Report on 2000 NJCA Conference
Martin Itzkowitz presented a financial report on the past year's conference at Rowan University, summarized as follows:

Income

Faculty conference fees: $3025
Student conference fees: $840
Institutional Contributions: $2686
(does not include that portion of Rowan's contribution that covered the costs of duplication and mailing)

Total Income: $6551.00

Costs: $3502.28

Balance: $3048.72*

*Martin pointed out the $15.00 discrepancy in the report is in the favor of the NJCA.
Conference attendance
57 faculty and 43 students were registered for the 2000 conference for a total of 100 registrants. This represents a drop of 20 registrants from the previous year.
Non-Profit Status report
Martin reported on the current status of the association's efforts to gain nonprofit status. The services of an accountant might be needed to move the federal application forward, as a cost of about $2,000.00. He suggested that exploring the possibility of gaining NJ status first might be a way to avoid the accountant's fee.
2001 NJCA Conference report
Don Swanson (Monmouth U.) presented a report on plans for the 2001 NJCA conference, which will be held at Monmouth University on Saturday, March 31, 2001. The theme of the conference will be "Communication in the Public Interest." Former White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry is scheduled to deliver the keynote address. Dr. Diana Carlin of the University of Kansas, who serves on the Advisory Board for the Commission on Presidential Debates, and who is coordinating a national research project on the 2000 presidential debates (Debate Watch '2000), is scheduled to lead a panel discussion with McCurry on Presidential Debates.

Don presented a proposed schedule for the conference, and a schematic of programs to be offered at the conference that would accommodate competitive panel presentations commensurate with past conferences, and an added plenary session. The call for papers will be circulated in September, with a December 1, 2000 submission deadline to accommodate the early date of the conference.
Conference Discussion
A general discussion of the conference plans ensued. Highlights:

David Yastremski discussed the ways in which K-12 educators could be attracted to the conference, in light of changes in New Jersey professional development requirements.

Stephen Cooper suggested ways of encouraging participation by Community College and undergraduate students. A poster session was suggested for students, as well as programs and workshop sessions targeting this constituency.

Michael Goodman suggested raising the conference fees for faculty and students to cove rising food costs and other conference expenses. Fees have been static in the past few years, and a portion of the faculty fee ($15) covers subscription to the NJJC. It was suggested the association raise the faculty fee (which was $55 this past year) to $65 or $75, and the student fee from $20 to $25. A decision was tabled until the Fall NJCA meeting.
Adjournment
The meeting was formally concluded at 2:00 p.m. and Don Swanson conducted a tour of the facilities planned for use for the 2001 conference.

Respectfully submitted,

Chad Dell
Monmouth University
September 26, 2000

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