IAWA Executive Board of Advisors

Meeting: June 12, 2001
12:30 p.m. in 201 Cowgill Hall Architecture Conference Room, Virginia Tech

Present: Marcia Feuerstein, Brian Katen, Bert Rodriguez, Mitzi Vernon, Milka Bliznakov, Donna Dunay, Dawn Bushnaq.

Absent: Gail McMillan, Frank Weiner, Paul Knox, Eileen Hitchingham.

Call to Order:

Chair Marcia Feuerstein called the meeting to order at 12:48pm.

Marcia proposed an agenda for the meeting and acquiring a copy of Robert's Rules of Order. Mitzi moved to approve the agenda, Brian seconded and the agenda was approved by a voice vote.

Agenda Items:

1. Minutes: The minutes were reviewed and approved with 2 corrections.
2. Election: The ballots for the 2001 Board were reviewed and approved.
3. Newsletter: Dawn Bushnaq reviewed the progress on the IAWA Newsletter. She distributed a draft of the newsletter and a short discussion followed.
4. Annual Meeting:
   1. Marcia updated everyone on the schedule for the annual meeting. The meeting is scheduled for Sunday October 21st. Marcia stated that Gail McMillan and Inge Horton will attend. Brinda Somaya was uncertain if she would attend. Tony Wren and Wenche Findal would not be attending. Marcia noted that students would be needed to pick up arriving members at the airport, that there would be a student dinner on the Friday before the meeting and a work session and dinner on Saturday.
   2. Dawn will give Marcia tentative schedules from last year's meeting
   3. Mitzi asked if someone associated with the meeting would speak in Hancock on the Monday after the meeting. Marcia indicated that she would talk to Frank Weiner about scheduling a lecture and would also see if we could sign up for the Cowgill lobby from Wed. October 17th to Wed. the 24th. Possible exhibits included the slides that Marcia used 2 years ago or drawings from the Archive.
   4. Burt noted that minority speaker grant applications were due in September.
   5. It was noted that the recipient of the Bliznakov Prize should present their work.
5. Treasurer's Report: One donation of $25.00 was received from Abbye A. Gorin a former EDP Ph.D. student.
6. Coordinator of Special Collections:
   1. Bert noted that candidates for the position of Coordinator of Special Collections would be giving presentations. The first presentation is Friday June 15th. Brian will attend that presentation and Bert will attend a second presentation on the 19th. Bert noted that it is important to understand what each candidate could potentially bring to the archive.
   2. The need to continue to pursue a dedicated library position for the Archive was noted.
   3. Bert noted that he spoke with Judy about an opportunity to speak to the alumni about funding the archive or a position. Judy noted that the Foundation money couldn't be used for salary, but that there are mechanisms and arrangements to pay for a position. It is an involved process where a corporation pays the salary without giving money to the Foundation. Bert spoke also with Linda Woodward who indicated that were precedent for this type of arrangement and she would get back to Bert about it. Bert also noted that an endowed chair is only a supplement to the salary and does not pay the actual salary.
   4. Donna noted that the provost suggested a chronology of staff support for the archive be documented. We should ask Gail to draft that Chronology. The provost will also look into the provost's office initiative that founded the Audubon Quartet.
7. Funding:
   1. Marcia and Bert visited the Provost who encouraged them to pursue the idea of a foundation.
   2. Donna asked if we could state clearly the needs, strategies, and priorities for the money we need. Marcia noted that the Getty grant could be used a model. Bert suggested that a "statement of need" be drafted. Donna suggested that the letter from the Board be shown to the Dean in draft form so he could comment and assist with crafting it. Milka noted the Archives role in creating a "sense of self" for the University especially for women who are a minority on campus. This "sense of self" was noted in the Spectrum as part of the University's mission statement. The Spectrum article also noted the importance of creativity, which is also inherent in the archive. Mitzi agreed that it was wise to make that point in any discussion with the Dean.
   3. The Foundation's relationship to Riva was noted. It belongs to the Foundation but the University and the Foundation contribute money to run it.
   4. It was noted that Betsy Flanagan is starting a new fund raising initiative to go after corporate money for the arts.
8. Board of Advisors:
   1. Dawn noted that she has a disc with the file of emeritus advisors.
   2. The ad hoc meeting of Milka, Bert, and Brian to discuss how to give definition to various offices and responsibilities was noted.
9. Newsletter: Milka asked Evelyne Lang Jakob to write an article for the next newsletter. Milka also noted that if the cost of the newsletter exceeded Gail's allowance she would be willing to make up the difference.
10. Archive and Future Collections:
    1. It was noted that Evelyne Lang Jakob will be getting an important archive that will have to be mailed form Europe or brought back by Milka.
    2. There was a discussion of strategies for future collections including establishing Board member responsibilities. Milka noted that there is a list of 12 women who have promised work to the Archive. Donna suggested asking each Board member to bring names of 5 potential target archives to the annual meeting. She also suggested a group be formed (including off-campus advisors) to coordinate these efforts. Marcia suggested that the work of the collection development group might be transformed into a more active than regulatory work. The importance of spending time on acquiring work was noted as well. Donna suggested that we could discuss a different archive at each meeting - a discussion that could be led by any future archivist. It was noted that perhaps Gail could lead such a discussion at every other meeting. There was unanimous agreement that the Board discuss the Archive's contents regularly. We should also make surer that the advisors are in fact doing the work set forth in the by-laws.
11. Adjournment

    Bert's motion that the meeting be adjourned was approved at 2:15 p.m.

Send questions or comments to:
IAWA Archivist, University Libraries
Virginia Tech, P.O. Box 90001,
Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001