Governance Update, May 2025

The Board of Directors met on April 29, 2025 in Glasgow, Scotland. In attendance were; Ian Ruthven (President); Maria Bonn (President-Elect); Crystal Fulton (Past-President); Chris Cunningham, PhD, (Treasurer); Lu An, Timothy Dickey, Bhakti Gala; Lisa Hussey; Aylin Imeri; Luanne Sinnamon, PhD; and Lydia Middleton, MBA, CAE (Executive Director). Attending as a guest was Megan Pfefferle, Associate ED.

1.   Executive Session

The Board went into Executive Session to discuss the contract renewal and annual evaluation of the Executive Director.

2.  Budget Assumptions

Discussion centered around the uncertainty of future partnerships and how this may impact the 2025-2026 budget. It was suggested to hold off on formalizing the budget for 3-4 months to see how the events play out. Securing a new publishing contract that provides a guaranteed minimum in royalties paid will help in the budgeting process year over year. Travel assumptions are trending less. Annual meeting projections are also trending down due to a more expensive venue, though submission rates suggest a similar attendance to Calgary.

3.  ASIS&T Reserve Policy

The board reviewed the draft Reserve Policy, all agreed that this would be in the best interest of the organization and was established at the right amounts.

A motion to approve the ASIS&T Reserve Policy passed.

4.  ARIST Editor Report

The Board reviewed the report from the ARIST Editor. The discussion was around the process for submitting an article is not as fluid as it needs to be. Marketing strategies on how to enhance engagement and submission were discussed.

5.  Annual Meeting Update

The program Chair, June Abbas, and vice chair, Yuxiang (Chris) Zhao, provided an update on the conference. There were 155 paper submissions, an increase from 146 the previous year. The conference will feature 147 papers, 38 panels, 6 events, 7 workshops, and 5 symposiums. One keynote speaker, Dr. John Simons from Kansas, has been secured, and efforts are ongoing to secure a second keynote speaker.

6.  Project Grant Proposal

The Oceania Chapter RAILS Project grant was approved.

7.  Consent Agenda:

The consent agenda was approved. It consisted of:

• Minutes of January 2025 Meeting
• Financial Statement March 2025
• Committee Reports
• Information Matters Report
• Updated Predatory Publisher Statement

The next meeting of the board will take place July 28 at 10 am EDT via Zoom.