MOUNTAIN PLAINS MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION

MINUTES OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

October 11, 2007

 

1.      The 2007 meeting of the Board of Directors was called to order by Board President Don Carpenter at 3 p.m. at the Ramada Inn in Kearney, Nebraska.  Other Board members in attendance were: Attendance: Casimir Barczyk, Larry Carstenson, James Frost, Alan Hamlin, David Summers and Richard Vail.  Guests included Kay Hodge and Sri Seshadri, both members of the UNK Committee for MPMC 2007.

 

2.      The minutes of October 21, 2006 Board of Directors meeting were approved as submitted.

 

3.      Carpenter announced the special issue of the Journal of Business Inquiry for the best papers of MPMC 2006 is online at http://www.uvsc.edu/business/infoforfaculty/jbi_v6.html .

 

4.      Carstenson reported on MPMC 2007.  There are 95 paid registrants and three guests.  There are 69 accepted peer-reviewed papers, two workshops, a panel discussion and several round table abstracts.  The count includes seven student papers.  Eight submitted papers were rejected.  Nine best paper awards will be presented at Friday’s banquet, including seven for regular tracks, a student track and the best paper overall.  Each author will receive a certificate in a folder and each paper will receive a $100 cash award.  The UNK organizing Committee expects to make a profit consistent with the 2004 and 2005 conference amounts.

Hodge and Seshadri described the availability for future conferences of the logo and the web site that were designed for MPMC 2007.  Brief discussion ensued as to whether they should be adopted.  The Board asked the Committee to present their best offer for the price of each. The Board expressed its sincere gratitude to Carstenson and Committee for a job well done and decided to invite UNK to host MPMC 2012.

 

5.   Future MPMC meetings of the conference had been set as:

50th annual conference at Idaho State University in 2008

51st annual conference at Mesa State College in 2009

52nd annual conference in 2010 at a site to be determined, preferably in a Plains state

53rds annual conference at Southern Utah University in 2011

54th annual conference at University of Nebraska at Kearney in 2012.

 

6.      Frost announced that MPMC 2008 will be hosted by ISU’s Informatics Institute and that planning for the conference has begun.  A program announcement was included in the MPMC 2007 registration materials for all except those who registered on Wednesday evening.  Additional copies will be distributed at the Friday business meeting.

 

7.      Returning members, term expiration years, and roles of the Board of Directors for 2007-08

Casimir Barczyk, 2009, Member

Larry Carstenson, 2008, Past Conference Chair

      James Frost, 2009, Conference Chair

Alan Hamlin, 2008, Member

      David Summers, 2009, Member

      Richard Vail, 2010, Conference Chair Elect

Carpenter noted that his term on the Board expires at the end of MPMC 2007.  The Board decided to nominate Carpenter for an additional term (expiring 2010) for approval at the Members Business Meeting on Friday, October 12, 2007.

 

It was also noted that there is another open position on the Board.  The Board decided to solicit potential members from Plains states whose colleges might be interested in hosting MPMC 2010.  Carpenter will make that announcement at the Thursday evening reception in hope of identifying candidates prior to Friday’s Members Business Meeting.

 

8.      Carpenter noted that his term as President of the Board lapses at the end of MPMC 2007. It was decided to table election of a new President of the Board until after Friday’s Members Business Meeting.

 

9.      The present MPMC registration fee of $175 was discussed.  It has not been raised for several years and an increase is due in order to continue the quality set of the conference set by UNK.  Hamlin (Barczyk) moved to raise the registration fee to $225 beginning with MPMC 2008.  The motion passed.

 

10.  The attached proposed amendments to Bylaws were discussed.  Frost (Vail) moved to pass the amendments with minor wording changes to the Members to consider at Friday’s Members Business Meeting.  The motion passed.

 

11.  (New business)  Barczyk (Hamlin) moved to adopt the MPMC logo designed by UNK students, subject to clarifying whether the copyright can be transferred.  The motion passed.

 

12.  The meeting adjourned until after Friday’s Members Business Meeting.

 

13.  The meeting was reconvened by Carpenter at 1:15 p.m. on Friday, October 12, 2007 at the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument with Barczyk, Carstenson, Frost, Hamlin, Summers, Vail and new Board member Carla Cabarle.

 

14.  The Board warmly welcomed Cabarle.  She discussed the possibility of Minot State University as host of MPMC 2010.  The Board will decide on a 2010 host school at the 2008 Board meeting.

 

15.  Cabarle (Carstenson) nominated Carpenter to be reelected as President of the Board.  With no other nominations, the Board voted to elect Carpenter.

 

16.  Carstenson reported that there was no progress yet on determining the price for using the web site or on deciding the copyright issue on the logo.  The Board will communicate via email on these issues.

 

17.  Carpenter will prepare and distribute the minutes and amended Bylaws.

 

18.  With no further business presented, the meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m.  The next formal meeting will be in October 2008 in Pocatello, Idaho. 


Proposed Amendments to the Bylaws of Mountain Plains Management Conference

 

1. Changing the name of the organization.

 

Background

 

At the October 2006 Board of Directors annual meeting, the Board entertained the idea of clarifying the role of the Mountain Plains Management Association (MPMA) versus the Mountain Plains Management Conference (MPMC).  Though the term is commonly used, MPMA does not exist.  The advantage of establishing MPMA as an entity that sponsors MPMC would be to provide a professional membership organization for those who routinely attend MPMC.  Another advantage is that MPMA could engage in future scholarly and professional activities in addition to sponsoring MPMC.

 

The original concept was to add a second set of Bylaws for MPMA.  The present strategy would be to amend the existing Bylaws. Ether way, the change would be accomplished without any additional overhead.

 

Proposed Amendment 1

 

The name of Mountain Plains Management Conference (MPMC) shall be changed to Mountain Plains Management Association (MPMA).  The Bylaws shall reflect that sponsorship of the annual MPMC shall be a primary activity of MPMA.

 

Implementation

 

To implement the amendment, the following changes would be made to the Bylaws:

  • “Conference” would be changed to “Association” and “MPMC” would be changed to “MPMA” in the document heading and in Articles I, VII and VIII and Sections 2.1, 3.2, 4.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2, and 6.4.
  • The wording in Section 5.1 would be changed from “The annual conference of the Mountain Plains Management Conference (MPMC) shall be held in the fall …” to “The annual conference of the Mountain Plains Management Association (MPMA) shall be the Mountain Plains Management Conference (MPMC) and shall be held in the fall …”

 

 

 

2. Clarifying certain aspects of the annual conference.

 

Background

 

At the October 2006 Mountain Plains Management Conference, the membership approved an amendment that added Sections 5.01a, b and c that clarified certain aspects of the annual conference.  Since then, members or the Board of Directors have identified a few other aspects of MPMC that should be clarified.

 

Proposed Amendment 2

 

The following sections shall be added to the Bylaws:

 

5.01 d  Host Colleges or Universities.  The Board of Directors is responsible for approving a rotation of host colleges or universities.   This conference is hosted on a five year rotation among three colleges, including Idaho State University, Southern Utah University, and Mesa State College (Grand Junction) and two other colleges chosen by the Board of Directors.  The directors will choose from among those colleges who have submitted a letter of intent from the dean (or similar authority) of the candidate college.

 

5.01 e  Conference Chair Responsibilities.  This person is responsible for planning and executing the entire annual conference, including paper sessions, refreshments, banquets, awards, identifying lodging and parking, and other aspects necessary for a successful conference.   This person shall appoint track chairs, discussants and reviewers to conduct blind reviews for papers submitted, organize and staff paper sessions, and determine best paper awards. This person shall be responsible for producing a Proceedings CD to be distributed at the MPMC.  The Conference Chair shall also communicate at least monthly via email with the President of the Board of Directors as to the status of preparations for the conference and shall submit a final financial statement at the Board of Directors’ annual meeting.

 

5.01 f  Contractual Obligations.  No member of the host school shall be allowed to bind MPMA into any contractual obligation or legal status.  All financial and contractual arrangements for MPMC will be solely the responsibility of the host school, including but not limited to the establishment of any bank accounts.

 

5.01 g  Conference Registration Fee.  The Board of Directors will set the MPMC registration fee for the next year’s conference at its meeting at the present year’s conference.

 

5.01 h  Conference Profit or Loss.   The host school is responsible for all revenue and expenses of the MPMC that it hosts.  MPMA is not responsible for any operating loss.  The host school is entitled to retain any profit it might earn, less any annual charges set by the Board of Directors, such as a contribution to the subsequent conference.