Minutes from April 14, 2016, board of directors meeting

Minutes from April 14, 2016, board of directors meeting

Approved in Indianapolis, Nov. 10, 2016.

The Journalism Education Association board meeting was held at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, April 14, 2016, in Hollywood Ballroom, at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel.

1. Call to order — Mark Newton (8:34 a.m.)

2. Roll call and determination of quorum — Linda Barrington

(voting members) Mark Newton, MJE, president; Sarah Nichols, MJE, vice president; Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE, past president; Carrie Faust, MJE, director-at-large; Stan Zoller, MJE, director-at-large; John Bowen, MJE, scholastic press rights director; Megan Fromm, CJE, educational initiatives director.

(non-voting members) Kelly Furnas, CJE, executive director; Nancy Y. Smith, MJE, contest chair; Priscilla Frost, writing/design contest coordinator; Kris Doran, broadcast contest coordinator; Jonathan Rogers, MJE, professional outreach chair; Linda Barrington, MJE, mentoring program chair; Evelyn Lauer, CJE, publications/public relations chair; April van Buren, MJE, Journalism Quiz Bowl chair.

(others); NSPA board: Diana Mitsu Klos, Albert Tims, Laura Widmer, Valerie Kibler, CJE.

3. Reading of notice of meeting — Linda Barrington

The following was posted in JEA.org on March 14: The Journalism Education Association board of directors will meet at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, April 14, 2016, in the Hollywood Ballroom of the Westin Bonaventure hotel in Los Angeles.

4. Approval of minutes — Mark Newton

Motion: Approval of the fall 2015 board meeting minutes as written.

Moved: Candace Bowen. Seconded: Megan Fromm (passed 7-0)

 5. Affirmation of electronic votes

Motion to accept the proposal from the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C., to host the 2019 Fall National High School Journalism Convention. (passed 6-0, March 31, 2016)

6. Approval of agenda — Mark Newton

Mark Newton added new business item: F. Endorsement of First Amendment Center Freedom Sings curriculum. Motion to approve agenda as amended. (passed 7-0)

7. Commendations

  1. Adam Dawkins — by Evelyn Lauer, for Adam’s leadership for Scholastic Journalism Week.
  2. Leaders in state New Voices — by John Bowen: For all those who are working for state legislation: Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
  3. Michelle Harmon — by Megan Fromm, for raising the profile of scholastic journalism in Idaho.
  4. Jonathan Rogers — by Megan Fromm, for connecting with Flipboard Magazine, giving JEA visibility.

8. Reports

  1. Write-offs and Quiz Bowl (national qualifying) — Nancy Smith said that more than 1,200 entered Write-offs for this convention. The middle school contest closes next week. Quiz Bowl changes for next year: Some schools need a way to qualify in advance so their district will allow them to attend the convention. We will have an online qualifying contest for the Indianapolis convention in the fall. The free qualifying test will have 30 multiple choice questions in a 20-minute window by four-person team, two of whom must be part of the team at convention.
  2. Conventions — Kelly Furnas reported that as of today 3,821 are registered, a remarkable number for a spring convention. Chris with A Room with a View did a good job in finding hotels for the overflow numbers. Room with a View will take over our entire registration (and cancellations), starting with the Indianapolis convention. Local chair Adriana Chavira has done an outstanding job. She has a lot of Los Angeles public school students attending. (Later in the meeting Diana Mitsu Klos of NSPA added her update about the good registration for this convention. Income from this convention so far is $363,262 along with $87,000 in sponsorships for a total of $439,272. Scholarships also were provided from among the 108 applicants. Laura Widmer announced that NSPA is launching a consulting service, piloting 10 of these in the spring. In August, the consultation program will roll out in full. Also new critiques in newspaper and yearbook will be used, starting this spring. Al Tims said that the JEA and NSPA boards need to look at the registration price structure for convention in time for Chicago.)
  3. Headquarters — Kelly Furnas reported that the organization’s net operating revenue was $88,000 after Orlando. JEA has $1.7 million in assets. We’re doing really well financially. And we are still holding at record membership levels. The curriculum is the main reason why new people are joining. JEA is setting aside $10,000 to hire a free-lance programmer to set up jeawriteoffs.org, hopefully this summer. We now have rights to that code. Kate Dubiel will be focusing on updating the JEA website
  4. Business Professionals of America — Kelly Furnas said we should hear later today from Kirk Lawson to talk with us about what BPA’s participation at the Indianapolis convention will be like. We hope this will let schools use CTE funds to attend BPA events at our convention. Sarah Nichols and Kelly Furnas will present about JEA at the BPA National Leadership Conference in Boston in May. (Later in the meeting Kirk Lawson, BPA, joined the meeting to talk about BPA and how our goals are aligned with one another, making it clear that we should be able to work together to provide more students with more opportunities. Sarah Nichols invited him to speak to the state directors at the Indianapolis convention.)
  5. Documentation of subsequent events — Kelly Furnas said there is a continued watchful eye on funding in the state of Kansas. Part of the state money for Kansas State University is allotted to JEA through our contract with KSU. KSU will be getting a new president in another year, which could mean some changes. Birgit Wassmuth, director of the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications, continues to support JEA in a big way. KSU is also developing a master’s program with specialization in journalism education, but it’s not happening quickly.
  6. JEA/NSPA Adviser Outreach Program — Sarah Nichols presented a summary of the program launch, applications, notifications and next steps. There is a link to this program on the JEA website under the “For Educators” tab. Fourteen teachers in seven states applied.
  7. JEA Critique Summit — Mark Newton explained that JEA has invited groups to bring people to together to talk about what a media critique should be like and what best practices should be for this. CSPA can’t come, but NSPA and Quill and Scroll can. There should have 10 people in Denver June 10-12, 2016. Some scholastic press association representatives also will be invited.
  8. Diversity Committee — Stan Zoller has had conversations with National Association of Black Journalists about its summer workshop and whether they might have a workshop here (where?), especially using some of our Outreach funding. NABJ is receptive. They can identify students as well as advisers who could benefit. Stan Zoller and Michael Hernandez will be going to a National Association of Hispanic Journalists and NABJ workshop in Washington, D.C., and they will meet with educators there to see how the organizations might collaborate. JEA is willing to provide some funding.
  9. NCTE — Mark Newton and Kelly Furnas met on March 11 with NCTE officials Emily Kirkpatrick (executive director) and Millie Davis (affiliates director) to discuss ways to work together. Mark will be asking board members to do specific things on his to-do list, drawn up as a result of this meeting. JEA has invited NCTE officials to attend the Indianapolis convention.
  10. Web page for memorials for JEA members — Candace Bowen said the idea for memorials on the JEA website came from Steve O’Donoghue after Nick Ferentinos’s death in January. Discussion focused on what should be done, who should do it and how people would be selected for inclusion. Consensus was that information about deaths can be put on the JEA Facebook page.
  11. Principal Outreach Committee: Carrie Faust said that Matt Smith is an outstanding member of the committee. The committee has created five modules for principals to complete, some of which involve working with staffs, and then submit to the committee. Upon successful completion, the administrator can earn the Certified Journalism Advocate.

9. New business

  1. 2019 National High School Journalism Convention Motion: To approve the contract proposal from the Hilton Anaheim to host the 2019 Spring National High School Journalism Convention, April 25-28, 2019. Moved: Megan Fromm Seconded: Carrie Faust (7-0)
  2. New Voices endorsements Motion: The Scholastic Press Rights Committee moves that JEA endorse the following free expression legislative efforts because supporting free expression in scholastic media is part of our mission. The states for endorsement are Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Washington, and Wisconsin. (7-0)
  3. Bylaw change — Candace Perkins Bowen

Motion: To amend the organizational bylaws as such:

Article IV: Board of Directors

Voting members of the board of directors shall consist of the president, vice president, immediate past president, scholastic press rights director, educational initiatives director and two three directors-at-large.

Section 1: Officers

Officers of the association shall consist of the president, vice president, immediate past president and the executive director.

  1. The president shall preside at all meetings and shall see that all orders and resolutions of the board of directors are put into effect. The president shall supervise headquarters staff and the board of directors in the implementation of general policies.
  2. The vice president shall have such powers and perform such duties as may be assigned by the president and/or the board of directors. In the absence or disability of the president, the vice president shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the president. The vice president will also serve as parliamentarian to the association’s board of directors.
  3. The immediate past president shall serve as a parliamentarian to the association’s board of directors. In the absence or disability of both the president and vice president, the immediate past president shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the president.
  4. The executive director shall be the association’s chief administrative officer. The executive director shall have powers and perform duties assigned by the president and/or the board of directors.

Section 2: Directors

It is the duty of the directors to carry out the programs and projects of the organization under the direction of the president.

Article V: Elections, Appointments and Removals

Section 1: Elections

The president, vice president and directors shall be elected to three-year terms and shall serve no more than two consecutive terms in the same capacity. After two consecutive terms, the individual may run again for a different office or for the same office again after one term. Appointed positions are three-year commitments with no term limits.

To qualify for an office, a candidate must be a teacher/adviser member in good standing and be proposed presented by the nominations committee chair or be placed in nomination by any voting member at the general membership meeting when the slate is offered. Terms of office will begin May 1 of each election year.

Voting members are teachers/advisers as defined in Article III, Section 1 and current as of Jan. 15 of the election year. Individuals are restricted to a single vote per election cycle. The election vote will take place over a 10-day period in February.

  1. The general membership shall elect all board positions the president, vice president, scholastic press rights director and educational initiatives director.
  1. One director-at-large shall reside be elected by members with mailing addresses outside the United States or in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, D.C., or West Virginia,  and Wisconsin, and reside in one of those states. One director-at-large shall reside be elected by members with mailing addresses in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington or Wyoming, and reside in one of those states. One director-at-large shall reside in Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin or Texas.

Section 2: Office Vacancies

In case of death or resignation, inability to perform the functions of a board member, or disqualification from the board, the president shall appoint a new board member. A vacancy of a regional director-at-large position must be filled by a qualified candidate with mailing address specified in Article V, Section 1, Subsection B. The vacancy of the immediate past president position may be filled by any qualified past president. The appointment of the board member-designate shall be of such length as to fill the remainder of the unfulfilled board term. Should the office of the president be vacated by death, resignation, removal or otherwise, the vice president shall assume the position unless he/she is unable to do so then the immediate past president shall do so. In the absence or disability of both the president and vice president, the board of directors shall elect by two-thirds vote an existing board member to perform the duties and exercise the powers of the president.

Section 3: Removal from Office

All officers and members of the board of directors of the association may be removed or suspended for cause at any time by a two-thirds vote of the board of directors. Appointees of the president may be removed by her or him at any time or by a two-thirds vote of the board of directors.

Moved: Candace Perkins Bowen. Second: Carrie Faust (7-0)

  1. Bylaw change — Mark Newton

Motion: Amend the organizational bylaws as such:

Article V: Elections, Appointments and Removals

Section 1: Elections Terms of office will begin May 1 at noon on the final day of the spring convention held during the of each election year.

Moved: Mark Newton. Second: Carrie Faust Motion failed. (3-4)

  1. Job Descriptions: Discussion focused on whether critical committee chairs should be tied to elected positions.
  2. 2016-2017 budget — Motion: To accept the 2016-2017 budget. Moved: John Bowen. Seconded: Candace Bowen (7-0)
  3. Endorsement of First Amendment Center “Freedom Sings” curriculum Motion: JEA endorses the First Amendment Center “Freedom Sings” curriculum. Moved: Mark Newton. Seconded: Sarah Nichols (7-0)

10. Adjournment

Motion to adjourn at 3:06 p.m. Moved: Stan Zoller. Seconded: Carrie Faust. (7-0)

A follow-up meeting will be at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 16, 2016, in Wilshire Suite B.

The next board meeting will be Nov. 10, 2016, in Indianapolis at the JW Marriott hotel.

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