Minutes of 11-10-00
MINUTES
The National Communication Association’s
Group Communication Division
2000 Annual Business Meeting
Seattle, November 10, 2000
[To be approved by the Division November 2001 in Atlanta -- if you find any errors or omissions please contact Lisa Millhous -- lmillhous@wcupa.edu]
1. Welcome and Call to Order (Larry Frey)
The third annual meeting of the Group Communication Division was called to order by the chair, Larry Frey. Twenty-seven members attended the meeting and signed the attendance roster. Division membership as of November 2000 was at 270 members, up from 38 last year. Members suggested that we request a recount if the 300 mark was not reached by the deadline of January 1st.
2. Approval of Minutes for November 4, 1999 (Lisa Millhous)
A motion was passed to accept the minutes as distributed.
3. Report from the Legislative Council (Scott Poole)
Scott Poole attended the Legislative Council meetings on behalf of the Division. The LC is in the process of moving from a senate structure to a house of representatives model. There will be a draft of the new structure in the next issue of Spectra. The vice presidential model will also be changing. They are going to go slow and will use an open process. They want a lot of input from the membership, but this is generally seen as a way to strengthen the organization. This will change the membership of the LC from 120 to 80 members and will also increase the number of divisions you can join. At the next NCA meeting we will need more substantial discussion of this proposed change.
Scott also attended a committee meeting with Steve Deckler about the on-going effort to link NCA with funding agencies such as NSF as a way of legitimizing the discipline. In 2003 there will be a major NSF effort in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences associated with change, perhaps in the sum of $5 billion or more. Group decision-making and technology effects are two areas relevant to the division. He solicited input from the Division on ideas, barriers to that kind of initiative. He will be working with NSF so any feedback would be helpful.
4. Secretary's Report (Lisa Millhous)
Lisa Millhous described the resources available to members at the website: The archive of minutes, by-laws and procedures; a voluntary listing of active members; an annotated list of group communication texts. Michele Jackson also reported that the Division Listserv is working well, although traffic has been light. Larry Frey thanked Lisa Millhous and Michele Jackson for their contributions to the Division in the past year.
5. Report on the 2000 Conference Program (Larry Frey for Joann Keyton)
Larry Frey proffered an apology for Joann Keyton, who was unable to attend the meeting due to illness. He thanked those who presented for the excellent panel showcase at the conference. A total of 9 panels were sponsored by the Division at the Seattle Convention involving over 80 group communication scholars as paper presenters, respondents, panelists, or chairs/facilitators. A total of 23 papers and 5 panel submissions were received, and 14 papers and 5 panels competitively selected, resulting in a 55% acceptance rate of papers. This is one of the lowest acceptance rates at NCA and indicates the high quality of our programs. He cautioned the Division to maintain this high quality, since the acceptance rate ensures some preferential treatment in the conference planning process. In addition, Joann Keyton developed two panels in relationship to the conference theme and invited scholars to participate in those panels.
The Division would like to thank Dennis Gouran (Pennsylvania State University), Beth Haslett (University of Delaware), Ed Mabry (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Renee Meyers (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), Abran Salazar (University of Rhode Island), Tom Socha (Old Dominion University), and Karen Tracy (University of Colorado) for their diligent work as reviewers.
6. Planning for the 2001 Conference Program (Dennis Gouran)
The theme for the Atlanta convention will be "Radical(izing) roots and the call for papers will be published in the December Spectra or is available online on the NCA web page. There will be 21 time slots with 60 rooms in each slot, but there is an expectation that there may be more submissions than space. The criteria for cut backs will be quality control (the Divisions' rejection rate). There are 11 other categories you can submit to, in addition to divisions. Some Divisions will be piloting a new software for doing paper submission online. The Vice President encourages variety in programming, and the due date is February 1. Members were asked to be considerate and send everything that is requested including the correct number of copies and addresses for the panelists.
7. Election of Officers for 2000-2001 (Scott Poole)
The Nominating Committee presented a slate of candidates for open positions and accepted nominations from the floor. The following slate of candidates was voted by the membership:
Vice Chair Elect: Renee Meyers
Secretary (term to 2002): Dale Brashers
Nominating Committee: Lisa Millhous, Craig Scott (Larry Frey serves as chair)
Awards Committee: Michele Jackson
Paper Readers for the 2001 Conference: Sandra Ketrow, Geoff Latham, Sean Limon, Jane Macoubrie, Jim Query, Mary Ann Rentz, Sunwolf
(Since some officers were elected last year, the full slate of officers is available in the Division Directory)
8. NCA Office Solicits Feedback (Larry Frey)
The NCA Office requested feedback on the use of a convention center, rather than a main hotel for panels and conference activities. The following opinions were voiced: The rooms are better, its a better facility. There have been some wheelchair problems. The Sheraton was a long walk, even though its a short distance. There wasn't material in the call about the "Main hotel" and we needed more information. On Sunday people had to bring luggage to panels and that was awkward. You don't bump into people as much. It is much better than New York.
9. Awards (Carolyn Anderson for Joann Keyton)
Division Awards were announced and commended.
The 2000 Dennis Gouran Research Article/Book Chapter Award was awarded to Sunwolf and David Seibold for "Jurors' Intuitive Rules For Deliberation: A Structurational Approach to Communication in Jury Decision Making", published in Communication Monographs, December 1998.
The 2000 Ernest Bormann Research Book/Monograph Award was awarded to Larry Frey (Editor), Dennis Gouran and Scott Poole (Associate Editors) for the Handbook of Group Communication and Research.
The 2000 Laura Crowell Dissertation Award was awarded to Jane Maccoubrie for her dissertation: "The Content of Decision-Making: Decision Logics in Juries". She received her Ph. D. at the University of Washington under the directorship of Valerie Manusov.
The Top Student Paper Award was awarded to Kevin Real (Texas A & M University) for his paper entitled "Gender and Perceptions of Relational Interaction in Task Groups."
The Top Paper was awarded to
"Gender Effects in Anonymous, Computer Mediated Group Work." Andrew J. Flanagin (University of California, Santa Barbara), Vanessa Tiyaamornwong (University of California, Santa Barbara), Joan O'Connor (University of California, Santa Barbara), Minu Sebastian (University of California, Santa Barbara), David R. Seibold (University of California, Santa Barbara).
The other two papers rounding out the Top Three Papers were
"New Contexts for Relational Communication in Groups." Valerie E. Barker (University of California, Santa Barbara), Jessica R. Abrams (University of California, Santa Barbara), Vanessa Tiyaamornwong (University of California, Santa Barbara), David R. Seibold (University of California, Santa Barbara), Ashley Duggan (University of California, Santa Barbara), Hee Sun Park (University of California, Santa Barbara), Minu Sebastian (University of California, Santa Barbara).
"Decision Making in 'Real Teams': A Study of Hospice Interdisciplinary Teams." Stephanie J. Coopman, San Jose State University.
The floor was opened to new business, and hearing none the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa Millhous, secretary (term to 11-00)
West Chester University