XVIII. IRRA ANNUAL REPORTS

IRRA GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Saturday, January 4, 2003
Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.
Ticonderoga Room

Call to Order--President John Burton called the meeting to order at 6:13 p.m. and welcomed the new IRRA board members and the general membership.

Nominating Committee Report--President Burton announced the acceptance of the nominees presented by the committee at the board meeting. He announced that Stephen R. Sleigh of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers was nominated as president-elect elect for 2005, and introduced incoming president Paula Voos and president elect Marlene Heyser to the membership.

Finance and Membership Committee Report--Chair Greg Woodhead asked that new members introduce themselves and welcomed them. He discussed the financial problems faced by the association, stated that the association was in a post grant period with a drop in membership, and that both the 2002 fiscal year and the budget for 2003 projected a deficit. He asked members do their part to reach out to colleagues to join the IRRA and to assist in the process of rebuilding the association. It was noted that the IRRA constitution and bylaws provide that the board has the authority to increase dues and that they had approved a dues increase to $95 for regular members for 2004. In addition, efforts to reach organizational membership would be expanded. Woodhead asked for other ideas to improve the membership numbers.

Special Strategic Membership Committee Report--President Burton reported that a new special strategic membership committee would be considering different ideas to increase membership and fund-raising options. He stated that most local chapter members were not national members and hoped the committee could find ways to convert some of these to national members. He also reported that the committee would look at the possibility of redefining the mission, to expand it from a labor-management and labor relations focus to include other segments of the employment community, i.e., the management side of the labor relations community. Burton emphasized the committee would need to remain sensitive to labor union members and academics in considering these options. In addition, the committee would consider a name change for the association, as the definition of industrial relations had changed in the last 50 years.

     Burton stated that the national office would put an outline of ideas into an electronic format to be accessible to members, in order to gather ideas. The ideas would be collected and reported to the executive board at the June 2003 board meeting. Items such as name change would require a vote by the membership. He reiterated the seriousness of the membership development issue, and that four presidents were on the committee, as well as members of the national office and the chair of the finance and membership committee. He restated the importance of members inviting friends or colleagues to join the IRRA.

Best Dissertation Award--Past President Hoyt Wheeler introduced Elizabeth Hoffmann as the awardee and announced her dissertation title and presented her with a certificate, plaque, and check for $1000. He also announced the honorable mention award winners: Corrine Bendersky, George Benson, and Aparna Joshi.

Education Committee Report--Chair Cheryl Maranto stated that the committee discussed criteria for the Excellence in Education award as well as ways to disseminate the innovations that were presented by nominees. She stated that they would want to work with Charles Whalen to solicit individuals to write articles for Perspectives on Work regarding their exceptional practices.

Excellence in Education Award Presentation--Maranto announced that all nominees for the award were exceptional, and that the committee had looked for truly exceptional innovations in teaching. She announced Terry Wagar and Ruth Needleman as winners of the 2002 Excellence in Education Award.

Report on Perspectives on Work--President Burton announced that the membership was invited to submit proposals and ideas for topics for articles to Charles Whalen, editor. He offered that samples of the magazine were available in the foyer and that Charles's email was listed in the issue.

Chapter Advisory Committee Report--Chair Marlene Heyser reported on the NCAC and Chapter Representative Report, and that the committee had reappointed several members and was looking for ways to assist the Association's 50+ chapters. She invited members to contact her or Lavonne Ritter, vice-chair and incoming 2003 chair, if assistance was needed.

IRRA Chapter Awards--Heyser discussed the Chapter Award categories and introduced the committee. She also thanked awards chair Jan Conti for all of her work. She then presented several IRRA chapter representatives with awards. The following chapters received awards: Alabama, Orange County, Southern California, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Southern Nevada, Hudson Valley, New York Capital, and TERRA. Heyser announced that Bob Chiaravalli and Tony Oliver were nominated as new members of the NCAC.

Young Scholar Award Presentation--Past President Don O'Brien announced the categories of the Young Scholar Awards and presented awards to Lucio Baccaro (absent), Carola Frege, Mike Belzer, and Ann Frost.

Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation--President Burton announced that Neil Chamberlain and George P. Shultz had both been awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards, and provided background info on each. George Strauss commented and read a brief statement provided by Neil Chamberlain, and Bob McKersie commented and read a brief statement provided by George Shultz. Burton announced that the statements would be published in the 2003 Proceedings.

Announce Dates of Next Meeting--Incoming President Paula Voos announced the dates of the next IRRA annual meeting as January 2-5, 2004. The meeting theme is to be Industrial Relations and Democracy. Voos invited members to submit proposals to the committee; the deadline for proposals is January 15, 2003.

Administrator's Report--Paula Wells welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked John Burton and the program committee for all of their hard work. She announced that many IRRA publications were now available online, including the Directory, Proceedings, and Perspectives on Work. Wells reminded members that the downward trend in association membership was not unique to the IRRA, but that the association was highly dependent on membership dues as its main source of operating revenue. Wells looks forward to working with the new Strategic Membership Committee that Burton had discussed earlier for ideas on how to stabilize and increase our membership base.

Request for New Business or Comments--Burton asked if there was any new business; there was none. He opened the floor for comments. Bonnie Castrey thanked President Burton for his service to the IRRA. He thanked the IRRA Executive Board and national staff for their service.

Concluding Remarks and Adjournment--President Burton announced that Cornell University, Rutgers University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign were holding a joint reception and adjourned the meeting at 7:16 p.m.