IAWA Board of Advisors Executive Meeting: October 1, 2004

IAWA

CAUS

IAWA Board of Advisors Executive Meeting
Dean's Conference Room, Cowgill Hall, Virginia Tech
1 October 2004

Present: Terry Clements, Donna Dunay, Kay Edge, Marcia Feuerstein, Scott Poole (Director SA+D, ex-officio)

Absent: Heather Ball (regrets), Eileen Hitchingham (regrets), Paul Knox (regrets) , Gail McMillan (regrets)

Guests: Dan Palmer (library development), Lindsay Raymond (CAUS development), Milka Bliznakov (founder)

Call to Order

Chair Marcia Feuerstein called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM. All present introduced themselves. Chair Feuerstein welcomed advisors and guests.

Approval of Agenda

Chair Feuerstein presented the agenda (Addendum 1) and suggested that the treasurer's report be added to "III. Old Business". Terry Clements so moved, D. Dunay seconded and the Agenda was approved as amended.

I. IAWA Mission and By-Laws

Chair Feuerstein provided all present with a copy of the By-Laws of the IAWA in order to introduce these to all present. She stressed that the By-Laws were put in place to guide the IAWA, to identify the IAWA, and to provide historical continuity.

The Executive Board and Guests read through the By-Laws (Addendum 2), reviewing the mission and the purpose of the By-Laws. They also identified places that required correction or clarification. Chair Feuerstein noted that she would work on updating the By-Laws and bring them to the Board of Advisors for review and vote.

Article One - Organization, 1.0:
Milka Bliznakov, Founder and Emerita Advisor, spoke specifically about the address of the Archive, which was established for mail and for purposes of the IAWA as a joint venture between the Library and the CAUS. This was approved by both Deans at the time of the establishment of the IAWA.

Article Two - Purpose. 2.0:
Milka Bliznakov noted that the wording in article 2.0 of the By-Laws should be corrected to read "Women in Architecture" rather than "women architects." This will be corrected throughout the By-Laws.

Bliznakov noted that the archive is comprised of 12 complete collections and much information. Feuerstein disagreed, recalling her conversations with past archivist Jennifer Gunter King, who stated that the IAWA was a very important and impressive collection. Bliznakov further noted that the Willis collection appraisal revealed that the materials are of great value. She noted that through her research, the materials well over on million dollars - probably, with the Willis collection as well as the recent Rupp and Peterson collections, the archive value is well over 2 million dollars.

Bliznakov also noted that the Archive shall remain intact and would never be separated from Virginia Tech.

Article Three - Board of Advisors and Friends of the IAWA, 3.0.1:
Bliznakov and Dunay both noted that the Board was established that there was a fear that the archive would become a stagnant institutional entity. It is alive and grows. That is why only 5 advisors are from Virginia Tech and the rest are from the outside - The Board helps identify and contact women who practice to add to the collection. For example, Lois Gottlieb, IAWA Advisor, will be traveling to Montreal next month to bring a collection to the IAWA. Bliznakov stressed that the IAWA is not an institution - it is the Board and the Collection.

Feuerstein noted that the By-Laws should be corrected to reflect the change of the Department of Architecture to School of Architecture + Design.

Scott Poole asked about the Center status of the IAWA. Is it part of the School of Design, the University or the College. Should this be an administrative change? Where do we want the Archive Board to be? Bliznakov stated that she would do some research regarding this change. Feuerstein noted that the IAWA was already a Center when she became Chair. Dunay added that it occurred during her tenure as Chair. Feuerstein then reported her conversation with Robert Schubert, CAUS Associate Dean for Research who explained that the IAWA By-Laws automatically became the Charter and the Board of Advisors became Stakeholders. He told Feuerstein that the IAWA became a Center as the requirement of the University. This occurred at the same time all the other research entities became Centers in order to create financial oversight.

Article Four - Officers, 4.3 Treasurer:
Chair Feuerstein noted that the duties and procedures for treasurer must be updated and clarified. Clements suggested that we rethink the role of the Treasurer. It was noted that the By-Laws no longer reflect the way the University tracks money and discussed the current procedures and difficulties with receiving accurate information regarding monetary gifts.

Terry Clements reviewed the Treasurer's Annual Report. (Addendum 3)

Reimbursements: The Board then discussed the approval of expenses. Currently the Chair and Treasurer approve expenses and the Board of Advisors approves large amounts, such as the Milka Bliznakov Prize ($1000.00.) Donna Dunay moved that expenses over $100.00 be approved by the Board of Advisors. Kay Edge seconded the motion. Discussion followed. The motion was approved unanimously.

II. New Business

A. Sigrid Rupp Bequest
Feuerstein reported she received notice of a bequest of one million dollars from the estate of Sigrid Rupp to the IAWA.

III. Old Business

A. Conclusion of Annual Meeting:

The conclusion of the Annual meeting was tentatively scheduled for October between 16 and 24 in Alexandria, VA at the Washington Alexandria Center.

B. Milka Bliznakov Prize Committee (Dunay)

Donna Dunay reviewed the process and noted that the jury would be making recommendations about both the first and second stage submissions.. She asked the IAWA to consider offering two prizes for the next year. Three of the six finalists sent final projects for the 4th prize.

C. Newsletters (Edge)

Kay Edge, co-editor of the newsletter, reported that printing costs increased from $1200.00 (last year) to $1668.00 for this year's run. Milka Bliznakov reported that the money for Newsletters was divided between the College (design, editing, printing) and the Library (mailing.)

D. Treasurer's Report: Terry Clements reported the totals from each account that the IAWA has access to and identified all gifts with their amounts from whom she received checks. This is also her report for the Annual Meeting. (Addendum 3)

IV. Other Business

A. Dan Palmer, representing the Library and Archivist, reported that Jennifer Meehan has left the library. He added that the library will be renovating the reading room and storage space in special collections at a cost of $300,000. This helps all collections that are housed in special collections and gives some additional space to the IAWA collections.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 PM. Meeting notes, taken by Lindsay Raymond, were developed into minutes by Marcia Feuerstein October 24, 2005, further revised December 25, 2005, corrected and respectfully submitted to the Executive Board of Advisors of the IAWA on 6 January 2005.