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Documentation
SPJ/SDX Combined Meeting Minutes
Oct. 4, 2001 - Bellevue, Wash.

Meeting Date: Oct. 4, 2001
Meeting Place: The Double Tree Hotel, Bellevue, Wash.

Roll Call:

Staff Members Present: 4

Jim Gray, SPJ Executive Director
Julie Grimes, SPJ Deputy Executive Director
Catherine Davis, SPJ Director of Finance
Kelly Shropshire, Administrative Assistant

CALL TO ORDER

Society of Professional Journalists President Ray Marcano and Sigma Delta Chi Foundation President Paul McMasters called the meeting to order at 12:18 p.m.

SPJ President-elect Al Cross and SDX Secretary Steve Geimann called the rolls.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Betsy Ashton moved to approve the minutes of the April 2001 joint board meeting. Second by Paul Steinle. The motion carried unanimously.

SPJ PRESIDENT’S REPORT

SPJ President Ray Marcano explained that the Foundation would be considering 11 grants during its meeting later in the afternoon. The SPJ board of directors recommended six to the Foundation for funding. They are:

SPJ FOI Committee request to fund “Open Doors” project. Tools created by the project will be used to educate the public on public access to government records, documents and proceedings.

Media Leaders Forum. The funds would be used to pay a graduate assistant to help with the Media Leaders Forum, a media research project conducted by the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University and printed in Quill magazine.

SPJ Awards Coordinator salary.

Rural Journalism Initiative. Request from the University of Kentucky to gather data for a major regional initiative in rural journalism.

SPJ mission-based work. SPJ request to provide financial resources for SPJ’s national mission-based committees

Student Press Law Center. To revise and reissue “Law of the Student Press.”

The SPJ board deferred the Chicago Headline Club’s Ethics Advice Line request. The board plans to approach the Headline Club about a joint effort with SPJ in this area.

SDX FOUNDATION PRESIDENT’S REPORT

SDX Foundation President Paul McMasters presented his report, which was distributed during the meeting. McMasters reviewed procedures for the meeting and explained that the Foundation board had established a committee structure to keep the board functioning between meetings.

McMasters was pleased with the results of this year’s Pulliam Editorial Fellowship process. Seventeen people applied and almost all had excellent proposals.

McMasters mention upcoming challenges for the Foundation. First, he hopes to get more regular and comprehensive financial information between board meetings. Also, the Foundation’s Development Director has moved onto another job. Executive Director Jim Gray is interviewing candidates for the position. Gray, McMasters, Al Cross and Robert Leger will make a final selection on the position.

McMasters said the Foundation’s major challenge this weekend it to examine its mission. He explained that there were two types of Foundations -- programmatic and grant making. McMasters said that this board should provide a mix of both. McMasters suggested the following two projects for the Foundation to consider:

An in-depth study of the 20-plus state access audits. Analyze what’s been done and provide resources and guidance for other states to do the same thing. This fulfills something SPJ is known for and would fulfill one of the organization’s top priorities.
The Foundation should consider a national study about the need for press organizations. What needs are out there, and how can they be filled? The study would address why people join, why they drop out, and the functions of press associations. SPJ staff could use the data to understand why journalists belong to organizations and how those people hope to benefit from press organizations.

UPDATES ON GRANTS FUNDED

The Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press submitted a written update on its grant for “Tapping Officials Secrets.” Larry Muhammad submitted a written report on his project, “The Kentucky Colonel.”

SPJ Diversity Committee Chairwoman Sally Lehrman reported that the Diversity Sourcebook would launch on Nov. 15. Recent delays in the project have been due to problems with the data transfer from Filmaker Pro. Then, the implementation of the new Web site took priority. Board member Betsy Ashton reminded Lehrman that the New York SPJ Chapter had received a chapter grant to help publicize the sourcebook. Lehrman will contact the chapter about organizing publicity around this launch date. Lehrman said that beta testing would take place at the same time as the site launch.

COMMITTEE REPORT

ACEJMC
SDX board member and ACEJMC representative Steve Geimann discussed his report, which was available in the joint board packet. He explained that out of about 500 journalism programs, 108 are accredited by the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. The group is involved in an ongoing process to determine how best to evaluate school programs. Geimann said the past year had been somewhat uneventful, and that every school up for re-accreditation had been approved or granted provisional status. Schools must be reaccredited every six years, and it’s a rather lengthy process, said Geimann, but it’s one of the most rewarding things he does on behalf of SPJ. As a result of earlier SDX Board action, the Foundation is now listed as a member of ACEJMC rather than SPJ.

Board member Kelly Hawes questioned whether the Foundation wanted to set a term for its ACEJMC representative. McMasters encouraged Hawes to address that issue in the Foundation meeting later that afternoon.

OLD BUSINESS

None.

NEW BUSINESS

McMasters recognized retiring board member Paul Davis and presented him with a plaque honoring his years of service to SPJ and the SDX Foundation. Davis has served on the Foundation board since 1985. Board members applauded Davis’ efforts.

ADJOURNMENT

McMasters announced the SPJ and SDX executive committees would meet jointly at 4:30 p.m., and the joint board meeting was adjourned.