Present: Olga Aksakalova, Crystal Benedicks, Jaime Sky Bianco, Anton Borst, Zach Davis, Jessica DeCoux, Denell Downum, Sean Egan, Lise Esdaile (co-chair), Eric F alci, Alina Gharabegian, Rachel Ihara (co-chair), Chris Leslie, Kate Moss, Audrey Raden, Jody Rosen, Galina Savukova, Rebekah Sheldon, Tyler Schmidt, Enrc Tribunella, Yuki Watanabe,
- Money from Spring 2003
Zach Davis, former ESA co-chair, gave us an update on funds. We have $191.66 that must be spent immediately (possibly before the October 3rd ESA meeting). It was discussed and voted on to use it for alcohol and beverages for the upcoming December revels. We can either store the goods in the English lounge or in IRADAC.
II. Committee Reports
Committee members from past elections, and those newly elected, provided information. (An e-mail was sent out to those serving on committees. It is expected that at least one committee member attend an ESA meeting to report on that committee’s activities. If for some reason he or she cannot attend, that person is expected to provide that information to the ESA listserv.)
EXECUTIVE: One of the ESA co-hairs can attend but cannot vote.
CURRICULUM: Denel Downum and Lise Esdaile served last year (Denel is still on committee). There was discussion about abolishing the required course, “Theory and Practice of Literary Scholarship and Criticism.” There will be another meeting in the fall, but since the English program has only one requirement, it’s unlikely that it will be dropped.
FUNDING: Jody Rosen said that a lot of money was raised last year, which was used for student dissertation awards. There will probably be a drive around the holidays.
WEBSITE: Zach and Sean Egan reported that the Website Committee is meeting next week. They will update faculty and atea group pages, as well as create a new section for alumni. Discussion centered around unpaid labor and the absence of faculty involvement. Sean suggested adding ESA ByLaws to the web page.
GRADUATE COUNCIL: Jaime Skye Bianco is the English program representative to this body that hears all Graduate Center-related issues and votes on them. (The Graduate Council is like the English program’s Executive and Curriculum Committees at the university level; they have the ultimate vote on matters like course approval, etc.)
DSC: Kate Moss is the English program representative. They base their decisions on student involvement. There has been many student concerns regarding the failure of the IT department.
ELECTIONS: Former committee members discussed the difticulty in contacting people and getting timely responses in order to post election aimmmcements on time. There was discussion about limiting the number of nominations a person can accept (no more than three) and talk of having people commit ahead of time to committees in case they Win. There will be more discussion about this at the next meeting, with input from those who have Worked on this committee.
Other committees mentioned were the Placement, Faculty Membership, Course Evaluations, and Recruitment committees. Either there was nothing t0 report or committee members were not present.
III. African-American Courses/Certificate
We talked about the possibility of establishing a certificate in Añicana/Aûican-American Studies. Professor Suggs talked about the possibility of African-American Liœrature being listed separately in the Graduate Center Catalogue. We all agreed that the continued effort of the Group in sponsońng panels and inviting varied speakers is a step in the right direction.
IV. ESA Conference
Jody talked about discussion held last semester about voting on the ESA conference topic in the spring. It was decided, based on discussion and the ESA By-Laws, to have someone throw out an idea for the conference, and that idea will be considered if supported by someone else willing to work on the committee as well. Audrey Raden volunteered to throw out a broad topic and tno-chair the conference. See ESA By-Laws sections 6.2 and 3.7 on the ESA Conference and actions at meetings on how we shall proceed with this.
Section 6.2 SELECTING A TOPIC AND CHAIR (OR (CO-CHAIRS)
Discussion of conference topics generally takes place at ESA meetings and on the ESA-L list. The selection of a conference topic and chair shall take place at ESA meetings according t0 the procedure for taking action at meetings (section 3. 7).
While anyone can, in theory, suggest a topic for the conference, the ESA will only consider topics that are associated with a student or students who are willing to act as chair or co-chairs ofthe conference. After a general discussion, any member who has a topic and is willing to take on the responsibiligl ofchairing the conference shall be considered an eligible candidate. Multiple members may work together as Conference C12-chairs. Members who do not eo-chair are encouraged lo assisi the conference CoChairs in running the conference,
Section 3. 7 ACTION AT MEETINGS
All action that does not involve amending, altering, or otherwise changing the by-Iaws will be made at ESA meetings, according to the following procedure. In order for an issue to be voted on in an ESA meeting, it must appear on the agenda for that meeting. The agenda must have been maa’e public at least one week prior to the meeting, in accordance with section 3. 4, Any vote taken on action that was not previously publicized in accordance with section 3.4 will be considered invalid Consequently, no issue may be raised and then voted on in the course of a single meeting.
Assuming the issue has been made public, and the vote has been announced properly, the aclual vole will lake place during the ESA meeting. Before the vote takes place, there will be a period of discussion, followed by the vote itself. All members present at lhe meeting will have one vote, excluding the Co-chairs, who only vote in the case of a tie. Students who are not able to attend the meeting can make an attending student or one of the Co-chairs their proxy (see section 3.8, below).
In order for action to be taken, the total votes for the actions must equal at least 51% of the total votes. In the case of a tie, the Co-chairs weill be allwoed up to one (1) week’s time to solicit the student body for further opinions, at which point they will decide wheter to take action based on their judgement of what the majority of students think, or, lacking a clear sense of a majority opinion, what will best serve the students in the department
VI. ESA Listserv
We talked about encouraging people to join the ESA listserv. There are now bright signs posting all Fall 2003 ESA meeting dates and times. Another sign will have instructions on how to sign up for the ESA listserv. We will also throw this out Marilyn’s listserv. However, all discussions regarding the conference, minutes, etc., will be on the ESA listserv, not the English Program listserv, which includes faculty.
