Executive Council Minutes, October 2001

Present: Cliff Kuhn, Art Hansen, Lu Ann Jones, Linda Wood, Tom King, and Madelyn Campbell. Absent: Rina Benmayor, Mary Marshall Clark.

The meeting convened at 8:45 AM.

Kuhn welcomed council and called for approval of the midwinter minutes. It was moved, seconded and carried to approve the midwinter minutes as amended by Benmayor and Kuhn. (Hansen/Wood)

Executive Secretary's Report (Campbell)
Campbell reported on the ongoing tasks of the Executive Secretary's office. She indicated that the operating budget remained healthy. Registrations for the annual meeting were lower than in recent years and could affect the budget next year. The Endowment Fund has risen to $108,458, which includes the Ross Fund of $5055.

The office is developing a database, which will be used to provide administrative support to the Program Chairs for 2002. All paper and panel submissions will be sent to Campbell for processing and reports will be developed. The Annual Meeting Task Force recommended this new administrative task.

Campbell worked with Cliff Kuhn and Donita Moorhus to investigate and select a hotel for 2003. Several hotels were visited and details were negotiated.
It was moved, seconded, and carried to approve the selection of the Hyatt Regency Bethesda for the 2003 Annual Meeting.

Campbell announced that she would be assuming the role of Assistant Director of the Community Studies Center at Dickinson College. The two positions will complement one another and will provide OHA with additional resources and academic support.

Council commended Campbell for her work as Executive Secretary.

President's Report (Kuhn)
Kuhn reported on his initiatives this year, which included participation at the OHMAR conference in April and hotel site inspections for 2003. OHA will act as a partner in the Veteran's History Project and Kuhn stressed the importance of this relationship. Official announcement about the VHP will be on November 11, 2001 and Donald Ritchie will attend. OHA may consider organizing regional workshops to help train interviewers. This could be a new revenue stream for the association.

Kuhn reported on his investigation of electronic publishing. He suggested revisiting the report from the Task Force on Membership & Dues and perhaps conducting an additional survey to assess what services would be important to the membership.

Council recessed at 10:15AM and reconvened at 12:45PM. Mary Marshall Clark in attendance.

Committee Reports
Publications Committee (King)

King reported that Kim Rogers would resign her position as Chair. Shannon Page has agreed to serve in that capacity. The education pamphlet "Oral History Project in Your Classroom" by Linda Wood and the updated Evaluation Guidelines have been published and are ready for distribution. The Committee recommended two new pamphlets: "Oral History and Your Family History" and "Oral History and the New Technology".

Diversity Committee(Kuhn for Benmayor)
Horacio Roque Ramírez has been selected as Co-Chair to serve with Nilsa Olivero.

International Committee (Kuhn for Morrison)
Morrison recommended that letters be sent to international participants thanking them for their attendance. Council will insure that a meeting time will be included in future program schedules in advance in order to encourage more participation. This year $3000 in scholarships and hotel assistance was awarded to international participants.

Awards Committees (Delivered by Kuhn) Kuhn announced the following:

• Book Award: "The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India" by Urvashi Butalia
• Martha Ross Teaching Award: Richard Williams, Plum Borough High School
• Nonprint Media Award: "Jazz: A Milwaukee History" A Radio Docudrama

Education Committee (delivered by Kuhn)
No report was submitted.

Nominating Committee (Hansen)
Ballots totally 218 were counted with the following results:

Rose Diaz, First Vice President
Charles Hardy, Council
Nominating Committee: Gloria Cuadraz, Jacqueline Dace, Wendy Ng

State & Regional Forum (Jones)
The Forum will informally convene in St. Louis and will prepare a more formal meeting at the San Diego meeting. Charles Hardy will be appointed the new liaison.

2001 Annual Meeting (Clark)
Clark updated Council on the meeting. Clark noted that the timely and relevant theme moves OHA to a new level. Revenues will be lower due to the September 11 events. Council commended the hard work of the Program and Local Arrangements Committees. Special thanks were given to the Missouri Historical Society for their sponsorship of the President's Reception.

2002 Annual Meeting (Hansen)
Hansen reported that he has met regularly with the Program and Local Arrangements chairs, Teresa Barnett, Jane Collings, Laura Wendling and Brad Westbrook. Budget development and fund raising efforts will begin soon. Hansen was pleased by the theme: Global Linkages: The Internationalization of Everyday Life and thought it was very relevant.

2003 Annual Meeting (Kuhn)
The Hyatt Regency Bethesda has been designated as the conference hotel for 2003. OHA will publicize its meeting at the OAH meeting April 2002. OHMAR will be actively involved. Council thanks Donita Moorhus for her assistance with site selection.

2004 Annual Meeting (Kuhn)
Decisions about location will be postponed pending review the Annual Meeting Task Force recommendation regarding regional rotation.

Annual Meeting Task Force (report delivered by Kuhn)
Council reviewed and discussed the report in detail. The roles and responsibilities of each member of the annual meeting team were reviewed. Issues regarding AV coordination and expense were discussed. Simplifying the regional rotation from eight regions to four "quadrants" was recommended. There was lengthy discussion about all the recommendations. King suggested that Council approve "in general" the recommendations of the task force report.

It was moved, seconded, and carried that Council commend Linda Shopes and Laurie Mercier for their report and recommendations on the OHA Annual Meeting and that Council endorse, in general, the sense of the report. The president is directed to prepare a list of action items, based on the report's individual recommendations, for Council action at the mid-winter meeting. (King/Wood)

It was suggested that a Planner's Notebook be compiled by the Executive Secretary as soon as possible and forwarded to the program planners for 2002 and 2003.

Meeting recessed 5:15PM and reconvened at 7:50PM

Publications (King)
Newsletter (Quinlan delivered by King) Quinlan will prepare the first 16-page Newsletter to be printed in December. This will begin the new printing schedule (December, April, August). Council discussed electronic publishing of the Newsletter.

Oral History Review (Dunar delivered by King) Dunar reported his discoveries about the History Cooperative and the possibility of publishing the OHR electronically. Dunar recommend that council consider forging a relationship with them.

H-Oralhist (Charnley delivered by King) Charnley reported that the number of subscribers has increased to 1506 during the last year. Two new editors were trained and certified. H-Net has expanded and perfected its search engine. Council reviewed several other initiatives, including design changes of the website, with interest.

UCPress (Kuhn) Council reviewed reports from UCPress. Renewal rates have been excellent. Direct mail campaigns have not been effective. Most new members have joined through the web. Kuhn had conversations with Rebecca Simon regarding electronic dissemination of the Oral History Review. It was moved, seconded, and carried to increase the institutional membership dues to $98 for 2003. (Hansen/King)

Old Business
Electronic Publishing (Kuhn)
Kuhn reported to council his discussions with various constituencies regarding electronic publishing. The History Cooperative seems a viable option. They are at the leading edge of technology and membership would not be financially prohibitive. There was some concern that membership with the History Cooperative, which provides access to the Oral History Review to any member institution, would reduce membership. Kuhn will work with UCPress to determine the impact.

Website (Kuhn)
Kuhn explored the type of online services that our website could provide to develop a closer relationship with members. Kuhn recommended that OHA hire a web designer.
It was moved, seconded, and carried to hire a web page designer to improve the website and provide more services to members. (Clark/King)

It was moved, seconded, and carried that Kuhn be the liaison to electronic publication initiatives. (King/Hansen) Kuhn abstained.

Meeting recessed at 9:35 PM. Reconvened Wednesday, October 17, 9:38AM.

2001 Annual Meeting Budget (Clark)
Clark presented an updated Annual Meeting budget. Details were discussed. The high costs of Audiovisual needs remain a concern. Several suggestions were made for more effective budgeting in future years. This year's conference should show a profit of $5000 - $8000.

Liaison Reports (delivered by Kuhn)

International
Council received the report from Anne Ritchie. The next international meeting will be held in South Africa, June 2002. Ritchie encouraged OHA to support the meeting in South Africa and will submit a request for funding.

American Association of State and Local History (Barb Sommer delivered by Jones)
Sommer's report highlighted the reciprocal agreement with OHA. ASSLH distributes our pamphlets, membership brochures, and Evaluation Guidelines at their annual meetings and OHA does the same. Sommer and Quinlan co-authored a chapter on oral history for the Pathways project booklet.

Scholarship Committee (Jackie Dace delivered by Mary Marshall Clark)
Dace reported on the results of this year's scholarship awards. It was suggested that one person be selected to coordinate all the scholarships, including those for non-presenters, diversity panels and international participants. Hansen and Campbell will coordinate the effort for 2002.

Electronic Publications (Kuhn)
Council continued its consideration of membership with the History Cooperative. There was concern about how this would affect membership. It was moved, seconded and carried that Kuhn work with Rebecca Simon, UCPress, to develop and disseminate a membership survey upon approval of Council.

New Business
Veteran's History Project (Kuhn)
OHA has become a partner of the project. Donald Ritchie will act as liaison for OHA. The project has asked Congress for $250,000. It was suggested that OHA could help lobby for additional funding. Regional workshops, conducted by OHA members, could create a new revenue stream for OHA. Kuhn recommended continuing a close relationship with the Project. Council encouraged Program Committees of future annual meetings to incorporate the Veterans History Project into the program.

IRB's (Kuhn)
Linda Shopes asked Council to consider making an official statement regarding IRBs. Council discussed the difficulties involved in developing a single statement that is representative of various constituencies within OHA.

It was moved, seconded, and carried,/i> that OHA solicit and encourage the dissemination of models that have dealt effectively with issues of risk in human subjects research in oral history. (Clark/King)

September 11 World Trade Center (Clark)
Clark described Columbia University's initiative to document the impact on persons involved in the September 11 events. In conjunction with the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, the project will interview 300-500 persons. Council explored ways that OHA could be involved in the project at a national level. Clark advised Council of the need for an advisory committee for the "September 11, 2001 Oral History Narrative and Memory Project".

It was moved, seconded, and carried that OHA support oral history initiatives that document the September 11 events and their aftermath. (Clark/Hansen)

Council commended the hard work and vision of the conference organizers.

Council praised the work of Lu Ann Jones as council member for the past three years.

Council formally commended the work, vision and leadership of Cliff Kuhn in his role as President.

Meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM.