Mass Communication Division
Business Meeting Minutes
Southern States Communication Association
Annual Convention
Tampa, FL
April 2, 2004

The Mass Communication Division (MCD) Business Meeting convened at 1:30 p.m. in the Fred E. Fletcher Room at the Wyndham Harbour Island Hotel in Tampa, FL. The meeting was called to order by the Vice-Chair of the Mass Communication Division, Dennis Robertson. There were thirteen in attendance at the meeting.

It was noted the Chair of the Division, Berrin Beasley, was unable to attend the conference due to illness and the Dennis Robertson would carry out the meeting in his capacity of Vice-Chair Elect. Those in attendance unanimously approved the minutes for the MCD. Members of the division were informed of the occurrences at the Executive Council Meeting by Dennis Robertson who attended the meeting on Wednesday night and by Teresa Taylor who attended the Thursday morning continuation of the meeting.

Items of discussion that were reported from the Executive Council Meeting by Robertson and Taylor were as follows:

     1. Development Plan for SSCA
     2. Case Statement of SSCA
     3. Site Selections for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008
     4. Rich Emanuel Proposal tabled
     5. Nomination of John Meyer as SCJ Editor
     6. Nomination of Emmett Winn as Executive Director
     7. Naming the early career research award in honor of Janice Harper Rushing
     8. Initiatives to increase participation in voting and conference attendance of current SSCA members
     9. Representation at a meeting organized by Tim Stephens to be held in May concerning
         contractual agreements with Taylor and Francis and EBSCO Host will be decided by Officers of SSCA.
   10. Political Communication Division has met the qualifications for Division status and was recognized
         as a Division in the meeting by unanimous vote.

Robertson noted the strength of the MCD reporting that the division is the fifth strongest division of SSCA. The division has 86 members which is up from approximately 60 members last year.

John Allen Hendricks questioned whether the bylaws of the MCD had been reviewed as suggested last year. It was suggested that the Chair for the MCD take the role of forming a as hoc committee concerning the bylaws of the constitution.

Lind Dysart Goff suggested that each person in attendance introduce themselves since there were many new members to the division.

Nominations for Secretary Vice-Chair Elect were made which included one nomination of Tony DeMars. DeMars was nominated by John Allen Hendricks and selected by acclamation and accepted the position as Secretary for the 2005 conference. DeMars will be Vice-Chair for the 2006 conference and will be responsible for planning the MCD conference in Dallas, TX.

Wendy Hajjar suggested conference ideas for the upcoming year be discussed. One suggestion was noted by Taylor of a panel focused on pedagogy.

DeMars encouraged faculty to seek fellowships from Radio-Television News Directors Association and Foundation (RTNDA) and the International Radio and Television Society Foundation (IRTS) and noted the production backgrounds were not necessary. It was noted that this would provide a wealth of information and experience.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 2:40 p.m.

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