4th Meeting of the Executive Committee (Debrecen, Hungary, 27 October 2006),
- Written by Super User
Executive Committee of the CEACS
Fourth meeting
Debrecen, Hungary
27 October 2006 (9.30-13.00)
Present:
Don Sparling (President, /DS/)
Ana Olos (Vice-president /AO/)
Janos Kenyeres (Treasurer, /JK)
Vesna Lopicic (Secretary, /VS/)
Katalin Kurtosi (CE Journal of Canadian Studies, /KK/) – arrived later
1. Opening
The meeting opened at 9.30p.m., upon the arrival of four members of the Executive Committee.
2. Adoption of agenda
The agenda was adopted as proposed having been earlier sent by email to all members of EC.
3. Approval of reports
The report on the 3rd meeting of the CEACS Executive Committee held in Budapest, Hungary, January 2006, had been prepared by the Secretary, and circulated by email to all members of EC. Since there were no comments, it was approved as submitted. The report can be found on the CEACS web-site.
4. CE Canadian Studies Secretariat in Brno
DS reported on the activities of the CE Canadian Secretariat in Brno since the meeting in Budapest in January 2006.
DS: The Secretariat continues its activities in a new building. Students have been coming to do the research. The web-site is updated. The country reports are on it. The Certificate of Merit we agreed on at the January meeting in Budapest will be presented to Ana Jakabfi.
AO: Maybe it should be a reward for the people who are no longer active in the field of Canadian Studies.
DS: This is possible too.
JK: In future, it should be done once a year, at the meeting of the Executive Council.
DS: Yes; and there is no rule that it need necessarily be only one, except that we said that all the expenses for that person to be present at the event should be covered. The Executive Council should ideally meet in conjunction with an event, and it should be presented in front of the conference participants.
5. Publications
5.1 Krakow conference
DS: The Poles have done a good job publishing the Krakow conference proceedings (Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference of Central European Canadianists held in Krakow in 2004). It and Volume 4 of the Journal have been sent to all embassies. Every member gets a copy of each publication. Each centre should get an additional copy. The local embassy gets a list of members to receive it.
5.2 CE Journal of Canadian Studies
5.2.1 Vol 5
DS: Volume 5 has come out. We are bringing copies for everybody at the conference. The rest will be sent to the embassies. The journal will not appear this year. Instead, there will be the proceedings from this conference. When there is a big conference, the proceedings replace the journal.
AO: Is there any trouble about the periodicity?
DS: No, the numeration will be preserved.
5.3 Proceedings of the graduate seminars
DS: It is not our Association’s publication, but we publish it and Petr Vurm distributes it.
5.3.1 Szeged
DS: Proceedings of the graduate seminar held in Szeged in 2004 appeared this summer. Ideally, each issue should appear in time for distribution at the next seminar.
5.3.2 York
DS: Proceedings of the graduate seminar held in York in 2005 will be printed soon and each centre should get a copy.
5.3.3 Graz
DS: Proceedings of the graduate seminar held in Graz is being prepared. The instructions have been sent and it will appear by next year’s seminar at St.Petersburg. Petr prepared templates which make it easier for the participants and organisers. The quality of the language should be checked. It is the organizers’ responsibility.
5.4 Distribution
DS: Every member should get a copy of all CEASCS publications. If possible, the copies will be distributed individually. If not, the remaining copies will be sent to respective embassies.
JK: Who pays for the transportation costs?
DS: We do. It should be mentioned that the Journal includes the Poles as well.
6. Grants for attendance at conferences
6.1 CEACS grants for attendance at conferences (including Grainau 2007)
DS distributed a chart with a review of applicants (a table showing the winners can be inspected on the webpage of CEACS).
DS: Each member is eligible once every second fiscal year. So, some people were refused because they received it the year before.
JK: A reason for exclusion is also if it is found that an individual is not a member.
DS: If the paper is accepted, the person may be awarded.
JK: And if the person does not go?
DS: He has to return the money.
JK: So, we distribute the grants in good faith.
DS: Yes. As far as the Grainau conferences are concerned, the organisers prefer to see new faces. The German association prefers people who have never been there. He reminded everyone that though members of the Executive Committee are not eligible for CEACS grants, a member of the Executive Council could apply for a grant.
6.2 FEP and FRP grants 2007 (pre-selection jury; venue)
DS reported: The preselection jury will be selected after the election of a new executive Committee. The selection of this and other juries is complicated, since FEP and FRP grants, ICCS grants, CEACS conference grants and class-set grants all happen at the end of the year and all require juries. As a result, we use some juries for more than one task.
6.3 ICCS grants (doctoral students, best Ph.D.)
DS: The deadline for best Ph.D. thesis is 31 October 2006. We still do not know how many applications there may be. They should reach Ottawa by 15 November 2006. This is the first time we will be submitting an entry in this particular programme.
There was also an announcement for the application for ICCS graduate research grants. They have to be current members.
AO: Does the supervisor have to be a member?
DS: In the case of the best Ph.D. thesis, either the author or the supervisor of the thesis must be a member. In the case of the research grant, the student must be a member. We have submitted applications for the research grant for two years. Each year we can submit three applications; the final recipients are chosen in Ottawa. In fact each year so far a candidate from Masaryk University was chosen.
7. CE Association for Canadian Studies
7.1 Membership (number of members; problems with collecting fees)
DS: There are 210 members at the moment. There were some problems with country representatives not sending the Treasurer the current list of members by the required deadline. Also, getting the membership fees to the Secretariat in Brno was tricky, since bank transfers are extremely expensive. The new Executive Committee and Executive Council will have to try and think of all possible ways of overcoming these problems, in particular the latter.
JK: In fact there is still one country for which he has still not seen the definitive list of members. The rules will have to be stricter and they should apply next year.
7.2 Country Reports
DS explained that country reports are usually more difficult to organize for the January-June period, since people are away on holidays and so we don’t actually ask them to hand in the reports till the fall.
JK: Are there two reports?
DS: Yes, there are. For the first and the second half of the year. They are a tool to promote our association. It has an impact on the membership and the image of CEACS. Also, they have a very practical importance. Each year the ICCS asks us for an annual report; using the material from the country reports, it is then easy to put the report together. The report should reach the ICCS by the end of April, and is used to prepare material for its annual meeting in May.
7.3 New activities
7.3.1 Class-set grants
DS: Class-set grants have been restored according to the conclusion from the previous meeting. The announcement was out and the dead-line is about now.
AO: Is it possible to extend the dead-line?
DS: Yes, this can be done.
7.3.2 Summer Schools
DS: Not much has been done with respect to summer schools. There were plans for Debrecen, Brno, Katowice, but every year something went wrong. It has not gone off the ground yet. The new Executive Committee has to see about it.
AO: We had a summer school on communication, a very successful one, but it was not part of the CEACS activities.
DS: It should be on MA level. The EU Network will start a joint project on Canadian Studies. GKS offers courses on e-learning as part of Canadian Studies. I believe we should combine e-learning and some basic Canadian Studies course.
7.3.3 Migration Project
VL: Why do we not change the name and the focus of the project? Diaspora instead of migration.
DS: We could create a plan for Diaspora project on MA or Ph.D. level. We can organise a student conference with teacher participation, something like the European seminar. VL and AO could be in charge, as the two most interested persons.
7.3.4 Others
None
7.4 Cooperation with PACS
DS: It makes no sense to invite people to each other’s Executive Committee meetings once a year, as was originally agreed, because representatives of the two associations meet on other occasions (e.g. ENCS meetings, the annual ICCS meeting in Canada) and they also contribute to the Journal. In fact the actual cooperation with PACS is minimal. The only overlap is the Journal, the agreement on one Polish member at Grainau and the Summer School.
7.5 ICCS
7.5.1 Annual meeting (May 2006)
DS: In 2005 there was a budget deficit and other problems, and subsequently the Director resigned. The ICCS now has an Acting Director, Guy Leclair. As they had lost some contracts with the government, there were personnel cuts and financial restrictions. Things have now been turned around: the meeting in May 2006 was quiet and successful. They had elections. Cornelius Remie is now President-elect of ICCS. Christopher Rolfe (ICCS President), Guy Leclair and Cornelius Remie are all here at the Debrecen conference, which is striking recognition of the importance of this event.
7.5.2 Full membership of CEACS in ICCS
DS made a suggestion that we should apply for full membership. The membership fee will be higher, though this will be covered.
VL: What are the other requirements?
DS: None that we do not already fulfil! But we get to vote at the annual meeting. In our application, we will have to submit the Statute and various other documents.
8. Situation of Canadian Studies internationally (Canadian government support)
DS reported on discussions in Ottawa concerning Canadian Studies. Earlier this year the government had cut all support for international academic activities (not only Canadian Studies, but such programmes as Fulbright and Commonwealth scholarships). There was a great deal of dissatisfaction with this decision, and the current discussions are aimed at finding some solution to the problem.
9. Financial Report
9.1 Financial report to end of fiscal year 2005/2006
DS explained that the financial report was sent to Ottawa at the end of the fiscal year (included as Appendix 1 to this report). DS explicated on all items of the budget, noting some items in particular:
- The expenses for research stays in Brno are covered for Polish students as well.
- Bank charges are outrageous. It is considered moving to another bank.
- There was a conference in Brussels in May on diversity in Europe organized by the ENCS. Each member association contributed to it. We contributed 200€.
All the items of the report (revenues, expenses, human resources costs, and activities) were thoroughly elaborated and discussed by the members of the EC. The report shows the budget was balanced (with some items earmarked for activities in the next fiscal year) and as such it was approved by the members of EC.
9.2 Budget request for fiscal year 2006/2007
DS: The budget request for this fiscal year, based on the CEACS activities until 31 March 2007, was sent to Ottawa in early summer (included as Appendix 2). We requested a grant of 21,350 CAD; in fact we were given one of 20,000 CAD, plus 500 CAD as ICCS membership fee (this is paid straight to the ICCS). It should be possible to meet our obligations despite having slightly less funds than we had anticipated.
9.3 Auditors
DS: Two auditors should be elected at the General Meeting who understand Czech in order to be able to check the expenditures. They should check if the expenses are justifiable and reasonable.
10. 2nd General Meeting of the CEACS
DS: The General Meting is to be held over lunch on Saturday. Nominations for the new Executive Committee have been sent in.
10.1 Nominations and elections for Executive Committee and Executive Council members
JK: Regarding my nomination, I am running for any position, not necessarily for the position of President.
VL: I would like to withdraw my nomination for the Executive Committee.
DS: The nominees are fixed now.
10.2 Agenda for General Meeting
DS presented the proposed agenda for the General Meeting, and a general discussion followed. He pointed out that it would be useful to make a few changes in the CEACS Statutes, which have to be approved by the General Meeting, but that this would be impossible because of some technical problems, including the provision that notice of six weeks must be given in advance for any amendments. This issue of amendments would have to be discussed by the new Executive Committee and Executive Council.
The members of the committee discussed and approved the agenda for the General Meeting.
11. Any other business
VL: The Yugoslav Association for Canadian Studies (YACS) with members from both Serbia and Montenegro as well as from the Republic of Srpska will not change its name or organisation for now.
JK: Duties in the new Executive Committee should be equally distributed.
12. Closing
The fourth meeting of the Executive Committee closed at 1.00 p.m. with all members present.
