Executives Club Policies and Procedures Manual Western States Communication Association

Western States Communication Association
Executives Club
Policies and Procedures Manual
The WSCA Executives Club exists to provide support for the general welfare of the Association,
particularly for new scholars.
It is established by the Western States Communication Association Constitution and Bylaws, Article IX.
Executives Club.
Section 1. Members of the Executives Club must be members in good standing of WSCA, have
served on the Executive Council of WSCA, and paid a one-time initiation fee to the Executives Club.
Section 2. The Executives Club shall maintain a separate constitution and bylaws and slate of three
officers: President, Vice President, and Secretary/Treasurer. Procedures for election of officers shall
be specified in the Club’s bylaws.
Section 3. The assets of the Executives Club shall be held by the Association separately from any
Association funds or other Association assets. Procedures for disbursement of assets shall be
specified in the Club’s bylaws.
Section 4. The Executives Club shall meet annually.
Section 5. If the Executives Club disbands or otherwise ceases to exist, any remaining assets shall be
combined with the general funds of the Association.
The WSCA Constitution and Bylaws also says, “The President of the Executives Club and the appointive
officers shall serve as non-voting members of the Executive Council.”
Annual event
One reason the Executives Club exists is “to provide a stimulating Annual Event for the renewal of
professional and social acquaintance.” For many years, this event was a dinner the Saturday evening of
the convention; in 2013 the event shifted to a reception immediately preceding the WSCA Welcome
Reception.
The Club President organizes the annual event based on suggestions from the previous annual meeting.
S/he works with the WSCA hotel Convention Services Manager to plan a menu within the amount
suggested at the previous annual meeting.
Annual event procedures
1. Ask the WSCA Primary Program Planner/President Elect for a room for the social event.
2. Contact the WSCA Executive Director for the name and email address of the hotel Convention
Services Manager (CSM) working with the convention and contact her/him.
3. Go on the hotel web site, usually under Meetings, and find the catering menu.
4. Figure out what you can get for a reasonable amount. Remember that all charges are ++: + service
charge and + tax on top of both cost and service charge. Remember that there’s a bartender fee as well (on
which there’s ++!).
5. Cash bar.
6. If dinner, 10% vegetarian or better yet ask attendees to specify so you have an exact number, but at
least one person will show up and want vegetarian who didn’t order it, so get extras.
7. For dinner, rounds (tables) of 6 preferred, but rounds of 8 are ok; rounds of 10 are too big for
conversation.
8. If reception, order two meat and two or three vegetarian hors d’oeuvres, 5-6 choices of hors d’oeuvres
total, 4-6/person.
9. For reception, two or three rounds of 6 or 8 plus cocktail rounds to fill out about 75% if the room. If
auction, need at least one 6’ table to display items.
10. The CSM (or whomever you’re working with) will prepare an Estimated Banquet Check—make sure
all the details are correct. Then the CSM will prepare a Banquet Event Order; since the WSCA Executive
Director pays for the event, s/he has to sign this.
11. Show up early at the event, and be prepared to deal with whatever crisis ensues. There will be a
Banquet Manager or CSM there, and they know how to fix the problem, so use them.
12. Thank all the staff afterwards.
Draft letter to NCA officers inviting them to Execs Club event
Dear NCA luminaries,
As you probably know, the WSCA Executives Club is comprised of current and former members of the
WSCA Executive Council—current and former officers, editors, etc. of the Association. At every
Western convention we have a dinner during which we visit with “old” friends and meet new members, a
good time is had by all.
You’re invited to the WSCA Executives Club (event) Saturday, February __, 20__
(time) (the cash bar will be open the entire time!)
(room)
Menu:
Cost is $__ per person, paid by check or credit card to John Reinard before or at the dinner.
Please RSVP to me by Saturday, February __th, if you’ll be coming, how many of you there will be, and if
you have any special dietary needs.
We hope you can join us! And please pass this invitation along to other NCA folks who may be attending
the convention.
Best,
President, Executives Club
Annual meeting
The Executives Club has an annual business meeting at the WSCA convention.
Business meeting agenda
I. Approve minutes of February __, 20__ Meeting
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II. Reports
A. Financials
B. Constitution/Policies and Procedures Manual changes made
C. Other
III. Action Items
A. Nominations for non-Executive Council members to Executives Club
B. Annual Event for 20__, including suggested cost
C. Proposed Constitution/Policies and Procedures Manual changes
D. Other
IV. Discussion Items
A. Fund raising activities
B. New scholar support
C. Other
V. Elections
A. Elect President or Confirm _____ as President
B. Elect Vice President
C. Elect Secretary/Treasurer for three-year term (next up is 14-17) or Confirm _____ as
Secretary/Treasurer for a three-year term which began after the 20__ Convention
Assets
The assets of the Executives Club are held by WSCA separately from any Association funds or other
Association assets. Procedures for disbursement of assets are specified in the Club’s Constitution. If the
Executives Club disbands or otherwise ceases to exist, any remaining assets will be combined with the
general funds of the Association.
Financial procedures
The Executives Club currently has a savings account and a checking account (the latter of which is used
to draw checks mostly for the Debut Awards) under the WSCA family of accounts.
The Executives Club Constitution says that “the account…must be co-signed by the Secretary-Treasurer,
a second member of the Club, and the WSCA Executive Director.” That means that those three signatures
are required to do anything to the account itself, not write a check from the account. So the Sec-Treasurer,
a second member, and the WSCA ED have to sign to withdraw the money from where it is now and move
it to another account.
No requisition for any check needs to be completed, and nothing needs to be signed by anyone for a check
to be issued. However, evidence of the majority vote of the voting membership for expenses that exceed
$500 or evidence of a majority vote of the current officers for expenses of $500 or less is required. Such
evidence might be meeting minutes or email votes.
The WSCA procedures in place should be used to draw the check.
Constitution
The Executives Club maintains a separate constitution from WSCA. Proposed changes to the Constitution
are submitted to the annual business meeting for discussion. Following the meeting, the President sends
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proposed changes to the membership via email. (Email addresses are available from the WSCA Executive
Director.) Amendments to the Constitution must be ratified by 2/3 of the voting membership.
Membership
The Executives Club consists of former members of the Executive Council who are members in good
standing of WSCA and have paid a one-time initiation fee. By special action, other members of WSCA
who have provided exemplary service to the Association over the years may be invited to join.
Draft recruiting letter to WSCA Executive Council members
Dear WSCA Executive Council members,
As President of the Executives Club, I am writing to invite you to join the Executives Club and explain
why you should do so. As a member of the WSCA Executive Council, you are eligible for membership in
this worthwhile auxiliary organization.
The Executives Club began long ago as a small group of past officers and editors. In some sense it has
been an honorary society recognizing the service and accomplishments of WSCA’s leadership over the
years. At each convention the Club would host a small dinner party of these past leaders to meet in a
convivial dinner—to talk about current strengths and problems of WSCA and the latest research, to meet
old friends and make new ones. The Executives Club created the Debut Award for the most outstanding
paper by a new scholar at each convention. Once Malcolm Sillars called the Club a gathering of “old
buffaloes.” An eminent scholar replied, “We may be old buffaloes, but we are fun ones!” We invite you
to join us to see if they’re right!
Over the years the Executives Club has grown. We expanded eligibility to all members of the WSCA
Executive Council. To further support new scholars, we raised the amount of money for the Debut Award
and began supporting the WSCA Undergraduate Scholars Research Conference. We contributed to
student travel scholarships for the Anchorage convention. Our support for new scholars is good thing, but
we need new members’ dues to help finance this support. Executive Club membership is $200, which can
be paid over up to four years.
As membership in the Club has grown, so has the annual event, which is purely social. As John Cagle
says, “Behold! How good and pleasant it is to dwell in a place where people know who we are!” The
event at the convention is Saturday evening at , prior to the Welcome Reception. This year it’s
in________; the cost is $___/person, and the menu is ______. Plus there’s a cash bar.
You’re invited to join us for a spirited evening of camaraderie, even if you aren’t a member of the Club!
You can pay “at the door.” Please RSVP to me by Saturday, February ____, if you’ll be coming, how
many of you there will be.
We also have a Business Meeting at the convention; this year’s is _____, February __, ________, in
________________.
If you have not yet become a member, we invite you to join at this convention. It’s simple; just give John
Reinard or me a check for $200, made out to the WSCA Executives Club, or a portion of that if you want
to pay over time, or a credit card number. You can do that at the Friday or Tuesday Executive Council
meetings or at the dinner if you attend.
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The Executives Club is a great way to visit with friends, share a very good time, and do good things for
the up and coming members of the Association which means so much to us all. Please join us.
Best regards,
President, Executives Club
Draft letter to former WSCA member/someone not on current Execs Club membership list
who was previously a member
Dear possibly former WSCA Executives Club member,
As this year’s President of the Western States Communication Association Executives Club, I received a
mailing list of members indicating that you possibly are not a current member of the Executives Club,
although you once were. This happens if your WSCA membership lapses, since you have to be a member
of Western to be a current member of the Executives Club.
If this is the case, and you’d like to reup as a Western member, which I encourage of course, you can go
to the WSCA web site: http://www.westcomm.org/, mouse Join on the left menu, and either sign up
online or print out a hardcopy form to send in. Retired membership is $30/year.
If you are still a member of Western and the list is mistaken (certainly a possibility), please contact the
Executive Director, John Reinard, directly to clarify your membership status. I’ve copied him with this
email so you have his address.
The undergraduate students whom the Executives Club has supported over the years are appreciative of
the membership donation you made, and the current members of the Executives Club hope to welcome
you back, whether or not we have the pleasure of your company at the convention.
Best regards,
President, Executives Club
Officers
President: Elected for one year. The President of the Executives Club preforms the following duties:
(1) Serves as a non-voting member of the WSCA Executive Council so attends the Executive Council
meetings at NCA (the evening before the convention begins) and WSCA (Friday afternoon and evening
and Tuesday morning). The Executives Club President is #18 (last) on the Complimentary Room List at
the convention hotel so sometimes gets a free room night at the WSCA convention.
(2) Serves as a member of the WSCA Distinguished Service Award Committee.
(2) Organizes the annual Executives Club event. See Annual Event below for information.
(3) Presents the Debut Award at the annual WSCA Luncheon on Monday of the convention.
Vice President: Elected for one year. The VP coordinates the selection of the Debut Award winning
paper. See Debut Award procedures below.
Secretary/Treasurer: Elected for three years. The Secretary/Treasurer takes the minutes of the annual
meeting and co-ordinates the assets of the Club with the WSCA Executive Director.
Immediate Past President: Substitutes for the President if necessary and does membership recruiting.
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Draft request for nominations for Executives Club Vice President
Dear Executives Club members,
The WSCA Executives Club Vice President for 20__-20__ will be elected at the Executives Club meeting
in 20__ in February. Would you please consider being a candidate for that office?
It's a three-year commitment but not much is involved in any of those years. The first year you chair the
WSCA Executives Club Debut Paper Award Committee. That means you find three to five people,
usually Executives Club members (there's a list) to read the debut papers submitted by the Interest
Groups. You get the paper reviewers to commit in early fall. Debut papers aren't due to you till the last of
October, but people like to plan their time, especially toward the end of the semester. There are guidelines
for the process.
The next year you will be President. You plan the Execs Club dinner/reception at WSCA, which involves
working with the hotel's convention services manager on the menu, and publicize the event to the
members. You put together the agenda for and chair the Execs Club Business Meeting. And you go to the
WSCA Executive Committee meetings, if you choose, at NCA and WSCA. If you can’t/don't want to go
to either or both of those meetings, either the Immediate Past President or the Vice President can go.
The third year as Immediate Past President, you basically serve as a back-up for the President and do a bit
of membership recruiting.
That's it! Upcoming WSCA conventions are __ in ______, __ in ______, and __ in ______.
Please let me know if you’re interested!
Best,
President, Executives Club
Job Hints for Executive Club Officers
(initially developed by Tim Hegstrom, February, 2009)
President
1. By the constitution, you preside at the dinner and at the business meeting. Serve for one year.
2. Prepare the agenda for the Club Business Meeting for distribution at the meeting. It’s probably
wise to keep copies of the Club Constitution on hand for the meeting.
3. Honor the current winning formula which is to conduct business at the business meeting and good
times at the social event.
4. Work with the convention hotel and the WSCA Executive Director to negotiate the menu and
cost of the social event. Provide for vegetarian faire in addition to meat. A no-host bar should be
arranged, and the cost of the service should be included in the cost of the event. Copy the WSCA
Executive Director on all messages, so he/she knows what is going on.
5. Get a current list of Executives Club members from the WSCA Executive Director.
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6. Be sure to time carefully the announcement of the dinner, at least 4 to 6 weeks in advance of the
convention. Otherwise, the loyal membership will worry, and some may make other plans.
Multiple announcements are wise, such as follow-up e-mails to a dozen or so of those who don’t
respond to the RSVP.
7. You should promote membership in the Executive Club. The most important part of this is to
encourage the current Executive Council members to join. You can do that at the Executive
Council meetings, and it helps to pass a sign-up sheet around.
8. If there is an auction, work with the auctioneer(s), currently Dawn Braithwaite, to make sure that
an announcement goes out requesting the members to bring auction items to the dinner. Since you
probably have an up to date list of members, the announcement is most easily sent by you.
9. As Executive Club President, you are expected to serve on the WSCA Executive Council.
Currently, this means a meeting at the NCA Convention as well as at the two meetings at the
WSCA Convention (Friday afternoon/evening and Tuesday morning). You are also a member of
the WSCA Distinguished Service Committee.
Vice-President
1. By the constitution, you serve in lieu of the President in the President’s absence, direct the
selection of the Debut Paper Award, and succeed the President.
2. To conduct the Debut Paper competition, it is wise to contact four or so members of the Club to
serve as readers prior to Winter Break. These should be representative of both genders, inside and
outside California, and of various interest group and disciplinary orientation. Don’t be surprised if
a reader don’t get the job done; that’s why it’s wise to go with more readers than you’ll actually
need.
Secretary-Treasurer
1. By the constitution, you serve for three years; receive membership fees, and other monetary gifts
and deposit the same with an Executive Club investment via the WSCA Executive Director; make
an annual detailed financial report to the membership; and keep minutes of all business meetings
of the Club and report to the membership before the succeeding WSCA Convention.
2. Fortunately, the WSCA Executive Director’s Assistant has taken over handling event payment
and auction/donation payments at the annual event.
3. Remind the WSCA Executive Director to deposit the income in the Executive Club Account and
provide an accounting of interest earned as of February 1 so you have this information when
completing the financial report.
4. Work with the Executive Director in obtaining information about contributions from membership
that occur after the convention. It is simplest to have any donations or dues sent to the WSCA
Executive Director, but it is important to note the source of these donations for the Executive
Club records.
5. Send out the minutes of the Executive Club Business Meeting as soon after the convention as
possible.
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6. Keep track of all new members, and pass these names on to the WSCA Executive Director so
their contact information can be added to the Club’s roster.
Immediate Past President
1. Immediate Past President may need to help with some tasks as requested by President (e.g.,
finding records, recruiting new officers, etc.)
2. Coordinate development of new members not on Executive Council, such as individuals who
have provided long-term service to WSCA, new Life Members, and possibly the new WSCA
Distinguished Scholar and the new WSCA Distinguished Teacher.
WSCA Executives Club Debut Award
As specified in the WSCA Policies and Procedures Manual, the WSCA Executives Club Debut Award is
presented annually to the top debut paper selected competitively for presentation at the WSCA
convention. The Executives Club Vice President coordinates the selection of the Debut Award winning
paper from the top debut papers selected and submitted by the interest groups.
The WSCA Executives Club Debut Award is made to the author of the top debut paper presented at the
convention by an author or co-authors “who have not presented a paper at a state, regional, national or
international convention, or published in any academic journal.” The paper also should not have been
accepted for presentation or publication. Papers presented at student-only conferences are exempt from
this requirement. All authors of a co-authored paper must meet these eligibility requirements for a paper
to be considered a Debut Paper.
The annual convention Call for Papers Papers specifies that papers eligible for the Debut Award should
be marked “DEBUT” in the upper right-hand corner of the title page and should also indicate whether
each author is a bachelors, masters, or doctoral student. Some Interest Groups sponsor debut programs,
but papers need not be presented on a debut panel to be eligible for the Executives Club Debut Award.
Interest Group Program Planners must submit their top Debut Paper electronically via email to the Vice
President of the WSCA Executives Club by October 31st.
Debut Award procedures
Executives Club Vice President coordinates the Executives Club Debut Award.
In October, line up three-five reviewers (Executives Club members) representing, if possible, a balance of
disciplinary areas, geographic location, and gender. Execs Club members are listed on the WSCA web
site:
http://www.westcomm.org/aboutus/leadership/Executives%20Club/Executives_club%20Roster%202010.
asp
Connie Bullis, John Cagle, and John Reinard reviewed papers in 2009.
Suzanne Larsen, David Henry, and Julie Yingling reviewed papers in 2010.
? in 2011.
Connie Bullis, David Henry, and Betsy Bach reviewed papers in 2012.
Send an email in mid-October to the Interest Group Program Planners (addresses on the WSCA web site,
hopefully) reminding them that their top debut paper is due to you electronically by October 31st, with the
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cover page separate from the paper.
Hopefully, you will get an electronic copy of each paper sent to you by October 31st. Email the IG PPs
you don’t hear from by then.
Send papers electronically to the Executives Club review panel. Do not send cover pages.
Give them about two/three weeks to read the papers and respond with their rankings. All papers should be
ranked high to low.
When you get the results, tabulate the rankings. If a clear winner emerges, make the certificate. If there is
more or less a tie, then as chair you break the tie. Occasionally over the years it has been decided to give
the award to both tied & highly ranked papers.
Contact all authors to see if they are coming to the convention, or contact the winner(s) as soon as you
know them, and their advisors, making it sound like you are contacting all authors to make sure they will
be at the convention and at the convention luncheon.
Send an email to the Executive Director with the name of the recipient and the amount to have the check
drafted.
Make the certificate give to the recipient at the luncheon, along with the check. Use nice heavyweight
paper and the blue WSCA logo.
Get a nice document frame, and bring the framed certificate to the convention.
Give the framed certificate to the Executives Club President who will present the Award at the
Convention Luncheon. The Executive Director (or her/his assistant) should have given the check to the
EC President as well.
(Western States Communication Association
Executives Club
Policies and Procedures Manual
initially complied by Sue Pendell
February, 2013;
last updated July, 2013)
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Appendices
Executives Club History
(Information from Malcolm Sillars, John Cagle, Don Cameron, and Sue Pendell)
The WSCA Executives Club started in 1963, as a best guess. The first President was John Wright of
Fresno State. He and others founded it for past Presidents (other early members included Hal Greaves, U
of Utah, Upton Palmer, U California Santa Barbara).
According to Don Cameron, “In the 1970s, the individuals I remember as most active at our meetings
were Upton Palmer (UC, Santa Barbara), Wayne Eubanks (Univ of New Mexico), Jim McBath (Univ of
Southern California), Hal Greaves (Univ of Utah) and Ted Karl (Pacific Lutheran). I remember dinner at
Wayne Eubanks home in Albuquerque in 1973 and a spirited discussion the following year at the hotel in
Newport Beach, California.”
Membership:
From a group founded for past Presidents, over the years the Executives Club has grown to include
eligibility for all members of the WSCA Executive Council as well as, by special action, other members
of WSCA who have provided exemplary service to the Association over the years.
Those who expanded the eligibility for membership envisioned the possibility of enabling us to honor and
share fellowship with a broader group of WSCA leaders and also to support new and creative projects to
benefit the scholarship, educational, and camaraderie aspects of WSCA. In some sense, the Executives
Club has been an honorary society to recognize the service and accomplishments of WSCA’s leadership
over the years as well as to encourage and support new scholars.
Purpose:
The purpose of the Executives Club is benevolent and social, as are hopefully its members.
The Club created and funds the Debut Award for the most outstanding paper by a new scholar at each
convention. For several years, it also supported the WSCA Undergraduate Scholars Research Conference
with a reception and with modest financial gifts to the best papers.
For decades the Executives Club served as a place for past presidents, vice president, and editors to get
together at each convention for a convivial dinner, for members to engage in convivial conversation—talk
about current strengths and problems of WSCA and the latest research, to meet old friends and make new
ones. According to John Cagle, “Behold! How good and pleasant it is to dwell in a place where people
know who we are!”
Once Malcolm Sillars called the Club a gathering of “old buffaloes.” As an eminent scholar
contemplating the famous Sillars’ observation remarked, “We may be old buffaloes, but we are fun
ones!”
Finances:
Don Cameron—“I remember serving as Treasurer for at least two years…in the 1973-77 time period. I do
recall clearly the specific wording in the Executive Club bylaws, originally prepared by John Wright
(Fresno), which said the principal in the treasury could never be touched, only the interest from those
funds could be used to offset the cost of the annual dinner, for example. I don't recall how much was in
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our bank account, but it was substantial (at least in the 1970s it seemed substantial). Interest in those days
was at least 4 percent, so I remember having a sizeable amount available to offset the cost of our dinners.
One of the issues we discussed was whether to use most of the accumulated interest to reduce the cost to
members of the annual dinner, or whether to ask members to pay the actual cost of the dinner and thus
add the interest to our bank balance. My recollection is that John Wright had somehow managed to secure
some funds in the early years to establish the account, and it was added to each year as new members paid
their initiation fee.
It was with some surprise, and disappointment, that I learned at the meeting in Monterey a few years ago
(1997) that some members had apparently squandered the sizeable bank balance by spending the funds in
direct violation of the language in the bylaws. That apparently happened in the late 1980s by persons
unknown to me but with no attempt to amend the bylaws.”
Sue Pendell—“In 2001 when I became WSCA Executive Director, the Executives Club money was
mingled with WSCA money, and it took a while for me to figure out how much there was—it wasn’t
much. The amount had diminished significantly over the previous few years. During that time, the Club
sponsored the Undergraduate Scholars Research Conference, paying for awards and a breakfast for the
students. In addition, the Club was paying for NCA guests’ dinners and new members’ dinners, and that
was very expensive. So we stopped paying for dinners and stopped sponsoring the Undergrad Scholars
Research Conference because there was so little money left.”
In 2006, an auction was added to the dinner to raise money for the Club’s support of emerging scholars,
and sometime after that NCA attendees were asked to cover the cost of their meals. While the auction was
a rousing success and a great entertainment for several years, the cost of the dinner had gotten very high,
so the Club’s social event was changed in 2013 to a reception preceding the WSCA Welcome Reception.
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WSCA Executives Club Presidents
John Wright was the first President of the WSCA Executives Club, and that probably was in 1963. Joe
Wagner, Earl Cain, and Milt Dobkin probably were also Executives Club Presidents.
Donald Cameron, California State University Northridge, one year between 1973 and 1977.
Marcella Oberle, California State University Los Angeles, 1977-1978
Thomas R. Nilsen, University of Washington, 1978-1979
Fred McMahon, California State University Northridge, 1979-1980
Glen E. Mills, University of California Santa Barbara, 1980-1983
Eldon Baker, University of Montana, 1984-1985
Nancy McDermid, San Francisco State University, 1985-1986
Robery Kully, California State University Los Angeles, 1986-1987
Paul H. Winters, University of Pacific, 1987-1988
Lucy A. Keele, California State University Fullerton, 1988-1989
Gertrude Baccus, Redlands High School CA, 1989-1990
Carmendale Fernandes, Fremont High School CA, 1990-1991
John C. Hammerback, California State University Hayward, 1991-1992
Malcolm O. Sillars, University of Utah, 1992-1993
Jo Sprague, San Jose State University, 1993-1994
Kenneth D. Frandsen, University of New Mexico, 1994-1995
Lynn K. Wells, Saddelback Community College, 1995-1996
Robert Boren, Boise State University, 1996-1997
Dennis Alexander, University of Utah, 1997-1998
Sandra Petronio, Arizona State University, 1998-1999
David Natharius, Arizona State University, 1999-2000
Betsy Wackernagel Bach, University of Montana, 2000-2001
Blaine Goss, New Mexico State University, 2001-2002
Connie Conlee, California State University Fresno, 2002-2003
Bill Eadie, San Diego State University, 2003-2004
Paul Krivonos, California State University Northridge, 2004-2005
Patricia Ganer, Cypress Community College, 2005-2006
David Natharius, Arizona State University, 2006-2007
John Cagle, California State University Fresno, 2007-2008
Tim Hegstrom, San Jose State University, 2008-2009
Robert Avery, University of Utah, 2009-2010
Kathy Adams, California State University Fresno, 2010-2011
Sue D. Pendell, Colorado State University, 2011-2012
John Cagle, California State University Fresno, 2012-2013
Betsy Wackernagel Bach, University of Montana, 2013-2014
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