Minutes of 11-11-04
MINUTES
The National Communication Association’s
Group Communication Division
2004 Annual Business Meeting
Chicago, November 11, 2004
1. Introduction of Officers
The seven annual meeting of the Group Communication Division was called to order by the chair, Randy Y. Hirokawa. 32 people in attendance signed the roster (not including the officers or all those who did not get a chance to sign).
Approval of Minutes for November 21, 2003 meeting. The minutes were amended to show Craig Scott and Kevin Barge served on the Awards Committee. A motion was passed to accept the amended minutes.
2. Chair’s Report (Randy Y. Hirokawa)
Renee Meyers was asked to update the division on the Legislative Assembly’s activity. She reported that a new nonverbal division had been approved and the Rhetoric Society of America had requested affiliate status with NCA. There was a discussion of NCA developing undergraduate accreditation standards for colleges and universities as well as a discussion of the challenges associated with All Academic. If members faced particular problems with All Academic as they submitted, downloaded, etc. their papers and panels, they are requested to contact Roger Smitter (Executive Director, NCA).
3. Vice-Chair’s Report (Craig Scott)
Craig Scott reported that 37 papers were submitted (6 with extended abstracts, 7 student papers) and 26 papers were accepted. Four papers with extended abstracts and 5 student papers were accepted. Five panels were submitted and four were accepted. The division programmed 13 out of 15 slots that were allotted. Six reviewers read the papers and panels (Becky Cline, Dean Hewes, Sean Limon, Joe Bonito, Charles Pavitt, and Michele Jackson). To comply with NCA’s request that 25% of program slots be discussion oriented, two panel submissions and one competitively-selected paper panel were designated as discussion panels.
4. Report of the Nominating Committee (Renee Meyers, Immediate Past Chair) & Nominations from the floor.
Renee Meyers thanked Gloria Galanes, John Oetzel, and Beth Haslett for serving on the Nominating Committee. Nominations from the floor were asked for and accepted.
5. Election of Officers
The following candidates were voted in by the membership:
Vice-Chair Elect: J. Kevin Barge
Secretary: Sean Limon
Awards Committee: Charles Pavitt
Nominating Committee: Isabel Botero, Joann Keyton, Ed Mabry
Submission Review (Paper Readers): Terre Allen, Isabel Botero, Dan Degooyer, Andrea Hollingshead, Michael Holmes, Lisa Milhous, Mary Meares, and Robert Shuter
6. Presentation of awards (Ed Mabry and Craig Scott)
Ed Mabry presented the results of the Awards Committee (Randy Hirokawa, Tim Kuhn, Ed Mabry, Kathy Propp, and Craig Scott).
The Dennis Gouran Research Article/Book Chapter Award was presented to Michele Jackson and Marshall Scott Poole for their article, titled “Idea-generation in naturally occurring contexts: Complex appropriation of a simple group procedure.” (in Human Communication Research, 2003, 29, 560-591).
The Ernest Bormann Research Book/Monograph Award was presented to Larry Frey for his edited book titled, “Group communication in context: Studies of Bona fide groups (2nd ed.).” (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003).
The Laura Crowell Dissertation/Thesis Award was presented to Jonathan M. Bowman for his M.A. Thesis, completed at Michigan State University, under the direction of Gwen Wittenbaum, titled, “Effects of time pressure and information access on hidden profile solution in decision-making groups.” (December, 2002).
Craig Scott announced the top paper awards. The Top Three Paper awards were presented earlier (at the panel) to: 1st— T. Cartwright Stephens and Derek R. Lane (University of Kentucky), “Clarifying cohesion and its relationship to groupthink: A multi-semester exploration of the cohesion dilemma in collaborative teams,” 2nd—David D. Henningsen, Mary Lynn Henningsen, & Jen Eden (Northern Illinois University), “Finding groupthink in the laboratory,” and 3rd— John T. Garner and Marshall Scott Poole (Texas A & M University), “Opposites attract: The emergence of leadership as interaction between a leader and a foil” The Top Student Paper was presented earlier at the panel to Angela S. Borsella (University of Iowa) for, “Communication patterns associated with group synergistic outcomes: A comparison of functional and information assessment approaches.”
7. Old Business
None presented
8. New Business
Ed Mabry suggested that the Group Communication Division should consider adding a career achievement award. A resolution was offered that asked next year’s Award Committee to explore the addition of a career achievement award. The resolution passed. Joann Keyton reminded the committee that any change to the bylaws need to be published 60 days before the convention and was subject to a 2/3 majority vote at the convention
9. Vice-Chair Elect’s Report (Michele H. Jackson)
Michele Jackson announced that next year’s convention will be in Boston, November 16-20, 2005. The theme will be, “The Health of the Discipline.” From 10:15-1:15 on Friday and Saturday, plenary sessions will be held. This year, units are not required to have discussion panels. 13 program slots have been allotted to the Group Communication Division, though additional program slots may be allocated if requested. She noted that certain changes were being made to All Academic to facilitate submitting and processing papers. The AV policy for the division stays in place. Papers and panels will need to be submitted to NCA by 2/16/04 by 8:00 P.M. EST. Reviews are to be completed by 3/30/04. Papers will be given out on CD at the convention. Submitters were encouraged to make any special requests at the time of submission. The assumption is that average attendance will be 25-30 people unless panel submitters note otherwise.
10. By-Laws Committee (Joann Keyton)
Joann Keyton made the following recommendations changes to the by-laws: (1) Legislative Council should be changed to Legislative Assembly, (2) division should be changed to unit, and (3) the Chair and Past Chair will remain as the unit’s Legislative Assembly Representatives. If the unit grows, the Vice-Chair and Vice-Chair Elect would be the third and fourth persons in line to represent the unit to Legislative Assembly. The third change was discussed, and it was amended to read, “a person designated by the body.” The amended set of recommendations passed.
11. Transition to New Officers and Adjournment. Meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
J. Kevin Barge, Secretary
University of Georgia, Athens, GA
jkbarge@uga.edu