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Minutes of the Executive Board Meeting of
The South-Central Renaissance Conference, 5 March 2009

Members Present: Chris Baker (Pres.), Donald Stump (Guest—representative of QEI Society), Les Brothers, Meg Lota Brown, Arlen Nydam, Jacob Blevins, Patricia García (Secretary-Treasurer), Jill Carrington (Vice-Pres.), Brian Steele, Martha Oberle, Frances Malpezzi.

Members Absent: Maurice Hunt, Susan Silver, Dave Reinheimer, Raymond-Jean Frontain.

Please note that all additional reports are included at the conclusion of these minutes.

  1. The meeting began with noting our absent members and recognition of the end of Martha Oberle’s and Jacob Blevins’ terms on the committee. We thanked them for their service.
  2. The minutes from the 2008 meeting were approved with revisions.

    3. Reports

  3. Pat García gave the secretary-treasurer’s report. We moved and approved a notion to invest $5000 into a 12-month CD. The secretary-treasurer will investigate CD options and rates and present these to the board via email for a discussion/vote before making this investment.
  4. Les Brothers noted the revenue from last year’s conference and suggested that some of this revenue might be shared with the host institution. Discussion followed, and we concluded that offering such funds might work as an incentive for universities to host and to gain recognition, including adding SCRC to the list of annual donors. The motion to share equally (50/50 split) any profits succeeding $2500 beginning in 2010, to be given to the host university’s scholarship fund of the local arrangements chair’s choosing was approved.
  5. Brian Steele presented the 2009 Program Report. We discussed clarification concerning the rotation of the Martz lecture and the inclusion of such information in our by-laws. The by-law concerning this lecture (Item 6.2) will be revised and submitted electronically to the board members for approval by the secretary-treasurer.
  6. Frances Malpezzi presented the EIRC report. She encouraged members to ask their university libraries to become institutional subscribers to the journal. She suggested that we consider increasing our subscription rates as printing and postage costs are rising.
  7. Dave Reinheimer, who was absent from the meeting, distributed his Discoveries report electronically. The primary issue for this journal was the approval of the EBSCO licensing agreement. The motion to approve this agreement was passed.
  8. The following nominations were presented and approved: Catherine Cox and Nicholas Van Maltzahn for board members (through 2012), Irving Kelter as the Program Chair for 2010.

    9. Old Business

  9. Planning for future conferences: 2010 will be held in Corpus Christi, TX. Catherine Cox from TAMU-Corpus Christi is the local arrangements chair. We do not yet have sites for 2011, but some possible options were Tucson (Meg Lota Brown will investigate) and New Orleans (Jacob Blevins will investigate). Other suggestions included College Station or Lubbock.
  10. Arlen Nydam reported that the SCRC website has been revised and improved. Traffic on the site is up 10%. The need to move from the UT server is no longer a pressing issue as we can stay on it for at least another year after Arlen completes his degree.
  11. We discussed the most efficient and cost-effective communication methods with members. The motion to continue utilizing all electronic communication (with the exception of EIRC) was approved.

    12. New Business

  12. EIRC: Frances Malpezzi has 2 more years left as editor. We need to find a new editor and home for the journal. Members are encouraged to nominate possible candidates. A publication committee made up of Jacob Blevins, Frances Malpezzi, Martha Oberle, Sean Benson, and Arlen Nydam is investigating possible host institutions and editors for the journal.
  13. Donald Stump presented a brief history of our affiliate organizations which began in 2001 as a way to increase membership and encourage collegiality among scholars of various interests. At that time, a member of each of these organizations was also a member of the SCRC executive committee. However, this has resulted more from tradition and/or coincidence rather than any formal protocol, and representation on the board was brought up as an issue. Much discussion followed concerning the affiliates’ and SCRC’s mutual obligations and duties to one another. The motion was made and approved that we ask the affiliates to draft and present a statement defining their relationship as affiliates with the SCRC at the 2010 executive committee meeting. A representative for each affiliate organization will be invited to this meeting to participate in this discussion.
  14. Membership categories: A motion to delete the category “Publication Angel” from our membership types was approved.
  15. Pat García encouraged members to contribute to the graduate student travel fund. The meeting was adjourned at 10:20 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Patricia M. García, Executive Secretary-Treasurer



SCRC Program Report 2009:

Table 1: 27 panel sessions, 1 panel session cancelled
Submitted papers in program
81
Papers withdraws prior to publication
7
Total
88

 

Table 2: Makeup of Participants
Graduate student submissions
32
Percentage of grad student involvement
36%
Percentage Faculty/Independent/other
64%

 

Table 3: Events by Society Responsible
Andrew Marvell Society
9
Queen Elizabeth I Society
13
QEIS Keynote & Events
5
Society for Renaissance Art History
9
South Central Renaissance Conference
50
SCRC Plenary Speakers
3

 

Recommendations:
Owing to potential for confusion, publicize scheme of plenary speaker selection on website descriptions of Lectureships:

The local arrangements chair obtains the Keynote speaker; the program chair obtains the Hunter lecturer; obtaining the Martz lecturer rotates among the affiliated societies (Society for Renaissance Art History—2008, Queen Elizabeth I Society—2009, Andrew Marvell Society—2010).

Respectfully submitted,
Brian Steele, SCRC Program Chair 2009

 

2008 Report from Explorations in Renaissance Culture and the Publications Committee

Issues 1 and 2 of EIRC 34 (Summer and Winter 2008 )have now  been published.  Total printing cost=$6340; domestic mailing= $386.12; international=$196.92.  S-CRC’s subvention continues at $3800 per year, a portion of which comes from approximately 100 institutional subscriptions. Both printing and postage costs continue to rise.

EIRC 35.1 will be a special issue on Andrew Marvell, and we already have a number of fine essays on hand for EIRC 35.2.

We signed non-exclusive contracts with ProQuest and Gale to have the journal available on their databases, with a 5-year embargo period.

Work continues on getting book publications based on EIRC material.  Donald Stump and Carol Levin have edited, Elizabeth I and the “Sovereign Arts”: Essays in Literature, History, and Culture.  The text, based on EIRC’s special issue on Elizabeth is under contract with ACMRS. The publication committee continues to look at possibilities for a “best of EIRC” volume.

We have granted permission for a reprint of  Margaret Ezell’s 1988 essay on Thomas Carew, Stephen-Guy Bray’s  2003 essay on Samuel Daniel,  Michele Osherow’s 2004 essay on Elizabeth, and Karen Raber’s 2000 essay on Elizabeth Cary.  These frequent requests for permissions to reprint material from EIRC speak well for the quality of material in the journal.

 

Discoveries Report

Discoveries again released two issues in 2008.  In total, four articles, and six book reviews were published; these totals are similar to 2007.  The editorial board (George Klawitter, Liana Cheney, Les Brothers, and Megan Conway) continues to do excellent work in support of Discoveries.  In addition, Irving Kelter has agreed to serve as History Editor, expanding the editorial board to six members.

Submissions
In 2008, Discoveries received 6 unique submissions along with 3 revised resubmissions; of the unique submissions, 3 were sent back with a request two revise and resubmit, and 3 were accepted.  While the numbers are essentially the same as the historical trends, one “improvement,” if you will, for 2008 is that there is rollover: one manuscript for the spring issue has already been accepted, and one resubmission has been promised.  This is the first time under my tenure that Discoveries has had manuscripts ahead of time.

Table 1: Unique Submissions to Discoveries, 2005-2008
Submitted
Accepted
Accepted w/Revisions
Rejected
Published
2008
9
3
3
0
4
2007
8
4
1
2
4
2006
7
6
1
0
5
2005
6
4
0
2
4

 

Table 2 shows the disciplines from which submissions were received.  In 2008, the historical trends continued: submissions for literature and for art, but little from music or history.

Table 2: Submissions to Discoveries by Topic, 2005-2008
English Lit
Music
Art
Foreign Lit
History
2008
4
0
2
1
0
2007
4
0
1
1
2
2006
5
0
2
0
0
2005
6
0
0
0
0

Traffic/Circulation
In 2008, Discoveries pages received 5,893 views (an average of over 491 a month), of which 4,891 were unique.  Figure 1 shows traffic by month.

Discoveries traffic line chart
Figure 1: Discoveries Views by Month, 2009

Expenses
There were minimal expenses in 2008, limited to some postage and photocopying.

Progress on 2008 Plans

Web Site Redesign

Discoveries launched a new design with the Fall 2008 issue.  All of the feedback I have received has been very positive.  Not only is the design more attractive, it is also easier to navigate and stable on different platforms and in different browsers.  As part of this redesign process, Discoveries moved to my server at Southeast; this will greatly facilitate the editing and publishing process, and also allows for more frequent updates.

As part of this redesign, Discoveries also introduced some new features:

  1. Web Reviews: As Discoveries is an online publication, it made sense that it should review Web and electronic resources as well as print resources.  Thus, the idea for a Web review feature was born and announced, along with a call for an editor.  However, no responses have been received as of yet.
  2. Member News: Discoveries now has a section devoted to announcements from the S-CRC membership, in keeping with the publication’s newsletter history.  Members can submit news through email, and the section will be updated monthly when items are received.  Response to this feature has also been limited.

Archives

Archives for the hard-copy issues of Discoveries did not move forward this year.  After I followed up on several ultimately fruitless suggestions, it finally became apparent that in order to create searchable PDF archives one needs the “Pro” version of Adobe Acrobat. Once the software is purchased, work on the archives can move forward in 2009.

Expand Delivery of Calls

A plan for delivery of calls and announcements for Discoveries has been developed and will be implemented in 2009.

2009 Plans

Archives

With Adobe Acrobat Pro, development of the archives can proceed forthwith.  It is hoped that several volumes will be archived during 2009.

Maintenance and Development

Regular maintenance and updates for the site will continue on a monthly basis.  In addition, efforts will be made to develop the new features of Discoveries introduced in the Fall 2008 issue.

Respectfully submitted,
Dave Reinheimer
Editor, Discoveries
28 February 2009


SCRC Secretary-Treasurer’s Report 2009
Fiscal Year 2008

  1. Budget report:  Our beginning balance on 1/1/08 was $36,347.77.  Our ending balance and net worth for the year is:  $38,006.74 ($32, 712.14 in current accounts with $5294.60 pending.
    1. Checking account balance:  $12,360.30
    2. Savings account balance: $20,351.84
    3. Revenue
      1. Membership dues: $2700 ($980 current + $1720 pending)
      2. Conference revenue: $3746.60 (pending)
      3. Gifts:  $260
      4. Interest:  $259.94
      5. EIRC Revenue:  $0
    4. Expenses
      1. Awards: $2700
      2. Gifts: $0
      3. Business expenses: $135.57
      4. EIRC Subvention:  $2300
  2. Tax-exempt status update:  In my last report (2008), I explained that our tax-exempt status had been suspended.   Based on the advice provided by a local certified public accountant (who donated his services), I completed the annual electronic notice form (Form 990-N) for 2007 and 2008 which were both accepted by the IRS without any objections.  Before completing any other paperwork to re-instate our status, I phoned the IRS to see if the acceptance of these forms indicated that our tax-exempt status was current.  I was informed that our status was current, and I asked for a letter of confirmation for our records.  So long as we continue to file the Form 990-N, I believe that our tax-exempt status is secure.  I will include this information in the list of duties for the secretary-treasurer.
  3. Membership
    1. Current membership (2008 or later, including lifetime and emeritus members) is 184.
  4. Conclusions:
    1. Based on the minutes from the last executive board meeting, I did not get a clear response to my earlier suggestion about shifting some of the funds in our savings to a certificate of deposit.  Currently, we could invest a minimum of $5000 in either a 48, 60, or 120 month CD with our bank Capital One with an APR of 2.75%.  At our executive board meeting, I would ask that a decision be made as to how I should proceed.
    2. Our accounts remain healthy as do our membership numbers, even in these difficult economic times.  Our biggest expenses are the EIRC subvention and gifts (including honorariums for the Hunter and Martz lecturers and graduate student travel awards).  Frances Malpezzi has worked tirelessly to economize expenses for running the journal, so I would defer to her for any other suggestions regarding operating costs.  As for gift expenses, I think it would be helpful to secure more contributions for honorariums from institutions and individual members.

Respectfully submitted,
Patricia M. García
Executive Secretary-Treasurer

Les Brothers has just finished up the accounting for the 2008 annual meeting and will deliver a check for membership dues and conference revenue.  So, these funds have not yet been deposited into SCRC accounts. 

Donations to graduate student travel awards.

  The variable interest rate for 2008 ranged from .92% to 1.62%

$600 for two graduate student travel funds awards; $2000 ($1000 each) for Hunter and Martz lecturers 2008; $100 for Fields award.