Minutes of the Executive Council Meeting

Friday August 30, 2002
Marriott Copley Place
Northeastern Room
5:30-7:00 pm

Members Present: President Timothy Kaufman-Osborn; Program Chair Bill Haltom; Treasurer Gilbert St. Clair; Recording Secretary Peregrine Schwartz-Shea; Council Members Manuel Avalos, Mary Caputi, Anne Costain, Al Harris, Barbara Morris, Victoria Farrar-Myers, Barbara Norrander, Andrea Simpson, and Clive Thomas.

Members Absent: Victor James, Valerie Martinez-Ebers, and Mark Petracca.

Ex-Officio Members Present: Harold Clarke and Ken Godwin, PRQ Editors; Ron Hrebenar, PRQ Managing Editor; Executive Director Elizabeth Moulds.

Guests Present: Lynda Roberts, PRQ Coordinator and Office Support; Dan Smith, Local Arrangements Denver 2003; Julie Novkov, Nominating Committee Chair; Elsa Favila, Associate Director, WPSA; Ron Schmidt, Local Arrangements Chair, Long Beach 2002.

Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Tim Kaufman-Osborn at 5:35 pm.

I. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

The minutes of the Executive Council and Business meetings in Long Beach were approved without change.

II. REPORTS

A. Executive Directors Report: Elizabeth Moulds

Betty reported that she has been working primarily on four projects since our March meetings: selecting the site for our 2005 convention; convention planning for Denver (2003) and Portland (2004); renewal of the Memorandum with the University of Utah; and financial strategic planning. Work between now and March 2003 will focus on planning for the Denver Convention, negotiating and signing a contract for the 2005 meetings, finalizing the MOU revisions, financial strategic planning, and beginning site selection for 2006.

B. Program Chair’s Report: Bill Haltom

Bill reported that he had had a good meeting earlier in the day with the Program Committee for the Denver convention, and that this year the development of the program will be entirely web-based.

C. Local Arrangements, Final Report, Long Beach Convention: Ron Schmidt

Ron reported that the WPSA conference in Long Beach made money and, contrary to expectations for the Los Angles area in which many may drive to the convention, there was not a low turnout.

D. Local Arrangements Denver 2003: Dan Smith

Dan reported that the arrangements are in place -- though he can't guarantee the weather in late March. The dates for Denver are March 27-29, Thursday through Saturday at the Hyatt-Regency on Welton Street.

E. Nominating Committee Report: Julie Novkov

Julie reported the slate for the Denver meeting. No action is required at this time because a vote will be taken at the Denver Business meeting. The following slate will be presented to the membership for election in March:
For Vice President and Program Chair, 2004 – 2005: Ron Schmidt,
Sr., California State University, Long Beach
For Executive Council 2004 – 2007
Region A:
Shaun Bowler, University of California, Riverside
Edwina Barvosa-Carter, University of California, Santa
Barbara
Region B:
Sonia Garcia, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio
Region C
Clive Thomas, University of Alaska Southeast

F. PRQ Report: Harold Clarke and Ken Godwin

Harold and Ken reported that submissions to the journal are up by 250, an all -time high. The back log is gone. The review process takes 6-8 months so that a scholar can be published within a year. One out of every six manuscripts submitted is published. PRQ is now part of JSTOR.

A major change is coming. The size of the journal is being increased to 8 1/2 by 11. This will enable the editors to publish longer articles and to handle tables more easily. They also propose to have a symposium once a year and the first one will be in December. They are considering additional issues in March, i.e., a systematic survey of the membership's views of PRQ and views on the editorial board.

Harold and Ken will appear on a WPSA roundtable in Denver to solicit information and comments from the WPSA membership.

PRQ is holding a reception at APSA. All are invited.

III. OLD BUSINESS

A. Proposal for Oakland as 2005 Meeting Site: Elizabeth Moulds

Advantages of the Marriott in Oakland include a good Oakland location, good guest rooms and meeting space, and a 12 minute BART ride to San Francisco; rate of $131 in 2005. The Black Political Science Association will hold its meetings there next year.

Only issue: still looking for a local arrangements chair.

Move to approve Oakland as the site for 2005: Gil St. Clair
Second: Mary Caputi
Passed unanimously

VI. NEW BUSINESS

A. Executive Director Reappointment: Tim Kaufman-Osborn
According to Article X, Section I b, Elizabeth Moulds should have been reappointed in September 2001 when her term expired. Tim asked Betty to leave so that the council could discuss and vote on her reappointment.

Moved that she be reappointed: Anne Costain
Second: Mary Caputi
Approved unanimously

B. PRQ Editor Term Extension: Tim Kaufman-Osborn
Tim asked Ken and Harold to leave so that the council could discuss and vote on the term extension. According to Section VI b of the Policies and Procedures, the editors can serve 4 years with a two year renewal. Their four year term expires in 2004 so approval of the renewal would mean their term expires in the summer of 2006.

Move to approve the extension: Victoria Farrar-Myers
Second: Mary Caputi
Approved unanimously

C. Renewal of WPSA/University of Utah Memorandum of Understanding re PRQ: Tim Kaufman-Osborn

The current MOU expires July 1st 2003. The committee meeting to examine the MOU included: Tim Kaufman-Osborn, Ron Hrebenar, Lynda Roberts, Ken Godwin, Harold Clarke, Gil St. Clair, Elizabeth Moulds, and Elsa Favila.

Minor changes to the document include changes in dates and names. The major change consisted of a change in the dues structure to cover increased expenses in: convention costs, technology costs, wages and production of the PRQ, and the need for the association to buy out Betty's time in the future. By 2005-06, it will cost at estimated $25,000 to buy out Betty's courses. Increasing the size of the PRQ to 8 1/2 by 11 will cost an additional $11,000 per year. The association also needs to build its savings in order to have a fund for emergencies. The new dues structure should produce an estimated $156,000 to cover expenses and the emergency fund.

The proposed increases are as follows:

Membership Category Current Dues 2003 Dues
Individuals 30 40
Couples 44 60
Retired Faculty and Students 11 20
Institutions 50 95

The increases to all but institutions are modest. The increase to institutions is significant but because the total cost is still under $100, there should not be a decrease in institutional subscriptions, according to librarians consulted. PRQ is still a bargain and will be even more of a bargain given its expansion.

A sliding scale dues structure for members was discussed but Sheila Mann of APSA reported that such an approach is complex and uses lots of staff resources. It was decided that WPSA does not have the staff resources to devote to a sliding scale. Moreover, no other regional association has one. WPSA dues fall in between the $32 of the Southern association and the $50 of the Midwestern association.

Of the current 1340 members, 300 are students. WPSA has subsidized their membership for many years. This increase will still constitute a subsidy but will move closer to covering the costs of PRQ.

Institutional subscriptions, however, should be monitored to see whether the increase has a negative effect. Gil will report on the effects, if any, at the March meetings.

Move to approve the renewal of the MOU with the noted changes and the new dues structure: Andrea Simpson
Second: Mary Caputi
Approved unanimously

D. Sponsorship of WPSA and Other Receptions: Elizabeth Moulds

There has been inequality and inefficiency in the sponsorship of receptions. Since the reception for Graduate students follows the general WPSA reception, dessert and coffee will be served.

The caucus receptions will now include no-host bars (to avoid the hotel strategy of having the bartender open all wine no matter how many request wine) and some food.

E. Midyear Budget Report: Gil St. Clair
Gil reported that the association is solvent and on budget. Thanks to Betty and Elsa.

Ken Godwin asked whether the budget could support a catastrophe, e.g., a snow storm in Denver? Yes, the association is insured against cancellation. Ron Hrebenar asked whether the Association could have weathered a 9-11 incident. Betty will check the provisions of the insurance.

F. PRQ Best Paper Award: Harold Clarke and Ken Godwin
New language was presented to the Council--on the new award, as an annual award--to be inserted in the Policies and Procedures IA and IB3 and IB4 with renumbering.

Amendments to WPSA Policies and Procedures

1. a. 6) Political Research Quarterly Best Article Award: for the best article published in the Political Research Quarterly during the calendar year preceding the annual meeting at which the award is to be presented.

1.b. 3) The award committee for the Political Research Quarterly Best Article Award shall be comprised of three members. The President of the Association shall appoint the chair of the committee, and the editors of the Political Research Quarterly shall select the other two members.

Note: The addition of this new number (1.b. 3) will require renumbering the subsequent sections of this portion of the document.

Add the following sentence at the end of the newly-numbered paragraph (1. b. 4) (formerly 1.b.3):

The amount for the Political Research Quarterly Best Article Award is
$1,000.

The $1000 comes from the PRQ, but any changes would necessitate the editors coming back to the Executive Council.

Move to approve the MOU: Mary Caputi
Second: Victoria Farrar-Myers
Approved unanimously

G. Redd Award status: Tim Kaufman-Osborn
Tim asked the Council for guidance on the Charles Redd Award for the Best Paper on the Politics of the American West.

Background: The Executive Council approved this award in March 1994 for an experimental period of three years, so the Council is late in acting. The Redd Center conferred $250 per year for five years. But the award has only been conferred four times. In 1997 there was some debate about whether the award paper was guaranteed publication in PRQ. Should Tim go back to the Redd Center and ask whether they are willing to fund the award for another five years?

Discussion: Ken and Harold reiterated that they support publishing the paper in PRQ subject to the same editorial requirements used for the other award papers. Barbara Morris observed that there are no criteria for deciding what sorts of papers fit in the "American West" category. When she served as chair, there were only 5 submissions. Ron Hrebenar observed that the committee needed to be instructed that the award paper was guaranteed publication in PRQ. It was reiterated that prizes need not be given every year. Peri Schwartz-Shea observed that this award, unlike the other awards, has no constituency. Several people suggested that there should be a constituency among scholars in environmental politics and state politics and perhaps even comparative politics. It was suggested that the expanded PRQ should have a page devoted to all the awards.

Move to approve to continue the award with same status as for other awards and that Tim Kaufman-Osborn should approach the Redd Center about continued funding and, if that funding is granted, prepare appropriate amendments for presentation to the Executive Council at its 2003 meeting in Denver): Ken Godwin
Second: Peri Schwartz-Shea
Approved unanimously

[Note: There was no Item H on the agenda]

I. Graduate Student Seat for the Executive Council: Tim Kaufman-Osborn
This change would require a change in the by-laws and would require ratification by the membership.

Julie Novkov gave reasons in support of the proposal: (1) The Council would gain an additional perspective of an important WPSA constituency -- one fourth of the membership; (2) It could improve graduate student attachment to WPSA; (3) This is a worthwhile part of graduate student professionalization.

It was suggested that Luis Fraga's Bylaws Committee should consider the following issues: (1) How would the student be chosen? (2) Could this be a means of producing a graduate student caucus? (3) Could the association provide any monetary assistance for the student to attend the conference? If so how much? Should it require matching funds from the student's institution? (4) Should the student be asked to resign if she or he becomes an assistant professor? (5) Should the term be one or two years? Perhaps there should be two students with overlapping terms such that one observes during the first year and the other votes during his or her second year.

J. WPSA Logo: Elsa Favila
This discussion was tabled until the Denver 2003 meetings.

K. Publisher Ads on the Web: Elsa Favila
On the new server for the web site at Sacramento, no publisher advertisements are allowed.

Meeting adjourned at 7:00 pm

Respectively submitted,
Peregrine Schwartz-Shea
Recording S