Organization > Chapters > Greater Philadelphia > Minutes and Reports

Mid-Year Report 2004
Heather Glaser, Chairperson

May 11, 2004

Accomplishments:

The spring meeting was held at Bryn Mawr College on Friday, April 2, 2004 with Carol Campbell, outgoing Chairperson, hosting and Heather Glaser presiding as incoming Chairperson. The guest speaker was Susan Shifrin. She presented an exhibit she organized entitled "Picturing Women." The exhibit was a collaborative endeavor among three venues including Bryn Mawr College, the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Rosenbach Museum and Library.

Heather Glaser was the only member to attend the national conference in Portland. She reported on the three sessions she was able to attend. As a member of the ARTstor testing phase, Joan Beaudoin reported on Bryn Mawr's experience with the product. As a future partner in UCAI, Heather Glaser reported on Penn's future involvement in the project.

At the meeting there was discussion on resolving two outstanding issues: Dues and Bylaws Article V (on elections).

Dues.

Per the request of the Chapter, a dues statement was drafted by the outgoing Chairperson. The statement was reviewed and approved. The Chapter agreed the dues statement would be reviewed with the incoming treasurer and made known to new members. The statement reads:

The collection of dues by the VRA Greater Philadelphia Chapter

will be:

  1. for the identification of chapter membership and filling offices.
  2. for support of future programming,
  3. such as speaker's expenses (travel, accommodations, meals, honorarium), and/or the rental of program equipment or hall.
  4. for possible support for members to attend regional or national conferences, such as assistance toward registration or workshops, or support for professional development (workshops or seminars) in the area.
  5. for contribution to the support of the national VRA conference only when the treasury is judged sufficient to do so and the needs of the local chapter have been met.

*Currently the hosting institutions and hosting members absorb the expenses of the meetings, including refreshments. If an honorarium to the speaker is appropriate, a modest contribution (such as $ 5) is accepted from members and guests who attend.

Bylaws, Article V.

The Chapter agreed to closely follow a statement in the bylaws of the Greater New York chapter. Pending approval from the National Board, the bylaws will read:

Article V. Nominations and Elections.

  1. The officers shall be elected from nominations received from the floor at the second meeting of the calendar year.
  2. Officers shall be elected by a plurality of votes cast by Chapter members.

For local communication, we continue to have a Chapter web page for the membership list, minutes and reports: www.brynmawr.edu/Admins/DMVRC/vrap and a local list serve: vrap-l@brynmawr.edu. Meeting information is shared with ARLIS/DVC officers so that joint endeavors might be considered as appropriate.

Goals:

The Chapter will have a fall meeting which still needs to be planned. During this meeting, a new Secretary-Treasurer will be elected.

Establish a checking account for the chapter.

Board Action Requested:

1. Review and accept the following changes to Article V of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter bylaws:

Change from:

Article V. NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS.

  1. Nominations.
    1. A nominating committee of at least three members will be responsible for nominating a slate of officers and presenting the slate in written form to the Chapter.
    2. Potential candidates should be informed by the nominating committee of all duties incumbent to the positions they are being asked to fill.
  2. Elections
    1. Officers shall be elected by a plurality of votes cast by Chapter members

Change to:

Article V. NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS.

  1. The officers shall be elected from nominations received from the floor at the second meeting of the calendar year.
  2. Officers shall be elected by a plurality of votes cast by Chapter members.

Budget Request:

In March 2004, I queried other chapter chairs about budget requests they made to the Board in the past. I received little response. The Greater Philadelphia Chapter would like clarification regarding the types of budget requests the Board has supported in the past and would consider supporting in the future.

List of Chapter Members:

The officers of this chapter are:

The chapter members are:

Respectfully submitted,

Heather Glaser
Chairperson

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