2013 SPRING BOARD MEETING
The ASOR, AIAR, and CAARI boards met in Indianapolis, IN over the weekend of April 19-21, 2013. One of the highlights of the weekend was a gala celebration honoring P. E. MacAllister’s service to ASOR on the occasion of his transition from Board Chair to Chairman Emeritus. Previous issues of News@ASOR have covered the celebration, and the present article presents a summary of the action items and reports from the ASOR Executive Committee and Board Meetings. The minutes of both meetings as well as the minutes from previous meetings are found on the ASOR website.
Summary of action items and other reports from the Spring 2013 Executive Committee and Board Meetings:
- Election of a New President of ASOR: Susan Ackerman was unanimously elected to the position of ASOR President for a term beginning January 1, 2014 and continuing through December 31, 2106. Ackerman’s election followed an extensive search led the Officers’ Nominating Committee (chaired by Gary Arbino.)
- Trustee Nominations: Committee Chair Beth Alpert Nakhai reported that there will be a number of vacancies this year with incumbent trustees choosing not to stand for reelection. She encouraged ASOR members to consider serving in this capacity and reminded all trustees of the trustee pledge.
- Executive Committee Actions (Not Brought to the Whole Board): The Executive Committee voted to extend Andrew Vaughn’s contract as Executive Director for one year (through June 30, 2016) with a 3% raise for the 2014 Fiscal Year. The EC voted to accept the recommendation of the Executive Director with regards to a severance request from Kelley Herlihy. Finally,the EC charged President Tim Harrison with the task of developing language to ammend the bylaws to create a standing personnel committee and to report back at the September EC meeting.
- Finance Committee Report: Treasurer Richard Coffman reports that ASOR should have another balanced budget for Fiscal Year 2013. Investments are doing well, and the Endowment Account is $67,000 higher than last year. The Board accepted unanimously the Finance Committee Report and voted unanimously to approve the budget for Fiscal Year 2014.
- Foundational Campaign Report: President Tim Harrison that ASOR is on target to reach 350 donors for Fiscal Year 2013 (July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013.) The total raised to date for the fiscal year is $320,000. For the three-year campaign (ends June 30, 2014), ASOR has reached $834,000 with $1.3 million as the goal. We are on target, but the hardest work remains. President Harrison called on all trustees and ASOR members to help us reach our goal.
- Election of Committee Members and CCC Report: The board voted unanimously to accept the recommendation of the Program Committee that the following people be elected to the Program Committee for a three-year term (Class of 2015): Asa Eger, Stephanie Langham Hooper, and Geoff Emberling. ASOR Vice President and chair of the Chairs Coordinating Council reported that the CCC would be holding a retreat in Detroit the following weekend.
- Membership Report (Jennie Ebeling): Jennie reported that ASOR reach a high of 1,600 in March and currently has 1,523 members versus 1,511 at this time last year. The Social Media initiatives have been extremely successful. The Facebook page has over 5,000 likes, and the ASOR Blog has 12,000 unique visitors each month. The Membership Committee is contributing articles to News@ASOR and soliciting articles from the membership and ther committees.
- Status of Women Report (Beth Alpert Nakhai): Beth reported that a formal steering committee and a presence on the ASOR website have been developed. A luncheon is planned for Saturday at the Annual Meeting, and there are initiatives underway to provide mentoring for women in the field. The committee is working with the ASOR office on mapping and research projects. The committee is also exploring ways to create a scholarship in the name of Prof. Mary Inda Hussey, an early female ASOR leader.
- Friends of ASOR Initiative and Webinar Initiative: The Board heard a report from Andy Vaughn and Stevan Dana on the Friends of ASOR program, the monthly e-newsletter The Ancient Near East Today, and a webinar initiative. The board voted unanimously to charge the CCC to “put into place the structures and functions necessary to get a webinar program up and running by September 10, 2013.” [See the Webinar Announcement in the September News@ASOR.]
- Reports from the Research Centers: The Board received reports from ACOR, AIAR, and CAARI. (See the minutes posted online.)
- President’s Report: Tim Harrison commented that ASOR has successfully been through a transition of leadership that would culminate with Susan Ackerman becoming President in January 2014. He mentioned a new Board Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and President. He observed that a successful transition was a sign of a healthy ASOR. Lynn Swartz Dodd then presented a summary of the work of the Ethics Policy Task Force. Tim called on Susan Ackerman to say a few words, and she made a statement about the state of ASOR and indicated that she took this job based on her confidence in ASOR which is a tremendous tribute to the leadership of our President, Executive Director and Board Chairman.
- Chair’s Report: P. E. MacAllister presented incoming Board Chair, B. W. Ruffner, with a gavel and made a charge to Ruffner citing Ezekiel. MacAllister then presented tokens of appreciation to Past Treasurer (Sheldon Fox) and Past Secretary (Jim Strange) for their service to ASOR. MacAllister concluded his report with a reflection on the history of ASOR an his involvement (previously published in News@ASOR.)
