiving EPA materials at the Center for the History of Psychology. Currently, EPA has very few materials archived there and no new materials since 1996. Lew Lipsitt stated that some members have donated papers but they have not yet been processed. It was agreed that Wade would work with Fred Bonato on getting EPA materials to the archive. Ruth Colwill suggested that we post an article about the history of EPA on the EPA website and Wade suggested that in general, we put more historical material up on our site. Ruth suggested to Wade that we ask fellows who are involved in the history of psychology to perhaps make donations to support these activities, especially the archiving at the Center for the History of Psychology. Kurt and Lew both volunteered to work on this initiative.
9. Program Committee’s Report
Diane Finley created a task list for future chairs. The undergraduate submission process was discussed. It was agreed on that a faculty sponsor will still be needed in the future for undergraduate submissions. Kurt suggested asking students to submit a letter from the faculty member during submission. It was also suggested that better instructions be provided that would alert submitters and sponsors to check junk email folders and also to send student submitters an email indicating that it is the student’s responsibility to have an email from the sponsor sent to EPA indicating that the submission is approved. Several motions were brought to the floor.
Motion #1: EPA would continue its collaborative efforts with Psi Chi to sponsor a Thursday night invited talk that would likely draw a large audience. This motion passed unanimously.
Motion #2: The policy of requiring faculty sponsorship of undergraduate submissions should be retained. This motion passed unanimously.
Motion #3- An undergraduate poster session will be created that would start at 8:00 AM and be capped at 60 submissions for a single session. This initiative will be tried for one year and then evaluated. These proposals will be due on December 15th and reviewed by January 15th. This motion passed unanimously.
Motion #4- The deadline for regular submissions for the 2012 meeting will be November 1st, 2011. This motion passed unanimously.
Motion #5- A new submission category for Applied Psychology will be added starting in the next abstract submission cycle. This motion was unanimously approved.
Motion #6- Affiliate Liaisons (Psi Chi, Psi Beta, EPAGS, and SCRA) will be added to the Program Committee who will be responsible for their own expenses to attend the Program Committee meeting that typically takes place on the Sunday morning after the annual meeting. EPA would still pay for the EPAGS liaison’s Saturday night accommodations. This motion passed unanimously.
10. Discussion of Program Committee Compensation-
Compensation for the Program Committee chair was discussed. It was argued that this would allow the chair to mentor the next chair. This would include having the incoming chair shadow the presiding chair throughout the course of the year.
Motion #1- The Program Committee chair would receive $2500 for buying out of courses when serving a second year as the chair. This motion did not pass.
Motion #2- The Board officially voted to thank Diane Finley for her service to EPA as the Chair of this year’s Program Committee.
11. Executive Officer’s Report-
Fred Bonato commented on his report to the Board summarizing challenges pertaining to the labor dispute at the Hyatt, recent hotel contracts that have been signed for future meetings in Boston and Philadephia, and issues related to the EPA website. He suggested that significant website changes be deferred until our hosting company allows us to change the look of the site ourselves (sometime this year). Also suggested was the creation of an online newsletter that would help promote EPA. Fred informed the Board that new signage for meetings has been purchased and more would be added as we move forward. He also indicated that next year we will pursue more exhibitors to help offset the costs of the 2012 meeting in Pittsburgh. Also discussed were several possible website/abstract submission system upgrades that would help improve efficiency. Several motions were brought to the floor.
Motion #1- Create an online biannual newsletter that would be posted on the EPA website. This motion passed unanimously.
Motion #2- Pursue more merchandising initiatives that would help raise revenue but also help promote EPA. This motion passed unanimously.
Motion #3- The Board will approve spending ($1,750) for website/submission system upgrades that would be in effect for the next abstract submission cycle. This motion passed unanimously.
12. Discussion of Budget for 2011-12-
A discussion of next year’s budget ensued. It was acknowledged that next year would be a challenge given the anticipated attendance at the 2012 meeting. Ideas to generate more revenue were to seek more advertisements for the program, raise booth rental fees, and offering a ½ page advertisement in the EPA meeting program if the advertisement and payment are received on time (for booth renters). Our dues structure was also discussed.
Motion #1- The EPA booth rental fee for the 2012 meeting will be $850. This motion passed unanimously.
Motion #2- For dues paid in advance, the dues for Associates (students) will remain the same for next year ($25) and dues for Members and Fellows will be increased to $60. For dues paid onsite, Associates will pay $35 and Members and Fellows will pay $100. This motion passed unanimously.
13. Evaluation of Treasurer and Executive Officer-
The Board discussed the performance of the Treasurer and Executive while those officers were excused from the room.
15. Ruth Colwill thanked retiring Board Members for their service to EPA prior to dinner.