Society for the Scientific Study of Religion
Business Meeting Minutes
1983
| November 4, 1983 | Knoxville, Tennessee |
The meeting was opened by President Marie Augusta Neal. She welcomed those in attendance and thanked them for their continued support of the Society. The Minutes of the 1982 Business Meeting were distributed. It was moved and seconded that the '82 Minutes be accepted. The motion carried.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
President Neal expressed her appreciation to Clark Roof for his efforts and service on behalf of the Society during his term in office as Executive Secretary. She announced, at the same time, that the new Executive Secretary would be Hart Nelsen and welcomed him to the post.
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY'S REPORT:
Clark Roof began his report with words of appreciation for the hard work and superb program put together by Program Chair Cheryl Gilkes and President Neal. He also thanked Don Ploch for his expert handling of local arrangements. He noted that their endless hours of work had resulted in a quality program.
According to the Secretary, the Society remains in sound, healthy condition. As of August 31, 1983, the Society's membership/subscriber list totaled 2,550, forty-seven above the 1982 figure. This turn-around in membership results from an increase in new members and portends the possibility of a more stable membership pattern in the future.
Roof also reported that the financial condition of the Society is stable and relatively strong. Though we operate on a deficit budget by design, the Society's sizable investment portfolio continues to grow and offset the deficit. He noted, as well, that with the new endowment fund (to be known as the "Fund for the Scientific Study of Religion"), we ought to be able to enhance the Society's financial condition and thereby further advance its goals and objectives.
The Secretary announced that six research awards were given in 1983, and that the quality of these research efforts was quite high. He hopes that as the financial base of the Society expands, we will be able to develop substantially our support for those involved in the scientific study of religion.
Clark Roof closed his report with the observation that his years as Executive Secretary have been a time of personal growth. For one thing, his knowledge of hotels expanded considerably! He said he was most appreciative of the teamwork that characterized his relationship with the other officers and members of the Society. A special word of gratitude was given to Lorraine D'Antonio and the three SSSR Presidents with whom he worked.
MEDIA RELATIONS COMMITTEE REPORT:
David Roozen reported on the objectives and responsibilities of the Media Relations Committee. He noted that its primary task was to foster lines of communication between the Society and members of the Press. One of their major goals has been to inform the Press of papers and topics to be covered at annual meetings as well as the substantive content of the Journal . As a result of these efforts, he said that three journalists were present at the Knoxville rneeting. He thanked Society members for their willingness to cooperate with the Press and asked for continued cooperation in the future. He concluded with the comment that the committee remains within its budget.
LOCAL ARRANGEMENTS REPORT:
Don Ploch reported that the details relative to local arrangements for the meeting in Knoxville had come together quite nicely. He attributed this to the cooperation he received from Society members as well as the staff of the Hyatt Hotel. He thanked Carl Jost and Carl Burke for leading the hikes through the Smokey Mountains and noted that he was most grateful to his wife for her help with the banquet and the Council dinner.
PROGRAM REPORT:
President Neal took a moment to thank Cheryl Gilkes for her work as Program Chair for the '83 Meeting. She said that she was especially impressed by Cheryl Gilkes' organizational style and abilities, and pointed out that she had introduced a number of creative administrative techniques to the program. She concluded with the comment that this year's Program Chair would serve as a superb role model for future occupants of the position.
RESEARCH AWARDS COMMITTEE REPORT:
Jeff Hadden explained that the Committee was established to provide financial support to those engaged in research in the area of religion. He noted that the research award program was enjoying modest growth and that this year the Committee was able to support six research projects at a cost of just under $10,000 (the budgeted amount). Next year the budget wil1 allow for the expenditure of up to $12,000 for research grants. The Committee will be headed up by Phil Hammond, Vice President of the Society.
Hadden concluded with a word of thanks to Richard Gorsuch who shared with him the responsibility of determining the award winners.
ENDOWMENT FUND REPORT:
Jeff Hadden reported on the development of an endowment fund for the Society. He pointed out that three years age, James Richardson had proposed that we create a separate foundation for the purpose of expanding the financial resources of the Society. At that time, a committee was established and chaired by Richardson to f urther examine the possibility of a foundation. The committee concluded that such a foundation would be both feasible and desirable. Therefore, a committee headed by Hadden was created to further explore the idea and to come to the Council with a concrete proposal .
Upon greater investigation, the Hadden Committee became increasingly convinced of the advantages of an in-house endowment fund (as opposed to the creation of a separate foundation), the principal benefit being that it would not require any new application to the Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt status, but would nevertheless accomplish the same objectives as a foundation.
The Council concurred with the judgment of the Hadden Committee and voted to establish the "Fund for the Scientific Study of Religion". It will be an in-house endowment fund, the revenue from which will be used to further the goals of the SSSR. Present plans call for a major, three-year fundraising drive, to be kicked off at the '84 Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Hadden concluded his report with words of thanks to William D'Antonio and James Richardson for their help and advice.
1984 ANNUAL MEETING:
Hart Nelsen announced that the theme of the '84 Program will be '"Religion and the Public Conscience". The meeting will be held at the Bismarck Hotel in Chicago and will, once again, be a joint conference with the Religious Research Association. Dean Hoge will be the '84 Program Chair.
Hoge reminded the audience of the student paper award and asked that they encourage student involvement in this program. He noted that the winner of the competition will receive a $500 cash award. Papers must be submitted prior to June 1, 1984 to be eligible for the award.
Hoge also noted that, as of next year, all program participants must be pre-registered for the meeting. Those who fail to pre-register will not be included in the program.
1985 ANNUAL MEETING:
Hart Nelsen also reported that the 1985 Annual Meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Savannah, Georgia. He noted that hotel prices are increasing and that lodging costs will be higher at the '85 Meeting. Because Eastern Airlines offers a "zone fare", however, air travel costs should be fairly reasonable. The hotel and area itself, Nelsen said, offers a superb setting for the conference; Savannah is rich in history and culture, the area contains numerous fine restaurants, and the location is beautiful.
JOURNAL EDITOR'S REPORT:
Don Capps presented a report on the status of the JSSR. He indicated that the submission rate has remained fairly stable over the last couple of years and that he continues to receive about 145 papers per year. In general, he feels that the quality of the papers has been quite good. He thanked those who had rendered service as referees for the Journal and expressed his gratitude to Robert Wuthnow for his work as Book Review Editor.
MONOGRAPH SERIES EDITOR:
James Wood reported that two more manuscripts were accepted for publication this year, bringing the total number of published and/or accepted Series monographs to five. He encouraged those who had authored, or were aware of, quality manuscripts in the area of the scientific study of religion to contact him about the series.
BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR:
The meeting was opened to comments or questions from the floor.
A complaint was lodged by a session "discussant" who said that he had not received any of the papers in his session prior to the meeting and was, thus, unable to give them adequate attention at the session. Moreover, he said, the papers, when finally they reached him, turned out not to be very good. President Neal noted the complaint and agreed with its validity. She said that the Council was aware that this happened on occasion and was considering steps to reduce the possibility of its occurrence in the future.
Clark Roof said that he had just received word that the final count of registrants at the meeting was 288, only a few short of the target number of 300.
Barbara Hargrove announced that those interested in writing reviews for the RELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW should contact her. She asked that potential reviewers send her their names, addresses, and substantive areas of expertise.
TREASURER'S REPORT:
David Roozen brought the budget report. He explained that over the last few years, we have deliberately created deficit budgets in order to reduce the surplus in the general fund. However, our efforts at surplus reduction have not been especially fruitful. In the past year, for example, we budgeted an $18,700 deficit but achieved an actual deficit of only about $5,500. At the same time, we had a net gain of $21,056 from the sale of investments (and a $10,000 increase in income from an auditing peculiarity having to do with the accruing of dues and subscriptions applicable to past and future years). As a result, the Society's assets actually increased from about $131,000 to about $146,000.
In an attempt to reduce the surplus next year, the Council has adopted an '83-84 Budget which includes a deficit of $31,200 (assuming an expenditure budget of $103,900 and an income budget of $72,700). Roozen said that all of the increases were directly related to on-going efforts within the Society.
ADJOURNMENT:
President Neal concluded the meeting with a final word of gratitude to Cheryl Gilkes, Program Chair, and Clark Roof, Executive Secretary, and a word of welcome to the new President, Jeff Hadden, and the new Executive Secretary, Hart Nelsen.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
S.D. Gaede
Secretary