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The American Schools
of Oriental Research |
1. Call to Order—Chairman P.E. MacAllister
2. PRESENT: P.E. MacAllister, Chairman, Joe Seger, President, Walter Aufrecht, Kent Bermingham, Jeffrey Blakely, Oded Borowski, William Dever, Tim Harrison, Holland Hendrix, Burton MacDonald, Jodi Magness, Victor Matthews, P. Kyle McCarter, David McCreery, Eric Meyers, Bruce Routledge, R. Thomas Schaub, Tammi Schneider, Lydie Shufro, John Spencer, James F. Strange, Stewart Swiny, Gerald Vincent, Ingrid Wood, Randall Younker, Patty Gerstenblith for AIAR, Anne Ogilvy for ACOR, Norma Kershaw, Honorary Trustee, Ernest Frerichs, Honorary Trustee, Ed Gilbert, rep. for CAARI, Andrew Moore, the AIA representative to the Board, and Jane Waldbaum, Visitor from AIA.
Ex-Officio: B.J. Collins and Rudolph
Dornemann.
3. Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of May 1, 1999.
RESOLVED, that the minutes of the prior meeting of the Board of Trustees be approved as distributed. The Resolution was moved, seconded, and PASSED unanimously.
4. Chairman’s Report—P.E. MacAllister: There was no report from the Chairman except to express thanks to President Joe Seger.
5. Reports from Overseas Centers:
ACOR Report--Anne Ogilvy, Secretary of ACOR: All excavation projects were completed, including the Petra Conservation Project. USAID added to the Petra endowment, which now stands at nearly $182,000. At the Center this year there were 32 fellows and 10 ACOR projects. The ACOR endowment is about $1.6 million, but there is a projected deficit of $40,000 annually. The projected Centennial Celebration in Jordan includes a tour of Petra, among other attractions.
AIAR—Patty Gerstenblith, President of AIAR: AIAR offered 92 programs this year. There is a new internship program with the Hebrew University for credit. AIAR is cooperating closely with other institutions in Israel and the West Bank. For example, AIAR is seeking grants for Al-Quds University to strengthen its library in archaeology.
CAARI—Ed Gilbert, President of CAARI: Robert Merrillees is doing well as the new director of CAARI. Development of CAARI has continued so that the endowment is close to $700,000. Grant proposals have been prepared for NEH for $30,000 for the library, $50,000 for USIA for operating and program support, and for the J. Paul Getty Trust for $50,000 for the library. One half-time student has been hired to work on staff. Space demands are outstripping current facilities. The issue will become critical in three years.
6. A Moment of memorial for Dr. Melvin Lyons and Dr. Delbert Hillers.
7. President’s Report—Joe Seger: President Joe Seger announced the following new institutional members:
Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington,
IL, Dr. Dennis E. Groh, Consortium Representative.
Loyola Marymount University,
Los Angeles, CA, Dr. William Fulco, S.J., Consortium Representative.
Southern Adventist University
of Collegeville, TN, Dr. Michael J. Hasel, Consortium Representative.
Converse College of Spartanburg,
SC, Dr. Byron G. McCane, Consortium Representative.
Gannon University of Erie,
PA, Dr. Suzanne Richard, Consortium Representative.
University of La Verne in
La Verne, CA, Dr. Jonathan Reed, Consortium Representative.
The 1999-2000 Annual Appeal is underway. So far trustee responses number 26 of 47 trustees to an interim total of $43,625.68. He expressed thanks to those who have pledged and given so far.
He reiterated his request for photos of trustees. President Seger acknowledged Dr. Andrew Moore, the AIA representative to the ASOR Board of Trustees, and welcomed Jane Waldbaum, who is President-elect of AIA. Two trustees are rotating off the ASOR Board, namely, Charlie Miller and Julie Hansen. Many thanks to them.
8. Treasurer’s Report—Ingrid Wood: The Treasurer presented the budget. The Treasurer called for a separate budget for the Centennial Program within the ASOR operating statement. All budget lines are reported as preliminary statements to June, 1999. The full Budget is still under review by the auditors. As soon as the audit is completed, it will be distributed. At the May 1 meeting she had reported the desire to consolidate our accounts in Salomon Smith Barney and has almost completed that transfer. Citibank Trust holds the Nies endowment in trust with Citibank as its sole Trustee. She hopes it can be moved to ASOR control. This generated some discussion with an indication that the statutes defining the standing of Citibank control may require scrutiny.
Rudy Dornemann added that staff had been trying to fine-tune budgetary statements to make them cleaner. Depreciation appears in the budget, for example.
9. Committee on Nominations—Randall Younker: The Committee Chair welcomed new trustees and announced the results of the elections in the Membership Meeting of new Trustees to the ASOR Board and its Committees, to wit:
Institutional Representatives for the ASOR Board of Trustees Class of 2003—Jodi Magness, John Spencer, and Randall Younker.
Institutional Representative for ASOR Board of Trustees Class of 2002—Oded Borowski.
Institutional Representative for the ASOR Agenda Committee—Michael Hasel.
Institutional Representative for the ASOR Nominations Committee—Bill Dever.
Individual Members for the ASOR Board of Trustees Class of 2002—Jim Ross, Robert D. Miller, and Oystein LaBianca.
Individual Representative for the ASOR Agenda Committee—Beth Nakhai.
Individual Representative for the ASOR Nominations Committee—Jeff Blakely.
Randy Younker brought the following as Board nominations: P.E. MacAllister as Life Trustee, Joe Seger for the Class of 2003, Gerald Vincent for the Class of 2003, and John Camp for the Class of 2002.
RESOLVED, That the nominations to the ASOR Board and Committees be elected as Nominated. The Resolution came as a motion and a second from a standing committee and was PASSED unanimously.
10. Development Committee—Holland Hendrix: ASOR now has a case statement, thanks to Joe Seger. The Endowment Development Campaign for $3,000,000 is now underway. The campaign seeks to enhance endowment and operations and growth in institutional and personal memberships. The Executive Committee has approved this case statement.
RESOLVED, that the ASOR Board approve the case statement as presented. The Resolution was moved by the Chairman, seconded, and PASSED unanimously.
Holly Hendrix noted that it is essential that as much as possible of our goal be pledged before the Centennial Observance in April.
Solicitation of mid-level gifts of $5,000-$15,000 by trustees will take place in the next two or three months. The committee plans for at least one cultivation event to develop a pool of those who can make major gifts. As we gain pledges and gifts, we will form the Campaign Committee. We will use this method because of a short time-line. The Campaign Committee would represent all levels of giving. At the Centennial Celebration we will plan to have a meeting of this Committee. The campaign will expand beyond our immediate constituency.
President Joe Seger added that we seek $2 million of endowment pledges over three years, and that these pledges cover everything. The Development Committee assumes $100,000 for Centennial Expenses. Within the money collected for endowment appear operations, three parts for current activities [$200,000 for the CAP-Harris Fund (to total $300,000), $200,000 to enhance publication opportunities (a total of $310,000), $200,000 for CAP Committee and Outreach, and $200,000 for overseas centers and other overseas initiatives (Saudi Arabia, Palestinian authority, etc.). In the third million we put in an annualized budget of $115,000 including CAP, COP, and CAMP support. Any remainder is for support of development activities. The idea is to build into the next century.
11. ASOR Centennial Committee—Joe Seger: The Celebration is set for April 14-16, 2000 in Washington, D.C. The Spring ASOR Board Meeting takes place the first day, followed by a Gala dinner evening of the 14th. The State Department’s Benjamin Franklin room will be used for this event, with Under Secretary of State Pickering as the speaker. The Smithsonian Associates program is scheduled for Saturday. On Saturday evening there will be a Grand Reception. The Program of the Grand Reception depends on the space available, currently planned as a grand buffet followed by a program. The Reception program is developing, and the Hotel is secured. A lecture program and "Digs Reunion Luncheon" will continue the program on Sunday.
ASOR is working with PFI to develop the April event. We plan to cover the Centennial Celebration expenses as we go. Tammi Schneider asked for attractive materials to use to invite participants. ASOR will develop a program booklet to use with the Centennial Celebration.
12. By laws Report--Joe Seger. An amendment was presented to open more of the ASOR Board for elected trustees for recruitment and growth. This would be accomplished by moving all standing officers to ex-officio voting status on the Board of Trustees, thereby opening places in the annual classes for trustee recruitment and growth.
RESOLVED, that the ASOR Board approve the previously circulated amendment to move all standing officers to ex-officio voting status on the Board of Trustees. The Resolution was moved by the Chairman, seconded, and PASSED unanimously. (Copy of the Revised By-Laws is attached.)
13. Committee on Publications--Billie Jean Collins: Billie Jean Collins thanked the editors of all the Journals for especially hard work keeping journals up to date and of high quality. COP has authorized Al Leonard, Committee Chairman, to negotiate a stipend for the BASOR editor.
For the fiscal year ending June 1999 income is up due to new subscriptions and increased book sales. But expenses are also up. We need to increase journal income, for example, probably by increasing subscription fees to institutions. The area of Publications is not in trouble, but projections are unknown.
The World of the Bible has purchased a publishing house in the U.S. We get six free advertisements in the magazine annually.
COP requests that it be authorized to produce publications in house and outsource the membership services.
RESOLVED, that CAP is hereby authorized to produce publications in house and outsource the membership services. The Resolution was presented as a motion and a second from a standing committee and PASSED unanimously.
14. The Committee on Archaeological Policy—David McCreery: CAP has reviewed and approved 58 proposals: 30 for the field, 28 for publication, or a 20% increase over last year. There are 21 proposals for Israel, 7 proposals for Cyprus, 26 for Jordan, I for Syria, and 2 for the West Bank.
A committee discussion of process resulted in plans to move to a five-year process for publication projects in which annual reports will be required. Following initial affiliation for field projects, annual reports will show staff changes etc. A more substantive report will be expected in the third year. David pointed out that electronic application is now possible, cutting down on paper.
The CAP Committee wants broad representation on the committee in terms of periods, areas, countries, sex, and age. CAP will negotiate with the Department of Antiquities of Jordan about keeping materials or exporting for more than one year for study. David McCreery has written the deans of the PI of each proposal to inform the Dean that this professor's project has undergone peer review and found to be of sufficient quality to warrant affiliation with ASOR.
15. Committee for Annual Meeting and Program—Victor Matthews: “Our shop is in good order.” Nov 15-18, 2000 is the next Annual Meeting in Nashville at the Loews Vanderbilt Plaza across from Vanderbilt University. The forthcoming Newsletter will contain information on the program for 2000. The Outreach Committee now has a link on the ASOR web page.
There ensued some discussion about the need for improved communication between ASOR and the Overseas Center Boards. No action was taken.
16. Executive Director’s Report--Rudy Dornemann: Dr. Dornemann called attention to certain changes in the responsibilities of staff, namely, that Holly Andrews is now Assistant Director and is assuming more responsibilities for Development and Annual Meeting efforts. Britt Hartenberger is now full time as receptionist and secretary for the office. Staff backs up all committees or makes sure business details get done. The Executive Director attended the Annual Meeting of the American Council for Learned Societies on Nov. 7. The main value was exchange of information with other societies. The ACLS tries to help where societies need help and provide a forum for discussion.
The meeting was adjourned by the President, Joe Seger.
Respectfully Submitted
James F. Strange, Secretary.