1. Chair:
Joan Debardeleben opened the meeting and chaired it.
The chair asked that the members honour the memory of those members who had passed away during the preceding year. The members stood for a moment of silence to honour Andrea Horvath Thuroczyne and John Strong.
2. Minutes:
Reid moved (m) and Shkandrij seconded (s) that the minutes of the 1996 AGM, published in the November 1996, CAS Newsletter, no. 87, (Vol. XXXVII) be approved. Motion carried by acclamation.
3. HSSFC:
Marcel Lauzière, Executive Director of the Federation spoke to the members about the current status of the Humanities and Social Science Federation of Canada and the next Congress in Ottawa.
4. Reports:
President
Joan Debardeleben briefly summarized her written report. She focused on the problems with mailing fees to AAASS for Canadian members, the membership drive, and difficutlies with the use of the CAS mailing list in fundraising.
Treasurer and Secretary
Tarnawsky presented the following report:
CAS is still financially healthy. But the organization's financial health is in jeopardy. Our dues to the new federation are up ($2,160 this year, $1,736 last year), our grant from them is down very sharply. Last year it was $3,311. This year it was $1,656. Next year it will, presumably, be zero.
The Association's Treasurer's office expenses (xeroxing, postage, telephones, stationary) were absorbed by the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, for which the Association is grateful.
CAS finances are clearly divided between the CSP office in Edmonton and the treasurer's office in Toronto. CSP gets membership dues. The treasurer receives SSHRC funds and can call (according to established custom in the Association) on up to $3,000 of dues receipts, if necessary. Once again there was no need for the $3,000 transfer of dues from CSP this year. With the reduced
grant from SSHRC, the treasurer will likely call on these moneys in the next year.
B.SSHRC Grants
We received $5,400 from SSHRC, $1,656 for our expenses and $3,744 for travel.
C Travel Fund
The travel fund was in balance this year. In order to stay within our budget, it was necessary to reduce grant allocations by an additional 47% (from our target allocations of 75% for students, retirees and unemployed members and 50% for others). This is much higher than in previous years. Next year, the AGM location in Ottawa will mean large demands from the west, but lower demands from Toronto, which, I feel, should be excluded along with all of Ontario and Quebec.
The CAS Fund has made its customary $1,000 contribution to the Travel Fund. Since this is less than the income from interest, the Fund's balance will not be diminished.
Programme Committee
The Programme committee had nothing to report.
Editor, Canadian Slavonic Papers
Edward Mozejko summarized his written report which focused on the journal's financial status and membership and submission statistics. He introduced the idea of thematic issues on particular countries following the model of the Polish issue currently being assembled.
Graduate Student Representative
Kari Bronaugh delivered an oral report. She said the students were preparing a listserver and proposed re-instituting the student essay prize.
International Relations Committee
Carter Elwood summarized his written report.
Nominating Committee
In the absence of Nicholas Zekulin, Tarnawsky presented a list of candidates for elected offices (see list of elected officials). The positions of programme committee chair and representative to ICSEES were left without nominees. The membership was asked to allow the new executive to fill these positions after consultations with prospective candidates.
5 Elections
The following members were elected (*) or continue to serve in the designated positions:
Executive 1997-1998
President
Joan DeBardeleben
459 Patterson Hall
Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6
Immediate Past President & Chair, Nominating Committee
Nicholas Zekulin
University of Calgary
Vice Presidents
Allan Reid *
University of New Brunswick
Peter Petro *
University of British Columbia
Secretary-Treasurer
Maxim Tarnawsky (1995-1998)
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
University of Toronto
21 Sussex Avenue
Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1
email: tarn@chass.utoronto.ca
Chair, Programme Committee
Richard Sokoloski
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
70 Laurier Avenue East
P.O. Box 450, Station A
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5
rsokolos@aix1.uottawa.ca
613 562-5800, ext. 5929
FAX 613 562-5138
Managing Editor, Canadian Slavonic Papers
Edward Mozejko (1996-2001)
Modern Languages and Comparative Studies
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E6
Members-at-large
Andrea Chandler (Central) *
Carleton University
Aileen Esperitu (West) *
University of Northern British Columbia
Mark Knighton (East) *
Memorial University of Nfld.
Donna Canevari de Paredes (Central) *
University of Saskatchewan
Advisory Board
Paul Austin (1994-1999)
McGill Univeristy
Larry Black (1994-1999)
Carleton University
Douglas Clayton (1997-2002) *
University of Ottawa
Robert Busch (1996-2001)
University of Alberta
Bill McGrath (1996-1999)
Memorial University of Nfld.
Tova Yedlin (1996-2001) *
University of Alberta
International Relations Committee
R. Carter Elwood (1996-2001)
Carleton University
Nominating Committee
Robert Johnson *
University of Toronto (CREES)
Connie Wawruck Hemmett *
Dalhousie University
6. Other Business
Connie Wawruck-Hemmettt urged members to submit news of their publications to the annual bibliography. The mention of the bibliography in T. M. S. Priestly's report on the ICS shows its importance. Connie also asked for ideas to present to thw Women's Issues Network.
7 Adjournment
There being no further business Shkandrij (m), Tarnawsky (s) adjournement. Following adjournment, the membership engaged in an open discussion of the status of language and literature departments. It was agreed that letters from CAS should go to various universities where programs were endangered and that a brochure be produced outlining the benefits of studying slavic languages.