Annual Report (2003)
ARLIS/SE: SOUTHEAST CHAPTER


Submitted by:  Moira Steven, Chapter President 2003/Past President 2004
moira.steven@woodruffcenter.org
404-733-5021
404-733-5312 (fax)

Leadership Update  

ARLIS/SE Elected Officers for 2003:

President:                                             Sarah McCleskey, Clemson University
Vice President/President Elect:         John Taormina, Duke University*
Secretary/Treasurer:                            Sandra Still, Emory University**

*Rebecca Kranz, Wake Forest University, was elected to this office at the Chapter’s Annual meeting in November 2003; however, due to an upcoming move out of the region, John Taormina volunteered in January 2004 to take up the responsibilities of this post.  He will be confirmed in the position by vote during the ARLIS/SE meeting at the ARLIS/NA conference in April 2004.

** Grace Reid, elected to this position at the Chapter’s annual meeting in November 2002, was unable to complete her term of office and was replaced by Sandra Still in May 2003.  

Appointments for 2003:

Natalia Lonchyna, North Carolina Museum of Art, Webmaster (continuing)
Cary Wilkins, Morris Museum of Art, Newsletter Editor (continuing)
Ann Lindell, University of Florida, Listserv Moderator (continuing)
Stephen Patrick, Eastern Tennessee State University, Chapter Historian (continuing)

Brief Narrative:

Baltimore Conference Meeting:

A Chapter business meeting was held on March 23, 2003 during the Baltimore national conference during which the following topics were discussed.  Laura Schwartz, ARLIS/NA South Regional Representative, reported that she had brought forward to the board the request that Chapters have a designated time to meet during the New York Conference.

The joint Texas-Mexico/Southeast Chapter annual meeting is being scheduled for November 13-16 in New Orleans; both chapters are contributing both organizational time and funding to make the conference a success. The conference schedule allows for business meetings for each Chapter. Difficulties with the current Chapter website were reported, which originated with SEFLIN, the host server in Florida.  Pedro Figueredo was not in attendance and due to job pressures was replaced in May 2003 by Natalia Lonchyna, past President.  The Chapter is still intent on increasing participation, both by those who have not renewed their memberships and by new recruited members.  Now that the archives of ARLIS/SE have been established at Duke University, all past officers and conference organizers were encouraged to submit their records to Lee Sorensen for storage.  Roberto Ferrari suggested that the Chapter consider nominating Atlanta as the site of the national conference in 2006; an ad hoc group of Moira Steven, Kim Collins, Stephen Patrick and Roberto Ferrari will discuss the possibilities and decide on what action to take. 

The 2004 ARLIS/SE conference will mark the Chapter’s 30th anniversary and several sites were suggested, including Savannah and Charleston.  The site will be decided at the annual meeting in New Orleans in November 2003.

New Orleans conference:

A Chapter meeting was held on Saturday, November 15, 2003 during the New Orleans joint conference.  The first order of business was a report from Laura Schwartz, ARLIS/NA South Regional Representative, who presented several issues for the group to consider.  The national ARLIS/NA conference will be held in New York City from April 15-20, 2004.  In addition, she described the current efforts to review and restructure ARLIS/NA, particularly the Discussion Groups that have sprung up over the last several years and which may need to be changed to Round Tables in order to retain scheduling times during the annual conference.  Other issues, such as the legal relationship of the national organization with the regional groups and a simplified dues structure are on the agenda for the board and appropriate committees.

Sarah McCleskey, Vice President/President Elect, then gave a report on the joint conference, indicating the need to review fee levels for future conferences to ensure that they are high enough to provide an excellent conference while remaining within reach of members not be able to attend the national meeting.  As of the meeting date the balance of the Chapter’s account was $2,709.99; this amount did not yet include the funds and income from the joint conference, handled by Beverly Carver of the Texas-Mexico Chapter.  The Chapter account was later reported by Sandra Still to be $3,163.24 on the amount as of December 31, 2003.

The Chapter held its elections for officers, with Rebecca Kranz, Wake Forest University, being acclaimed the next Vice President/President Elect*.  Appointments from the previous year were deemed continuing, with the exception of the Chair of the LoPresti Committee, a position as yet unfilled..  This led to a discussion of the LoPresti Committee’s format and operations as well as the need for additional promotion for the award. Allen Novak who has been completing the operational tasks concerning this award suggested that there be appointed an Award Coordinator and a Public Relations

_____________________

*Due to Rebecca Kranz’s upcoming move out of the region in 2004, John Taormina volunteered to take up the responsibilities of this post in January 2004.  He will be confirmed in the position by vote at the ARLIS/NA conference in April 2004.
Coordinator to split the duties and more effectively manage the award.  Further discussion and the nomination of the LoPresti Committee will take place at the April meeting.

During the summer Moira Steven sent a letter offering Atlanta as the site of the 2006 ARLIS/NA conference; Laura Schwartz announced that the city has been selected for 2007, with Houston set for 2005 and Banff, Alberta for 2006.

Efforts to increase membership continue with meeting attendees volunteering to contact members in specific states.

After all discussions were complete, the group awarded the 19th Mary Ellen LoPresti Book Award and held its traditional drawing for the books not awarded prizes.