Minutes of NINA Board of Directors Meeting
Jan. 19, 2001
Northern Star office, NIU

Members present: Lonny Cain, president; Jan Larsen, first vice president; Rick Nagel, past president; Lois Self, executive secretary; Don Lyons; Tom Martin; Richard Parmater; Colin O'Donnell; Dave Fornell; Roger Ruthhart; Joe Corrado; Phil Jurik; Jim Killam, communications coordinator.
Staff present: Dana Ditrichs.
Members absent: Jim Slonoff, treasurer; Kim Kubiak, second vice president; Pam Lannom; John Etheredge; Owen Phelps; Ray Karges; Gale Baldwin; Cheryl Wormley.

Cain called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m.

Introduction of new board members. New members are Tom Martin of the Bureau County Republican, Joe Corrado of Sun Publications, Dave Fornell of Liberty Suburban Newspapers, Don Lyons of the Kane County Chronicle and Colin O'Donnell of the Daily Herald. They replace departing board members Nick Pullia, Joan Heyers, Will Conkis, Tona Kunz and Rick Baert. The board is now complete for 2001, with 21 members.

Self moved that new members be approved. Larsen seconded. Approved unanimously.

President's report. Cain listed the following goals for 2001:

• Protect existing accomplishments and existing goals.
• Establish the Mentor Award in honor of the late Marx Gibson.
• Increase revenue.
• Decrease expenses at conferences and workshops.
• Improve marketing of programs and promote NINA.
• Increase individual newspaper membership and provide a direct link and benefits to individual members and potential members.
• Recognize excellence in writing and photography through special contests.
• Maintain and look for ways to improve all efforts to encourage high school and college journalists.
• Encourage ongoing discussion and review of NINA's mission and purpose.

Cain also encouraged board members to develop individual goals for their NINA service this year.

Committee assignments. Cain proposed the following slate:
Executive Committee: Lonny Cain, president; Jan Larsen, first vice president; Kim Kubiak, second vice president; Jim Slonoff, treasurer; Lois Self, executive secretary; Rick Nagel, past president; and Pam Lannom, board member at large.
Membership Committee: Jan Larsen (chair), Phil Jurik, Gale Baldwin, Roger Ruthhart, Owen Phelps, Ray Karges and Joe Corrado.
Education Committee: Kim Kubiak (chair), Rick Nagel, Lois Self, John Etheredge, Don Lyons and Cheryl Wormley.
Programs Committee: Pam Lannom (chair), Jim Slonoff, Richard Parmater, Tom Martin, Dave Fornell and Colin O'Donnell.
Resource Committee: Lois Self (chair), Jim Killam

Parmater moved that committee assignments and chairs be approved as proposed. Nagel seconded. Approved unanimously.

Staff. The board voted to reappoint Lois Self as executive secretary (Larsen motion / Ruthhart second) and Jim Killam as communications coordinator (Corrado motion / Ruthhart second).

Cain recommended that a committee made up of himself, past president Nagel and treasurer Slonoff review compensation given to executive secretary and communications coordinator and report at next board meeting if changes are recommended.

Executive Secretary's report. Self asked the board for suggestions regarding the annual contest, sponsored by the NIU communic ation department. She hopes to attract more entries next year. Ruthhart said the 2000 contest entries may have declined because of the timing of several mergers; several new editors may not have even heard of NINA by contest time. He suggested frequent (and early) reminders to members about contest dates and rules.

Self also updated the board on NIU's journalism program, saying all classes are full for this new semester and that two NINA board members, Cain and Killam, are teaching reporting classes. Also, Illinois Journalist of the Year nominations are being sought by the department. Killam agreed to help promote the award via the NINA Web site, listservs and the IPA.

Self also noted that the annual NIU Journalism Banquet is April 27, the same day as the NINA Spring Conference. She invited board members to attend.

Communication Coordinator's report. Killam gave a Jan. 25 deadline for all winter newsletter material. He reported that separate listservs now exist for the NINA board (ninaboard@star.niu.edu) and NINA general membership (ninapost@star.niu.edu). He announced the rebirth of DeKalb News Service, in which NIU journalism students write news stories available to area media outlets. Stories would be available by February at the DNS Web site: www.star.niu.edu/nina/dns.

First vice president's report. Larsen distributed an updated list of member newspapers, including about 20 new ones.
Cain suggested that the board consider a new dues/membership structure that would involve each newspaper paying the same flat fee, accompanied by a fee per number of editorial employees. Along with this change, he would seek numerous e-mail addresses for staffers at each member paper, so that NINA can better connect with and serve individuals. After board discussion, the membership committee was directed to bring a report and recommendations to the next board meeting, April 6. This year's dues notices will have been mailed by then, so the board will target any changes for 2002.

College newspaper contest. Killam suggested that the contest might attract more participants if it were held in the spring instead of the fall. Also discussed was the possibility that a best-clip contest, rather than a general excellence contest, might "level the playing field" among college papers of various size and publishing frequency. Self moved that a best clip contest be held this year, with a mid-march deadline. Parmater seconded. Approved unanimously. Killam agreed to promote the contest at the upcoming Illinois College Press Association convention. He and Self will develop promotional materials prior to then.

Computer-assisted reporting workshop. Cain read a report from John Etheredge. Instructor Bill Dedman is available Friday, March 16, for $1,000. The NIU lab fee for 50 participants is $650. Adding Dedman's mileage expenses, the total expenses figure to be about $1,700. Nagel moved that NINA schedule a March 16 workshop at NIU and charge $55 per person. Jurik seconded. Approved unanimously.

Scholarships for NIU journalism students. Ruthhart moved that $3,000 be approved, but to give veto power to the treasurer for $1,000 of that amount, because no treasurer's report had been available at the meeting. Larsen seconded. Approved unanimously.

Scholarships for high school students. Self moved that $600 be approved -- $300 for first place, $200 for second place and $100 for third place -- with the condition that if a financial shortfall is discovered, money from the college scholarships be used to assure the $600 remains available. Jurik seconded. Approved unanimously. Killam and Self will work with Etheredge to develop this year's application letter and mail it as soon as possible. Application deadline will be March 16.

Old business. Minutes of Dec. 1, 2000, board meeting approved (Larsen motion, Nagel second). Cain read letters from Blair Kamin and Linda Cunningham about how much they enjoyed presenting the Fall Conference program about Pulitzer Prizes.

New business. Ideas were discussed for the Spring Conference program (April 27). Cain has spoken with potential speakers about medical reporting and also about news writing in the narrative form. An informal board vote favored the narrative topic; Cain will convey that to Pam Lannom, program committee chair.

Parmater spoke of potentially developing a program with the Chicago Headline Club. Also mentioned was a potential orientation program for graduating college seniors. Killam said the Illinois College Press Association convention might be a good setting for such a program. Cain updated the board on the Mentor Award honoring Marx Gibson. He currently is recruiting an advisory board.

Meeting adjourned at 12:10 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Jim Killam, communications coordinator