PS Minutes Third ESA Executive Committee Meeting in Paris October 26-27, 2012 1. Call to order, quorum and procedures 2. Approval of Minutes from the May meeting 3. Consideration of the agenda and programme of the meeting 4. Announcements 3.1. Gisèle Tchinda works as ESA website s editor until we find a way of integrating the ESA data management system to the conference tool. 3.2. The Editor of European Societies, Göran Therborn, has agreed that the editorial expenses run through the ESA budget. 3.3. Ellen Kuhlmann represented the ESA in the ISE General Assembly in January and in a conference in Barcelona in June, and will participate in the ISE meeting in November. 3.4. Pekka Sulkunen represented the ESA at the conference of the Portuguese Sociological Association in Porto in June 2012. 5. Finances (Finance Committee). The financial standing of ESA is satisfactory, according to the report. The Committee proposes that 1. RN member fees will be transferred to RNs along with ESA support for interim meetings or other activities. RN chairs will be asked to submit a report detailing how they used the money. An annual report will be a condition for receiving the money the following year. RN reports will be posted on the website to encourage transparency. 2. We ask the various EC committees to think of ways to encourage current members to renew their membership in 2013 and to recruit new members. Proposal: The maximum total contribution towards RN expenses will be included in the next budget, adjusted to the financial situation of ESA after the Turin conference. The principles of distributing this contribution between the RNs will be decided in Agenda issue 10 below. Decision 1: As proposed Third ESA EC Paris October 26-27, 2012 MINUTES 1(11)
Decision 2: The Secretary General will check that the expenses for bookkeeping correspond to the normal tariffs in France for similar operations. Decision 3: The ESA Policy Committee will consider and propose methods for membership recruitment before May meeting. The message to all members with the November Bulletin will invite members to renew their membership following the instructions in the Bulletin. 6. The Turin Conference 2013 (Programme Committee) 6.1. Structure of the programme. The PC has changed the programme structure according to the guidelines discussed in the EC in May 2012. See Report of the PC. Decision: As proposed 6.2. Conference software. The LOC will present a report. Decision: Tiziana s report approved. 6.3. Semi-plenaries. The deadline of proposals for semi-plenaries by Research Networks was extended until Oct 7, because many RNs have had their interim meetings in September. The PC will bring a proposal to the meeting Decisions: The Programme Committee will select the Semi-Plenaries. 6.4. Plenaries, special sessions, mid-day sessions. Prof. John Holmwood, President of the British Sociological Association, has proposed to the PC to increase interaction between the ESA and the American and British Sociological Associations as well as the International Sociological Associations. Proposal: See Report of the PC, p. 4. Decisions: The Programme Committee will build the programme along these guidelines. 6.5. Research Streams. Only seven proposals have been received. The following three are new: Partnerships as Vehicles for Coping with Employment; Power and Communication in Time of Crisis, Digital Citizenship. The organizers of RSs in Geneva will be contacted to ask if they wish to continue. The PC proposes to accept all seven to announce a call for papers (see Report of the PC). Proposal: A minimum of four abstracts (two 2-paper sessions) submitted by the abstract submission deadline (1 February 2013) is required to organize a RS. Otherwise the abstracts will be channeled to appropriate RNs by the PC. Decision: As proposed. In the future it might be advisable to call these ad hoc sessions. Third ESA EC Paris October 26-27, 2012 MINUTES 2(11)
6.6. Meet the Author sessions. The PC proposes four parallel Author Meets Critics sessions each day (see Report of the PC p. 4). Proposal: The title should be Author Meets Critics. The EC members will make proposals to the PC on books and critics. Also some books published in non-english can be included. 6.7. Timelines and conference preparation. See the PC Report, p. 9 Proposal: The Programme Committee s plan is accepted. Decision: As proposed. The LOC will supervise the session coordinators. Only two abstracts per person as first author or presenter can be submitted. Abstracts should include the name, city and country of the authors. No bios are requested. 6.8. Conference fees. The LOC has prepared a new proposal for conference fees (see report). The changes from Geneva are: introduction of A and B payment categories according to country; better service (fee, coffee breaks, etc.); low rate accommodation; low price hotel accommodation for EC members. The fees have been lowered from that included in the bid. Proposal: See attachment. Decision: The fees are: Early members 190, late members 250, early non-members 370, late non-members, 420. 7. The 2015 Conference (Programme Committee) 7.1. Bids. The deadline for bids closed on October 10 th 2012. Four (4) bids were received and they are included in the meeting s materials. Proposal: We discuss the bids here and select candidates to be interviewed in the May 2013 EC meeting. Decision: Budapest, Prague and Kyev are selected to be interviewed in the May 2013 EC Meeting in Turin. Robert Fine will write a list of minimum requirements for bids presentations and will send it to Helena and Tiziana for approval. Teams will not be invited to the May 2013 meeting if their bids do not meet the minimum requirements. 7.2. Deadlines and conference theme 2015. As agreed in the Second EC meeting, all deadlines have to be moved earlier. The PC proposes that EC members should be invited to propose conference themes at the 2013 Turin conference, and the theme should be decided in the first meeting of the new EC. Proposal 1: The RNs as well as the candidates for President and for EC members will be asked to propose candidates for the Conference 2015 theme, and the joint meeting of the outgoing and incoming EC in Turin should compose a list. Third ESA EC Paris October 26-27, 2012 MINUTES 3(11)
Decision: As proposed. Proposal 2: Most RNs do not meet before the Turin conference. To give RNs a better chance to prepare proposals, the call for semi-plenaries will be sent to RNs and published on the website and in the Bulletin in November 2012, with a reminder after the May 2013 meeting. The deadline for proposals is end of September 2013. Decision: As proposed. Proposal 3: The theme of the 2015 conference should be decided, and planning of plenaries, special sessions, and other conference issues should start, in the first meeting of the next EC, to allow sufficient time for invitations, deadlines etc. Decision: As proposed. 8. Publications Committee 8.1. New ESA Journal. The Publications Committee has submitted a proposal for the new European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology, received a bid from Routledge and proposes to accept the bid. Proposal: The bid will be accepted. The Publications Committee will take the necessary steps to start the journal, launch a call to propose an Editor, to propose an Editorial Board, draft a presentation of the Journal to ESA Members, and prepare the contracts. The formal launch of the Journal will take place in the May 2013 meeting of the EC. Decision 1: The bid is accepted. Ricca Edmonson, Paul du Gay and Eeva Luhtakallio are appointed as the editors until the end of 2015. The editors will make a proposal for the Editorial Board for the EC meeting in May 2013. The geographic representativity of the journal will be balanced out in the composition of the Editorial Board and in the appointment of the reviews editors. Decision 2: The Publication Committee together with the ESA Policy Committee shall propose guidelines for the Editorial Boards and the relationships between the ESA journals and the Association. 8.2. The ESA book series. In May 2012 the EC elected Maria Carmela Agodi and Ellen Annandale as ESA Book Series editors. They will bring a report to the meeting (see their report of 05 September 2012). Decision: Ellen Annandale and Maria Carmela Agodi will serve as book series editors until end of 2015. The report will serve as guidelines for their activity. 8.3. European Societies Editorial Board Göran Therborn gave an oral report to the meeting. Third ESA EC Paris October 26-27, 2012 MINUTES 4(11)
9. Postgraduate activity (Report 29 April 2012) 9.1. The ESA Summer School was held in Lisbon on 22-26 July 2012. 124 applications were received. The main selection criterion was the quality of the application, yet diversity in terms of gender, university, country of study and sociological themes have been taken into account. Candidates had to be or become ESA members. 24 candidates were selected and 22 actually participated. The teachers were Ellen Annandale, Luis Baptista, Helena Carreras, Tally Katz-Kerro, Jaana Lähteenmaa, Suvi Ronkainen, Pekka Sulkunen, Georg Vobruba. Ellen Kuhlmann was a member of the organizing committee but could not attend. The Postgraduate Committee summarizes some comments from teachers and students in their Report. Proposal: The Postgraduate Committee will draft Guidelines for both PhD Student workshops (in the context of the ESA Conferences) and the Summer Schools (during the interim years) for organizing these events. Decision: The Guidelines will be prepared by the PhD Committee. 9.2. The PhD Workshop in Turin 2013. The workshops and summer schools have been very popular and the feedback has always been good. Admission to them is in a way a scholarship, and one intention of the EC has been to use them instead of prizes for best papers, because they are a more productive form of encouragement and support. The financial situation of the Association is sufficiently solid to organize a PhD Workshop in Turin 2013. Proposal: The Postgraduate Committee will organize a PhD Workshop in Turin following the pattern of earlier such workshops, but using participant feedback in thinking of the programme structure and teaching methods. A chair and a co-chair of the organizing committee should be appointed. Decision: Suvi Ronkainen (EC) and Giovanni Semmy (LOC) will organize the PhD worksnop in Turin. Three streams 8 students each on Monday and Tuesday preceding the conference. Papers will be read beforehand by students and teachers. Five teachers: Suvi, Tally, Georg, Ellen A, Ellen K, Decision: Creation of PhD forum will be planned by the PhD Committee and a plan will be prepared for May 2013. 10. External Relations (ER Committee Reports by Ellen Kuhlmann, Sept 15 on ISE and by Ricca Edmondson and Anne Ryen, October 02 ) 10.1. Participation in ISE. The ESA has been a member association of the Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE) since 2009, paying a membership fee of 2000 euros per annum, plus costs of participation in meetings. Ellen Kuhlmann has represented the ESA in the ISE meetings and proposes that we continue as members. Proposal: ESA will continue its membership in ISE, and this should be included in the ESA budget. Third ESA EC Paris October 26-27, 2012 MINUTES 5(11)
Decision: The ESA President will encourage Members to sign the Petition organized by the ISE for securing the EU Research budget (http://www.no-cuts-on-research.eu/) in the email with the November Bulletin. 10.2. The Network of Social Science Laboratories. The Council of National Associations meeting in 2008 decided to propose to the European Research Council that a Network of Social Science Laboratories should be included in the European research infrastructure programme. Since then, the ISE position papers on infrastructures have included this idea. The First Executive Committee Meeting in October 2011 decided that the Laboratories initiative should be elaborated further. Ricca Edmondson and Anne Ryen have prepared a report, proposing that RN20 will organize a special meeting on the issue in Turin 2013. Proposal: ESA will continue efforts to include support for the European Network of Social Science laboratories in the European science infrastructure programme. Decision: Anne Ryen and Ricca Edmonson will organize a pre-conference workshop, inviting representatives of existing data archives, the ISE and an expert of European research infrastructure funding to discuss how scientific societies could be of help in getting infrastructure funding for this activity. 11. Research Networks (Report 28 September 2012). 11.1. Election of the Chair of the RN Council. - The RN Committee proposes that candidates are solicited by the Nominations Committee and elected according to a procedure to be specified in the guidelines as suggested in the Report. According to the Statutes, the Council meets at least once every two years during the ESA Conference. The Council elects a chairperson who represents the research networks as a regular member of the Executive Committee and chairs its Research Network Committee. Candidates for the Council Chair should have chaired an ESA research network in the past. The Council Chair organizes the election together with the ESA secretariat. - The legal status of the ESA is defined by the Statutes, and elections of Members of the Executive Committee must be founded on them. Proposal: The election procedure of the Chairs of both the RN Council and the NA Council will be specified in the Statutes and a possible addendum on the electoral procedure. The possible revision of the Statutes should be undertaken as proposed under Agenda Item 16.3. below. Decision: The Nomination Committee collects proposals from RNs and makes an eligibility check according to the RN Guidelines (2010). The Nominations Committee will set up a slate by end of March. The RNs have each one vote in the RN Council Meeting to elect the Chair by two-tier majority vote. 11.2. Funding RN activities. The RN Report proposes a system of fees and grants, based on the number of RN Members in good standing. - The Bookkeeper suggests opening a single bank account for all the RNs and opening 36 different rubrics in our bookkeeping records (balance sheet) so that the bookkeeper's annual budget is more detailed in the coming years. The total Third ESA EC Paris October 26-27, 2012 MINUTES 6(11)
contribution towards the costs of RN activities must be within the budget constraints of the Association. - A decision on the principles of distribution of this contribution, as well as on guidelines for acceptable uses of it needs to be made. Ellen Kulmann reports that RNs 15, 36 and 21 have been asked to send in their applications for midterm conference funding, as agreed in the May 2012 EC meeting, and they have done so. Decision: RNs 15, 36 and 21 are granted the allocation of 1500 euros for their midterm conference. Proposal 1: A special ESA bank account will be opened for the Research Network activities. Each Research Network will have a rubric in our bookkeeping records, so that they can transfer their allocations from one year to the next. Decision1: After a vote, 14 in favour, 2 against, 2 abstaining, the proposal is approved. Proposal 2: The RN Committee, together with the Finance Committee and the President, will make a proposal on the principles of distribution of these contributions and write guidelines on how they can be used, in keeping with the Guidelines for RN activities, by the May 2013 meeting of the EC. Decision 2: After a vote, 16 in favour, 2 abstaining, the proposal is approved. Proposal 3: The Executive Committee will decide what the total contribution towards the cost of RN activities in the first budget after the ESA conference is. The minimum of this contribution is the total sum of the membership fees of the Research Networks. Decision 3: As proposed. 12. National Associations (Committee on National Associations Report 28 April 2012). 12.1. The National Associations Conference, 25 October 2012. The first EC meeting decided to organize a NA Conference on European Science Policy and the Social Sciences including one hotel night and dinner per NA in good standing. The Programme is attached. Decision 1: The External Relations Committee will draft an initiative for a Social Platform to be submitted to the European Commission on a theme. The purpose of this platform is to assist in the preparation of the Work Programme of the Horizon 2020. Decision 2: PS will send a letter of thanks to our invited speakers. 12.2. Election of the Chair of the NA Council. According to the Statutes, The Council is chaired by one of the national representatives. The chairperson of the Council will be elected by the Council for a two year term and can be re-elected once. It is necessary that the Chairpersons of the RN and NA Councils are elected in the same way. Third ESA EC Paris October 26-27, 2012 MINUTES 7(11)
Proposal: The election procedure of the Chairs of both the RN Council and the NA Council will be specified in the Statutes and a possible addendum on the electoral procedure. Decision: The election procedure will follow the Guidelines of the NA Council. 13. The election of President and the EC 2013 13.1. Nominations Committee. According to the ESA Statutes, the President and the Chairs of the CRN and the CNA are members. Other 1 to 6 members must be proposed by the Chairs of these two Committees together with the Executive Committee. Further members can be other members of the Executive Committee, members of Research Networks or delegates of National Associations, also a PhD student. The nomination committee elects its chair. The task of the Nominations Committee: After the widest consultations, it collects proposals for candidates from national associations, from Research Networks, individuals or groups of members. It proposes a slate of up 24-28 candidates for the Executive Committee and 2-4 candidates for the presidency, half of them male and half female, taking into account region and fields of research. (Statutes Art. 13) Proposal: Kuhlmann and Cipriani are members ex officio. The current President is standing for the second term, and cannot be in the Nominations Committee. One of the Vice-Presidents not running for office shall replace him. 1 to 5 Members of the Nomination Committee will be elected by the EC. Decisions: Roberto, Elena D., Ellen K., Helena C. constitute the Nomination Committee. 14. Communications and Newsletter (Committee for ESA Communications Report) 14.1. ESA website information. The Communications Committee reports on changes made on the website information. It asks for permission to start soliciting book adverts. It underlines the need for changes in the website management (see below Agenda item 16.1). Proposal: The EC approves of the changes made and efforts to get paid advertisements for sociology books. Decision: As proposed. 14.2. ESA Newsletter and Bulletin. In response to the EC decisions in May 2012 the Communication Committee proposes to expand both the content and the target group of the ESA Newsletter. Printer-friendly version and the logo will be developed. For conference use, a flyer will be published. Proposal: The Communications Committee is responsible for the content of the Newsletter and Bulletin, considering that they cannot be in contradiction with ESA policy in any matter, that they should equally and in a balanced way inform readers of all Third ESA EC Paris October 26-27, 2012 MINUTES 8(11)
branches and orientations of sociology, giving priority to currently key public issues in social research, and giving priority to rising sociologies in Europe as well as the links between European sociologies and the rest of the world. The Committee shall assure that the Newsletter appears in a printer-friendly form. The Committee will prepare a flyer for the Turin conference. Decision 1: As proposed. Decision 2: The name of the CC will be changed into Communications and Public Relations, charged with tasks to communicating with the outside world. It should revise the content of the ESA website with the help of a professional Website designer. An extra sum of maximum 1000 euros is allocated to the graphic design for the logo and the flyer. The flyer should be usable as a template for other more specific flyers to correspond to the needs of RNs and other uses. Decision 3: Executive Committee members will send a list of potentially interested journalists to Elena and Pekka for selection. The selected journalists will be invited personally to Turin for a pre-conference media forum to be organized between 09h00 and 12h30 on Wednesday. ESA will offer them one hotel night for an estimated budget of 500, and they are invited to attend the conference without a conference fee. 14.3. ESA Participation as Wikipedian in Residence. The Communications Committee report includes material on the possibility that the ESA will seek a position as Wikipedian in Residence. Proposal: After an initial discussion in this meeting the Communications Committee makes a precise proposal to the next EC meeting in May 2013. Decision: As proposed. 15. ESA Policy (Committee on ESA Policy Report 26 April 2012) 15.1. ESA website maintenance. The Communications Committee and the ESA Policy Committee report that in order to avoid paying extra amounts in the future (for Joomla upgrades or membership forms updates), the ExeC could invite some professionals to make a proposal for redesigning all the website, making the website s structure more simple, more user-friendly, and anticipate future changes so that it stays simple. The EC meeting in May 2012 decided to postpone decisions on the website maintenance until we know how the conference tool works and how it can be integrated with the ESA data management system. Gisèle makes necessary checks and updates until then and acts as the web editor until then. Some changes can only be made by a professional. Proposal 1: The website maintenance reform will be undertaken after the Turin conference. The Communications Committee shall make a precise plan for the requirements, consulting appropriate experts and examining comparable websites (ASA, ISA) for the May 2013 meeting of the EC. Proposal 2: The decisions on expenses of professional help will be made by the General Secretary, in consultation with the Treasurer and Gisèle Tchinda-Falcucci. Third ESA EC Paris October 26-27, 2012 MINUTES 9(11)
15.2. Revision of ESA Statutes. ESA is a growing and dynamic organization. In recent years we have formalized the role of National Associations and are in the process of consolidating the organization of RNs. - The NA Council and RN Council now elect a Chair for the two-year term between the conferences. The electoral process must be founded on the Statutes. - It may be reasonable to reduce the number of EC Members elected by the General Assembly. - In the First EC Meeting of this term (October 2011) the EC decided to ask the ESA Policy Committee to prepare a proposal on how to integrate post-graduate students better to ESA and to recruit them efficiently as members. In the same meeting the EC decided to have the Statutes and Bylaws of ESA checked by an English-speaking lawyer. Decision 1: Anne Ryen will collate needs to revise the Statutes by the May 2013 meeting, revise existing Guidelines, and screen the decisions of past EC meetings since 2005 to construct a set of Bylaws. The proposals for changing the Statutes and existing Guidelines shall be brought to the May meeting 2013. An English-speaking lawyer will be consulted on the statutes before they are brought to the General Assembly in Turin 2013. Decision 2: The ESA Policy Committee (with the lead of Helena Carreiras) will consider a possible reduction in the number of members of the Executive Committee, and the establishment of a PhD Student Council. 16. Any Other Business 16.1. Ethical Guidelines The ESA Code of Ethics has been discussed, but the existing version must be improved. Anne Ryen and Pertti Alasuutari will propose a new version. 16.2. Fourth Executive Committee meeting The next ESA ExeC meeting will be held in Turin on 10-11 May 2013. 17. Adjourning the Meeting Appendices - Schedule - Short Minutes of the May meeting - Finance Committee Report - Conference Committee report - Torino fees Proposal - Report of the Turin LOC - Bids for the 2015 conference - Publications Committee report - PhD Research Committee Report - Committee for External Affairs Report - Ellen Kuhlman s report on ISE - Data Archive Report RE and AR 2012 - National Associations Council Report - Communications Committee Report - RNs Report Third ESA EC Paris October 26-27, 2012 MINUTES 10(11)