Virginia Chapter of the Society of Research Administrators
Spring Meeting
June 2, 2005
Sheraton West Richmond Hotel
Hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University
President Mike Ludwick called the business meeting for the Spring VA-SRA chapter meeting to order June 2, 2005, at 12:50 P.M. In attendance were President Ludwick, President-Elect Kobby Hoffman, Treasurer Lorraine Murphey, Secretary Pat Hobbs, and over 115 attendees of the conference.
Minutes of the VA-SRA Fall meeting on December 8, 2004, hosted by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University at the Hotel Roanoke, were in the meeting packet for review. A motion was made and seconded that the minutes be accepted as presented, and the motion carried.
The Treasurer’s report, also in the packet, was likewise reviewed. A motion was made and seconded that the Treasurer’s report be accepted as presented, and the motion carried.
Following the Treasurer’s report, Laura Simmons, winner of the Travel Fellowship for the SRA Southern Section conference in Tampa, Florida, shared her experience and the benefits of the meeting with VA-SRA members.
Committee Reports and Old Business:
President Ludwick recognized VCU for hosting the meeting and thanked the Program Committee, chaired by Kobby Hoffman for providing a great program, with special thanks to Lorraine Murphey from VCU for meeting arrangements. Attendees were urged to complete evaluations in the packets for the meeting since the evaluations are very useful in planning future meetings.
President Ludwick announced that the 2006 Spring meeting will be held at Radford University and asked for a volunteer to host a meeting site for the Fall 2005 meeting. It was suggested that a meeting site in the DC area, in conjunction with a federal sponsor, might be an option.
The Nominating Committee presented the nominations for two officers, that of President-Elect and Secretary. Susan Robb, Director of Sponsored Programs at VCU, was nominated and accepted by members as the new President-Elect. Pat Hobbs, Assistant Director of Grants Management and Compliance, Radford University, was nominated and re-elected Secretary.
New Business:
- The first order of new business was recognition of past VA-SRA officers. A plaque was presented to Pat Hobbs in appreciation for her service as Secretary for the past year. In addition, Kobby Hoffman was thanked for her service as President-Elect and, especially, for all her efforts in planning our programs. Gayla Goerge, who maintains the VA-SRA ListServ, was recognized and thanked for her assistance in this important task. Mike Ludwick, as outgoing President, was recognized for his many and continuing services to Virginia SRA and presented with an engraved clock by past President Michael Glasgow.
- The SRA International Travel Fellowship for the SRA International conference in October 2005 was the next topic for discussion with a reminder to members to apply for this fellowship. A motion was made, seconded, and carried that the travel fellowship application form be modified to include a request for a short essay (200 words or less) stating how this conference would further the applicant’s professional goals.
- A proposal by SRA International to assume responsibility for conference registrations and accounting duties of the Virginia Chapter of SRA International was the next order of business. VA-SRA officers presented this proposal to membership of VA-SRA after research into the process and references from those SRA chapters currently utilizing SRA International for their conference registrations and financial management. Conference registrations would be handled online by SRA International as would the collection and banking of registration fees. Representing SRA International at the meeting was Tamra Hackett, Chief Operating Officer, SRA-I and Dennis Carpenter, Membership and Communications Manager, SRA-I.
Tamara Hackett explained the mission of SRA International and how its mission was to provide administrative and accounting services to SRA sections, divisions, and chapters. Since SRA-I has the staff and resources to provide accounting infrastructure, a professional development expertise database, legal support, and leadership training for officers, existing under the SRA-I umbrella would be reasonable and beneficial to VA-SRA. There would be no charge to the Chapter for International staff time. Grant money would be available to us in the form of travel grants and special project grants.
SRA-I would handle online registrations for state meetings, manage membership and registration lists, provide meeting tags (where only the name insets and new tags would be charged to the Chapter), and provide payment/accounting processes and a monthly auditable financial record. The VA-SRA treasury would come under the management of SRA-I with the Chapter being charged only bank and credit card fees and costs of materials and related shipping. The Chapter would have the right to end and withdraw its resources and end the use of the services of SRA-I at any time, although the Chapter will need to take that withdrawal to the SRA-I Board of Directors for review and the process could take a year.
Discussion included concerns that the Chapter currently keeps its costs low through the volunteer efforts of its officers and members and the support of its members’ institutions. Tamra assured the body that the Chapter would not be charged for SRA-I personnel costs now or in the future as this relates to the organization’s mission. Tamra stated that a formal agreement was not needed as VA-SRA is under the parent organization SRA-I and the Chapter is covered in the existing by-laws. It was noted that SRA-I would be taking on the liability costs of the Virginia Chapter. SRA-I would have their lawyer review and SRA-I would sign any future contracts. Correspondingly, it was noted that SRA-I would benefit from the members and influx of new people at the chapter level. It was noted that previously SRA-I had notified VA-SRA to no longer charge dues as a chapter. The SRA-I by-laws allow anyone to attend chapter meetings, and SRA-I has recently established an Affiliate Membership to allow people who will not be attending Section and Annual meetings to stay informed by SRA-I e-mails and journal.
Discussion followed with Chuck Chermside speaking in favor of accepting SRA International’s proposal, stating that in his opinion the SRA-I is an effective organization, offers good infrastructure, and manages meetings well. A motion was made and seconded to accept the SRA-I proposal to assume responsibility for meeting registrations and accounting processes, and the motion carried.
- Dennis Carpenter from SRA International spoke to attendees about SRA-I membership, types of memberships, and the costs. He encouraged affiliate memberships at the Chapter level rather than the more expensive individual memberships. He explained that the Chapter would benefit by securing a database of membership allowing other chapters to communicate and interact with the Virginia Chapter. Through Eblast, we would be informed of other section and chapter meetings and activities.
- Discussion followed regarding the CRA review session which was added to this meeting for the second day agenda. It was suggested that we continue to offer the session along with other workshops and perhaps a “day at an agency” second day meeting agenda. Along with 2nd day meeting agenda discussion, volunteers were solicited for the Program Committee for the Spring meeting. Members were encouraged to send their suggestions by email to President-Elect Susan Robb.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:25 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Pat Hobbs
Secretary
VA-SRA
Minutes 6/2/2005