MINUTES OF THE PME 6 BUSINESS MEETING OF
THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE PHILOSOPHY OF MUSIC EDUCATION
May 21, 2005, Hamburg, Germany
Approximately 25 delegates were in attendance at the meeting, which was chaired by ISPME Co-Chair, Estelle Jorgensen, and began shortly after 9:45 am.
Introduction of the Agenda
1) Co-Chair Frede Nielsen presented the agenda. Co-Chair Estelle Jorgensen proposed a motion that the duration of the meeting be no longer than one hour and a half, ending no later than 12:45. The motion was seconded and approved.
2) Estelle proposed a second motion: that the meeting adopt Roberts Rules of Order as its modus operandi. Thus, as meeting Chair, she would proceed by stating the Executive Committee’s recommendations, asking for a mover and seconder, introducing discussion, and calling for a vote. A motion was made to this effect by Randall Allsup, seconded by Eleni Lapidaki, and approved.
Membership
1) The Executive Committee recommended that all who have attended the PME 6 conference as well as all who attended the Lake Forest Conference PME5 be deemed charter members. This includes approximately 100 delegates.
Iris Yob moved that those in attendance at this meeting be deemed voting members.
The motion was seconded by Lise Vaugeois and approved. A list of names of those in attendance was circulated.
By-laws
Parliamentarian Tony Palmer presented proposed changes to the by-laws under the following headings:
1) Chair: At the end of the paragraph, add: “The outgoing Chair, upon leaving office, will serve for the next interim as advisor to the EC. The Chair will address the membership on a major topic at each Symposium meeting.”
2) Program Chair: At the end of the paragraph, add: “The outgoing Program Chair, upon leaving office, will serve for the next interim as advisor to the EC.”
b. Iris suggested that the Chair’s presentation to the assembly not necessarily be the last item on the conference program. Janice Waldron moved and Alexandra Kertz-Welzel seconded that the proposed change be accepted. The motion was approved.
2) Elections:
a. Tony related the six elected positions as follows: Chair of the Society, Co-Chair of the Society, Program Chair, Associate Program Chair, Recording Secretary, and Treasurer. Other offices, that of Site Chair, and a new position, that of Membership Secretary, are to be appointed positions. It was at first suggested that the duties of the Membership Secretary would be to increase membership, to initiate international outreach activities and networking, and to propagate the raison d’etre of the society. A motion to accept this proposal was made by Betty Ann Younker and seconded by Lise. During the ensuing discussion, Estelle pointed out that the imperative for outreach should be a part of each member’s obligation and not restricted to the office of the Membership Secretary. Lise suggested that the Membership Secretary be responsible for informing potential members of the benefits of membership in ISPME. A clarification was made regarding the composition of the Executive Committee. It was concluded that including both elected and non-elected positions on the Committee would be unwieldy and that the Executive Committee should comprise elected offices only.
b. It was moved and passed that John Kratus be appointed Communications Director.
c. Aided by power point, Tony read out a proposed addendum to the by-laws on Elections regarding a three-month lead-time for notifying the membership about subsequent forthcoming elections. The addendum reads as follows:
“Approximately three months prior to a meeting of a scheduled Symposium, a call for nominations will be sent to members in good standing via the internet with instructions to make nominations within 30 days from the designated date of notification. Potential nominees must first be apprised of their names being submitted and agree to placement of their names in nomination. The names submitted will be added to a list formed by the EC, from which a slate of nominees will be drawn up and submitted to the membership for a vote. The ballot will be accompanied by appropriate experiences and qualifications of those on the ballot. A vote will be requested within a four-week period prior to the scheduled Symposium so that the new slate can be named at the Symposium and appropriate meetings held with outgoing and incoming officers. A simple majority will be acceptable for all elective offices.”
A motion that to accept was made by Randall and seconded by Lise. In the ensuing discussion, John moved that the sentence that enjoined the Executive Committee with the responsibility for producing a slate of nominees be stricken from the amendment, the reasoning being that the word “slate” implies giving the Executive Committee the power to screen potential nominations and then recommend one name for each office. This motion was seconded by Patrick [IRIS, DO YOU KNOW PATRICK’S LAST NAME? IF SO, PLEASE FILL IN] Further discussion resulted in changing the word “slate” to “list.”
Iris moved that the following wording would clear up any difficulties: “The nominations will be added to a list and submitted to the membership for a vote.” The motion was seconded and passed.
3) Membership in the Society
a. A motion was made by Lise and seconded by Janice Waldron that annual dues be in an amount to be established by the Executive Committee. The motion was passed.
b. A discussion followed regarding the timing of the paying of dues and their use. Tony suggested that dues be payable now. Charlene Morton asked whether members would then have to pay again in January. Estelle stressed the need to postpone further discussion of the topic to consideration under “Finances and Dues.” With respect to what the dues were needed for, Frede reminded everyone that at Lake Forest, the issue of the need for dues was discussed for one hour-and-a-half. Estelle informed us that there was no seed money for the present conference, a state of affairs that left the Site Chair, Jurgen Vogt, in a difficult situation. She iterated that we must move from “pay-as you-go” to a more systematic modus operandi. Estelle elaborated on the Society’s need for funds by stipulating the necessity of maintaining our website, which is costly. She also underlined our ultimate objective of incorporating as a not-for-profit-Society, which would cost upwards of $3,000 USD. Achieving this status would allow the Society the benefits of a Foundation, thereby enabling the Society to receive donations, conduct subventions, award scholarships, etc.
Nominations and Elections
1) Estelle presented a slate of nominees recommended by the Executive Committee. She emphasized that the Committee had spent many hours over three days deliberating about inclusiveness, balance, and willingness to do the job. After much soul-searching, she continued, the Executive Committee had unanimously recommended the names on the slate, but she stressed that the list could be added to by anyone from the floor. (It should be noted that the on day previous to be meeting, an announcement was made at one of the plenary sessions that anyone who had a recommendation for a nominee should present the name to either Estelle or Frede.)
2) Frede presented the recommended slate of officers as follows:
Chair: Paul Woodford (Canada)
Associate Chair: Herman Kaiser (Germany)
Program Chair: Charlene Morton (Canada)
Associate Program Chair: Oivind Varkoy (Norway)
Recording Secretary : Deanne Bogdan (Canada)
Treasurer: Randall Allsup (USA)
3) Frede then explained the Executive Committee’s choices, emphasizing the responsibility of the Committee to recommend suitable candidates, given the very complex criteria to be considered: geographic, varying traditions of the field of philosophy of music education, gender, and so on. Frede acknowledged the current imbalance between Canadian and American candidates on the slate, stating that the Executive Committee had seriously discussed this in their meetings. Paul Woodford noted that additional nominations had in fact been submitted, but were declined. Frede noted that the important task of Program Chair went to a woman, Charlene Morton, who, as Co-Program Chair of this conference, would serve to maintain continuity in the program planning for the next conference. He also observed that the recommendation of Oivind Varkoy of Norway as Associate Program Chair provides gender balance as well as balance between the Anglo-American and European traditions in the field. He pointed specifically to both the gender and geographic balance between Canada and the United States in the offices of recording Secretary and Treasurer.
4) Estelle emphasized that the slate represented elected positions only, and that others would be invited to serve as Members-at-Large. She stressed the need for older members to mentor younger ones, adding that all persons on the slate have agreed to be workers for the Society in order to ensure that it does not dissolve before the next Symposium.
5) It was moved by Tony and seconded by Iris that the slate be approved. The motion was passed with a clear majority.
Finances and Dues
1) Estelle requested a preliminary report on the finances of this conference from Site Chair, Jurgen Vogt, who agreed to submit a full report in due course. Jurgen said that his aim was to keep the costs low on the conference and that he expects a monetary balance of approximately 100 euros.
2) Estelle again raised the two issues related to finances: eventual incorporation and preservation of the website. She noted the Elizabeth Gould had researched the costs of incorporation since the last conference and that they amounted to upwards of $3,000 USD. But the most pressing issue was that of the website. In order for Ted Love to continue to operate the website, the cost would be approximately $4,000 USD until the next Symposium.
3) The Executive Committee recommended annual dues to be fixed at $25 USD for regular members and $15 USD for students and the unwaged. Questions arose as to which benefits, such as an electronic newsletter, might accrue from membership. Estelle raised as a point of information the distinct possibility that Indiana UP might give members a reduced subscription rate on PMER.
4). Tony moved that for present purposes the registration fees for attendees at this conference count as dues. The motion was seconded by ???? and passed. [IRIS, DO YOU REMEBER WHO SECONDED?]
Interval and Site of the Next Symposium
1) Estelle raised as a point of information that future symposia be held every second year during the odd-numbered years, since ISME is held during the even-numbered years.
3) The Executive Committee recommended The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, as the site of the next Symposium in 2007. The low Canadian dollar would make the PME7 economical for those exchanging US dollars and euros. Paul reported that the university has a population of 26,000 students, and boasts a Music School of 600 students, of which 200 are in Music Education. He said that he was reasonably certain that the university would support the symposium financially. It was pointed out that the city of London has a population of 350,000, and is close to Stratford, Ontario, which annually hosts its internationally renowned Stratford Shakespearean Festival, which would provide the opportunity for rich cultural experiences for delegates.
4) Estelle informed the assembly that the Executive Committee had a plan of holding future symposia in Helsinki in 2009 and in Michigan, USA, in 2011.
Other Business
1) Tony suggested that the primary need for the appointed officers as Members-at Large is in the area of program planning for the next Symposium. He also noted that more balancing of the criteria for diversity could occur in these appointments. In this connection, Frede mentioned the names of Constantijn Koopman from Germany, Heidi Westerlund from Finland, Elivira Paanaiotidi from Russia, and Patrick Schmidt from the US.
2) Frede then asked if there were any complaints about this Symposium. The lack of response indicated there were none.
3) David Carr expressed his enjoyment of the symposium and declared it a great success. He added his thanks to the Program Co-Chairs and to the Executive Committee for their hard work. He made a motion to this effect, which was seconded by Randall. The motion was approved.
4) David suggested that future symposia might be organized around specific rather than generic themes; and Tony, that different kinds of formats be considered. Lise encouraged the presentation of live musical performances. Estelle asked that members communicate their responses and suggestions to the Executive Committee, Conference Chairs, and/or the Secretary.
5) Other issues raised included the following: Patrick said that, as a first-time attendee, he was grateful to have been included. He also recognized the differing objectives of junior and senior members in a Symposium such as this. Tony mentioned the special needs of graduate students, and Estelle again expressed the importance of intergenerational mentoring.
The meeting concluded at 10:45, a full half-hour before the projected closing time.
Respectfully submitted,
Deanne Bogdan
Recording Secretary, ISPME
June 3, 2005