Minutes of the ISSOTL Business Meeting

October 16, 2005

2nd annual

ISSOTL Conference

Hyatt Regency

Vancouver, British Columbia

 

PRESENT:       Officers: Barbara Cambridge, President; Barbara Gayle, Treasurer; Mick Healy, Europe Regional VP; Lisa Kornetsky, Secretary; Craig Nelson, Past President; Mike Prosser, President-elect, Nancy Randall, Canada Regional VP, Jennifer Robinson, US Regional VP, Kathy Takayama, Australasia Regional VP, Keith Trigwell, President-elect;  Members: Orlando Taylor, Steve Freeman, Milt Cox, Laurie Richlin, Marcia Babb, Pat Hutchings, Randall Bass, Darin Eastburn, Ross Peterson, Spencer Benson, Alan Kalish, Nancy Chick, Lori Carrell, Mary Huber, Dan Bernstein, Heidi Elmendorf, Steve Ehrmann, Betsy Decyk, Alan Bender, Lorraine Fleming, Nicola Simmons, Cheryl Albers, Kathleen McKinney, Lynn Taylor, William Farrar, John Dearn, Ross Peterson-Veatch, Lane David

 

The meeting was called to order at 8 am with a welcome from President Cambridge.

 

Development work being done by the Executive Council

 

All officers on the Executive Council introduced themselves and their roles.

 

President Cambridge then highlighted the development work of the Executive Council at their meeting in Vancouver and asked for people to contribute with ideas and suggestions.  She then moved through the following items:

 

By-Laws:  The By-laws will be distributed soon.  There are two changes in the updated by-laws that members voted on.

  1. The Length of office for officers has been changed to a 3-year term.  Mary Huber moved.  Lori Carrell seconded.  The motion was approved.  There are still questions regarding how staggering will be built into the election process.  The Executive Council will take this up.
  2. A Communications Coordinator position has been added to the Executive Council.  Lynn Taylor moved.  Dan Bernstein seconded.  The motion was approved.  This individual will be responsible for management of the website, the production part of the Newsletter, and managing virtual Communities of Practice.  President Cambridge received approval to appoint this individual for this cycle, to be elected in the next cycle.   Pat Hutchings, moved.  Steve Freeman seconded.  The motion was approved

 

Conferences:

1.      Kathy Takayama, conference host for the 2007 ISSOTL conference in Sydney, Australia spoke to planning that event.  She reminded membership of the shortened time we have between the November 2006 conference and the July 2007 conference.  She discussed the desire to have each conference reflect the personality of it host city and institution.  She is eager for input from members.

  1. Randy Bass, conference host for the 2006 ISSOTL conference at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. reported on the planning for that event.  The roles of the Society and the host institution are being clarified by the Executive Committee which will help in that planning.  There will be a continued push for internationalization.  In addition, Randy stated his hope that disciplinary societies will be involved.  He is asking those societies to consider sponsoring sessions, to invite international presentations around high-quality questions of learning in the disciplines.  This will be a stream in the conference.

 

Communication

  1. Lisa Kornetsky reported on the proposed Newsletter.
  2. Barbara Cambridge announced that Indiana University Conferences will continue to be the Society Home.
  3. Jennifer Robinson reported on the status of the website.  The website url is:  www.issotl.org

 

Signature Features of ISSOTL

Nancy Randall reported on some of the signature features of ISSOTL that the Executive Council have discussed.  These features center around the communication forums mentioned above, and some features that are being proposed for the upcoming conferences.

 

Committee Structure

 

President Cambridge shared the Committee structure with members and Chairs of each Committee briefly described those committees.  People are encouraged to express interest in committee membership.

 

Desires and Goals for ISSOTL

 

Barbara Cambridge opened up the floor for members to share ideas about what they would like ISSOTL to be/do.  These suggestions/comments are listed below:

·        Laurie Richlin stated her hope that the Society would focus on the development of SoTL:  what does it mean to be international?  What kinds of projects and results are we talking about?

·        Orlando Taylor would like the Society to spend time talking about the role of graduate students.  How do we get them involved in SoTL from the beginning?  He suggests a role for them in the Newsletter – a Student’s Corner – as well as a role on the Executive Council.

·        Steve Ehrmann talked about the need for a structure where individual scholars can meet and help each other.  In addition, he believes that we should have a goal that everyone ought to be doing this.  We have an institutional change mission.  We should be keeping track of promotion and tenure policies around the world, as they apply to SoTL.

·        Bill Farrar mentioned legitimization.   He would like to see more focus on process, not just on product.  How do we create the collaborative process?  How do we motivate people to participate?  How do we structure this work and validate it?

·        Pat Hutchings talked about institutional change.  We should think about the role of administrators at these conferences - encouraging them not only to attend and participate, but creating forums for them to focus on their role.

·        Barbara Cambridge built on Pat’s comment.  She suggests a panel of legislators, or a Provosts panel, for next year’s conference.

·        Betsy Decyk suggested a graduate student seminar or tracked sessions for new teachers at next year’s conference.

·        There was quite a bit of discussion about a student member on the Executive Council.   A motion was approved to explore ways in which students can be well represented within the ISSOTL infrastructure. Orlando Taylor moved.  Keith Trigwell seconded.  This was referred back to the Executive Council for discussion to bring back to the membership. 

·        Randy Bass talked about planning for the upcoming ISSOTL conference in November of 2006.

·        Ross Peterson-Veatch spoke of the need for a mechanism to allow free communication across the membership.  He suggested using “Open Space” technology as a way to do this.  The goal is to allow us to collect questions and make a commitment to action.

·        Craig Nelson moved (Mary Huber seconded) that the Board send a resolution of thanks to the local organizing committee in Vancouver.  Approved.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 am

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

Lisa Kornetsky

ISSOTL Secretary

 

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