SPEECH COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATION OF OHIO

BUSINESS MEETING

Saturday, October 6, 2001

I. CALL TO ORDER

President Nancy Kelley called the meeting to order at 12:40 p.m.

II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Thomas "TR" Ruddick moved for approval of the minutes from the 2000 business meeting. Karen Evans seconded the motion. The motion passed.

III. ANNOUNCEMENTS

President Kelley thanked Karyl Sabbath and Otterbein College for hosting the conference. Kelley also acknowledged Pamela Kaylor (conference planner) and Candice Thomas-Maddox for their work on the conference. Kelley pointed out that there are several items included in the conference folder which are designed to solicit feedback from members about future conferences as well as to solicit involvement in the organization.

Kelley announced the 2002 conference date for October 5, 2002. She stated that the executive council will be putting together a conference planning committee and deciding on a location for the conference at the afternoon meeting. Kelley announced the theme for the 2002 conference as, "Our Evolving Discipline: Transforming Pedagogy and Scholarship".

Sabbath asked the membership for their feedback regarding the location and schedule for the conference (i.e., should it remain a one-day conference or move to two days). David Ritchey acknowledged that our hosts at Otterbein have been very generous, but suggested that it might be beneficial to begin moving the conference around the state. Ruddick pointed out that we need to consider issues of cost, location, date availability, and so forth. Rebecca Rubin pointed out that if we move from central Ohio, that might necessitate making the conference a two-day event due to the travel time involved for some members to get to a distant location. Alan Rubin stated that years ago the conference included a Friday evening banquet. He said that Columbus is a good, central location and suggested that the focus should be on planning events rather than on moving the conference to somewhere "new". Kelley pointed out that the benefit of holding the conference on a campus such as Otterbein is the low cost involved – the room rental costs at hotels can cut into the conference budget. Marilyn Valentino suggested that we consider offering a discounted rate for adjunct faculty to encourage them to attend. Kaylor pointed out that she would like to see the conference move to a resort or state park and offered the success of Kentucky state conferences as an example of the benefits of doing so. Sabbath concluded the discussion by pointing out the issue of why some members attend one year and not the next remains a mystery. There have been no clear trends to identify the issues surrounding conference attendance.

IV. REPORTS

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Executive Director, Candice Thomas-Maddox, reported that the association currently has $7,965.82 in its account. Estimated attendance at the 2001 conference is 31. There were no O.H.S.S.L. representatives present at the conference due to the fact that they had to cancel their programs because of low pre-registration. There are 66 paid memberships as of October 5, 2001. A total of 44 of these memberships are from OEA, pointing to the need to plan events for these members at our annual conferences. Thirteen members pre-registered for the 2001 conference.

JOURNAL EDITOR

Sabbath reported that the current journal submission and review processes have been going very well. She announced a change in the submission deadline to September 15th and indicated that this seems to be much better for submissions because it provides authors to work on their articles over the summer and submit them when they return to classes in the Fall. Sabbath announced a tentative publication date for December To date there have been 19 submissions for the 2001 journal, and 4 reviewers are currently serving on the editorial board. Sabbath also announced the Ohio Speech Journal cover design competition and stated that the executive council will vote on the design for our new journal cover at the afternoon meeting. She stated that our goal is to produce a high quality journal which will be a clear winner at Central States for the journal award. Sabbath announced that back issues of the journals will be available for purchase at the 2002 conference.

WEBMASTER

Teri Cleaveland announced that the website for SCAO is currently up and running. She announced the site address of www.scao.org. Cleaveland pointed out that the site includes contact information for all executive council members, and encouraged members to contact her if they have any information that they would like included on the site.

V. NOMINATIONS

Elizabeth Graham and Carole Barbato presented the slate of candidates for SCAO office. Graham pointed out that it was a difficult task finding people to serve the association, and encouraged members to get involved. The slate announced included:

•	President-Elect – MaryAnn Flannery (John Carroll University)

•	Vice-President – Karen Evans (Ohio University-Lancaster)

•	Journal Business Manager – Sheida Shirvani (Ohio University-Zanesville)

•	Conference Planner – Margaret Finucane (John Carroll University)

Nominations were solicited from the floor. No additional nominees were added to the slate. Ruddick moved that the slate be approved for office in the association. Rebecca Rubin seconded the motion, and the motion passed.

VI. OLD BUSINESS

Kelley mentioned that the discussion on the basic course competencies document was tabled at last year's business meeting for further investigation. Ruddick pointed out that we have missed important deadlines for implementing the document and that it was not relevant to pursue the issue at this time.

VII. NEW BUSINESS

Kelley announced that the executive council has been considering the idea of taking the Ohio Speech Journal online. She asked members for their input on this issue. Rebecca Rubin suggested having the journal indexed and submitting it to OhioLink so others could learn about it and our association. Cleaveland supported this idea noting that it is wise to keep it in both print and online format for a while to determine what the interest is in each form.

AWARDS

2000 Distinguished Teacher Recipient, Rebecca Rubin, presented the following award:

2001 Distinguished College Teacher – David Ritchey (University of Akron)

President Kelley presented the following awards:

2001 SCAO Distinguished College Coach – Jerry Miller (Ohio University)

2001 Distinguished Undergraduate Student – Penny L. Fox (University of Akron)

2001 Distinguished Graduate Student -- Joe Watson (University of Akron)

2001 Distinguished High School Coach – Diane Swink (Canton South H.S.)

2001 Distinguished High School Teacher – Joseph Buzzelli (Saint Ignatius H.S.)

Each recipient was presented with a plaque. SCAO made a $25 donation to the OHSSL Endowment fund in Swink's name, and made a $25 donation in Ritchey's name to the SCAO Endowment Fund.

Susan Millsap presented the OFA Sweepstakes Awards. Winners included:

Debate – 1st Ohio State University, 2nd Cedarville University, 3rd Bowling Green

Individual Events (Presidential Division) – 1st Heidelberg, 2nd Muskingum, 3rd Otterbein, 4th Marietta, 5th Baldwin Wallace College

Individual Events (Open Division) – 1st Ohio University, 2nd Miami University, 3rd The Ohio State University, 4th Cedarville University, 5th Bowling Green State University

OFA Educator of the Year – Jeff Blair, The Ohio State University

Meeting adjourned at 1:40 p.m.

Submitted by: Candice Thomas-Maddox, Executive Director