Minutes of the Business Meeting
South-Central Renaissance Conference
8 March 2003
SCRC President George Klawitter called the meeting to order
at 8:00 a.m. Phoebe Spinrad's motion to approve last year's minutes as submitted
was seconded by Paul Parrish and passed by acclamation.
The Secretary-Treasurer, James S. Baumlin, reported the organization's net worth
at $18,280, a figure reflecting income from Explorations, membership
dues, and interest from savings. Moneys originally placed in certificates of
deposit have been consolidated and moved into a money market account, which
currently holds $12,068. In April 2002, the organization's net worth was reported
at $15,205, putting the year's growth at $3,075.
Most of this growth came through an increase in new members and in renewals
of previously lapsed memberships. In April, 2002, pre-conference membership
was reported at 123, reaching 218 some months after our St. Louis meeting. As
of March 1, 2003, active membership had grown to 306; this figure includes 64
new members in attendance at our New Orleans meeting and 16 emeriti.
J. Baumlin next reported on behalf of the Explorations editor, Tita Baumlin.
Submissions continue to be of a high quality, and the journal currently enjoys
a backlog of accepted articles, which are now being placed in the 2005 volume.
The editor announced a special issue (Summer 2004) on Queen Elizabeth I, to
be guest-edited by Donald Stump and Carole Levin.
The Explorations editor will explore ways to reduce printing costs, which
continue to increase. Institutional subscriptions remain flat (77, down from
89 in 1999), partly due to library budget-cuts nationwide; SCRC members are
exhorted to ask their school libraries to subscribe.
The Explorations editor has also announced her retirement effective with
the 2005 volume. She hopes that candidates will step forward by our 2004 meeting
and encourages loyal SCRC members to negotiate with their school administrations
regarding financial and institutional support. Anyone interested in exploring
costs and strategies for negotiating can contact T. Baumlin.
The Discoveries editor, Phoebe Spinrad, reported continued growth. Discoveries
is now mailed to more than 800 individuals and libraries; indeed, library subscriptions
have risen to 79, partly because the newsletter is free to subscribers. Discoveries
will be listed in the latest MLA Directory of Periodicals and is indexed
by MLA, ABELL, and the Music Index. Spinrad encouraged SCRC members to submit
their reading-length conference papers.
J. Baumlin gratefully acknowledged the financial support of Ohio State University
(which enables Spinrad to produce Discoveries at virtually no cost to
the SCRC) and Southwest Missouri State University (which heavily subsidizes
Explorations). He also announced a new institutional sponsor in St. Edward's
University, which began this year to underwrite the William B. Hunter lecturer.
Thanks and applause were offered to Susan Krantz and Gerald Snare, who worked
tirelessly on local arrangements, and to Raymond Frontain, whose careful work
as Program Chair attracted some 149 attendees--nearly half our current membership--to
New Orleans, making this our most successful conference to date. Colleagues
in the Queen Elizabeth I Society and Andrew Marvell Society were welcomed, while
numerous individuals received thanks and recognition for their contributions,
including our plenary speaker, John King, and our Hunter lecturer, Russ McDonald.
President Klawitter was pleased to recognize Derek Alwes as the winner of our
first annual Martz Lecture, while Raymond Frontain had the pleasure of recognizing
Danielle Alesander, Nancy Bunker, Emily Isaacson, Steven Matthews, and Andrew
Weaver as winners of the year's competitive travel awards for graduate students.
Discussion returned to the subject of competitive travel awards for graduate
students. Members agreed that we should continue to offer such awards, but that
they should be funded through members' voluntary contributions. J. Baumlin agreed
to include a request for such contributions in his next dues-renewal letter,
to be mailed in May, 2003. This early date marks a change in procedure, as our
organization's annual letter for dues-renewal has traditionally been mailed
in September.
It was noted that the year's conference hotel offered inadequate resources for
audio-visual technology, making such resources unusually expensive and difficult
to schedule; for this reason, papers in art and music were concentrated into
Friday sessions, creating some otherwise avoidable conflicts. Offering advice
to future program chairs, Frontain emphasized that individuals need to make
audio-visual requests at the time that they submit papers, and that individuals
using Power Point (or some other computerized technology) need to supply their
own laptop computers.
President Klawitter announced that the 2004 meeting will be held in the Radisson
Hotel at Austin TX, with Kate Frost and George Klawitter serving as Local Arrangements
Chairs and Christine Getz as Program Chair; Tom Roche will be plenary speaker,
Rebecca Wagner the Hunter lecturer. Our 2005 meeting will be held in Malibu
CA, with Darryl Tippens as Local Arrangements Chair and Norman Land as Program
Chair. Our 2006 meeting will be in Houston TX, with Irving Keltner as Local
Arrangements Chair and Tita Baumlin as Program Chair. Our 2007 meeting will
be in San Antonio TX, with Patricia Ocanas as Local Arrangements Chair.
President Klawitter reported that our archivist, David Hart, continues to negotiate
with Special Collections of the University of Arkansas Library regarding a permanent
home for our archives.
Past President Katherine Powers proposed the following slate of officers for
2004: Donald Stump,President; Raymond Frontain, Vice President; Christine Getz,
Program Chair; Scott Howard and Marina della Putta Johnson, Board Members (replacing
Getz and Kate Frost). Seconded by many, her motion passed by acclamation.
Hearing no further business, President Klawitter invited a motion to adjourn,
which Spinrad offered and Don Dickson seconded. Meeting adjourned at 8:43 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
James S. Baumlin
SCRC Executive Secretary-Treasurer