USITT-SOUTHWEST
BOARD MEETING
MARCH 20, 2003
USITT National Conference
Minneapolis, Minnesota
1. The
annual meeting, as required in our By Laws, was called to order at 8:15 a.m. by
Richard Denning, Chair. Members and
guests were welcomed. 34 were in
attendance.
2. Special guests Charlene Newlin and her
daughter, Cindy, were introduced. Last
Fall the section had voted to present the USITT-Southwest Founder’s Award for
Lifetime achievement to Forrest.
Richard presented the award posthumously, and it was accepted by Charlene
and Cindy. As a permanent tribute to
Forrest, the Founder’s Award has been renamed the Forrest A. Newlin
USITT-Southwest Founder’s Award. Charlene and Cindy expressed their deep appreciation for the award
and how much USITT-SW meant to Forrest.
All former and current students, friends, and colleagues were invited to
attend an informal reception at 3:00 p.m. at Forrest’s exhibit on the Stage
Expo floor.
3. Copies
of the minutes of the Board meeting at the USITT-SW Symposium in Fort Worth,
were circulated and approved as presented.
4. Richard
presented the Treasurer’s Report. The current
balance in the primary account is $3,321.05.
The current balance in the sub account is $2,599.43. We collected $550.00 in Symposium fees and
incurred $950.33 in expenses. With the
$600.00 grant approved by USITT, our net profit was just under $200.00.
5. Tom
Grabowski, University of Texas-Pan American, is the new Membership Chair. Membership cards were distributed to members
in attendance. Tom reported that there
are currently 23 individual and 16 student memberships. He will go over the membership database and
send letters to all former members who
have not received renewal information.
Since we no longer hold a Fall conference with SWTA, annual membership
is now January through December. All
dues should be sent to the Treasurer, who will then forward membership
information to Tom. Membership categories
as listed in the most recent newsletter were compared to the By Laws for
accuracy. There was discussion about
the category “Retiree” and when it was added to the membership categories.
6. Old
Business-A slate for 2003-2005 officers and director-at-large positions was developed.
Chair-Elect James
Cunningham
Treasurer Elizabeth
Lewandowski
Director-at-Large
Position 1 Rick Stephens
Director-at-Large
Position 3 Doug Gilpin
It
was moved and seconded that nominations cease.
Motion carried.
7. New
Business-Elizabeth Lewandowski reminded members that the first place winner of
Design Southwest wins a cash award as well as very early registration to the
National conference. She proposed that
the scholarship be named after David Flemming.
Second by LaLonnie Lehman.
Motion carried.
A committee was formed to begin working on the
Fall 2003, Symposium. Members are
Michael Skinner, Third Vice-Chair in charge of conferences, Richard Denning,
James Cunningham, and Rick Stephens.
Ideas were presented for future symposium locations including Henderson
State University for Winter 2004, and West Texas A&M University to help
attract participants from New Mexico for the Fall Symposium. Members decided that Midwestern State University
would be a good host site for the Fall Symposium. Ideas were presented for topics.
In the costume area, wig fronting and dressing was agreed upon. Electrical safety and pyrotechnic certification
are possibilities for the technical track. Other ideas may be emailed to Richard.
8. Richard
asked if we have tax obligations as a 501 (c) (3) organization. Amy Jackson said that we must complete a
franchise tax form. Richard will check with
Diane Simons to make sure she has a copy.
Amy has a box containing past treasurer files. She is willing to store the files at AV Pro. Richard asked for any archival materials
members might have. He is willing to collect
all items for the next 2 years. The map
of Regional sections in the conference program and membership directory is
incorrect. It shows only Texas and New
Mexico in the Southwest section. Elizabeth agreed to follow up on this issue. The By Laws need to be revised, updated and
then posted on the USITT-SW website.
Elizabeth volunteered to help Richard on this project. According to the By Laws, we should have a
corresponding secretary. Elizabeth
suggested that we need an archivist instead.
No action was taken on this issue.
Meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
William Henshaw for Barbara Alkofer, Recording
Secretary