Constitution | Officers

Sunday, 19 October 2003, Calvin College

Note: The following outlines the discussion at the business meeting held at the Inaugural Conference at Calvin College. A detailed summary of the discussion is also available. For details on specific sections, click on the underlined hyperlinks in the text below.

The business meeting at the Inaugural Conference was held on Sunday, 19 October 2003, at Calvin College. Approximately 24 conference participants attended the meeting – a great turnout for a new association! See the attendance list.

The meeting discussed several topics and made a number of decisions, as shown in the outline below. For more details on any particular topic, click on the underlined links; or see the detailed summary of the whole meeting.

THE INAUGURAL CONFERENCE WAS A GREAT SUCCESS!

We began the meeting with a decision to forgo detailed assessment of the conference in order to save time. However, the consensus seemed to be that the conference went very well. At the same time, subsequent discussion and the written comments from attendees made clear that there would be room for improvement in a number of areas at any future conferences. See the attendees’ written comments about the conference for the views of more than 30 participants.

START PLANNING NOW FOR A SECOND CONFERENCE

The meeting turned directly to the question of holding another conference. We decided to hold a conference next year, and we agreed that October was a good time to hold a conference. We also agreed to forgo discussion of whether to hold an annual or biennial meeting until after a second conference, though the sense of the business meeting seemed to lean toward an annual conference. We also discussed the following topics in detail.

Next Year’s Format and Schedule. We agreed to maintain a format similar to this year’s conference, though perhaps adding a sixth session if the call for papers elicits a strong response. We anticipate no more than 148 participants at a second conference (as compared with 103 at the inaugural conference).

Improving the Conference. We agreed to retain four-paper panels, common meals, and coffee breaks, though we hope to schedule longer coffee breaks between sessions. We also discussed ways to encourage timely submission of papers, and means to raise the general quality of papers.

Suggestions for Innovation. We discussed the possibility of using innovative formats for panels and adding plenary sessions or other common experiences. We agreed that these issues should be taken up by the next program committee.

Location and Dates for Next Year’s Conference. We decided to follow up an offer from Tim Fuller to host a second conference at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. If we were to go to Colorado College, the conference would likely be held on Thursday through Sunday, 29-31 October 2004. We also discussed the possibility of holding future conferences at National-Louis University in Chicago and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Program Committee – Call for Volunteers. Thirteen people, including three unable to attend the meeting, volunteered to serve on a new program committee. We also decided to invite others unable to attend to volunteer, though it seems likely that not all volunteers will serve this year. One or two more senior faculty members are encouraged to volunteer.

JOIN THE NEW GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE

We decided that, for the moment, APT would continue to function informally, with Dennis and Emily negotiating Association business with program committee members (old and new). Meanwhile, a new Governance Committee would be formed to develop proposals for incorporation and for a more formal organization, including a constitution. The following agreed to begin forming and to serve on this committee:

Emily Hauptmann, Western Michigan University
Dennis McEnnerney, SUNY Oneonta
Andrew Murphy, Christ College, Valparaiso University

We encourage other members of APT to volunteer to serve on this committee, as well.

WORKING WITH THE APSA AND FOUNDATIONS

We decided to explore ways to work with the APSA and its Foundations of Political Thought section, particularly in constructing some means to archive and share digital versions of papers delivered.

SHOULD WE START A JOURNAL?

There was some very brief discussion of the possibility of APT starting a journal, a proceeding of papers, or both. Time prevented much elaboration on these suggestions, but we agreed that the Association should explore such possibilities in the future.

-Dennis McEnnerney, 29 October 2003