10 September 2013

First Ars Rhetorica Meeting Invitation


KU ARS Executive Committee Minutes from our September 3, 2013 Meeting


KU Ars Rhetorica 2013-2014
9/3/2013 Exec meeting

Agenda Minutes:

1. Discuss goals for the year:
·         2 Scholarly Events
o   Fall
§  last year we did a workshop on a paper (preparing for publication).
§  We could ask faculty (either several, or one person) to do a talk or a roundtable about publishing.
-          Chair Jen Nish reviewed goals and noted that last fall’s scholarly event had good reviews of the workshop, but not great attendance.
-          Jen suggested other ideas for the fall workshop, such as having Professors give a round table or talk on publishing.
-          Co-Chair Chelsea Graham noted that Comm. Studies has professionalization seminars with similar topics and that we should check their schedule of events prior to deciding on ours.
-          Jen noted that we could ask professors to give a talk about finding the right journal and making time for writing despite other professional engagements.
-          Chelsea suggested that such a talk could be job market related.
-          Jen suggested crossing over and having a talk with professors from both English (R&C) and Comm. Studies.
-          Treasurer Vince Meserko suggested an event in which a speaker, like Dr. Tell, discussed ways of creating a resume that would fulfill interdisciplinary job requirements
-          Jen recommended asking Germain Caligua to talk about job searches for different departments and decided that we should keep brain storming and ask other members at our first meeting. She said she might meet with Tyler (Events Coordinator) to discuss the event in more detail after she reviews the Coms professionalization schedule.
-          This portion of the agenda concluded with the idea for having an ongoing research round table event with professors from both Communication Studies and English.
o   Spring
§  funding for a speaker (who?)
- At the meeting, Vanessa Beasley was put forth as a potential speaker for this event.
ú  RSA
ú  Student Senate
Funding for Spring Speaker RSA & Student Senate Options
-          Chelsea stated that she doubts we could get an RSA grant two years in a row, but if we have an idea/topic early enough we can get student senate funding for an event.
-          Jen has  checked the funding link on the student senate website, but it isn’t available yet.
-          Vince will keep checking the link.
-          Chelsea noted that for Senate funding, we need to be very specific in our request for what speaker, at what time, and how much money it will cost.
-          Vince asked about how much money would be necessary for an event.
-          Chelsea noted that it depends on where the speaker is coming from and whether or not they drive or fly. She still has last year’s request for funding forms and the detailed budget and proposal they created last year, but we will need to come up with a name for a speaker.
-          The committee unanimously agreed that Vanessa Beasley would be a good choice of speaker.
-          Jen reported that previous chair, Evan Center, recommended obtaining $1500 from the Student Senate.
-          Chelsea suggested that we ask the Senate for funds and Vanessa Beasley to be our speaker early, and that we think ahead and not schedule or speaker visit during March Madness or Spring break.
-          Jen will send Vince all the funding information she received from last year’s committee to help him figure out the funding forms. She and Vince will work together on funding acquisition.

·         1 Service Event
o   Any ideas or preferences? This was in the spring last year, and we did the Big Event. We had also discussed doing something for Big Brothers Big Sisters.
·         4-6 Outings/Meetings
o   Fall
§  Early meeting in September
- The first Ars Rhetorica Meeting will be on September 19, 2013 at the Bird Dog at 4 (Happy Hour).
§  October/November
o   Spring
§  January/February
§  Speaker in March?
§  Final end of April event
·         Get a banner made?
·         Anything else you’d like to see us do this year?

2. Position Responsibilities*:
·         Chair - Jennifer
o   Oversee all responsibilities
o   Recap Scholarly Events/Write Year End Summary
o   Assign additional responsibilities/duties
o   Assist with events
o   Handle elections in Spring
·         Co-Chair - Chelsea
o   Blog:
§  2 Blog Posts Each Semester (Recruited or Authored)
o   Assist with events
o   There was a note from a previous year about getting the Co-Chair involved with the funding application process. Since you were the treasurer last year, Vince might appreciate at least having you as a resource for questions. We can talk more about this at the meeting.
·         Treasurer - Vince
o   Spearhead Funding: 2 applications
§  Student Senate
ú  Apply early (still says “Coming Soon” on web, so we should probably keep checking http://studentsenate.ku.edu/request-funding)
§  RSA
ú  Get dates and spearhead application
§  Handle Finances
ú  Disburse Checks
ú  Handle Budget
ú  Updates
·         Secretary - Julie
o   Market Events
§  Online: Tweet/FB/Blog/Email/Listserv
§  Other: Flyers, Posts, Ads, etc…
o   Recap Social Events
§  Summarize and post online: Fb/Blog
o   Keep Minutes at Meetings
§  Email to group/sponsor
- Jen sent Julie the templates for flyers for the different events.
- The group sponsor is Amy Devitt.
- Julie will post minutes on the Blog and send an email to the executive committee with the minutes attached.
- Julie needs to get the passwords and usernames for the twitter, facebook, blog accounts, and listserv in order to contact other members of Ars about events and meetings.
·         Events Coordinator - Tyler
o   Coordinate Events (you’ll need to delegate responsibilities for bigger things like a speaker visit)
§  Scholarly
§  Social
§  Service
*Since the Events Coordinator is a new responsibility, I did a bit of minor rearranging. The highlighted bit is something I’d like your input on. Should we transfer that to the EC position, or leave it as one of the Secretary’s responsibilities?
Other Notes
- The executive committee will meet as needed throughout the Academic Year. They generally meet about once per semester.
- Vince wanted to know if there were other places he could go to try to obtain funding.
-Jen suggested asking the English and Communication Studies departments, and Chelsea specifically advised asking the chairs of these departments for funds.
- Julie will email the KU Ars Rhetorica list serve and English list serv about first meeting.
- Some effort should be made by other committee members and members of Ars Rhetorica to invite new members to join.