Academy Business
Highlights from the OAH Annual Meeting, Kent State University-Stark Campus
OAH Executive Council Minutes, April 25, 2003
Member Meeting and Luncheon, April 26, 2003
OAH Executive Council Minutes, April 25, 2003
Present: James Cebula (Raymond Walters College), John Douglass (Raymond Walters College), Mary Ann Heiss (KSU), David Hogan (Heidelburg), William Jenkins (YSU), K. Austin Kerr (OSU), Elizabeth MacLean (Otterbein), Lowell Satre (YSU), Thomas Sosnowski (KSU Stark), Vladimir Steffel (OSU-Marion), Thomas Taylor (Wittenberg), A. Martin Wainright (Akron), Patricia Walsh (OHS)
Minutes from the Fall Meeting. Kerr moved, MacLean seconded, a motion to approve. Motion passed.
Officers’ Reports
Secretary-Treasurer. Thomas Taylor presented his final report on the positive financial condition of the Academy. Wainwright moved, Cebula seconded, a motion to approve the report. Motion passed. Taylor proposed that there be an audit of the books at the end of his term. Debate ensued over whether to have an outside audit, which could prove to be very expensive, or to solicit a colleague, perhaps from a business school, to undertake a review. A motion, made by Kerr and seconded by Cebula, to authorize the president to undertake this review in a timely fashion and in a manner decided by the president was passed by the Executive Council.
Newsletter Editor. Patty Walsh reported that the Ohio Historical Society was facing a severe budget crunch, which posed an imminent threat to further publication of Ohio History. Her position, however, appeared to be stable, and OHS would continue to provide her services for the editing of our Spring and Autumn Newsletters. The Council complimented her on the high quality of recent Academy newsletters.
Proceedings Editor. Vlady Steffel reported that the proceedings from last year’s Spring Meeting should be out this summer.
Webmaster. Martin Wainwright reported on the successful transfer of the Web site to the University of Akron. The OAH had underwritten the purchase of some software for the Web site. Council members were very enthusiastic about the revamped Web site.
Archivist. Stuart Hobbs’s written report requested past committee chairs and officers to submit reports and minutes to him for inclusion in the archives, particularly from prior to 1990. Hobbs has also secured the services of an intern to assist in the cataloguing of documents.
Conference Committee. President Jenkins and the Council thanked Tom Sosnowski for the exceptional local arrangements for the spring meeting at the Kent State University Stark Professional Education and Conference Center.
Book Exhibit. David Hogan gave a short report on the preparation of the book exhibit for the Spring Meeting. Leslie Heaphy, assistant professor at KSU Stark, and a number of student assistants provided support.
Committee Reports
Dissertation Award. John Douglass reported on the winner of this year’s dissertation award. He also reported that the committee received a submission from a theater department at Bowling Green State University, in which Professor James Forse of the Department of History was an adjunct professor. The committee declared the submission ineligible because it had not been nominated by the Department of History. Douglass also raised the issue of how many nominations should be permitted from each school. The committee considered four options: 1) current policy of no more than two dissertations from each department; 2) unlimited submissions from a Director of Graduate Studies; 3) establishment of a submission differential between comprehensive institutions and others; 4) limitation of each department to one. Douglass noted that the committee had selected option four. The rationale was that each department should submit the dissertation that it judged to be the best since only the best dissertation got the award. The committee recognized that comprehensive institutions wanted to submit more, but that the work of reading each of the dissertations precluded that option. MacLean moved, Heiss seconded, a motion to limit the submission of dissertations to one per department. Motion passed.
Nominating Committee. Betsy MacLean reported on the nominees for officers for next year. She was pleased with the slate, but noted that there had been difficulty in getting more women to accept the nomination.
Publication Award. With Angela Woollacott absent because of a doctor’s appointment, Jenkins reported on the winner. Woollacott was to be present for the award tomorrow.
Program Committee. Ann Heiss reported on tomorrow’s program. She was pleased with the submissions and thanked committee members for their work.
Public History Committee and the Public History Award. Neither Steve Gordon nor Stuart Hobbs could be present because of work commitments. The committee accepted their written reports.
Standards Committee. Lowell Satre reported on the committee’s work for the year. It had provided feedback to the Ohio Department of Education on the new social studies standards. He noted that the Executive Council had also submitted a letter to the ODE regarding the new standards as a result of the action at the Fall Meeting. He recommended that the Standards Committee continue to monitor the state standards and the preparation of social studies teachers, and that OAH establish contact with the Ohio Council for the Social Studies and the Buckeye Council. Austin Kerr explained that he wanted social studies teachers to have a major in history, a theme that would be the focus of his presidential address. Kerr called on the OAH to be more aggressive in supporting the centrality of history in the K–12 social studies curriculum.
Teaching Award. Vivien Sandlund had submitted a written report indicating that there were no nominees for the Teaching Award this past year. Jenkins recommended that the Executive Council discuss continuation of this award at the Fall Meeting.
Old Business
Constitutional Issues. Jenkins noted that tomorrow the membership would be voting on the constitutional changes recommended by the Executive Council at its Fall 2002 meeting. He asked that the Council accept an editorial change in the amendment from Article IV, Section 4 on the addition of a representative from the 7–12 social studies teachers. This change would allow someone who “has been” such a teacher to be a representative rather than only someone who “is.” The Council agreed with the change.
The Executive Council adjourned at 5:05 p.m.
Member Meeting and Luncheaon, April 26, 2003
Award Winners
The 2003 Publication Award went to Isolde R. Thyrêt, Kent State University, for her book Between God and Tsar: Religious Symbolism and the Royal Women of Muscovite Russia, published by Northern Illinois University Press.
The 2003 Public History Award went to Shawnee State University for River Voices: A Documentary Film on the 1937 Ohio River Flood.
The 2003 Dissertation Award went to Susan Schmidt Horning, Case Western Reserve University, for her study “Chasing Sound: The Culture and Technology of Records Studios in America, 1877–1977.”
The 2003 Distinguished Service Awards went to Lowell Satre, Youngstown State University, and Thomas Maroukis, Capital University.
The Officers, Executive Council, and membership of the Ohio Academy of History presented a plaque in honor of the dedicated service of William D. Jenkins as President, with our deep appreciation, profound thanks, and best wishes.
The Academy’s new president, K. Austin Kerr of The Ohio State University, presented his presidential address, “Working in the Vineyards of Prohibition.”
Election Results
Vice President-President Elect:
Secretary-Treasurer:
Newsletter Editor:
Executive Council Members:
Social Studies Member of Council:
Thomas T. Taylor
Wittenberg University
Mary Ann Heiss
Kent State University
Anne Kugler
John Carroll University
David Hogan
Heidelberg College
Donald Ramos
Cleveland State University
Bill Ross
Sidney High School
(retired)
Constitutional Changes Approved
Article IV, Section 4
“There shall be an Executive Council consisting of the President, Vice-President, retiring President, and Secretary-Treasurer, plus six additional elected members, elected for three-year terms, two to be elected each year.”
Article IV, Section 4
Change “two to be elected each year” to the following: “a minimum of two to be elected each year. Rotation of the elected members of the Executive Council shall ensure that each year there are two members from private colleges and universities, two members from state universities, one member representing public history, and one member from two-year institutions and regional campuses.”
Article IV, Section 4
Change “plus six additional elected members” to “plus seven additional elected members” and add “one member who has been a social studies teacher from the 7–12 level” to the sentence beginning “Rotation of the elected members.”
Article VI, Section 10 (a new
section)“The President shall appoint a Conference Committee composed
of the Coordinator of Local Arrangements, the President, Vice-President, Secretary-Treasurer, and the Chair of the Program Committee. This committee shall be responsible for coordinating all of the arrangements for the spring meeting.”
