Council of Communication Associations (CCA) June 24, 2014
Minutes
WebEx Meeting
Present: Heather Birks, John Allen Hendricks, Barry Umansky, and Greg Newton (BEA); Jim Dubinsky (ABC); Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz (CID); Trevor Parry-Giles and Nancy Kidd (NCA); Linda Putnam (ICA); Elizabeth Toth (AEJMC); Valerie White (BCCA)
1300: Meeting called to order by Greg Newton, Chair, CCA
During the course of the meeting, which focused on the history and mission of the organization in relation to its future, many points were raised about the changes in the organization since its founding in the late 1990s. While the question was raised about whether or not to disband the organization, the majority of those present were not in favor of disbanding without at least one more (physical) meeting (and some intensive preparatory work regarding the mission and bylaws). We decided to hold a meeting on September 22, 2014 in Washington, DC.
∗ Key Points
o Originally the organization’s goals focused on key disciplinary issues such as
representation for the NRC and for ISI; gaining a more comprehensive understanding of our field via survey methodology; advocacy to federal agencies; and working across organizational boundaries to create a stronger, more unified presence for communications, broadly writ.
o Several representatives questioned the long-term value of continuing along the path of the past three to four years. Their points included the fact that much of this work has been done or that the tasks proved difficult to complete, leaving the mission unfulfilled.
o Several representatives questioned the costs involved in maintaining membership (dues and travel costs).
o Several representatives offered visions for the future, with a stronger emphasis on international issues and maybe extending membership to international communication associations; continued advocacy for inclusion in key citation indexes; staying abreast of such issues as open source publishing and international copyright/net neutrality; and advocacy to federal/international legislative bodies.
o The issue would be if CCA continued, what form should it take and how should it operate? If it continued, the organization clearly needs to reconsider the dues structure, the nature of membership, and the number of physical meetings held per year. Most folks believed that having only one physical meeting a year would work for the group. Other members talked about forming task groups, reaching out to international organizations, and reconfiguring the structure of CCA.
CCA Minutes (June 2014) 2
∗ Recommendations
o Many members present felt that we could revision the organization, that it still
had relevance to have a larger cohort of communication organizations. A key point raised was that it may be far more beneficial to maintain the organization, however restructured/revisioned, than to disband only to discover needs down the road that justified reuniting the body.
o The chair, along with several other members, agreed to form a committee to revisit the mission statement and the bylaws (formally called a Drafting Committee). This work would begin immediately in an online forum that Heather Birks would establish.
o A quorum of those present decided that there was enough value in the possibilities of CCA, along with its history, to meet in DC one more time (at least) to discuss CCA’s future.
o Several organizations indicated that they would be discussing their participation before September and would inform the body as a whole1.
o We set a meeting date of 22 September in BEA’s office in Washington, DC.
1 Two members, NCA and AEJMC, have sent letters to the chair and ED informing them that they would no longer be active members.
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