Saturday, March 27, 2010
MEIEA General Meeting
University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL

Present:  Kemmerer, Schreiber, Wangler, Garfrerick, Bulla, Sanchez, Wujcik, Johnson, Hicks, Lawrence, Kellogg, Ronkin, Baskerville, Leonard, Gloor, Knisely, Progis, Haines, Zaremski, Armstong, Elton, Leonard, Sylvester, Crain, Nelson, Taylor, Adam, Perla, Hatschek, Mager, Griggs, Palmer, Pierson, Burch, Papadopoulos, Alhadeff, Harris, Channell, Tough, Johnson, Lewis, Chappell, Piechocinski, Walker, Kopplin, Marcone, Gorder, Progris, Williams, Haines, Zager, Sanchez-Samper, Macy, Taylor, Malone, Brabec, Schenbeck, Spellman, Meitin, Weissman, Soocher, Carlin, Gaber, Van Wagner, Oesterle, Gittieman, Roberts

The meeting was called to order by Kellogg at 1:20 pm.

President’s Report (Kellogg)
 
Kellogg welcomed the general membership to the 2010 International MEIEA conference.  He recognized BMI as the official sponsor of the MEIEA luncheon. 

Kellogg discussed current outreach and expanding relationships with other organizations and the increase in benefits.  He briefly mentioned the proposal submitted by the Future of Music Coalition. 

Hatschek briefly announced his research project and encouraged all attendees to participate if they had not yet.  He reiterated the relevance to our disciplines and programs and that the collected information could prove useful in the future.

Approval of the Minutes

    Motion to approve minutes as presented:  Guillermo
    Second:  Kemmerer
    Passed:   Unanimous
    Opposed:  None

Vice-President’s/Election Report (Hicks)

Hicks acknowledged incoming and outgoing board members.  Kellogg sought feedback about the election cycle changing to October through November.  No objections were made – election cycle will continue as last year.  This year’s statistics are as follows:
 
   
This year's positions up for election:


    Outgoing Board
        Treasurer: Wesley Bulla-Belmont University
        General Board: Bob Garfrerick-North Alabama State University
        eZine Editor: David Tough-Belmont University
       
    2010-12 elected Board members
        Secretary-Schreiber
        Treasurer-Johnson
        Director of Student Relations-Lawrence
   
        General Board

   
Treasurer’s Report (Bulla)

Bulla discussed the financial position of the organization. (See Appendix A)

Bulla briefly discussed conference attendance.  Reviewed expense breakdown.
   
Bulla reviewed an operations analysis report of MEIEA and MEISA cost of operations. (See Appendix B)

Perla asked as to whether any of the money is generating interest.  Some discussion around cleaning up portions of the website.  Some investment vehicles will be investigated.

Membership Report (Bulla)

     244 Active Members, increase from 170 last year
    1221 Student Members
    68 Institutional Members

Journal Report & Research Stipends (Ronkin)

Ronkin introduced the research grant recipients for 2009.


Ronkin discussed research grant proposals and the process of involvement.  Encouraged submissions and to check the website in a couple of weeks for details.

    Deadline: Priority Consideration – Early September, 2010

Ronkin also mentioned that six paper presentation sessions were added this year with 12 total papers being presented.

 Ronkin stated that the 2009 MEIEA Journal came out in December and that he was seeking submissions for 2010.

    Current Acceptance Rate: 73%, last year 50%

    Deadline:  End of May, posted on Website as well

Current Sections of the Journal:

Ronkin Solicited for interest in being Journal reviewers.

Strategic Initiatives 4 and 5 - (Haines)

Haines reviewed the identified strategic initiatives that were laid out by the strategic planning committee.  Initiatives 4 and 5 were created to address the current conference model and the challenges it is beginning to present. The board has chosen to present a proposal to change the format of how it will be organized.  In addition to the continuing international conference in the spring, initiative 5 addresses the focus of a MEIEA summit specifically for faculty.  Kellogg mentioned that Georgia State University proposed a 2011 conference, but was submitted post deadline of December 31, 2010.  Marcone clarified his original intent to have a rotating conference between New York, LA, Nashville, and one other.  Kellogg clarified that that is the intention including the possibility of partnering with schools in those areas.  Concerns about focusing too much on those specific areas may be to closed-minded considering the direction the industry is headed. 

Sanchez discussed his experience putting on the conference and that they tried to move in this direction for some time.  Kemmerer also shared with the membership that the committee also looked at similar models for conferences and that no other organization involves a school in the planning.  It made logical sense to move in this direction.  Hatschek expressed concerns about traveling budgets at institutions and that two conferences a year may be too much for faculty to attend.  He suggested the possibility of streaming the fall faculty summit.  Kopplin shared his concerns of moving “west to east” in hosting conferences because of the costs involved.  He also shared in the difficulties of what felt like as a one-man operation and trying to manage the input from the board.  He felt that this is a good good model to direction to move in, considering those challenges.  Progris expressed concerns about having a operational manual that will give continuity from year to year.  It was recognized that Elton has started putting together a detailed manual.   Knisley commented that this might be a good time to increase board positions due to the growing increase in responsibilities.  Gorder shared his concerns about the economics involved in hosting a conference entirely at a hotel.  Bulla stated that the costs involved with bussing the students to institutions tend to offset those costs.

Haines shared some of the discussion that ensued during the Board meeting and reviewed some of the details that correspond with each Board position and their corresponding responsibilities.

Motion to approve initiatives 4 and 5: Guillermo
        Second: Kopplin
        Passed: Unanimous

Announcements

Weismann mentioned that there are 7 or 8 schools in the Northwest that could potentially benefit from this organization and more involvement in the area could prove worthwhile.  In addition, he mentioned that MEIEA and/or the Journal should consider potential alliances with book publishing companies. A research focus with them could add value to the membership and the organization.


The meeting was adjourned at 2:22 pm.

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