BAICE 2012 AGM

9 September 2012, Churchill College, Cambridge

Present: Sajjadllah Alhawsawi (SA), Madeleine Arnot (MA), Brendan Bartram (BB), Michael Crossley (MC), Caroline Dyer (CD – incoming chair), Paul Lynch (PL), Malcolm Mercer (MM), Lizzi Milligan (LM), Tanja Mueller (TM), Nitya Rao (NR), Yusuf Sayed (YS), Michele Schweisfurth (MS- outgoing chair), Robin Sheilds (RS), Nidhi Singal (NS), Terra Sprague (TS)  – and BAICE members as listed in the BAICE file.

1. Apologies:  Qing Gu (QG), Mike Osborne (MO), Angeline Barrett (AB)

2. Minutes of the 2011 AGM:  MS advised that the notes previously circulated as minutes will be re-drafted and re-distributed to the membership.

ACTION: LM.

3.  Matters arising: These will be covered in the remaining items.

4. Report from the outgoing chair

MS reviewed her report and highlighted key features.  Thanks were expressed to outgoing BAICE president, Jo Boyden, and Elaine Unterhalter was welcomed as her replacement for the coming year.  MS encouraged members to consider applications for BTFs, details as per website.  At this point, CD took over chairing the meeting.

5.      Executive committee membership

Thanks were expressed to BB (stepping down as secretary) and MS (chair).  LM was welcomed as new secretary, along with new ordinary members, RS, NS and AB.  MA moved that the AGM endorse the new committee membership, seconded by TM.  Those attending voted to accept.

6.      Conferences

BAICE 2012 – MA reported on the current conference, noting in particular the successful collaboration with colleagues from Anglia Ruskin University and the welcome involvement of many graduate students.  The difficulty of attracting delegates from the NGO and policy spheres was additionally noted, and suggested as a particular focus for future consideration.  The success of the Writers’ Workshop was highlighted.  CD expressed thanks on behalf of BAICE to all those at Cambridge involved in organizing the conference.

2013 – UKFIET – TS stated that this conference will be held at Oxford, 10-12/9/13.  The conference theme is ‘Education and Development post-2015’.  CD informed the AGM that BAICE is now formally represented by her presence on the UKFIET organizing committee.

WCCES 2013 – TM reported on the upcoming conference in Buenos Aires, and drew attention to details on the BAICE website.  The deadline for proposals is 14/1/13.

BAICE 2014 – CD invited suggestions for the next BAICE conference host and theme.  Members are welcome to contact CD by email in this regard.

WCCES 2016 – MS reviewed the Glasgow proposal to host this conference, noting that if successful, BAICE would sub-contract arrangements to Glasgow City Council who would also bear the financial responsibilities.  A discussion was subsequently held on the benefits and challenges of the proposal.  Some disquiet was expressed as to the appropriateness of the proposed theme, and whether, if successful, a separate BAICE conference would be held in 2016.  MS noted that the decision will be made in Argentina next June.  CD requested a motion from the meeting, with caveats acknowledged, to move forward and investigate further.  The motion was carried by a show of hands.

7.      Report from the Treasurer

MM reviewed his report and drew attention to key features, for which he was thanked by CD.  MA proposed the report and accounts be accepted, seconded by MS, and accepted by the AGM.

8.      Report from the Membership Secretary

PL presented his report and highlighted key developments.  The move to a more functional membership database was noted and welcomed.  CD thanked PL for his report which was approved by the AGM. Lore Arthur was delighted to note that membership had apparently exceeded 300 for the first time.  This figure will be confirmed once the new member tracking system is fully operational.

9.      Report from Compare editors

NR presented her report, highlighting key features.  One correction to this was noted – the writers’ workshop was in fact over-subscribed and several aspiring participants who were not registered in advance were unfortunately turned away.  She also reported on developments concerning a planned online workshop aiming to address the low numbers of article submissions from under-represented parts of the world, most notably the Middle East and Africa. CD thanked: NR for her report, and the editorial board for their good offices.

10.   Report from student representatives

SA presented the student report and reviewed another successful year of BAICE student activities and involvements.  He drew attention to the current vacancy for a further student representative, inviting budding applicants to submit their CV and personal statement to him in due course.

11.    Report on the BAICE website

TS and MC presented their report and reviewed the latest web developments, including the BAICE virtual archive, which TS demonstrated.  The new website features improved search facilities and inter-active functionality.  This was welcomed as a very useful resource.  MA thanked TS for her cooperation with regard to posting conference updates on the website.

12.   Associate organisations: Business was covered under item 6 above.

13.   BAICE members’ proposals for future developments

CD appealed for suggestions and contributions, and requested members to forward ideas to her by email for future discussion.  MA suggested offering a special BAICE award for best dissertation.

14.    Any Other Business

YS suggested that BAICE consider issuing a statement in light of recent developments concerning the student visa situation at London Metropolitan University.  It was agreed that YS would compose a suitable statement which would be forwarded to the executive committee for comments and further discussion.  YS also invited members to email him their views on the matter.

ACTION: YS

CD thanked Jo Boyden for her term and contribution as president.  MC drew attention to the document entitled Educational Co-operation: Jewel in the Commonwealth Crown, available at the conference.  He also expressed his thanks to Peter Williams in this connection.  Mina O’Dowd asked whether this might be made available as a pdf. document on the BAICE website.

ACTION: MC/TS to include a web-link to the document

Lore Arthur expressed her congratulations to the BAICE executive for their hard work as committee members.  CD thanked all those attending and closed the meeting.

15.   Date of Next Meeting

The next AGM will take place at the UKFIET conference in Oxford, September 2013.

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