LSA Bulletin
October 2004
Executive Committee Report
The Officers and Executive Committee met on Saturday, 15 May 2004, in the Ambassador Room of the Westin Embassy Row Hotel, 9:00 AM - 5:45 PM. They resumed their deliberations on Sunday, 16 May, at 9:00 AM and concluded their meeting at 1:00 PM. Those attending were Joan Bybee, President; Mark Aronoff, Vice President/President-Elect; Ray Jackendoff, Past President; Gregory Ward, Secretary-Treasurer; Kristen Syrett, Bloch Fellow; Stephen Anderson; Mark Baker; Eve Clark; Larry Hyman; Ellen Kaisse; and Gillian Sankoff. Donna Christian, President of the Center for Applied Linguistics, joined the Committee on Saturday. Pauline Yu met with the Committee on Sunday afternoon. Mary M. Niebuhr and Margaret Reynolds represented the Secretariat.
1. Motions of Approval
The minutes of the January 2004 meeting were approved as presented. The
preliminary agenda and the proposed schedule were approved.
2. Secretary-Treasurer's Report
A report highlighting activities undertaken by the Secretary-Treasurer
was accepted with thanks. The Secretary-Treasurer noted that the total
number of individual members over the period 1994 to 2003 had declined
by over 800 (18%). We do not have the data to determine whether or not
the decline in membership reflects a general trend in the field. To address
this lack, he proposed a data gathering project to monitor the enrollment
in BA programs, current numbers of graduate students, numbers of PhDs
awarded, and faculty lines. The Committee voted to award Ivan Sag the
2005 Victoria A. Fromkin Prize in recognition of his more than 30 years
of service to the development of linguistic institutes. The results of
the mail and electronic ballots distributed to the Committee since the
January meetings were verified.
3. Long Range Planning
The members of the Executive Committee were divided into two groups to
address different topics. Recommendations of the "Products and Services"
group focused entirely on a vastly expanded and improved members-only
section of the LSA website. The Committee appointed an ad hoc Committee
on Research Notes (Mark Baker, Chair, Steve Anderson and Brian Joseph)
to define criteria for submission, develop a template, and propose the
form and content of a new on-line journal. Recommendations of the "Recruitment
and Retention" group included: (1) a Standing Committee on Membership
and Services; (2) changes in the Annual Meeting program structure and
planning; (3) ways to engage departments in the work of the LSA; and (4)
additional kinds of material for the website. The Executive Committee
endorsed these recommendations and named Gregory Ward, chair, Joan Bybee,
Larry Hyman, and Kristen Syrett to serve on the Committee on Membership
and Services.
4. President's Business
The Secretariat brought the Committee up to date on the OFAC ban on editing
papers from embargoed countries. Since a clarification on how to proceed
is not likely until legal action is taken, the LSA asked that the editor
not process the submissions he had recently received from Iran. The detailed
comments and thoughtful suggestions on the Unicode Consortium submitted
by the Committee on Computing were gratefully accepted. In light of the
financial demands facing the LSA, the Executive Committee declined to
affiliate with the Consortium. Recognizing the importance of the Unicode
initiative, the Executive Committee instead offered to identify experts
and consultants for the project. The Committee approved submitting a general
letter of support for the Terascale initiative.
5. Linguistic Institutes
The Committee received the brief report sent by the organizers of the
2005 Linguistic Institute and with great appreciation, they reserved 2007
for a Stanford Institute. The Committee was delighted to learn that the
University of California at Berkeley had begun planning for the 2009 Linguistic
Institute.
6. The State of the Discipline Projects
The Committee reviewed the new FAQs and noted with thanks the contributions
of Stephen Anderson, Larry Hyman, and Bob Ladd/Antonella Sorace who wrote
the three new brochures. The Committee discussed the possibility of packaging
the FAQs as a book and encouraged Stephen Anderson to explore options
and possibilities. The report of the Virtual Museum of Language and Linguistics
was received with thanks. The Secretariat was asked to review and revise
the procedures for LSA Committees wishing to apply for grants.
7. Committee, Delegate and Secretariat Reports
The Nominating Committee's report was accepted with thanks. After discussion,
the recommendation that the Linguistics, Language and the Public Award
for 2005 be given to Deborah Tannen was approved. The reports of the Advisory
to Programs Committee, Committee on Ethnic Diversity in Linguistics, the
Social and Political Concerns Committee, the Honorary Members Committee,
and the Language in the School Curriculum Committee were accepted with
thanks. The report from the Committee on Endangered Languages prompted
a discussion of the eligibility requirements for support funds from LSA.
The Executive Committee determined that LSA membership should be a priority
for such funds but not a strict requirement. Reports were received with
thanks from the Society's delegates to Section Z, Section V, and Section
J of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The report
on activities at the Secretariat was received with thanks. The report
from the Committee on Committee and Delegate Appointments was accepted
with thanks. All recommendations were approved by the Executive Committee.
8. Publications
The Committee received with thanks the report submitted by Brian Joseph,
the Editor of Language. Due to financial constraints, the Committee
affirmed that the revisions to the Twentieth Century Index would
need to be limited to correcting typographical errors and incorporating
the 37 missing pages. The Committee acknowledged with gratitude Paul Newman's
memorandum on copyright-related matters affecting Language. The
Committee received the report prepared by the Secretariat on Project Muse
and noted that a new contract was currently being negotiated between the
Johns Hopkins University Press and the publishers. They also were pleased
to learn that JSTOR had announced a revenue-sharing plan with member publishers.
9. Reports from Sister Organizations and Collaborative
Projects
The reports received from the National Humanities Alliance, the Center
for Advanced Study of Language, the Coalition for National Science Funding,
the Joint National Committee on Languages/National Council on Languages
and International Studies, the Decade of Behavior, the American Anthropological
Association's Conference on Race and Human Variation, the Coalition on
the Academic Workforce, the National Research Council's Survey of PhD
programs, the Language Summit, the National Institute for Mental Health,
the National Museum of Language, and the ACTFL Year of Languages Project
were accepted with thanks.
10. Executive Session
The Executive Committee voted to accept the changes to the staff salary
and fringe benefits package recommended by the Finance Committee. Further,
they directed the Secretary-Treasurer to develop a revised set of priorities
for the Secretariat in light of the fiscal and membership crises.
11. Annual Meeting
The Secretariat reported on planning for the San Francisco meeting. The
proposed abstract guidelines and specifications for the 2006 Annual Meeting
were approved. The Secretariat was encouraged to visit Portland as a possible
site for the 2009 Annual Meeting and to thank Professors Shibatani and
Woodbury for their invitation to meet in Texas.
12. Report from Finance Committee
The Secretary-Treasurer reported on the meeting of the Finance Committee
held on Friday, 14 May. Mark Aronoff, Ray Jackendoff, and Gregory Ward
were present; Joan Bybee was delayed in transit. D. Terence Langendoen
reported by email.
• The minutes of the 7 January 2004 meeting of the Finance Committee were approved with correction.
• The LSA Statement on Investment Policies and Guidelines was reviewed and reaffirmed.
• The Committee then considered the proposed budget for FY 2004-05. Noting the continuing decline in membership income and the prospect that the deficit could be as high as $59,000, the Committee discussed various revenue enhancements and cost cutting measures such as: (1) revising the dues structure; (2) limiting proposed revisions to the Twentieth Century Index; (3) increasing Annual Meeting registration fees; and (4) reducing contributions to umbrella groups and for special projects.
• The appointment of Beth McMaster of McMaster and Associates as auditor for fiscal year 2003-04 was recommended.
The Finance Committee met in executive session to review the performance of the Executive Director and to discuss salaries and fringe benefits. The Executive Committee accepted their report with thanks, asked that efforts be made to effect additional economies whenever possible, and voted to approve the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
13. New Business
At the end of their meeting, the Executive Committee welcomed Pauline
Yu, the new president of the American Council of Learned Societies. Dr.
Yu highlighted the various programs at ACLS and responded to comments
and questions from the members of the Committee.
[The full text of the minutes of this meeting are available on request from the LSA Secretariat.]