Minutes of MAAAS Business Meeting

University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK

The meeting was chaired by Ken Lohrentz. He thanked Betty Harris, Loretta Bass, and Celeste Smith-Warah for their work, and the University of Oklahoma for its hospitality. He announced the vacancies in the executive committee:

Meshak Sagini and Richard Glotzer were nominated for the position of the vice-president. Meshak Sagini was elected. Abimbola Asojo and Lorreta Bass were nominated for the Member at large position. Abimbola Asojo was elected. The Secretary-Treasurer term was changed to a term of two years and Claire proposed to remain on the job and was elected. Somebody asked what should we do if Emmanuel does not want to be President any more. Claire proposed that Ken stays on the job. Garth said that then Ken would not be a "Past- President". The proposal was accepted.

The next discussion was on ways of strengthening MAAAS meetings. Ken proposed encouraging other institutions to organize the annual meetings by preparing a memorandum of best practices, advises and so on, written by past organizers such as himself, Betty, and Claire. The assembly voted yes on that recommendation.
Ken recommended that the name of the keynote speaker be announced early so as to attract participants. He also suggested encouraging the participation of small institutions, and African institutions. He proposed to include in the next Title VI grant that the University of Kansas is preparing now Professional Development Grants. John Janzen requests we make plans on how to choose applicants. Garth proposes that the Assistant Secretary-Treasurer and three members at large form the committee with the Assistant Secretary-Treasurer as chair. The committee will develop a criteria and time line for applications, and it will announce that the scholarships are contingent on the funding. The assembly voted yes for that proposal. Ken Lohrentz will work as Program Assistant at the African Center at KU. He will make sure the website is up to date, list all the MAAAS members, announce the meeting and so on. Because of her traveling, and her responsibilities as the meeting convener, Betty Harris has asked to be relieved of the job of Newsletter Editor for the year. For the MAAAS meeting next year Garth proposed KU and Maxwell Owusu proposed the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Garth encouraged people to think of other venues. The meeting was adjourned at 6.15p.m.