AGM 2010
Unconfirmed minutes of the Annual General Meeting, held on 5th January 2010 at St Hugh's College Oxford (subject to confirmation at next BSECS Annual General Meeting in January 2011)
Committee members present: Gavin Budge, Brycchan Carey, Michèle Cohen, Daniel Cook, Penelope Corfield, Jeremy Gregory, Matthew O. Grenby, Chris Mounsey, Frank O'Gorman, Charlotte RobertsCorinna Wagner, Debbie Welham, Susan Whyman, Sharon Young.
1. Members Present and Apologies for Absence
1.1 For members present, see Appendix A. There were apologies for absence from Michael Burden, Gary Day, John Dunkley, Alan Forrest, and Brian Norman.
2. Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting (6th January 2009, St Hugh's College, Oxford)
2.1 These were accepted as an accurate record of the meeting.
3. Matters Arising
3.1 There were no matters arising.
4. Officers' Reports
4.a President
4.a.1 PC had circulated a written report. She reviewed developments in the Society over her term of office, which was now coming to an end. She drew attention to her initiative early on in her presidency, to consolidate the Society's links with centres for eighteenth-century studies in British universities by visiting them personally, where possible. Future conferences should see panels proposed by these centres.
4.a.2 PC highlighted the growth of the Society's reach, both in terms of the Journal's greater penetration in university libraries globally as a result of its digitization and inclusion in online packages, and in terms of the increase in disciplinary breadth of the Annual Conference. She drew attention to the conference bursary programme that had been introduced.
4.a.3 PC emphasized recent efforts to develop the Society's interdisciplinary dimension, and the advent of corporate sponsorship of the Annual Conference by publishers of digital resources. She noted the introduction of four annual prizes, with the teaching prize to be awarded for the first time in 2010, the visiting fellowship having recently been awarded to Dr John Stone, for a project on Thomas Boswell, and the digital resources prize to be announced at the sponsored reception.
4.a.4 PC reported on the deepening of the Society's collaboration with Wiley-Blackwell, especially in respect of the redevelopment of the Society's website, which had partly been sponsored by Wiley-Blackwell. She commented that the new website had transformed the Society's public face and led to increased attendance at the Annual Conference. She expressed thanks to Philippa Joseph at Wiley-Blackwell, together with Ivor Tillier and his team of web-developers.
4.a.5 PC outlined future developments, which centred around expansion of the Society's online presence. She drew attention to the new system of online voting that would be introduced, and greater opportunities for interaction with the membership.
4.b Executive Secretary
4.b.1 GB commented that the redevelopment of the website was the most significant organizational change in the Society that had taken place during the year, but had little to add to the points PC had already made.
4.c Treasurer
4.c.1 PC conveyed the news of Brian Norman's heart condition, which had necessitated his stepping down from the role of Treasurer. She proposed a vote of thanks to BN for his long service to the Society, and paid tribute to his highly successful management of the Society's finances. DC had assumed the role of acting Treasurer until a new Treasurer could be elected. The financial report would therefore be delivered after the results of the elections had been announced.
4.d Journal Editor
4.d.1 CM reported that there would be fewer special issues of the Journal in future. The new pattern would be four medley issues per year, with 25% of the pages devoted to reviews, plus one special issue: for 2010 the special issue would be one on "Animals" with a contribution from the high-profile philosopher Peter Singer. The Spring issue had already been produced, and the Summer issue was going into press. The Autumn issue was highly oversubscribed, with forty-six papers vying for the six places available in it.
4.e Conference Organisers
4.e.1 JG emphasized the increasingly international aspect of the Annual Conference, especially as reflected in the growing number of scholars from other parts of Europe. He drew attention to the new online submission procedure for proposals which had been developed as part of the new website, and asked for feedback on how it worked to inform the ongoing website redevelopment process. He noted that there had been fewer panel submissions this year, which suggested that the proposal form on the website needed redesigning to highlight the possibility of proposing panels.
4.e.2 CM announced that St Hugh's had made a one-off offer of a further night's free accommodation to delegates who were unable to get home owing to weather conditions. He commented on the consistent helpfulness of staff at St Hugh's.
5. Future format of conference
5.1 PC opened the discussion by summarising changes that had been made to the Annual Conference over the past few years, namely the annual concert, roundtable sessions, the practice of beginning the conference with a plenary panel, and the institution of hands-on demonstrations of practical topics.
5.2 From the membership, Bob Craig congratulated the conference organisers for the wonderful job they had done. He asked whether we could offer members the opportunity to review the Annual Conference on the Society's website. Margaret Bird suggested that artefacts could be brought along to the Conference, citing a demonstration of the structures of eighteenth-century women's dress she had attended at the V&A. Charlotte Craig raised the possibility of a dance session at the conference, to which BC responded that such a demonstration had indeed already taken place at the conference four years ago, although perhaps it was time to revisit the idea. It was suggested that performance of a play, or perhaps just a scene, would be a good event to have at the conference, and that this could be organised in conjunction with a drama department. Ros Ballaster added that an obvious contact in this respect would be the New Theatre at Bury, and that the Society should be developing these kinds of contacts with new ventures in the eighteenth century. BC agreed that the Society should be reaching out beyond the academic world.
5.3 Conrad Brunström raised the issue of the increasing size of the Annual Conference, and whether in fact this might militate against its academic productivity.
6. Report on the election of officers and committee members
6.1 The appointment of Sharon Young and Charlotte Roberts as Postgraduate and Early Career Scholar Representatives was ratified by the meeting. PC reported that Jeremy Gregory had been nominated for the post of Vice-President by herself, and seconded by FOG. Brycchan Carey had been nominated by PC for the post of Treasurer, seconded by FOG. Susan Whyman and Corinna Wagner, previously co-opted to Ordinary Member posts, were both nominated for Ordinary Member posts by PC, seconded by FOG. Andreas Mueller was nominated for an Ordinary Member post by SY, seconded by GB. Pamela Clemit was nominated for an Ordinary Member post by MOG, seconded by Bill Speck. Since there were no other candidates for these posts, these candidates were considered as having been elected unopposed.
7. Constitutional amendment
7.1 The text of the constitutional amendment to allow extension of the Presidential term of office in some circumstances had previously been circulated (see Appendix B). PC proposed the amendment, which was seconded by CM. She explained that it was not the intention to use it to extend her own term of office, but that it arose out of her own experience of the presidency, which was that it took a year to get the measure of the role, leaving little time for a president to effect change.
7.2 BC spoke in support of the amendment, noting that the role of the committee had become considerably more complex even over the last three or four years, and that a two year term of offfice didn't necessarily allow for enough continuity. FOG also spoke in support, commenting that change often came about slowly in the academic world, so that two years was often not enough to see measures through. GB clarified that, in the event of the presidential term being extended by a year, the term of the vice-president would also be extended by a year, but not that of the past president. The amendment was passed nem. con.
8. Members comments and Feedback.
8.1 There was no additional feedback from members.
9. Any Other Business
9.1 JG proposed a vote of thanks to PC for the many initiatives she had taken as president.
Appendix A
Members present at meeting:
Ros Ballaster
Margaret Bird
Deborah Brown
Conrad Brunström
Pamela Clemit
Charlotte Craig
Robert S Craig
Sam George
Moyra Haslett
Alexander Huber
Frauke Jung
Mark Kaurman
Sebastian Mitchell
Matthew McCormack
Andreas Mueller
Katrina Navickias
Robert Pook
Fiona Price
Penny Pritchard
Jennifer Ruimi
Bill Speck
Derya Tarbuck
Ulrika Wagner
Appendix B
Constitutional Amendment
Existing version
3.2 The posts of president and vice-president are tenable for two years. In normal circumstances, the office of president is not directly elected, but filled by the previous year's vice-president. Where this is impossible, the same procedure is followed as for other officers, who are elected on an annual basis through a remotely conducted voting contest. All officers apart from the President are eligible for re-election. A former President is ineligible for re-election to the posts of Vice-President or President for a period of five years at the end of the two years term of office.
Amended version
3.2 The posts of president and vice-president are tenable for two years. The President's term of office can be extended once by a further year, subject to the agreement of the Executive Committee and ratification at the Annual General Meeting at the beginning of the year in which it is proposed to extend it; in this case the term of office of the Vice-President will automatically also be extended for a further year. In normal circumstances, the office of president is not directly elected, but filled by the previous year's vice-president. Where this is impossible, the same procedure is followed as for other officers, who are elected on an annual basis through a remotely conducted voting contest. All officers apart from the President are eligible for re-election. A former President is ineligible for re-election to the posts of Vice-President or President for a period of five years at the end of the two years term of office.
