AAS/SEC - Executive Handbook

Executive Committee Handbook

January 1998
(with draft revisions and membership updated following the January 2005 meeting)

Contents:

Preface to the First (1993) Edition
Executive Committee Members
General Comments
President
Vice-President
Past-President
Past-Past President
Secretary/Treasurer
Editor of SERAS
Program Chair
Local Arrangements Chair
Council of Conferences Representative
At-Large Members
Outreach Coordinator
Archivist
Membership Participation Information

Preface to the First (1993) Edition

As one who has been on the Executive Committee for three years in the "presidential sequence" and a year as program chair, I wish to thank the individuals who advised me about my duties. The system of oral transmission from the experienced to the inexperienced has worked well for the Southeastern Regional Conference over the years. However, as president, I needed to know about the dutiesof all the Executive Committee members. So I have prepared this Handbook for future presidents and other Executive Committee members in hopes that it will facilitate their work.

This Handbook is based on commentsand suggestions from the executive Committee during the presidential tenure. Truly, without their input, this Handbook would not have been done. Thanks to the 1990 Executive Committee: Derek Waller, Vice-President; Hal French, Past-President; David White, Secretary/Treasurer; Kenneth W. Berger, Annals Editor; Shanta Ratnayaka, At-Large member; Roger Jeans, AAS Council Representative; Daniel A. Métraux, Program Chair; and Melford Wilson, Local Arrangements.

It is my hope that future Past-Presidents will update and revise this book. The Past-President is the individual who has the best knowledge of the over-all working of the Conference. I have attached a revision form for future use.

Andrea McElderry, January 1993

Executive Committee Members 2009-2010
President:	Dan Métraux, Mary Baldwin College
Vice-President:	Cheryl Crowley, Emory University
Past-President:	James Gillam, Spelman College
Past-Past President:	Mark Ravina, Emory University
Secretary/Treasurer:	Charlotte Beahan, Murray State University
Editor of SERAS:	Steve Gump, University of Illinois
Program Chair (ex-officio):	Yawei Liu, Carter Center, Atlanta
Local Arrangements Chair (ex-officio):	Shiping Hua, University of Louisville
Council of Conferences Representative:	Charlotte Beahan, Murray State University
At-Large Members (3):	Harry Kuoshu, Furman University Tom Pynn, Kennesaw State University Xuexin Liu, Spelman College
Outreach Coordinator:	TBA
Webmaster (ex-officio):	Kenneth Berger, Duke University (Retired)

General Comments

Allmembers of the Executive Committee are expected to attend the Executive Committeemeeting held at the beginning of the annual meeting. Travel, food, and lodgingcosts incurred are not subsidized by the Conference, with the exception ofthe Secretary/Treasurer. A subsidy of up to $200 is also provided to defraythe costs of attendance by the Editor of SERAS. The national AAS provides some subsidy for the Council on Conferences member to travel to its meetings.

Other expenses not normally covered by the Conference include:

phone and mailing costs
copying costs
costs of attending other meetings

In most cases, members' departments or colleges have borne the costsof phone, mail, and copying. These costs are particularly heavy for the programchair and the secretary-treasurer. Cases where funding comes from other sourcesthan the individual or his/her institution are noted under specific offices.

President

The vice-president becomes president at the annual meeting and serves one year until the next annual meeting.

Basic duties:

Maintain liaison with the national AAS office.
Oversee planning of the Annual Meeting including:
- Workwith secretary/treasurer and program chair to prepare the first call forpapers, to be sent out late spring. The president writes a cover letter onhis/her department letterhead giving details about the conference. Make certainsecond call for papers is sent in late summer or early fall.
- Arrange for the national AAS president to attend and address the annual meeting.
- Keep in touch with the local arrangements and program chairs to makecertain that plans are proceeding smoothly and according to schedule.
- Consult with the nominating committee (past-president, vice-president,senior at-large member) about nomination of new vice-president and at-largemember.
- Consult with the members of the undergraduate and graduate student prize committees.
- Consult with the vice-president about the next program chair.
- Set the time for the annual executive committee meeting and inform executivecommittee members in enough time so they can arrange transportation accordingly.Prepare and circulate an agenda before the meeting.
- At the meeting, arrange for tellers for the election of the vice-president;appoint two persons to examine the conference's accounts; preside over theexecutive committee meeting and the annual business meeting; introduce thepresident of the national AAS.

Arrangethe conference site for at least the next annual meeting (for the year afterthe president's term expires). The president should also have projected conferencesites for future meetings, if not firm commitments.

Arrange forthe local arrangements chair in conjunction with the conference site. Keepin close touch with the vice-president about the details of the job to facilitatethe transition. Send copies of all correspondence to the vice-president.

Vice-President

The vice-president will automatically become president in the year following his/her election.

Basic duties:

Serve,as chair, with the past-president and senior at-large member on the NominatingCommittee, which every year presents candidates (traditionally two) for vice-president;and candidates (traditionally two) for an at-large member. Consent of thecandidates should be obtained prior to the EC meeting.
Sit on the Graduate Student Prize Committee with the past- president and first year ALM.
Thevice-president should find a program chair for the year in which he/she willbe president since the announcement of the program chair for the followingyear's meeting will be one of his/her first duties as president.
Lay the groundwork for any refinements or changes that might be proposed when president.

Most time consuming task:

Reading student prize papers.

Past-President

Basic duties:

Serve with the vice-president and senior year ALM on the Nominating Committee.
Sit on the Graduate Student Prize Committee with the vice-president and the first year ALM.
Be available for consultation with the president if requested.
Unofficially,it would be nice if past-presidents would review and update this handbook- since (along with the secretary/treasurer) they have an overview of theworkings of the conference.

Most time consuming task:

Reading student prize papers.

Past-Past-President

Basic duties:

Sit on the Graduate Student Prize Committee with the senior and second year ALM.

Most time consuming task:

Reading student prize papers.

Secretary/Treasurer

Thesecretary/treasurer is appointed by the executive committee for an indefiniteterm. Because the secretary/treasurer has more continuity in office thanany of the other executive committee members, he/she should be prepared toadvise rotating members, especially the president, on various matters, suchas the preparation of the annual meeting announcement, forms from the nationalAAS office, and the state of the conference's finances.

Basic duties:

Mailsmain annual meeting announcement and call for papers twice a year (springand late summer or early fall). Begin preparation of these mailings six weeksbefore the deadline.
Keep minutes of the executive committee and annual business meeting. Write up minutes as soon as possible.
Provide a copy of the minutes to the Council of Conferences representative before the April COC meeting.
Maintain other SEC/AAS records, including keeping the mailing list current.
Maintain accounts. Disburse funds when necessary.
Prepare a financial report for the annual meeting.
Most time consuming tasks:
The two annual mailings;
keeping of minutes.

Expenses: Under the 1990 secretary/treasurer, the expenses connected with the job were distributed as follows:

The Conference treasury paid:

the annual bulk-mailing fee
postage costs for the two conference mailings (announcement of the annual meeting, etc.)
travel and lodging for the secretary/treasurer at the conference

The secretary/treasurer's department bore the costs of:

reproducing form letters for mailing
paper and envelopes
phone calls
letters to the executive committee,
secretarial help

Editor: Southeast Review of Asian Studies

Once a year, SERAS (formerly the ANNALS)publishes a record of the annual meeting of the conference (including theprogram, abstracts of papers, minutes of the business meeting, and a listof registered participants), selected papers from the conference, and othermaterial that highlights the scholarly activity of Asianists in the Southeast.The editor chairs the editorial committee, which meets twice a year, onceat the annual meeting and once again in the spring.

Basic duties:

Chairs Editorial Committee meetings.
Appoints members of the editorial committee.
Prepares annual reports.
Editorialresponsibilities include establishing guidelines; directing the selectionof articles; coordinating revisions (assigning papers to editors for revising,doing final revisions).
Production responsibilities (in conjunctionwith the business manager) include conversion of papers into final format;coordinating photocopying; arranging for printing; cover printing and binding.

Most time consuming tasks:

Paper revisions,
conversion of papers into final format;
production process.

Expenses: Currently (since 1996), expenses are distributed as follows:

The Conference pays for
- all the printing and binding costs of SERAS;
- transporting copies to annual meeting;
- subsidizes some of the costs of the editor's attendance at the annual meeting.
Expenses covered by the editor's institution may include
- some of the travel costs of the editor to the annual meeting and the spring meeting;
- photocopying of papers and correspondence;
- postage and phone calls;
- computer equipment,
- software and supplies;
- secretarial time.

Program Chair

Aprogram chair must be prepared to spend a great deal of time during the fallterm on many tedious details. The program cannot be completed until afterthe deadline given in the call for papers, paper proposals come in two formsprimarily at two times: full panel or individual paper proposals arrive aftereach "Call for Papers" mailing, one in the spring and one in late Augustor early September. Most individual papers should be grouped into panels(although some program chairs have had one or two panels of individual papers).Creating panels out of individual papers involves finding a chair and discussantfor rather large categories, viz. modern China, Japanese literature. Theprogram chair should freely call Executive Committee members, conferencestalwarts, and friends to find appropriate people. The chair may also wishto solicit papers based on the response to the first "Call for papers," etc.This means that the program chair should, if necessary, check with his/herdepartment/college to determine the budget for phone calls and letters. Goodsecretarial help is likewise important for the program chair. If one cannotprevail upon the departmental secretarial staff, then allow time and energyfor "do it yourself."

The program chair should have the final programto the local arrangements chair to be printed and mailed by late November.This means that a program chair must be ruthless about deadlines. In otherwords, don't accept any late proposals.

Basic duties:

Setfinal and realistic deadline for paper proposals in consultation with localarrangements chair, president, and secretary/treasurer.
Keepin touch with the local arrangements chair. Determine which of you will planany special activities, such as Friday night roundtables and performances.
Select panels and papers for the program.
Group individual papers for panels and find discussants and chairs.
Schedulethe program with an eye to balance (viz. regional, teaching vs. researchpanels, special topics, bibliographic panels) within each time slot.
Sendacceptance letters which should include the names, addresses, and phone numbersof all people involved with the panel and a deadline for papers to be sentto the discussant and chair. Also include a note that meeting participantsmust register for the meeting. If indicated by the Executive Committee, givea deadline for pre-registration for meeting participants.
Sendfinished schedule to local arrangements chair for printing and mailing. Becertain to note special arrangements which may be necessary, viz. audio-visualequipment, larger room.
Send details of the regional conference to the national AAS for publication in the Asian Studies Newsletter.

Local Arrangements Chair

Thelocal arrangements chair is the liaison between the host institution andthe Conference. He/she continues to work throughout the annual meeting whilethe other members of the executive committee are enjoying the fruits of theirlabor. And this doesn't mean that the local arrangements chair has not beenworking just as hard, if not harder, as the other members throughout theyear. It is hard to summarize the "arrangements" for a conference, but below,please find an attempt.

Basic duties:

Negotiate with host institution, conference site staff, hotels, SEC/AAS,and possibly travel agents to arrange details, costs, discounts, etc. ofthe annual meeting.
Project meeting costs. These include expenses for:
- the conference site
- media equipment
- coffee breaks
- mailing information to members
- printing of program and other material
- transportation, room, food for the AAS president.
Who pays for things like cocktail hours (cash bar or institutionaltreat?), meal subsidies, overhead costs - incidental phone calls & mail?
How much will be covered by the institution? meeting fee? By other groups?
Determine what will be included in the meeting fee and what will not be, particularly group meals.
Set meeting fee.
Oversee the arrangements for the meeting: panel schedule, audio-visualequipment, coffee breaks, cocktails, luncheon, banquet, vegetarian menus,etc.
Arrange any special programs using local talent, such as dance troupes, roundtables. Coordinate with the program chair.
After the meeting, suggest the Conference pay for a week on the beach.
Prior to meeting, request AAS publications from national AAS to be displayed at meeting.

Council of Conferences Representative

The Conference representative to the Council of Conferences (COC) of the AAS is elected to a three-year term. (The next rotation will be April 2005).

Basic duties:

Report COC actions to the Executive Committee and general membership at the annual meeting (January).
Report SEC activities to the annual meeting of the COC (April).
Participate in the discussions and voting of the SEC Executive Committee and the COC.
Request the annual SEC subvention from the AAS.
Join with the SEC president in filing the annual SEC report to the AAS.

Most time consuming tasks:

Correspondence connected with liaison function;
preparing reports;
COC all-day meeting at the AAS.

Expenses:

In 1991, the COC representative noted that the national provides somefinancial assistance and that SEC Executive Committee had gone on recordthree or four years ago as willing to lend partial support to the SEC/COCrepresentative. His institution funded mailing costs, printing, phone, andother incidental expenses.

At-Large Members

The first year At-Large Member sits on the Graduate Student Prize Committee, with the past-president and the vice-president. The second year and senior At-Large Members serve on the undergraduate Student Prize Committee with the past-past-president. The Senior ALM serves on the Nominating Committee with the vice-president and past-president.

Basic duties:

Notify the winners; notify all those who submitted papers of the winners.
Announce the prizes at the annual meeting

For 2009-2010, the assignments are:

Nominating Committee:	Vice-President (Chair):	Cheryl Crowley
	Past-President:	James Gillam
	Senior ALM:	Harry Kuoshu
Graduate Prize Committee:	Past-President (Chair):	James Gillam
	Vice-President:	Cheryl Crowley
	First year ALM:	Xuexin Liu
Undergraduate Prize Committee:	Senior ALM (Chair):	Harry Kuoshu
	Past-Past-President:	Mark Ravina
	Second year ALM:	Tom Pynn

Outreach Coordinator (Draft)

Basic Duties:

Apply for outreach grants from Council of Conferences and other granting agencies as appropriate.
Suggest and organize panels designed for teaching in coordination with the program chair.Organize or encourage others to organize day-long workshops for local teacherspreceding the annual meeting as funding and interest permits.
Contactor delegate a person in the meeting area to contact school districts, thestate department of education, and the state social studies council to generatea mailing list of teachers.
Announce at the annual meeting opportunities for training and funding for teacher education in Asian studies, including Education About Asia submissions.
Most time consuming task: grant writing and arranging outreach meetings.

Archivist

Description of the SEC/AAS Archives:

TheArchives is the documentary record of the organization. The materials collectedinclude official minutes of annual business and various committee meetings,registration and membership lists, correspondence, secretary/treasurer's reports, records, publications (EC annual meeting programs and the Annals and SERAS),and other materials of possible interest to members and scholars (peoplepresent at meetings, registration packets, etc.). The archives presentlyhoused in the Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library, Perkins Library, Duke University.

Basic Duties:

Collects,organizes and maintains the collections. The incumbent is also responsiblefor maintaining appropriate inventories of guides, serving as a resourceto those who need to use the archives, and for fulfilling requests for copiesof materials kept among the collections. The archivist is not compensatedfor this work, but is permitted to charge individuals the cost of copyingand mailing or faxing requested material