In attendance: Officers Joan Ericson (Outgoing President 2007–08), Mari Noda (Incoming President 2008–09), and Yasu-Hiko Tohsaku (President-Elect 2008–09); Board members Dan Dewey, Kazumi Hatasa, Noriko Iwasaki, Fumiko Nazikian (incoming), Mayumi Oka, Stephen Snyder (incoming), Paul Warnick, and Eve Zimmerman (outgoing); Fundraising Committee chair Wesley Jacobsen; Journal editors Tim Vance and Rebecca Copeland; staff members Kathy Ajisaka and Susan Schmidt.
The meeting was called to order by Ericson, who said that it had been a privilege to serve as president for 2007–08 and that she was especially glad to know that the upcoming special issue of the journal Japanese Language and Literature will be a great success; she noted that the journal is a great asset to the Association. Ericson then turned the meeting over to incoming President Noda.
Noda thanked retiring Past President Jacobsen, who will continue to serve as chair of the newly formed fundraising task force, and retiring Board members Janet Ikeda, Zimmerman, and Yoshiko Mori. She said that her emphasis in the coming year will be a review of the current bylaws and administration of ATJ: both are problematic, both because the Association will soon not be able to recruit enough candidates for officer positions and because of the need to show continuity as a fundraising campaign is launched. She feels ATJ needs to show that it has a clearly defined mission that is distinct from that of sister organization NCJLT.
Incoming President-Elect Tohsaku was introduced. He said it was a great honor to be President-Elect of ATJ and that he feels that the challenge for the Association is working to satisfy the interests of a large number of diverse members. He said he is determined to devote his energy to making a great organization even greater.
Retiring Past President Jacobsen said that he is taking on the challenge of fundraising because there is pressure on the funding organizations that have supported ATJ in the past (the Japan-US Friendship Commission, Japan Foundation, and others). His goal is trying to raise money for a capital fund that will generate $100,000 a year—which means $2 million for the short term and $3 million to hedge against inflation. The task force is thinking about donors, both small and large. The task force that Jacobsen is putting together will be made up of people who can help us to identify and contact people who can be potential donors (e.g., people who have studied Japanese and have become successful). Potential donors both large and small will be approached, beginning with ATJ members. He pointed out that members who contribute even small amounts to the Endowment Fund are donors, as are those who become lifetime and 10– or five–year members. Businesses also will be approached to become corporate members. Support from within the organization is important: a high rate of participation from all members in small contributions is advantageous when larger potential donors are approached. Board members were asked to identify potential donors and contact Jacobsen about them.
The Minutes of the previous meeting (September 22, 2007) were approved provisionally. Board members who have further corrections were asked to contact the ATJ office. Snyder volunteered to take notes for the minutes beginning with the next Board meeting.
The Membership Report was discussed and approved. It was noted that there had been a small but steady increase in the number of lifetime, 10–year, and five–year memberships, partly as a result of several appeals from the fundraising task force chair. The general membership continues to follow the pattern of reaching a high point in August of each year—between 800 and 900 members—and then dropping off slightly at the beginning of each year. Recent efforts to recruit new members have not had a permanent effect. New memberships are often recorded at the time of the annual Seminar, but many of those new members do not renew after the first year; the same is true of student members.
A suggestion was made that the Association for Japanese Literary Studies be asked if a joint membership arrangement might be possible. A question was raised about a possible synergy between 10–year memberships and lifetime memberships: for example, if a member wanted to "advance" from a 10–year membership to a lifetime membership, could there be a "pro-rated" fee or discount to reflect the amount that had already been paid for 10–year membership?
The Financial Report from the office was discussed. Total assets at the end of calendar 2007 in all accounts (including one checking account, one money market account, one internet banking account (with deposits from online transactions for membership and Seminar registrations), and two Certificate of Deposit accounts, were $101,997.
Publication of the quarterly Newsletter became primarily online at the beginning of 2007, and roughly three-quarters of individual members continue to receive the Newsletter online only. The remaining one-quarter also receive a hard copy by mail, as do all institutional members. The Board agreed that mailing of hard copies was useful and should be continued. Moving to primarily electronic distribution of the Newsletter has significantly reduced costs.
Both the Newsletter and ATJ website are the primary source of information on teaching positions that are opening in Japanese language. The job listings are also a source of income, up to $2,000 each year. Board members were asked to encourage their departments to post position openings on ATJ's online Job Line and in the newsletter.
Journal Coordinating Editor Vance reported on the status of Japanese Language and Literature. He handed out the Table of Contents of the April 2008 issue (Vol. 42, No. 1), noting that at more than 300 pages it would be the largest in the Association's history. Following up on a suggestion made at the previous Board meeting, Vance said that he had investigated the possibility of producing the journal on CDs and asked how much money could be saved if some members opted to receive CDs instead of paper issues. His investigation showed that about $1,300 of the per-issue cost of about $9,000 would be saved, in the form of paper and postage expense—assuming that all overseas subscribers received CDs rather than paper copies (not necessarily a valid assumption). It was suggested that a move to electronic distribution might begin by offering the option of a CD or offering CDs in addition to the printed journal—for a copying and mailing fee.
The idea of pursuing funding for specific issues of the journal was also suggested. (The example of the AAS publication Education About Asia was mentioned: EAA often publishes special issues funded by different funding organizations.)
The October 2008 issue of Japanese Language and Literature (Vol. 42, No. 2) will be a special issue on pedagogy, edited by Mutsuko Endo Hudson and Seiichi Makino. Vance noted that a very large number of articles had been submitted for inclusion in the special issue.
The Bridging Project for Study Abroad in Japan, perhaps ATJ's most publicly visible project, continues to be an important resource for students who study in ATJ members' classrooms, as well as a source of institutional infrastructure support for the office (annual funding for the project's administration supports a significant portion of ATJ's office expenses). The Bridging Scholarships, which have now been awarded to more than 800 students at US colleges and universities, have become a high-profile and prestigious award
Warnick reported on the 2008 ATJ Seminar, which was held on April 3 (the day preceding the Board meeting). A total of 15 concurrent sessions were held during the day: eight panel proposals and more than 70 individual session proposals were received, and panels and individual papers were selected for the program. Approximately 200 people attended the Seminar. Board members reported good feedback and appreciation for the literature-themed sessions, but attendance at those sessions was, as usual, low. The pedagogy-themed sessions were very well attended. The presentations by graduate students were called "heartwarming": it was suggested that more graduate students should be encouraged to submit proposals and guided and mentored in the skills of presenting. Presentations on Okinawan language and culture and Kansai dialect were impressive and popular.
It was suggested that next year the Seminar starting time should be moved up to 9:00, so that longer breaks between sessions and a true lunch break could be possible.
The 2009 Seminar Committee will be Dan Dewey, Noriko Iwasaki, and Mayumi Oka.
For the first time in 2008, the Elections for Board members and President-Elect were held electronically: Schmidt reported that the online voting had gone very well, and that (contrary to expectations) only two members had requested paper ballots. The results of the election are as follows: the new President-Elect is Yasu-Hiko Tohsaku; the three new elected Board members are Fumiko Nazikian, Stephen Snyder, and Motoko Tabuse.
Participation in the election was a little higher than for previous paper-ballot elections, but not substantially so. It was suggested that for the 2009 election, the full list of candidates be printed in the letter that goes to members giving them the login and password for online voting: knowing who is on the ballot might encourage more people to vote.
The Nominating Committee members for 2009 will be Kazumi Hatasa, Masumi Reade, and Paul Warnick.
The new Japanese National Honor Society—College Chapter program will begin in spring 2008: ATJ members have expressed a great deal of interest, and the office has already received some applications. It will be necessary to move up the application deadline for 2009 and following years, and make other changes, but the program seems to be off to a good start. It was suggested that participation be encouraged by providing profiles on the website of some of the student recipients—including special characteristics like heritage background and so on. It was suggested that a requirement for culture courses in addition to language courses might be added in the future. The suggestion was made that the certificate have both English and Japanese text, and that a logo for the program and the certificates be created for 2009.
The timing and venue of the Fall 2008 Board meeting were discussed. As the fall meeting is held jointly with NCJLT, a final decision on date and location were postponed until the NCJLT Board could be consulted; further discussion will take place electronically. The last weekend in September or the first weekend in October seemed to be the best dates.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Schmidt