Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

Business Meeting Minutes

1989

October 28, 1989     Salt Lake City, Utah

AGENDA
October 28, 1989


** 1990 Annual Meeting **
Resort and Conference Center
Virginia Beach, Virginia
November 9-11, 1990

MINUTES TO OCTOBER 28, 1989
BUSINESS MEETING


The meeting was called to order by President Meredith McGuire at 11:50 a.m. on Saturday, October 28, 1989.

The minutes of the October 29, 1988 business meeting were accepted as circulated.

President McGuire welcomed new officers: Donald Capps, president; Eileen Barker, president-elect; William Silverman, secretary; David Bromley and Romney Moseley, council members: and Janet Jacobs, program chair for the 1990 annual meeting.

Executive Secretary's Report:

Membership remains about the same at 1,616. This year the Society did better than in the recent past at keeping members. The 1988- 1989 membership drive produced 250 new members compared with about 310 new members from the 1987- 1988 membership drive. The 1988- 1989 membership drive emphasized Utah and the West Coast in order to take advantage of the annual meeting location in Salt Lake City. 426 people are registered for the annual meeting as of Saturday morning. This is one more than the previous record of 425 registered in Cincinnati and is a larger registration than was expected. Library subscriptions to the JSSR remain stable with 1235 subscriptions.

James Davidson thanked the Church of Jesus Christ of the Later Day Saints for its support of the 1989 annual meeting. The Church made generous contributions to the Friday evening reception, a dinner for the SSSR Council, and the Saturday evening buffet. 310 people attended the Friday evening reception. About 2/3 of the people registered at the meeting attended the Saturday evening buffet. Special thanks were extended to: David Bradford, Stan Weed, Raymond Briscoe, and Perry Cunningham.

The 1990 annual meeting will be held in Virginia Beach, Virginia from November 9-11. A fifty-five dollar room rate has been negotiated. USAir will be the Official carrier. This will be the first time the Society has arranged a meeting at a resort. Special tours for convention attenders will be arranged. Members are invited to bring their spouses, friends, or significant others.

The 1991 annual meeting will be at the Vista Hotel, Pittsburgh, November 8-10. The 1992 annual meeting will be at the Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C., October 28-November 1. For the 1993 meeting, Davidson is looking in the Southeastern region of the country. He invites recommendations for hotels and cities.

The SSSR Newsletter has a new appearance. It is printed in two colors and uses a computer program which provides multiple type faces. Society participation in the Gallup Survey was a considerable success. Plans for future surveys are unclear. There are no current plans, though conversations continue. Any future participation by the Society would involve larger financial contributions.

Two years ago, the Council decided not to publish an abstract book for the annual meeting. A survey of ten percent of the membership was done. The survey showed that few people want a book of abstracts. Those who said they want an abstract book did not want to pay extra for it. The Council reaffirmed its earlier decision not to publish an abstract book. But the Council has requested that participants provide clearer titles for their papers.

A report about the American Association for the Advancement of Science was presented by Hart Nelsen. SSSR members are encouraged to send proposals for sessions at the 1991 AAAS meeting to Nelsen by February 1990. Sessions must be arranged a full year in advance.

Report of the 1989 program chair:

Arthur Greil reported that he and the RRA program chair found that there was much overlap of papers submitted for the 1989 meeting, so they decided not to separately identify "SSSR" and "RRA" sessions. They think that continuous numbering of sessions makes it easier for participants to locate sessions. The 1989 meeting is the largest ever in number of sessions and number of presentations. Greil offered general thanks to the people who submitted papers and proposals. He mentioned some people for special thanks: Marjorie Royle, the 1989 RRA program chair; James Davidson, SSSR executive secretary; previous program chairs Madeleine Adriance and Ellen Umansky for their helpful advice; and David Bradford and Ray Briscoe of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Later Day Saints.

Two innovations which were introduced in the 1989 meeting are the kick off session and a poster session. These innovations may be continued, with revisions, in the 1990 meeting. The executive secretary and the 1990 program chair will decide.

Report of the 1990 program chair:

Janet Jacobs invited ideas for the program.

Report of the editor of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion:

Armand Mauss reported that he received 125 manuscripts this year. This is a slight decrease. 25 percent of them were rejected summarily; 14 percent were accepted after one review; 12 percent are likely to be accepted pending revision: 38 percent were rejected after review; and 12 percent are pending. So the ultimate acceptance rate is about 20 percent. Turn around time averages seven weeks. Mauss thanked his reviewers, assistant editors, and book review editors for their work.

Report of the editor of the monograph series:

Stan Gaede reported that the monograph by Stuart Wright is selling well. In four to six months a new monograph will be published. It contains papers on the Confessions of Augustine edited by Donald Capps and James Dittes. Other monographs are in the review pipeline.

Publicity:

James Davidson reported for Stuart Wright who was not present. A local Salt Lake City newspaper reporter and a local TV station were at the meeting. Wright designed a promotional brochure for the new monograph. News releases based on JSSR articles or papers at the annual meeting may be prepared.

Treasurer's report:

Richard Schoenherr circulated his report. In order to cope with a projected deficit, the Council voted an increase in journal subscriptions starting in 1991 and membership fees in 1992. This action will balance the budget.

Various items of new business were discussed during the meeting. These matters will be referred to the Council for consideration:

James Richardson suggested that the Council consider holding an annual meeting in Canada. Madeleine Adriance favored the selection of cities close to the border in order to save on air fare.

Joseph Fichter favors a return to a system in which sessions at the annual meeting are identified in the program as "SSSR" or "RRA" sessions. Al Herzog favors the 1989 pattern of a lack of separation between sessions. Donald Capps commented that this is a symptom of creeping integration of the two societies. There is a danger that the two groups may lose their distinctiveness. This larger issue will be discussed by the Council as part of its discussion of mission.

Madeleine Adriance suggested that the annual meeting should be routinely held the first weekend in November. This would avoid meetings on the Halloween weekend and meeting on the day of a shift from daylight to standard time. Davidson commented that at present there is no policy about the dates of the meeting. Specific dates are set to get the best possible hotel rates.

Madeleine Adriance proposed establishing a written SSSR policy about inclusive language. Participants at the annual meeting should be encouraged to use inclusive language. Such a policy could be modeled on a statement circulated at Iliff School of Theology.

Announcements by the president:

Meredith McGuire announced that 1989-90 in the last year in which Lorraine D'Antonio will be the business manager. Next year Anna Davidson will take over as the new business manager. A celebration of Lorraine D'Antonio's contribution to the Society will be held next year. Outgoing officers were thanked: Philip Hammond, past president; Margaret Poloma, secretary; Anson Shupe and Steven Tipton. Council members; and Arthur Greil, program chair.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:43 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
William Silverman
Acting Secretary