2002 Board Meeting
North American Patristics Society
Minutes of the Executive Board Meeting
Loyola University, Chicago (Bremner Lounge)
23 May 2002
Attending: Rebecca Lyman (Pres), William Tabbernee (VPres), Clayton Jefford (Sec/Treas), Paul Blowers (MatL), David Brakke (MatL), Jane Merdinger (MatL), Karen Jo Torjesen (MatL), Elizabeth Clark (Ed), Patout Burns (Ed), Kenneth Steinhauser, Daniel Williams
Rebecca Lyman called the meeting to order at 9:37 am.
1. The President welcomed the new Members at Large (Merdinger; Torjesen) to the Board.
2. The Board approved the minutes from the May 2001 meeting that was held at Loyola University, Chicago with minor corrections.
3. Report of Officers
a. President (Lyman)
At the annual meeting of May 2001, the Board agreed to employ someone who is knowledgeable in computer services to maintain the NAPS website with the specific assignment to keep the site current and its links up to date. With the recommendation of John O’Keefe, Carl Griffin was employed as an independent contractor at the rate of $100 per month to maintain the site beginning in December 2001. His work in this capacity is greatly appreciated. (A copy of Mr. Griffin’s report to the President [dated 18 May 2002] is on file with the materials of the annual meeting that are held by the Secretary-Treasurer.)
The location of future meetings of the Society remains under debate. Discussion of this issue was continued under ‘New Business’ (see the materials that are provided in section 5.b below).
b. Vice-President (Tabbernee)
Notices relating to the ‘Call for Papers’ for the 2002 meeting were posted in the July 2001 issue of Patristics and the Fall 2001 and Winter 2001 issues of the Journal. These notices were also posted on the NAPS website.
When the criteria and procedures for screening papers were finalized, a notice was issued via the NAPS e-mail directory informing members to that effect. Subsequently, all members were contacted via the postal system with the same notice, though the deadline for the submission of abstracts was extended from 15 January to 15 February.
The review committee received 141 abstracts, of which 131 were accepted according to five criteria: clear thesis; knowledge of sources; awareness of historiographic, methodological, or philosophical issues; originality; and patristic focus. This year’s program of 131 papers in 38 sessions shows a gradual decline from 188 papers in 40 sessions in 2000 and 136 papers in 39 sessions in 2001.
The question of how to label nametags for the meeting was considered. A motion that future nametags at Society meetings bear religious suffixes (e.g., OFM, OSB), if desired by individual participants, but not title prefixes (e.g., Rev., Prof. Dr.) was offered (Tabbernee), seconded (Steinhauser) and approved.
The question of how many abstracts (or papers) a single participant might be permitted to submit for consideration prior to any single meeting of the Society was considered. The Board decided that participants should be limited to one (1) abstract, with exceptions made for special presentations.
While the process of vetting abstracts through a ‘blind review’ went well for the current meeting, future review committees may find it necessary to be able to identify specific authors for administrative reasons. The Board decided that the Vice-President should be permitted to review each abstract with a specific knowledge of the author. At the same time, while the Vice-President and both second-year Members at Large will all continue to read each abstract, the decision for acceptance will first reside with the Members at Large, with the vote of the Vice-President to be offered secondarily in those cases where it is necessary to settle a disagreement over the acceptance of a proposed abstract.
The question of whether future abstracts and/or meeting papers should be made available on the NAPS website was considered. The Board decided not to pursue this option for the moment.
The question of whether the review committee should accept abstracts in electronic format alone was raised and discussed. The Board decided to encourage submission of abstracts through electronic format, but not to restrict participants to that medium.
A motion for the President to send a formal word of appreciation to Ms. Julia Chastain (William Tabbernee’s secretary) for her diligent and efficient work in assisting the process of abstract review by the review committee was offered (Blowers), seconded (Steinhauser) and approved.
c. Secretary-Treasurer (Jefford)
Membership for the Society stood at 1048 total members at the end of 2001 (771 regular members; 277 student members). Membership at the beginning of May 2002 was 692 total members (493 regular members; 199 student members), based upon the number of members who have paid their annual dues to date.
Issues of the newsletter Patristics were distributed in July 2001 and February 2002. After some discussion, the Board decided that the general publication dates for the newsletter should be shifted toward September and March in 2003 in order to facilitate a more timely notification to Society members concerning deadlines for the submission of abstracts for the annual meeting.
The Society’s financial position remains strong, despite a struggling investment market. During the 2001 fiscal year, revenues exceeded expenses by $15,700.49. The balance of Society holdings on 20 May 2002 was $110,304.28, an improvement of just over $17,000 from the previous fiscal year.
d. Conference Director (Steinhauser)
There were 211 conference participants who pre-registered, but typically more participants register on site. The expected number of participants at this year’s banquet is 151. The food services that are offered by Loyola University, Chicago have changed and there are fewer choices on the menu. Various fees have increased for coffee breaks and the Thursday evening reception. Computer usage for the meeting is also an added expense. The Society must be careful about rising costs. The question of paying via credit card remains an important consideration. Foreign wire transfers cost the Society $15 per usage.
The Board extended its most sincere appreciation to Prof. Steinhauser for his outstanding service as Conference Director during the last three years.
4. Report of Committees
a. Publication Committee (Williams)
The number of book publishers who have exhibits at the meeting this year is around 17. This figure gradually increases each year as new publishers want separate tables for displays and choose to send representatives with their books. As a result, the current annual meeting space no longer contains adequate room for publishers to display their books. The Society must take into consideration the problem of adequate space for future meetings, the question of whether to begin charging publishers to display their books, and the concern for who will be responsible for coordinating arrangements with the publishers now that Daniel Williams has found employment at Baylor University in Texas and thus will be leaving the Chicago area.
A second difficulty this past year has been the lack of communication concerning activities associated with the Patristic Monograph Series. Better correspondence between the series editor and the chair of the publication committee is highly desirable.
b. Journal of Early Christian Studies (Clark and Burns)
Both Sidney Griffith and Fred Norris have stepped down from their positions with the Journal. The editors of the Journal wish to thank them warmly for their years of service since the inception of the publication. A motion that Lucas van Rompay be chosen to replace Griffith on the Editorial Board and Lewis Ayres to replace Norris on the Advisory Board was offered (Brakke), seconded (Lyman) and approved.
The profits of the Journal have continued to climb during the 2001 publication year with the Society’s receipt of $30,654, roughly a 25% increase over the 2000 publication year receipt of $24,425. The final circulation of subscriptions at the end of 2001 was 1454. The flow of articles remains good, with 22 rejections, roughly 15 acceptances, and 27 essays either awaiting reports from the reviewers or revisions by the author.
The question of whether the Board should increase the annual payment to the editorial assistant was raised. After extensive discussion, it was decided that Catherine Chin would be retained as an independent contractor in the position of editorial assistant for the Journal during the coming year at a salary of $10,500. A motion for Daniel Williams (in consultation with the Secretary-Treasurer) to provide a comparative analysis among various journal publishers with respect to an appropriate salary for an editorial assistant prior to 01 December 2002 was offered (Tabbernee), seconded (Brakke), and approved with two abstentions.
A motion to accept Louis Swift as the new Book Review Editor for the Journal was offered (Blowers), seconded (Torjesen) and approved.
c. Patristic Monograph Series (Williams for Philip Rousseau)
During the past year, 3 book manuscripts were rejected, 1 was accepted with revisions, and 2 are currently under review. The publications committee has been requested by the series editor to consider the process by which current board members for the series may eventually be replaced by new participants.
d. Nominating Committee (Lyman for William Klingshirn)
The committee recommended that the following persons be offered to the Society for Board positions during the forthcoming year: James E. Goehring of Mary Washington College as Vice-President; Georgia Frank of Colgate University as Member at Large; and, Daniel Williams of Baylor University as Member at Large. A motion to accept this recommendation was offered (Brakke), seconded (Blowers) and approved.
e. Best First Article Committee (Lyman)
There were four submissions for the prize of ‘Best First Article’. No decision had been made at the time of the Board meeting, but would be decided and announced at the time of the Society business meeting on Friday 24 May 2002.
5. New Business
a. Proposed Name Change of the Society (Clark and Burns)
Because of constant confusion and misuse of the spelling of the Society’s officially incorporated name, the question of whether the name should be changed was raised and discussed. A motion to suggest to the Society at its business meeting on Friday 24 May 2002 that the official name of the Society be changed from ‘North American Patristic Society’ to ‘North American Patristics Society’ was offered (Brakke), seconded (Blowers) and approved.
b. Change in Annual Meeting Location (Burns and Steinhauser)
In the light of increasing concerns over the growing inadequacy of the facilities and services of the traditional meeting site of the Society (i.e., Loyola University, Chicago), Ms. Nicole Tabbernee of Group Travel Plus was invited to present the advantages that her company could offer in the location of a suitable meeting site and in the management of the annual meeting on behalf of the Society. After her presentation and considerable discussion, a motion to hire Group Travel Plus as ‘conference manager’ for the Society was offered (Steinhauser), seconded (Clark) and approved with 1 abstention. It was agreed that a decision on the location for the 2004 annual meeting would be made no later than 01 December 2002.
6. The next annual meeting of the Society will be held at the International Patristics Conference in Oxford, England on 18-23 August 2003.
7. Rebecca Lyman adjourned the meeting at 12:19 pm.
(Addendum to the 2002 Minutes of the Executive Board Meeting)
2002 Business Meeting
North American Patristics Society
Actions of and Notifications to the Society
Loyola University, Chicago (Crown Center Auditorium)
24 May 2002
1. The Society will publish its Membership Directory during the Fall of 2002. All members are encouraged to have updated addresses on file with the JHUP by 01 September 2002 in order to insure the accuracy of the directory.
2. The Executive Board recommended that the following persons be offered to the Society for Board positions during the forthcoming year: James E. Goehring of Mary Washington College as Vice-President; Georgia Frank of Colgate University as Member at Large; and, Daniel Williams of Baylor University as Member at Large. A motion to accept this recommendation was offered, seconded and approved.
3. There were four submissions for the prize of ‘Best First Article’. The Society was informed that the winner for the 2001 competition was James A. Kelhoffer of Saint Louis University for his article "The Witness of Eusebius’ ad Marinum and Other Christian Writings to Text-Critical Debates concerning the Original Conclusion to Mark’s Gospel," Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche 92/1 (2001): 78-112.
4. Because of constant confusion and misuse of the spelling of the Society’s officially incorporated name, the question of whether the name of the Society should be changed was raised and discussed. The Executive Board offered its recommendation that the official name of the Society be changed from ‘North American Patristic Society’ to ‘North American Patristics Society’. A motion to accept this recommendation was offered, seconded and approved.
Respectfully submitted,
Clayton N. Jefford
25 June 2002